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Dune Universe #2.5
The Faces of a Martyr
The short story The Faces of a Martyr: A Tale of the Butlerian Jihad, is the latest in bridge stories of the Dune Saga. It briefly describes some events between The Machine Crusade and the upcoming novel, The Battle of Corrin. It's set starts off several months after the events of The Machine Crusade, when the League Armada is pounding the Tlulaxa homeworld into oblivion.
19 pages, Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 2004
4 people are currently reading
2495 people want to read
About the author
Brian Herbert
238 books2,160 followersBrian Patrick Herbert is an American author who lives in Washington state. He is the elder son of science fiction author Frank Patrick Herbert.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
August 18, 2024
Not really necessary, but ok.
July 4, 2025
El relato me ha gustado, es muy interesante y entretenido, aunque si no te lo lees tampoco pasa nada. Personalmente creo que podría haberse integrado en el tercer libro.
February 16, 2014
This story like the previous one I commented on (whipping Mek) is just one small scene - almost an interlude between even more important and momentous events - however for me it helps explain why the various houses start on their road to bitter rivalry and hatred when really they were victims to circumstance and where in fact once great allies. It just goes to show how something so strong and vital can be corrupted and twisted. So even though really this story is about one event it really draws attention to something far bigger and far more insideous
September 10, 2024
Not entirely sure why this exists. Although it is a short story it doesn’t tell anything that wasn’t already mentioned in detail in the two books between which it technically stands??
May 29, 2019
Reseña
Este corresponde al tercer libro corto de Leyendas de Dune, situado entre el segundo y tercer libro de la saga. Narra dos historias en paralelo: la huida de Rekur Van de Salusa Secundus y su llegada a Corrin, con la interacción que tiene con Erasmo; y la lucha de Vorian Atreides por recuperar el honor de Xavier Harkonnen, luego de lo sucedido con los tlulaxa.
Crítica
Como es tan cortito y agrega conocimiento sobre hechos muy importantes que ocurren durante el tercer libro, lo recomiendo mucho para su lectura entre el segundo y tercer libro. No hace spoilers, uno ya conoce a los personajes, por lo que está ideal para incluso entender mejor algunas cosas que suceden en La batalla de Corrin, que se nos presentan como hechos ya consumados, pero que son explicadas en este librito tan cortito.
Lo recomiendo a cabalidad, especialmente para leerlo antes de pasar a finalizar la saga. Yo lo leí después, pero creo que hubiera sido mejor hacerlo antes.
3 / 5 estrellas
Este corresponde al tercer libro corto de Leyendas de Dune, situado entre el segundo y tercer libro de la saga. Narra dos historias en paralelo: la huida de Rekur Van de Salusa Secundus y su llegada a Corrin, con la interacción que tiene con Erasmo; y la lucha de Vorian Atreides por recuperar el honor de Xavier Harkonnen, luego de lo sucedido con los tlulaxa.
Crítica
Como es tan cortito y agrega conocimiento sobre hechos muy importantes que ocurren durante el tercer libro, lo recomiendo mucho para su lectura entre el segundo y tercer libro. No hace spoilers, uno ya conoce a los personajes, por lo que está ideal para incluso entender mejor algunas cosas que suceden en La batalla de Corrin, que se nos presentan como hechos ya consumados, pero que son explicadas en este librito tan cortito.
Lo recomiendo a cabalidad, especialmente para leerlo antes de pasar a finalizar la saga. Yo lo leí después, pero creo que hubiera sido mejor hacerlo antes.
3 / 5 estrellas
December 10, 2024
Nepaisant daugelio atsiliepimų apie šios novelės nebūtinumą, drįstu nesutikti - čia autoriai labai sėkmingai save įstatę į labai ribotą plotį apžaidė, mano akimis, svarbią istoriją - būtent tokiomis istorijomis, jų efektyviu charakterių išryškinimu galima praturtinti didesnės apimties romaną. Amerikietiški kalneliai šiandien su Dune
March 7, 2023
This is for the entire trilogy and not just this entry.
This is the second time I have read the entire trilogy. I read Dune before and did not finish the whole series. When I saw this, I decided to try it and was pleasantly surprised. It was the best Science Fiction trilogy I had read at the time. Upon rereading it, I still found it great, but I see more through the second read through.
There seems to be an extended metaphor of the treatments of humans by the machines and the tolerance of slaves by the League of Nobles. At first the excuse is that the planets that are being plundered for slaves chose not to engage in the battles with the Synchronized Worlds they deserved it. Then, when the machines are isolated on Corrin, they still tolerate slavery due to the costs of the war.
Also, there seems to be a pattern of great things not surviving. There are many examples of this.
1. Agamemnon’s son Vorian Atreides turns against his father and joins the League of Nobles.
2. Vorian’s own sons want nothing to do with him and he disowns his surrogate son, Abulurd Harkonnen, after an act of betrayal.
3. Norma Cenva is a complete disappointment to her mother Zufa Cenva, failing to have any of the characteristics that she wanted her daughter to have.
4. Xavier Harkonnen is a great war hero, serving long after he should have retired to the quiet life and ultimately sacrifices himself for the good of the people only to be vilified by society.
5. Iblis Ginjo is a slave leader that starts an assault that kicks off the jihad, but then becomes a manipulative political tyrant that uses the conflict for his own gain.
6. Iblis Ginjo marries Camie Boro, a descendant of the Rulers of the Old Empire who has no wealth or power.
7. Faykan Butler changes his name from Butler to Corrino to further separate himself from the Harkonnen line.
8. Niko Bludd’s grand-nephew, Porce Bludd begins many philanthropic ventures to overcome his family’s reputation of slave owners and generally despicable people.
9. Gilbertus Albans disappointed his surrogate father, Erasmus.
This goes on and on. I am sure there are others, but I saw this theme repeatedly.
Now with this trilogy, I do remember, the first book was easy to read because there were events like the capture of Giedi Prime and Serena Butler assembles a team to go there and try and reactivate the defense systems. The second book in the series is more political and focuses on the political manipulation of leaders in war. Xavier Harkonnen is a great leader but utterly destroys giant statues belonging to the Buddislamics and flooding their giant city, killing many. This ended with Xavier’s sacrifice of Iblis Ginjo. The third book in the series was hard to get into and by this point, I think Vorian Atreides is a villain now as well. He is a surrogate father to Abulard Harkonnen whose father despises him since his birth gave her a stroke. Eventually they are like father and son, until Abulurd chooses to save four million slaves the last synchronized world uses as a shield. This was a mistake on Abulurd’s part. Many of the people died of hunger or dehydration anyway and the League of Nobles did not have the resources to shuttle them all to the surface of Corrin, much less set up refugee camps and give them shelter, food, or water. As a high-ranking officer, he should have known better and he caused many deaths of people on the ships that were not protected due to his actions.
Having said all this, this was a good series. All the storylines did remind me of “Love Actually,” or something like that, but the storylines had actual endings and weren’t just left hanging. I recommend this trilogy to everyone.
This is the second time I have read the entire trilogy. I read Dune before and did not finish the whole series. When I saw this, I decided to try it and was pleasantly surprised. It was the best Science Fiction trilogy I had read at the time. Upon rereading it, I still found it great, but I see more through the second read through.
There seems to be an extended metaphor of the treatments of humans by the machines and the tolerance of slaves by the League of Nobles. At first the excuse is that the planets that are being plundered for slaves chose not to engage in the battles with the Synchronized Worlds they deserved it. Then, when the machines are isolated on Corrin, they still tolerate slavery due to the costs of the war.
Also, there seems to be a pattern of great things not surviving. There are many examples of this.
1. Agamemnon’s son Vorian Atreides turns against his father and joins the League of Nobles.
2. Vorian’s own sons want nothing to do with him and he disowns his surrogate son, Abulurd Harkonnen, after an act of betrayal.
3. Norma Cenva is a complete disappointment to her mother Zufa Cenva, failing to have any of the characteristics that she wanted her daughter to have.
4. Xavier Harkonnen is a great war hero, serving long after he should have retired to the quiet life and ultimately sacrifices himself for the good of the people only to be vilified by society.
5. Iblis Ginjo is a slave leader that starts an assault that kicks off the jihad, but then becomes a manipulative political tyrant that uses the conflict for his own gain.
6. Iblis Ginjo marries Camie Boro, a descendant of the Rulers of the Old Empire who has no wealth or power.
7. Faykan Butler changes his name from Butler to Corrino to further separate himself from the Harkonnen line.
8. Niko Bludd’s grand-nephew, Porce Bludd begins many philanthropic ventures to overcome his family’s reputation of slave owners and generally despicable people.
9. Gilbertus Albans disappointed his surrogate father, Erasmus.
This goes on and on. I am sure there are others, but I saw this theme repeatedly.
Now with this trilogy, I do remember, the first book was easy to read because there were events like the capture of Giedi Prime and Serena Butler assembles a team to go there and try and reactivate the defense systems. The second book in the series is more political and focuses on the political manipulation of leaders in war. Xavier Harkonnen is a great leader but utterly destroys giant statues belonging to the Buddislamics and flooding their giant city, killing many. This ended with Xavier’s sacrifice of Iblis Ginjo. The third book in the series was hard to get into and by this point, I think Vorian Atreides is a villain now as well. He is a surrogate father to Abulard Harkonnen whose father despises him since his birth gave her a stroke. Eventually they are like father and son, until Abulurd chooses to save four million slaves the last synchronized world uses as a shield. This was a mistake on Abulurd’s part. Many of the people died of hunger or dehydration anyway and the League of Nobles did not have the resources to shuttle them all to the surface of Corrin, much less set up refugee camps and give them shelter, food, or water. As a high-ranking officer, he should have known better and he caused many deaths of people on the ships that were not protected due to his actions.
Having said all this, this was a good series. All the storylines did remind me of “Love Actually,” or something like that, but the storylines had actual endings and weren’t just left hanging. I recommend this trilogy to everyone.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 3, 2025
Courte histoire se déroulant entre les événements de THE MACHINE CRUSADE et THE BATTLE OF CORRIN, la nouvelle décrit quelques moments importants qui font le pont entre les deux romans.
C'est intéressant et primordial pour mieux comprendre ce qui se passe dans ces quelque 50 ans qui séparent les intrigues. Mais comme il s'agit en réalité de la forme d'un chapitre normal, dans le même univers et la même histoire, on peut se demander pourquoi elle n'a pas été inclue dans l'un ou l'autre des deux romans.
Mais bon, on fait tout de même un rappel des grandes intrigues. on comprend que la famille Harkonnen commence à être considérée comme traîtresse, on rappelle le climat social de l'univers pendant la guerre des machines et on apprend que les robots ont maintenant en main une copie du code génétique de Serena Butler. Tout va bien aller.
C'est intéressant et primordial pour mieux comprendre ce qui se passe dans ces quelque 50 ans qui séparent les intrigues. Mais comme il s'agit en réalité de la forme d'un chapitre normal, dans le même univers et la même histoire, on peut se demander pourquoi elle n'a pas été inclue dans l'un ou l'autre des deux romans.
Mais bon, on fait tout de même un rappel des grandes intrigues. on comprend que la famille Harkonnen commence à être considérée comme traîtresse, on rappelle le climat social de l'univers pendant la guerre des machines et on apprend que les robots ont maintenant en main une copie du code génétique de Serena Butler. Tout va bien aller.
January 11, 2022
As of January 2022, I have only read the first five Dune novels by Frank Herbert. I have decided to dive into the expanded universe by KJA/BH by reading simultaneously "The Road To Dune" and "House Atreides".
The paperback of "The Road To Dune" has five short stories by KJA/BH, the fourth of which is "The Faces of a Martyr" -- this short story introduces Serena Butler, and though it does feel a bit like a rehashing of the Ghola in "God Emperor Dune", this story did get me interested in seeing what KJA/BH do with the character named after the Jihad.
The paperback of "The Road To Dune" has five short stories by KJA/BH, the fourth of which is "The Faces of a Martyr" -- this short story introduces Serena Butler, and though it does feel a bit like a rehashing of the Ghola in "God Emperor Dune", this story did get me interested in seeing what KJA/BH do with the character named after the Jihad.
June 23, 2020
Another fun story to set you up for the next chapter in the Dune Saga. As with the previous two this story is an off shoot and an introduction to a new twist.
This time there are two storylines, you discover the fate of one of the lesser characters in the story so far. More importantly there is a twist that changes the course of the jihad and possibly even the history behind it.
I look forward to the next book to see how this develops.
This time there are two storylines, you discover the fate of one of the lesser characters in the story so far. More importantly there is a twist that changes the course of the jihad and possibly even the history behind it.
I look forward to the next book to see how this develops.
May 4, 2025
Interesting short story.
It actually consists of two parts, one is about the Vor Atreides, and his attempts to correct the morals of the people after the war with the machines, which ultimately (always) fail.
The other one is about the independent robot Erasmus, and it plays with the topic of cloning famous people from the history.
It actually consists of two parts, one is about the Vor Atreides, and his attempts to correct the morals of the people after the war with the machines, which ultimately (always) fail.
The other one is about the independent robot Erasmus, and it plays with the topic of cloning famous people from the history.
July 22, 2019
Nice little short story to fill the gap between books 2 & 3 of the Butlerian Jihad trilogy. Short, but nice story that shows a sad outcome from a major character' actions in The Machine Crusades, but also a somewhat satisfying outcome to one of the unlikable characters. Nice little filler.
October 2, 2017
This short story gives quite a lot of background information.
March 1, 2022
Rather more essential than the other Legends bridging stories, this really could have been the opening chapter of the third novel.
September 10, 2022
Short, sweet and mostly satisfying, I fail to understand why this book could not be a part of the previous book as it provides some good details.
May 21, 2024
a nice filler between the 2 main sories
June 9, 2024
Loved this short story. Felt very Bradbury-esque.
June 21, 2024
[PDF]
Cool concept, nothing special, just a typical 5/10 book.
It does help understand one of the plotlines in The Battle of Corrin though.
Cool concept, nothing special, just a typical 5/10 book.
It does help understand one of the plotlines in The Battle of Corrin though.
February 17, 2025
A quick post chapter continuation of the events of the end of the machine crusade. A great little read.
October 4, 2025
Unnecessary.
November 15, 2016
Nothing special. It's a bridge story between The Machine Crusade and The Battle of Corrin that tells what happens after Iblis Ginjo is dead. One thing I liked is the 'love relation' between Erasmus and Serena. Because I believe that Erasmus developed a love interest in Serena despite being a robot. A very insane love if you ask me. He wants her so much in order to talk about things that he kills the clone that the Tlulaxa scientist made and then he kills him...because he's just evil. That insane love relation could have worked, I think, in the last two novels. Too bad that they were flat and uninteresting characters and the idea was underdeveloped.
'Hunting Harkonnens' and 'Whipping Mek' were better than this story in my opinion.
'Hunting Harkonnens' and 'Whipping Mek' were better than this story in my opinion.
May 10, 2016
Loved it. Actually loved all of it except the Rekur Van parts, tho they are there for a reason.
It is at the tittle, many martyrs with different faces and their sacrifices for the Butlerian Jihad.
To actually explain more would spoil it.
This makes a good read if you know the entire plot of Legends of Dune.
It is at the tittle, many martyrs with different faces and their sacrifices for the Butlerian Jihad.
To actually explain more would spoil it.
This makes a good read if you know the entire plot of Legends of Dune.
January 18, 2016
Um Conto Curto sobre Vor Atreides e o esforço de Não revelar a verdade sobre a morte de Xavier Harkonnen. E a morte do Chefe dos organ farms mas mãos do robot Erasmus ao tentar clonar Serena sem sucesso, pois o corpo Não reflete a pessoa
April 9, 2020
Not nearly as good as A Whipping Mek (Legends of Dune 1.5 short story), but it does provide a good precursor of some things to expect in The Battle of Corrin.
For only 15 pages, definitely worth "I liked it."
For only 15 pages, definitely worth "I liked it."
October 5, 2018
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August 3, 2017I loved this story. I am glad it was included in Crusade, though it might have worked better as a prelude to Battle.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews