The Dosadi Experiment is a science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 novel written by Frank Herbert

Frank Herbert

Franklin Patrick Herbert, Jr. was a critically acclaimed and commercially successful American science fiction author. Although a short story author, he is best known for his novels, most notably Dune and its five sequels...

. It is the second full-length novel set in the ConSentiency universe established by Herbert in his novelette

Novelette

A novelette is a piece of short prose fiction. The distinction between a novelette and other literary forms is usually based upon word count, with a novelette being longer than a short story, but shorter than a novella...

 The Tactful Saboteur

The Tactful Saboteur

"The Tactful Saboteur" is a novelette by the science fiction author Frank Herbert which first appeared in Galaxy Science Fiction magazine in 1964...

and continued in Whipping Star

Whipping Star

Whipping Star is a science fiction novel by Frank Herbert. It is the first full-length novel set in the ConSentiency universe established by Herbert in his novelette The Tactful Saboteur.- Plot summary :...

.
The novel is set in a distant future when humans are part of an interstellar civilization called the ConSentiency composed of many species. One, the Taprisiot

Taprisiot

Taprisiots are a fictional species in Frank Herbert's science fiction novels, Whipping Star and The Dosadi Experiment.Taprisiots appear to be stubby chunks of wood, almost like logs with their branches broken off...

s, provide instant mind-to-mind communication between two sentient minds anywhere in the universe, and the Caleban

Caleban

Caleban are a fictional major race of beings seen in two of Frank Herbert's novels, The Dosadi Experiment and Whipping Star, which is set in the ConSentiency universe series of stories.-Overview:...

 provide jump-doors which allow instantaneous travel between any two points in the universe.