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ConSentiency Universe #1

Whipping Star

frank herbert

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Jorj McKie finds the last of the powerful Caleban species, damaged and fading, who must be freed from a power threatening all sentient life.

192 pages, Paperback

First published November 30,1969
Series
ConSentiency Universe

This edition

Format
192 pages, Paperback
Published
October 15, 1986 by Berkley
ISBN
9780425099629
ASIN
0425099628
Language
English
Characters More characters
  • Jorj X. McKie

    Jorj X. Mckie

    Jorj X. McKie is the leading saboteur extraordinary in the Bureau of Sabotage (BuSab), an organization found in The Dosadi Experiment as well as two earlier short stories. He is described as a squat and ugly man of Pacific Islander ancestry, with green ey...

  • Mliss Abnethe

    Mliss Abnethe

    A sociopathic sadist human female of immense power and wealth....

  • Fanny Mae

    Fanny Mae

    A Caleban....

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About the author

Profile Image for frank herbert

frank herbert

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Franklin Patrick Herbert Jr. was an American science fiction author best known for the 1965 novel Dune and its five sequels. Though he became famous for his novels, he also wrote short stories and worked as a newspaper journalist, photographer, book reviewer, ecological consultant, and lecturer.
The Dune saga, set in the distant future, and taking place over millennia, explores complex themes, such as the long-term survival of the human species, human evolution, planetary science and ecology, and the intersection of religion, politics, economics and power in a future where humanity has long since developed interstellar travel and settled many thousands of worlds. Dune is the best-selling science fiction novel of all time, and the entire series is considered to be among the classics of the genre.

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Community Reviews

Rating(4 / 5.0, 100 votes)
5 stars
31(31%)
4 stars
34(34%)
3 stars
35(35%)
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100 reviews All reviews
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Dokubachi
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
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I didn't finish this book. I got about 1/4 of the way in before it became too stupid to bear. The first major stupidity was the existence of a department of saboteurs to keep government from becoming too efficient. The story then moves on to magic aliens who can move people anywhere in the universe. One of these aliens enters into a contract that will kill it. Previously unknown was that anyone who traveled with the help of one of these aliens will die when the alien dies. So most of the sentient life in the galaxy is about to die and the main character and woman bringing about this mass murder enter into a legal debate which she apparently wins. I don't know for certain because that was when this book became TO STUPID TO BEAR.
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BowserBrowser
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
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This is the kind of stupidity masked as intelligence that only a man could accomplish. I regret ever taking a class that would make me read this.
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John_Parker
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
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A great mystery novel, with surprisingly expansive world-building for its length, and even somewhat funny at times.

Initial thoughts was that it would be a slow read, with the meat of it consisting of figuring out human - Caleban communication, but there is some spy-like action tossed in between. Some of the concepts discussed were lost on me (mostly those on the nature of multiverses), but nothing was ever confusing to the point where I felt that I was missing something vital.

Absolutely worth a read, if not just to experience some Herbert outside of Dune!
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Andrae92
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
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Don't remember it that much since it was a long time ago that I read it. Seems like I enjoyed it though. Date read is a guess.
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spyrocoot
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
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The Bureau Of Sabotage (BuSab) was set up for the ironic task of slowing down bureaucracy, when fast-tracking causes more problems than no-tracking. Jorj X. McKie is a Saboteur Extraordinary and gets a strange call to investigate a Caleban beachball on a remote planet. The Caleban has entered into a contract with a quadrillionaire to be flagellated but if the Caleban dies it will have ramifications…like the death of most of the galaxy’s humans! The trouble is that both Abnethe, the wealthy woman who has paid for the whipping, and McKie have real trouble communicating with the Caleban. Agnethe has already been treated for her kink once before and now feels real anguish at another’s pain, giving the whole thing a bizarre S&M feel. Meanwhile tests on the whip indicate that it is both very young and very old. The only scenario that fits is considered impossible. It has come through time. McKie and BuSab must somehow find Abnethe and prevent the death of the Caleban, and thus trillions of humans. Unfortunately for Abnethe she has made a huge mistake. Interesting (if difficult to parse at times) tale from Frank Herbert.
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TimmyMcAwsome
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
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Reading Whipping Star, you kind of get the feeling that perhaps Herbert wanted to do something a tad lighter in tone than Dune. He succeeds admirably, creating a breathless Space Opera containing just a hint of silliness, yet still offering some intriguing concepts (even if it's some of these concepts that instil the air of Silly).

But what in Hell inspires a setting where an alien entity that cannot be seen squats inside its beach ball spaceship, calmly allowing another alien in the employ of a reformed sadomasochist to whip it through an interdimensional window in order to -when aforesaid entity dies- bring about the end of interstellar civilisation? As Sam Emerson once said, 'Enquiring minds want to know.'

More typical of its time in execution than the Dune books could ever be classed as, WS is nevertheless colourful, fun, and more than a bit daft.
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cferdaus
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
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This one is imaginative writing and ideas but a bit more weird than my usual taste in reading. This may just be my taste in science fiction. I find that Frank Herbert works do tend to be on the edge of what I like in science fiction.
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manga8me
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
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7.6
Una aventura de ciencia ficción rápida y furiosa, me tomo leerla dos días porque no se desperdicia casi ninguna página, así que no te da un momento en el cual puedas decir bueno aquí no está pasando mucho mejor me duermo.
Muchos de los que leemos a Herbert empezamos por Dune y si seguimos con otras de sus obras es por que esperamos encontrar algo de Dune ahí también (creo yo) en esta novela si se encuentran ciertas similitudes, pero no de la manera que yo hubiera esperado, esta es una faceta mucho más pulp que dune si bien hay ciertos elementos que podrían haberse convertido en cuestiones filosóficas al nivel de dune aquí se aplica una lógica más a lo hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy.
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