First published 2014
Gilbertus Albans walks a dangerous path as he establishes his Mentat School, teaching humans the computational methods once used by thinking machines. The defeated machines left behind powerful techniques, but Gilbertus must hide his true methods from Manford Torondo's Butlerian fanatics who crusade against all technology. Meanwhile, on Wallach IX, Mother Superior Raquella rebuilds the Sisterhood with her most promising student, Valya Harkonnen. Valya harbors a personal mission beyond her training: she seeks vengeance against Vorian Atreides for her family's ruin. Across the galaxy, Josef Venport wages economic war through his VenHold Spacing Fleet, using superior mutated Navigators to control commerce and embargo planets that embrace Torondo's anti-technology movement. Three groups pursue human advancement through different paths while Butlerian extremism spreads. Each faction believes their approach will secure humanity's future, but growing fanaticism forces a choice between technological progress and a return to darkness.
Genres: science-fiction, adventure, fantasy, thriller
Vibes: dark, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Dune, Wallach IX
Period: Future
445 pages · Hardcover · Tor Books
Content warnings: violence