The first thing that must be said about ["The Dosadi Experiment"] is that it takes place in an entirely different universe from his justly celebrated and popular "Dune" trilogy. The "Dune" novels are superb space opera—persuasively detailed fiction set against the broadest backdrop imaginable. By contrast, everything about "The Dosadi Experiment" is claustrophobic—the basic premise, the setting, even the writing. Sometime in the past, an ...

[The Dosadi Experiment] is full of the characteristics that irritate the [non-science-fiction fan]: the combination of "hard" sf with a fantasy style; the plethora of names, institutions, and civilizations dropped in with little or no identification; the swashbuckling plot. Fans, however, will delight in all of these. And, as usual with Herbert, some of the conceits are intriguing. Here the plot rotates about the peculiar legal philosophy and institutions of a people called the Gowachin, a qui...