Ben Boyett - The Butlerian Jihad

The Butlerian Jihad is a novel written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, set in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. It is a prequel to the original Dune but is still set in the distant future. As the book opens there is a conflict between two warring factions, the humans and the cymeks. The cymeks are former humans brains that have been put into robots bodies. This book addresses several issues such as what it means to be human, human slavery, and the moral implications of scientific advances. The most interesting thing to me was humantys struggle for freedom from their robotic oppressors. The robotic army controlled by an artificial intelligence named Omnius capture and subjugate most of humanity and are closing in on the few remaining strongholds. A woman named Serena Butler becomes the catalyst for revolution when Omnius finds out she is pregnant and kills her baby. Why didnt it spark a revolution when he massacred whole planets? Was her baby that important? I think that we are willing to tolerate a whole lot more than we are willing to put our children through.