The scorched earth approach to this novel is shocking and exhilarating. Herbert takes his era-defining first novel and excavates a plot which dismantles the hero narrative and adds political commentary too incisive to be anything other than the work of a great student of history. The conversations between heads of state betray the true intentions of the novel right away-that nobody should ever trust their political heroes. Loses a star for not really being a novel, but instead more of a bridge between two larger novels.