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The White Plague Audiobook
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(3.00) - 2,969 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
A warm day in Dublin, a crowded street corner. Suddenly, a car-bomb explodes, killing and injuring scores of innocent people.
From the second-floor window of a building across the street, a visiting American watches, helpless, as his beloved wife and children are sacrificed in the heat and fire of someone else's cause.
From this shocking beginning, the author of the phenomenal Dune series has created a masterpiece.
The White Plague is a marvelous and terrifyingly plausible blend of fiction and visionary theme. It tells of one man's revenge, of the man watching from the window who is pushed over the edge of sanity by the senseless murder of his family and who, reappearing several months later as the so-called Madman, unleashes a terrible vengeance upon the human race. For John Roe O'Neill is a molecular biologist who has the knowledge, and now the motivation, to devise and disseminate a genetically carried plague—a plague to which, like those that scourged mankind centuries ago, there is no antidote, but one that zeros in, unerringly and fatally, on women. As the world slowly recognizes the reality of peril, as its politicians and scientists strive desperately to save themselves and their society from the prospect of human extinction, so does Frank Herbert grapple with one of the great themes of contemporary life: the enormous dangers that lurk at the dark edges of science.
The White Plague is a prophetic, believable, and utterly compelling novel.
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"This book is second only to Dune among Herbert's books (for me, anyway). I found the idea of grief gone wrong (mad) very compelling and with the genetic engineering that has taken place in recent years this is all-too possible. Very gripping story. "
— Bev (4 out of 5 stars)
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A tale of awesome revenge.
— The Cincinnati Enquirer
The White Plague Listener Reviews
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Cal MacDonald, 9/23/2023
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" Don't get me wrong-the plot has momentum and is fairly original. But do we need a book that imagines a future where the worst misogynist impulses of society become the salvation of it? You could argue that The Handmaid's Tale treads similar dystopian territory, except that it is a cautionary tale. This novel lacks that redeeming quality. "
— Pauline, 2/17/2014 -
" Couldn't get through it. A lot of it was technical, which I don't really understand. Think about it. Why get into the nitty-gritty of biology? If the reader knows a lot about the subject they will be inclined to point out all of your inaccuracies. If they don't know anything about it they will be bored to tears. Did not like. "
— Di, 2/15/2014 -
" 4 star science thriller (top 25% of the genre). Who knew the DUNE master wrote a science thriller, a very forward-thinking (for the time) bioterrorism tale about a pathogen that only kills women. For my full review, see ScienceThrillers.com "
— Amy, 2/3/2014 -
" Frank Herbert has a real way of creating new civilations out of thin air that just amazes me, but this one made me pause. I can't decide how I feel about it, but I could talk about it on a philosophical level for hours...weird? "
— Jessica, 1/31/2014 -
" I read this when it first came out and it was the first book that really got me thinking about genetics and genetic manipulation. Brilliant for it's time and I've re-read it at least 3 times. "
— Cat, 1/28/2014 -
" The premise was great. I felt Herbert spent too much time exploring very bleak philosophical thoughts, less time dealing with this horrible disease. I wish he'd shown us more of what it was like when women first started turning up sick. Also, I never understood why the disease was designed to target women. Women didn't destroy his family. Men did. "
— Nikki, 1/23/2014 -
" Began the first chapter in Omni and had to read the rest. "
— Chris, 1/17/2014 -
" If I did a class on dystopian futures, or literary "plagues," I would include this very readable, feminist text. Grateful to Stephen for introducing me to Frank Herbert. "
— Pamela, 1/14/2014 -
" i read this book when i was a senior in hs and it was one of the best books i'd read at the time. really good. sci-fi, but not really. really good. "
— angrykitty, 1/13/2014 -
" Pretty solid SF story that most recently got me through jury duty. Come see where Y: The Last Man came from! "
— Comedian999, 1/4/2014 -
" I didn't finish the book. While the story intrigued me, when the F-word came up three times in three and a half discs, I turned it off. I'm sure the story was great...I just didn't appreciate the language. "
— Kellie, 1/4/2014 -
" Not a bad book, but not as great as it could have been, either. It gets bogged down in too much detail at times, particularly with the science of how the plague works. If you're a fan of Herbert it's worth a read, but if you've never read him before, start with the Dune series. "
— Michael, 12/30/2013 -
" I read this book 20 years ago but still cannot hear a news story about bio terrorism without thinking about this book. It made me rethink using money too! "
— Mary, 12/29/2013 -
" I read this at quite a young age and needless to say it left quite an impression. I dare not reread unless my fascinated horror is lessened. "
— Audrey, 11/16/2013 -
" Love F. H. but ... not my cup. "
— Heather's, 11/15/2013 -
" Reminded me of Stephen King's The Stand. Good read overall. "
— Matt, 5/31/2013 -
" This is the worst apocalypse book I have ever read. All politics and suspense, and none of the survival stories. I could not finish it. "
— Rebecca, 4/28/2013 -
" Interesting concept, but, frankly, grossly overplays the cynicism about humanity in general. "
— Andy, 10/17/2012 -
" Even though it was written long before the sequencing revolution, his story still is a fun read and surprisingly relevant. "
— Jessica, 8/9/2012 -
" What would happen if a virus attacked and killed only girls and women? A very interesting concept. "
— mart, 5/26/2012 -
" The ending was not what I wanted. It was as if he hadn't told the whole story but had to finish the thing by a certain page number. Too many issues left only scratched upon, not fleshed out. I enjoyed the book overall. "
— Mike, 11/11/2011 -
" Removing this review, as I obviously have a faulty memory of this book. Still remember it as being a stinker. "
— Doug, 10/21/2011 -
" Pretty solid SF story that most recently got me through jury duty. Come see where Y: The Last Man came from! "
— Comedian999, 5/17/2011 -
" Frank Herbert has a real way of creating new civilations out of thin air that just amazes me, but this one made me pause. I can't decide how I feel about it, but I could talk about it on a philosophical level for hours...weird? "
— Jessica, 11/30/2010 -
" Pretty good novel. I liked most the part where the 4 travelers are together, and the political intrigue that Herbert is so good at. "
— Liz, 11/22/2010 -
" Not a bad book, but not as great as it could have been, either. It gets bogged down in too much detail at times, particularly with the science of how the plague works. If you're a fan of Herbert it's worth a read, but if you've never read him before, start with the Dune series. "
— Michael, 10/16/2010 -
" "The White Plague" took me MONTHS to read, not because it wasn't interesting, I just couldn't seem to get into the story enough to want to read it quickly. I enjoyed the plot and the characters, but it was a painfully slow read. "
— Angie, 8/31/2010 -
" Even though it was written long before the sequencing revolution, his story still is a fun read and surprisingly relevant. "
— Jessica, 8/6/2010 -
" I didn't finish the book. While the story intrigued me, when the F-word came up three times in three and a half discs, I turned it off. I'm sure the story was great...I just didn't appreciate the language. "
— Kellie, 6/30/2010 -
" In keeping the reader from feeling the absence of women, The White Plague fails its intriguing premise. Add to that the broadly painted and unsympathetic cast and stuttering pace, and The White Plague is a definite miss. "
— Clare, 6/21/2010 -
" This is the worst apocalypse book I have ever read. All politics and suspense, and none of the survival stories. I could not finish it. "
— Rebecca, 6/1/2010 -
" This book really pissed me off. Also, it just goes to show you what a miraculous fluke Dune was. "
— Nicole, 5/29/2010
About Frank Herbert
Frank Herbert (1920–1986), winner of the Hugo and Nebula awards and a #1 New York Times bestselling author, was born in Tacoma, Washington, and worked as a reporter and later as an editor for a number of West Coast newspapers before becoming a full-time writer. His first science fiction story was published in 1952, but he achieved fame more than ten years later with the publication of “Dune World” and “The Prophet of Dune” in Analog. The stories were amalgamated in the bestselling novel Dune in 1965.
About Scott Brick
Scott Brick, an acclaimed voice artist, screenwriter, and actor, has performed on film, television, and radio. He attended UCLA and spent ten years in a traveling Shakespeare company. Passionate about the spoken word, he has narrated a wide variety of audiobooks. winning won more than fifty AudioFile Earphones Awards and several of the prestigious Audie Awards. He was named a Golden Voice by AudioFile magazine and the Voice of Choice for 2016 by Booklist magazine.