Just an action story. A pretty bad one. It's sad in the end I'll loose my time reading also the third volume.

I finally get to read these in the correct order and they're much better for it :)

Let me explain. I was interested in reading sci-fi novels as a teen and picked up interesting looking novels at the library in the 1990's. Without the internet (and due to the unclear descriptions on the novels), I never would have guessed I picked up a book that was somewhere in the middle of a series (see also: Children of Dune). I blame the publisher for not adding some kind of sub titles to them.
It also didn't help that the Dutch titles, which I was originally going for, weren't literal translations of the English ones ('Verrijzenis'), making me buy some books several times while still omitting others. It was a mess.

So this time, I've done my research before starting to read the Pandora series (all in English this time) and needless to say, it's a massive improvement. Started with Destination: Void, I'm now 3/4 in. I don't think I've read The Lazarus Effect before, even though I've had it in Dutch in my bookcase for several decades.
This is a whole new tour of discovery reminiscent of my teen discoveries of Frank's books.

interesting, but a bit thinner than I have come to expect from Herbert. some of the characters never really came to life for me. sentient kelp was a nice idea.

Hard to get through. Got lost in characters a few times.

I might be giving this book too high a score, but I read it soon after Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri was released, an amazing turn-based strategy computer game that I played The similarities between the novel and the game pushed it over the top for me. I wouldn't be that blown away by two seemingly unrelated works in different media sharing essentially the same setting until the movie Starship Troopers and its sister book... Armor.
;P

Apparently, one is supposed to read The Jesus Incident before reading The Lazarus Effect to get the most enjoyment. I was too far in to The Lazarus Effect when I found this out to stop. I thought the story started slowly, but it picked up and was a good read in the end.

What a great story so well written and has heart

Many years and generations has passed since the war. With the kelp gone the whole world is flooded and people has adapted to survive. Artificial Islands float across the planet filled with mutants (mutes). The mutes are the children of the clones freed after the war. Half there children die because their mutation can't support their life. Many live and use there mutes for useful things. We meet Twisp a fishing boat captain with is long arms (great for pulling the nets in) and his apprentices Brett. Twisp hired Brett because he has night vision. The islands that travel across the sea is alive and need feeding. Down blow under the sea merman live. They are the perfect people with no funny imperfections. But they have webbed hands and feet. Most use air fish that bite on to you neck to breath when swimming. A few don't like them and use tanks. They live in buildings where the air is humid. Some mute are force down there to work if they have done something wrong. But some mutes are rescued like Brett. When a wave wall came along and hits the island. Brett was swept away. Then a young girl around his age came and rescued him. The young girl called Surdi nursed him and there adventure begins.
So far this is the best book in the series. It brought together the various plots, melding favorite and new characters together. Loved the ending but a small piece of information was left out. That means I'm itching to get into the last book.

Classic Herbert in that he makes you truly believe that a planet, colonized by people who believe their spaceship is God, could have sentient kelp that really might be God! Part of a trilogy, but I haven't read the other books. Read this one twice, though, as a teenager, because it was so damn weird. Mutations. Kelp. Ship.

Frank Herbert, I love you.

When I downloaded this book on tape, I thought I was about to read "The Lucifer Effect," the new non-fiction by Zimbardo about his notorious Stanford Prison experiment and some of the reasons why good people can be convinced to do bad things. Instead, what I got was a sci-fi novel about the entirely ocean covered planet Pandora, and the trials and tribulations of the mermen and women who attempt to reestablish their ancient colonies of sentient kelp. All I have to say is...wow.

As stated before, I love this series. Better than Dune in my book. On to the last of the trilogy!

Second book was written apparently only by Bill Ransom, it does have a different style. Not that weird as the first one but it did not disappoint!
Let's see how things end on Pandora!