The book begins with an epigram from Princess Irulan (from the original Dune Trilogy), looking back 10000 years into the past, and the time of the Butlerian Jihad. The Butlerian Jihad was the revolt of mankind against the thinking machines. Long ago, a group of people had attempted to revitalize the flagging human spirit. Those people eventually took over the Old Empire by giving the machines on which the Empire relied intelligence. This group of people called themselves the Titans, and they ruled over humanity. However, a small band of rebels formed a group called the League of Nobles, and they fought the Titans to a standstill. After the Titan’s leader was killed, the rest of the Titans placed their brains in mechanical bodies, called Cymeks,  to stave off the effects of aging and time. However, one day a new machine intelligence, named Omnius, arose and took over the galaxy from the Titans, making them subservient to him, and constantly striving to eliminate mankind forever.

As the book opens, Salusa Secundus, the capital of the League of Nobles, is about to come under attack by the robot fleet of Omnius, led by Agamemnon, leader of the Titans. The people on the planet have erected shields that will scramble the electronic brains of any machine as it heads towards the ground, but Agamemnon is depending on the fact that the brains of the Titans are organic to help them penetrate to the planet’s surface and destroy the shielding. Xavier Harkonnen is the tercero or leader of the militia, in charge of the planet’s defenses around the capital city where the shields are located. When the alert comes that the robots are coming, he orders Serena Butler, the daughter of the Viceroy, into a safe bunker. It’s obvious he has feelings for her, and tries to hide it from his men

Meanwhile, Serena is about to address the local government on the immoral practice of keeping human slaves. She knows that she’s young and the chances of these people listening to her are minimal, but she feels she has to try. She’s almost finished with her speech when the alarm sounds to evacuate the government buildings and get to the shelters.

The robot fleet have launched dropships towards the planet and they have managed to evade the defenses. When they open up, Xavier can see that they have brought cymek fighting machines, robots with human brains that will destroy the shields. A dropship lands on the militia headquarters, destroying the building and leaving Xavier in charge of the entire militia. He watches the planetary defenses try to fight back, but it doesn’t seem like they are going to be able to hold. He orders the militia to abandon the defense of the city and concentrate on protecting the shield generators, because he knows if they are taken, the entire planet will be open for invasion.

Characters introduced:

Xavier Harkonnen - Tercero of Salusa Secundus, leader of the militia, Serena’s suitor
Serena Butler - daughter of the Viceroy of Salusa Secundus
Agamemnon - leader of the 20 Titans

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