Herbert is a great, psychologically insightful author who knows how to cut scenes and continuously build energy, but this lacks the completeness and coherence of Dosadi. The denouement reflects some farcical biology that undermines a curated trust. Nonetheless an engaging read.

Meh. 1960's sci-fi isn't bad but it moves like a slog, I lost interest.

Found the original paperback at a booksale recently and decided to indulge myself while slogging through Inferno by Dan Brown.

I loved Frank Herbert. I loved his early books and I was passionate about Dune, so I was happy to see this book nestled next two old Andre Norton paperbacks which I also bought.

It's fun to watch Frank Herbert (in 1966!) take on the potential dangers and pitfalls of genetic engineering and move 30,000 years into the future where the Optimen, a group of immortals (but sterile)rule and dominate completely the Folk. In vitro reproduction is the only form allowed the Folk and genetic surgeons control the process.

It was a thoroughly entertaining re-read, until the last chapter, when everything completely fell apart. It was originally published as a short story in Galaxy, then expanded into the novel, and I could just imagine the editor yelling at Herbert to finish the damn book, just give him anything.

Now back to Inferno. Or maybe not.

This was a great book that started out very strong, though towards the end it seemed to suffer under the weight and complexity of its own ideas. It features many themes and ideas common in other Herbert novels: clandestine political plotting, conspiracies, code languages, machine-human hybrids, and genetic manipulation. That last element is a focal point for the story in Eyes of Heisenberg, which is set in a future in which genetic manipulation is taken to the extreme and has produced a race of quasi-immortals (they'll live forever as long as they are continually administered the proper enzyme prescriptions), who govern and control the rest of the human race in an almost 1984-esque dystopia in which supreme influence and power is imposed to the extent that even human reproduction is wholly controlled by the immortal ruling class (the 'Optimen'). I loved the ideas this book explores, though perhaps akin to Dune, the scope of the story is a hugely ambitious one. Unlike Dune, however, this novel is relatively short, and I felt that there were a huge number of plot points and relationships that had to be drawn together in somewhat contrived ways. It felt as though Herbert was struggling somewhat to form a cohesive whole from a series of very intriguing but disparate parts. Ultimately I felt the story (and myself) getting lost and tangled at several points. I also thought the representation of the Optimen was tough to swallow at times, and that their dialogue and role in the story bordered on absurd from time to time. Despite its difficulties it is a fun and exciting story and fans of Herbert's other works should find it worth reading.

Uno de los libros más extraños que he leído. Al principio me ha parecido una especie de degeneración de Dune y el cuidado en encontrar a su Kwisatz Haderach, pero poco a poco se ha perfilando como una lucha entre la supervivencia de las diferentes especies sometida y clandestinas en un ecosistema controlado por seres casi inmortales.

Cuesta un poco arrancar con la cantidad abrumadora de datos técnicos que ofrece el autor en la modificación genéticas de los seres. Pero pasa esas páginas, que por otro lado para el lector lego resulta poco más que curiosas, se revela una historia con un futuro mucho más marcado y condensado en las pocas páginas que tiene el libro.

Herbert, no decepciona y aunque es un libro muy bajo en su biografía, es capaz de componer las desigualdades entre seres de la misma especie, con una filosofía evolutiva bastante concentrada. La parte genética queda poco después diluida por la propia historia y sólo al final, cuando encuentran la solución a los problemas de todos, vuelve a resurgir la esperanza de todo lo aprendido.

Libro corto, inquietante por el futuro apocalíptico, pero intrascendente para el que busque un poco más de profundidad.

Can one live in a world where genetic manipulation rules? In this novel, the author explores what such a world might be like. Only approves couples can have children who are nourished in a vat and doctors enhance or eliminate genes identified as part of the lives of the those children. Some beings are immortal and rule by whim but their existence is dull, boring and same, year after year. But what about nature? Can nature or opposing beliefs change this society? Interesting concepts. Interesting read.

The Eyes of Heisenberg is a fascinating glimpse at a world where reliance on genetics has become the sole principle of human survival, and embryos are carefully "cut" to a specific mold to ensure that randomization is not a factor. Earth is ruled by a class of superhumans that have forgotten how to live, and are only concerned with their eternal survival.

The book is weak in some areas and strong in others. The premise is good; the story at times is lacking. Herbert's character development is hit and miss. Some are blatantly cliche: the protective father, the caring mother, the calculating cyborg. Others break out of the mold: Svengaard, at first an unlikable simpleton, goes from an unassuming surgeon to one who cares about life and what life means to others. Calapine, one of the Optimen (the ruling class), finds out what it truly means to be human and that in all of her centuries of being "alive," she has never truly lived.

The plot is a bit slow at parts and Herbert perhaps over-utilizes technical terms, especially during medical procedures. Looking past this, the book is above average and also provides Herbert fans with a glimpse at many factors of Dune. Many themes that appear in Dune are explored in The Eyes of Heisenberg: immortality, reliance on pharmaceuticals, and an apathetic ruling class. Perhaps the most obvious theme is of the "dopplegangers" and their parallels the "gholas" in Dune. The character Max, who has lived through many lifetimes, can be seen as a primitive archetype for Duncan Idaho.

I would recommend this book to any Herbert fan, and any science-fiction fan that likes speculative fiction. It's a splendid read.

This book truly puts the science into science fiction, if it wasn’t for that A I achieved in biology I would’ve had no idea what I was reading in the first 3 chapters.
The book explores some interesting ideas however is paired with a choppy plot that in my opinion lacked depth and detail in areas and further description would’ve been beneficial in painting a vivid story.. I enjoyed the book but, I wouldn’t say it’s anything to shout about.

Started last night. Pretty good so far...

Almost done. Had to take time for the World Cup last night. It's turned into a standard pursuit-suspense yarn now. Notes...

- 3 typos so far

- Suggestions of various other books/movies... "Children of Men", "Zardoz" and "Dune"(obviously).

- An interesting book - sort-of. I get the impression that Frank Herbert was a sort of eccentric and super-smart guy who learned all sorts of "stuff" about genetics and reproduction. It IS pretty interesting as I recall it from college biology class but it helps to know something(or remember) more than I did. The whole thing seems kind of abbreviated as well. Like he lost interest at some point. What would it be like to live for 50,000 years? Certainly one of the points of the book is to call into question the human obsession with living as long as possible. To take control of the genome and start "controlling" reproduction and evolution is to become god-like indeed. Is that what we need to do? Maybe... But we'd better be careful! Notes...

- 4 typos total(minimum)...

- Philosophically/scientifically/spiritually a bit beyond my simple tastes. I liked Dune better. Better storytelling mixed with the scientific-mystical stuff... 3.25* rounds down to 3*...

Not very good. A dystopia ruled by a class of Overmen, ageless and genetically perfect comes across resistance when a chance embryo has the possibility to escape their control. Cyborgs and an underground group of parents try to stay one step ahead of them.

It's a dull and abstract book. The embryo serves as a Mcguffin, and the characters are bland and not particularly likable. The ending is a cop-out, with no real foreshadowing. The theme is okay, and deserves a better book: it's the idea that in any closed and unnatural situation, something works to shake it up, be it Heisenburg's Uncertainity Principle acting through nature, or God. But the book fails to deliver, and if anything it's ultimate solution will seem like a slice of hell to pregnant women, and silly to boot.

I liked the book, though with Herbert's flaws as a writer he can only score so high. With this book, believe it or not, I get a better idea of the Tleilaxu race in Dune. This is an exploration of the genetic manipulation of mankind for the goal of immortality. It is an insight as to how the Tleilaxu view mortals and how they expect to be seen by them; they are gods and mortals nothing more than temporary.
There was also the moral dilemmas that Herbert is famous for; the alteration of genes, the involvement of government in reproduction, "Big Brother", the humanity of involving cyber parts to a human brain, etc. A fascinating read if you can get through the writing. The story is quite simple, but the characters, as always, are rich.

In de schaduw van zijn beroemde Duin-reeks houdt dit boek zich redelijk staande. Vooral de beschrijving van in vitro fertilisatie en cloning wordt prikkelend doorgedacht naar hetvraagstuk van onsterfelijkheid. Verrassend is hoe Herbert die laatste kwestie verbindt met het gevaar van een tweedeling in de samenleving tussen wie wel en wie niet 'eeuwig' mag leven. De aankleding van het plot is niet heel opzienbarend, maar de onderliggende kwesties maken het boek het overdenken waard.