Word: gowachins
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Dates: during 1977-1977
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...name of a barren planet, isolated from the rest of the universe by a "god-wall" from an unknown source, the Calebens. (No Shakespearian connotations, as they are good guys.) Outside of Dosadi's wall is a complex universe with a tenuous power balance among humans, the frog-like Gowachins and the death-dancing wreaves--with their Kung-fu-like movements and poisoned mandibles. Jorj X. McKie, a red-haired man of Polynesian descent, is the only human accepted as a Legum in the Gowachin legal system. Herbert fails to give the legal cult the depth of Dune's Bene...
...ways to kill any participant--judges, Legums, clients.... But it must be done with exquisite legal finesse, with its justifications apparent to all observers, and with the most delicate timing. Above all, one could kill in the arena only when no other choice offered the same worshipful disrespect for Gowachin Law. Even while changing the Law, you were required to revere its sanctity...
McKie has divided loyalties as he is also the most feared agent of the universe's counterweight to the Gowachin order, the Bureau of Sabotage, a cross between the CIA and the Texas Rangers. McKie, in a previous book, gained the power to communicate with the Calibens who, in actuality, are the stars. His special Caliben protector is Fannie...
Some of Herbert's scenes are masterful, and only further frustrate the reader by showing how well Herbert can write. A conversation between McKie and a Gowachin takes on the intensity and precision of military strategy. With a minimum of narration and a taut dialogue, the scene provides one of the book's few gripping passages...
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