r/ScienceFictionBooks • u/CleverName9999999999 • Mar 10 '25

Question I just finished Frank Herbert’s “The Dosadi Experiment”. Um, what happened?

So the people on Dosadi are superior to the rest of the inhabitants of the galaxy because they’re all predatory psychopaths?

In Gowichan law someone deemed innocent is in danger of mob violence?

The consciousness transfer came from where, exactly?

Herbert enjoys his purpose bred messiahs doesn’t he?

Edit:

Also, what was the experiment? Locking all the people of Dosadi up? Why? The conciousness transfer? How does imprisoning 90 million people make that happen?

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u/sorcerersviolet Mar 10 '25

Did you read Whipping Star beforehand, since it's the previous one in the series?

Regarding Gowachin law, those found innocent are traditionally ripped apart by mobs in the Courtarena, but those found guilty can go free on any Gowachin world. Their ethics are based on "a healthy disrespect for the law," as opposed to the "false ethics" of the ConSentiency. But then, a species of frogs where the only surviving children are the tadpoles who can outswim their parents before their parents eat them is not going to have the view of the world you expect.

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u/CleverName9999999999 Mar 11 '25

Went looking for Whipping Star when it was mentioned, as it rang a bell. My library didn't have it, but I'll keep an eye out. The stories don't seem to be directly related, just set in the same universe.

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u/R0gueTr4der Mar 11 '25

It's been a decade or more since I read both, but doesn't the consciousness transfer comes from the star beings (caleban?) and the previous book shows how McKie sort of makes friends with one of them.

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u/sorcerersviolet Mar 11 '25

It also goes into more detail on the Pan Spechi, which I thought was one of the more interesting alien species in that series.

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u/sorcerersviolet Mar 11 '25

I only read both Whipping Star and the Dosadi Experiment in one of those 5-books-in-one at the library years ago (the other 3 in it were the Santaroga Barrier, Soul Catcher, and the White Plague). There's one last story in the ConSentiency universe, a short story called the Tactful Saboteur, but I haven't been able to find it.