What does it mean to be "human"? In the pursuit of Utopia how far is too far? Are Free Will and Individuality all they're cracked up to be? Alternately compelling and infuriating, Herbert's rumination on mankind's possible evolutionary path combines a bit of Cold War paranoia (the enemy amongst us!) with a satirical nod aimed at 1960's counterculturalism...or more precisely, the rising interest in Ecology and socialism. And it's all wrapped up as a sci-fi horror show! An emotionally exhausting novel (he manipulates his readers like a true literary sadist) but to fully appreciate what he's done you really must follow up by watching the Oscar-winning 1971 pseudo-documentary "The Hellstrom Chronicle" on which the book is based. It's free on Youtube. ( )

Captivating concept, but poorly executed. Still ends up being a good book, but the secret agent characters and event order detract from the insightful evolution the Hive represents.
Finding this book in the library revealed to me that Herbert has a lot more books to read: I was under the mistaken impression that he only wrote the Dune series. Hopefully, the rest are better than this. ( )

This was a really good read; I'd give it a 4.5 if I could. The tension mounts as the story builds and you cross your fingers that it can't be real. The small sub sections that are fit into the main storyline give interesting insight into the Hive's history and are reminiscent Dune.
I watched the related 1971 drama/documentary, "The Hellstrom Chronicle", when I was about halfway through to get a feeling for where Frank Herbert was coming from in regards to Nils Hellstrom, his movie making business and his warnings to the world. While the film was just interesting, how Herbert expanded on it is exceptional. ( )

Not the world's greatest book, but an interesting premise. And while the ending was slightly underwhelming, I really enjoyed the fact that the way he wrote it, even though you'd think there ought to be a pretty clear "good guys" and "bad guys" divide here, you're left a bit conflicted on who you'd actually want to come out on top. Or maybe the answer is neither? In any case, while it certainly is no Dune, his aim is still clearly on bringing some attention to ecology and how humans interact with the planet and everything on it, and I think he did that fairly well. Recommended to those who are Herbert fans, and those who are curious and have open minds. ( )

If it wasn't for [b:Dune|234225|Dune (Dune Chronicles, #1)|Frank Herbert|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1349105964s/234225.jpg|3634639], I suspect nobody these days would be reading anything of Herbert's.

This was about some sort of weird next step in human evolution", along the insect lines. Humans turning into insect like society, under the nose of regular humans.

Infatuation with sex, underground tight-knit society, and a long-term plan to supplant 'regular' humans.

Not a very endearing read." ( )