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Whipping Star Audiobook
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(3.01) - 1,506 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
In the far future, humankind has made contact with numerous other species—Gowachin, Laclac, Wreaves, Pan Spechi, Taprisiots, and Caleban (among others)—and has helped to form the ConSentiency to govern between the species. After suffering under a tyrannous pure democracy that had the power to create laws so fast that no thought could be given to the effects, the sentients of the galaxy found a need for the Bureau of Sabotage (BuSab) to slow the wheels of government, thereby preventing it from legislating recklessly.
In Whipping Star, Jorj X. McKie, a "Saboteur Extraordinary," is a born troublemaker who has naturally become one of BuSab's best agents. As the novel opens, it is revealed that Calebans, who are beings visible to other sentient species as stars, have been disappearing one by one. Each disappearance is accompanied by millions of sentient deaths and instances of incurable insanity.
Ninety years prior to the setting of Whipping Star, the Calebans appeared and offered jump-doors to the collective species, allowing sentients to travel instantly to any point in the universe. Gratefully accepting, the sentiency didn't question the consequences. Now Mliss Abnethe, a psychotic human female with immense power and wealth, has bound a Caleban in a contract that allows the Caleban to be whipped to death; when the Caleban dies, everyone who has ever used a jump-door (which is almost every adult in the sentient world and many of the young) will die as well.
The Calebans have attempted to remedy the error, but Mliss Abnethe refuses to cancel the contract, and the Caleban sense of honor makes breaking the contract from their side unthinkable. To save themselves, all the Calebans are handing over the time-like history lines of the sentients who used jump-doors to one Caleban, Fannie Mae, and withdrawing from ConSentiency space. McKie has to find Mliss and stop her before Fannie Mae reaches, in her words, "ultimate discontinuity," but he is constrained by the law protecting private individuals by restricting the ministrations of BuSab to public entities.
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"The thing I learned from this book is that masochism and sadism have similar origins and are weirdly synergistic in their coupling. I hadn't thought that until I read this one. SF has the unitque ability of deactivate self-protection in way that allows critical thought. I like that too."
— Kev (4 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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“Scott Brick narrates this classic piece of science fiction with his usual excellence. The world of the novel is rich and detailed, and Brick is no stranger to readings of this type.”
— AudioFile -
Scott Brick narrates this classic piece of science fiction with his usual excellence. The world of the novel is rich and detailed, and Brick is no stranger to readings of this type.
— AudioFile -
“Herbert is one of the most thought-provoking writers of our time; by focusing on ‘alien’ culture, he makes us examine what the true definition of ‘human’ is.”
— San Rafael (CA) Pacific Sun
Whipping Star Listener Reviews
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" I recently re-read this novel that I had first encountered in my teens. I remember loving it then, and was pleasantly surprised that it has held up very well over time. "
— Saintseester, 2/11/2014 -
" It's fascinating to compare this book to its later sequel, The Dosadi Experiment. Whipping Star is much breezier, even slightly comic at times. I enjoyed this book, but I prefer the greater depth and gravity of the sequel. "
— Sandra, 2/9/2014 -
" Interesting. The confusing-language-on-purpose is charming at first, but got a little tiring after a while. Despite that, it moves pretty quickly for Herbert. On to "Dosadi" next... "
— Alex, 2/4/2014 -
" interesting idea. very similar in structure to his other books. very interesting quotes to start the chapters, many about language and communication. "
— Andrew, 1/31/2014 -
" Just started the audiobook "
— Jack, 1/29/2014 -
" I listened to this book on a playaway from the library and it was quite good. It's a space detective story, but for me the best parts were the interspecies interactions. The way the main "alien" species communicates with the other sentients of Herbert's worlds makes for a lot of hilarious, sometimes grimly so, miscommunication. The main character is a hard-boiled type, but he works for the bureau of sabotage, which does all it can to keep the governments on their toes--an interesting premise. The various quotes at the beginnings of chapters, from various species, are gems. I'm going to have to get the book out so I can write some of those quotes down. "
— Brigid, 1/19/2014 -
" Just on odd story really...They actually whip a star! Weird! "
— Justin, 1/19/2014 -
" A book about communication problems that has some definite communication problems. The overall story was enjoyable, with some good character portrayals, but at times it was hard to follow. "
— Brian, 1/16/2014 -
" It is a very quick read and it gets you thinking in a lot of different ways. It's definitely worth the three hours for a fresh perspective. This is definitely a thinker though. This is not a leisure book that you will breeze through. "
— Jake, 12/19/2013 -
" Legal case fought with logic (and spears). The Bureau of Sabotage's best frog faced agent. "
— Jonathan, 11/28/2013 -
" This little gem is perfect for my five sci-fi books to convince the doubting. Short, thought provoking and well written. What more could we ask for? "
— Yvonne, 11/18/2013 -
" Pure pulp. A quick read - great for a plane ride. "
— Cheryl, 10/30/2013 -
" Although I generally like Frank Herbert quite a lot, this particular novel left me cold. "
— Erik, 4/25/2013 -
" I think this was my second favorite of Herbert's books, following Dune. It didn't go exactly where I expected. "
— Kitty, 2/25/2013 -
" If you enjoy time and space si-fi this is a quick read. "
— Jesse, 11/20/2012 -
" A weird story involving a sentient star involved in some bizarre relationship with some evil galactic queen or something. Pretty random. I guess he was practicing for Dune. "
— Rusty, 5/20/2012 -
" More from the world of Frank Herbert. I'm reading this to get more of an idea of his writing outside of the Dune universe. A good examination of the difficulties of two races trying to communicate. "
— Jeff, 5/19/2012 -
" Excellent short but intense Now I have to get the Dosadi Experiment "
— Simon, 4/29/2012 -
" wow. what a gem of a scifi novel. this blew me away. great characters, gripping plot, imaginative world--this is one of Herbert's best, in my opinion. "
— Dave, 2/8/2012 -
" A read as pleasing as it is short. "
— Maxime, 8/17/2011 -
" Companion to the Dosadi Experiment. Great read. "
— Kerr, 5/22/2011 -
" Companion to the Dosadi Experiment. Great read. "
— Kerr, 1/11/2011 -
" I recently re-read this novel that I had first encountered in my teens. I remember loving it then, and was pleasantly surprised that it has held up very well over time. "
— Saintseester, 4/7/2010 -
" I fell in love with Thyone. <br/>Somehow, this book was incredibly powerful for me, emotionally. I don't understand it. "
— Mark, 3/26/2010 -
" Fantastically deep. It was so refreshing to finally read a a well written novel. It's hard to find an equivalent in today's modern authors, although they are out there. "
— Phil, 1/15/2010 -
" This was a fine book. Interesting premise. <br/> <br/>I am not the Dune fan that some people are. When comparing this to his other non-Dune books, I did like it, though not quite as much as "The White Plague" or "The Green Brain." <br/> "
— Steven, 12/11/2009 -
" Awesome novel...and one of the stranger things Herbert wrote...thinking of reading this one again soon. "
— Samuel, 10/2/2009 -
" too much technical jibber-jabber and not enough political/philosophical/emotional/dramatic intrigue as was written into the dune series. may please hardcore sci-fi fans, but was not at all engaging to me (a person who reads comic books religiously and loves robert heinlein). "
— William, 6/12/2009 -
" Best to read before Dosadi to really understand that novel's background. An entertaining read in itself. "
— Rob, 4/13/2009 -
" Could just not get into this book. Was very hard to read and jumped around alot and didn't explain or introduce this new universe very well. "
— Sara, 1/4/2009
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.