The Green Brain

by Frank Herbert

In an overpopulated world seeking living room in the jungles, the International Ecological Organization was systematically exterminating the voracious insects which made these areas uninhabitable. Using deadly foamal bombs and newly developed vibration weapons, men like Joao Martinho and his co-workers fought to clear the green hell of the Mato Grosso.But somehow those areas which had been completely cleared were becoming reinfested, despite the impenetrable vibration barriers. And tales came out of the jungles . . . of insects mutated to incredible sizes . . . of creatures who seemed to be men, but whose eyes gleamed with the chitinous sheen of insects. . . .A fascinating examination of the fragile balance between consciousness, man and insect from one of the best-loved science fiction creators of all time.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Fantasy, Audiobook, Speculative Fiction, Novels

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1966

About the author

Franklin Patrick Herbert Jr. was an American science fiction author best known for the 1965 novel Dune and its five sequels. Though he became famous for his novels, he also wrote short stories and worked as a newspaper journalist, photographer, book reviewer, ecological consultant, and lecturer.
The Dune saga, set in the distant future, and taking place over millennia, explores complex themes, such as the long-term survival of the human species, human evolution, planetary science and ecology, and the intersection of religion, politics, economics and power in a future where humanity has long since developed interstellar travel and settled many thousands of worlds. Dune is the best-selling science fiction novel of all time, and the entire series is considered to be among the classics of the genre.

Reviews

[Dannii Elle]

Made it all of 25 pages in before the blatant misogyny of the text forced me to desist. I'm just not fucking with these bad vibes books, in 2019!

[Manny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am glad to discover that this obscure 60s SF novel is not entirely forgotten.

[Sadie Forsythe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Merely ok.
Written in the mid-sixties, it's full of the sort of casual sexism that give me hives. But the idea was interesting enough and the writing kept me engaged, even if the character were flat and the editing a bit slap-dash.

[Milou · Rating 4 out of 5]

I should probably start of by saying this is the first book by Frank Herbert I have read (but definitely not the last). I have not, like most of the reviewers, read Dune yet. This is probably for the best, seeing as the masterpiece which is Dune may have disappointed this book for me.

I did really enjoy this book. Sure, it had its problems. The characters were underdeveloped and quite stereotypical. There were a lot of unanswered questions left at the end. There were some things too convenient or just wrong. For example, someone dies and their body then just disappears? No one asks about the corpse (although they do mention the skeleton next to it). It is an action packed storey; the scenes were so well described it played out as a movie in my head. The why and the how were never answered though.

But there are two things that make this a great book for me. First of all is Dr Rhin Kelly. She moves herself between men who “don’t understand how one can call such a beautiful woman Doctor”, and shows it to them. She is an entomologist who also does some espionage. She leads the expedition into the jungle. She has a sharp tongue, but can comfort and lead the men in stress situations. And yes she has panic attacks and moments of hysteria, but that only makes her more human. She isn’t a slut but does enjoy playing with men. She is basically an awesome female character, but not too kickass to be inhuman, with a leading role in the story. Thank you Herbert.

Secondly, the main idea of the story. In this book the human race is busy exterminating all insects. This is a topic which is close to my heart. I am currently doing research in finding a way to help wild pollinators. For a book written 50 years ago, the situation in this story is so damn accurate. One of the main characters is Chen-Lhu, a Chinese scientist who was involved in the extermination of the insects in his country. All insects have now disappeared in China and Brazil is taking their example. Currently, there are massive declines in the number of pollinators. There are parts in China where people have to pollinate their crops by hand because there are no bees anymore. In the USA there are people who tour around the country with a truck full of beehives to visit and pollinate different crops where the local pollinator population is not sufficient, after 59% of the colonies were lost between 1947 and 2005. In Europe 25% of the honeybee colonies were lost between 1985 and 2005. And like Herbert tells in this book, the loss of insects will be detrimental to the whole ecosystem. Not only wild plants suffer, but the human food production depends for a large part on these insects as well.

This book may not be Herbert’s best work and definitely had some faults, it also had some excellent points. 3,5* from me and I definitely recommend it. It is a quick read and addresses some important issues.

[Dane Cobain · Rating 4 out of 5]

There’s some pretty solid stuff here, some sci-fi goodness that’s almost Asimovian in the way that it throws ethical quandaries at you and almost Kingian in the way that it freaks you out. I should tell you right now that if you’re disturbed by the idea of a human being made entirely from insects that are able to work together to mimic speech, you should avoid this one. And if you’re not, what’s wrong with you?

Still, I did find that it over-relied on certain parts of the plot, while others were weak and didn’t feel as fleshed out as perhaps they could have been. It ended up being just okay, a reasonably good old-school sci-fi read that gets you scratching your head at times. But I’ll be honest, the main thing I took from it is that bugs are creepy.

[Grace Tenkay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the writing reminded me of 'Dune'. Enjoyable but an interesting reminder of how writing styles and cultural references have changed in the last 50 years. Back then SciFi was written for male editors who catered to male readers. A lot has changed for the better. Much more diversity in SciFi now.

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nowhere near as good as the Dune novels, but still an OK SiFi story. Recommended

[Mazzy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked what the Green Brain itself turned out to be and the ecological theme, but I found it difficult to finish the book. The premise is silly—apparently, the whole world thinks it's fine to exterminate all insects with no consequences.

[Aaron B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found the Ace paperback in my stacks while rearranging. From 1967, it told a story of ecological destruction that we can recognize from current newspapers. We are all cells of Gaia and our interdependence with Earth’s other life forms is undeniable. The novel ends with some hope for the future, but is ambiguous considering human intransigence. Four stars; somewhat dated in the Me Too sense with a entomologist Red Sparrow type.

[Dominick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating, tight, ambitious, though not entirely successful SF novel. Herbert's conceit here is that in the near future, humanity has eliminated most insect life in an apparent effort to increase crop production--to end insect damage etc., one assumes. China has totally eradicated all insects except mutated bees designed to perform necessary functions such as pollination; the Americas are close behind, though apparently the US is resisting. However, in the jungles of South America, a new force seems to be resisting the efforts to eradicate insects. . . . somehow (how is not exactly clear, though it seems to involve some sort of human-insect hybridity that has somehow occurred) an insectoid brain that can think, communicate, and control insects has evolved and is making efforts to save both the insect world and of course the human world form the potential consequences of ecological disaster. There are many fascinating touches here, such as the insects' ability to cluster together to create simulacra of humans or of giant bugs (interestingly, Herbert has characters repeatedly note that how such things could support their own weight is a mystery, without ever providing an answer to said mystery), or Herbert's attempt to depict how an insect intelligence might think--I didn't find this attempt entirely successful, but then, it's a tall order, and Herbert gets points for making a good effort. There are less salutary elements, as well, such as the female entomologist who functions mainly as love interest and damsel in distress, or the inscrutable Oriental who seems determined not to have the truth come out--even though concealment of the truth might well doom humanity. Must have been rather cutting-edge at the time it came out--only four years after Rachel Carson's silent Spring, evidently the inspiration for the "Carsonites" in the book, who resist efforts to change the ecological balance--and still has relevant things to say about the dangers inherent in human interference in complex ecological processes. its literalization of the symbiotic relationship between humans and other creatures is also a nice estranging element. If this book were written today, it would probably be three times as long, so Herbert also gets points for economy. Recommended to fans of thoughtful SF--and to fans of giant bugs.

[jobiwan6 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like most people, I read Dune first, fell in love, then sought out his earlier books. And, like most people, was disappointed that they all weren't Dunes. What I came to realize was that most of Herbert's earliest works were stories appearing in science fiction magazines like Amazing Stories & Astounding Science Fiction, and the books were just fleshed-out versions of these short stories.

Reccuring themes throughout Herbert's writing: ecology, religion, power, the relationship between an environment and its inhabitants, and the consequences (especially in the long term) of attempts at controlling either..

[Curt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seriously, fuck bugs.

[Ben De Bono · Rating 3 out of 5]

God Emperor of Dune: A human becomes a worm
Hellstrom’s Hive: Human cult attempts to become insects
The Green Brain: Insects disguise themselves as human

I’m starting to think Uncle Frank might have had some weird fetishes

[Gilbert Stack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frank Herbert’s novels have often included ecological themes and in this one he seems to have taken his inspiration from Mao Zedong’s Great Leap Forward and the War on Crop Eating Pests—birds, rats and insects. In China, this effort to eradicate pests put special emphasis on the killing of swallows because they ate the crops. Swallows also, as it turns out, ate their body weight in insects every day and without them the insects could not be stopped from ravaging harvests exasperating the famine caused by other policies of the Great Leap Forward. Yet, China found it ideologically difficult to admit that Mao’s policies had had such devastating results and it is in this that I think Herbert found his idea for The Green Brain.

China is leading the world (except for North America and Western Europe) in a program to destroy all insects so that they will not eat food needed by people. China is convinced (and tells people that in China they have already marvelously succeeded) that all the ecological niches filled by insects can be filled by mutated bees. Unfortunately, these policies have resulted in horrendous crop failure in China and they need a scapegoat they can provide to the Chinese people so that their leaders can stay in power. To find this scapegoat, they have come to Brazil where their agent is spreading rumors that men hired to exterminate the insects in the jungle are secretly repopulating the jungles with mutated insects in order to continue earning the huge bounties they make from their work.

There are two heroes in the story—one is Joao Martinho, the man chosen as the Chinese scapegoat. The other is the Green Brain of the title—a mutated insect collective that is trying to figure out how to convince the humans to turn away from their path of destruction that is destroying the world. It is part of Herbert’s genius that these insects can be both the source of horror in the story and a force that we can also hope succeed.

The heart of the story is very similar to Herbert’s book Angels’ Fall which he wrote early in his career but wasn’t published until after his death. It involves an unpowered trip down a mighty jungle river with the intelligently directed insects pursuing our heroes.

This isn’t Herbert’s best novel, but it’s a good story so long as you remember that it was written before our modern satellite system was in place. China’s schemes would be impossible with satellite imagery showing that they had turned their nation into a desert.

If you liked this review, you can find more at www.gilbertstack.com/reviews.

[Christopher Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Truly an Entomophobic's worst nightmare.

This book ended up being a pleasant surprise. The beginning was a bit stale, introducing characters with very little background history and rushing into scenes and situations that I found difficult to understand at first. It almost felt as though this were a sequel and I hadn't read the first book.

Once it began to develop, the brilliance of Herbert, which made so many fall in love with the Dune series, was obvious. This was the first novel I have ever read from Herbert, and his descriptions of surroundings and depth of emotion amazed me.

His intricately detailed depictions of this world he created was masterful, the way he brought the jungle in which this story takes place to life made me feel as though I were there myself. This book was amazing more because of the incredible descriptive qualities rather than the actual plot, which lacked foundation.

Another thing I loved about this book was the awesome chemistry between the main characters. The connection he created between these characters felt so genuine, and their emotional depth was surprising.

Whether you are familiar with Frank Herbert or not, if you can get past a sluggish start, this book is truly an enjoyable read... Unless you have a fear of insects ;)

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have had this book staring at me from my shelf for a couple years. I picked it up because I enjoyed Herbert's Dune, but the premise was just not overly inviting. I finally decided to read it this week and found the novel has a lot of promise, but not enough development. The characters are too stereotypical--the readheaded Irish beauty, the suave Latin lover, and the inhuman, atheistic Chinese. The plot was interesting and it would make a great thriller movie, but characters were too undeveloped and the political ideology was too central. I liked the ending, but I felt it was a little too didactic. In sum, Dune was better.

[Stella ☆Paper Wings☆]

I bought this original (yellowed) 1966 version for a dollar because why not.

[LyL3_Z · Rating 1 out of 5]

All'inizio pensavo di essere io a essermi ingolfata, invece è uno dei libri più noiosi e inutili che abbia mai letto, il 90% del quale si risolve nella navigazione di un fiume su una capsula in cui i personaggi bidimensionali dialogano ripetendo le stesse parole e azioni di continuo.
La trama è la seguente:
Un cinese, un'irlandese e un brasiliano vanno al bar (sul serio)...
L'irlandese è un dottore entomologo (sic) spia del cinese ateo e rappresentante della cinica burocrazia del suo governo, il brasiliano è ovviamente affascinante per via del suo sangue latino, lei piagnona inutile si rifugia pian piano nelle braccia di lui e il cinese rosica perché ha dei piani diversi; insieme devono far luce sul fatto che ci sono in giro insetti giganti nonostante i governi abbiano già da tempo sterminato tutti gli insetti perché sono dannosi e fanno schifo. Però una mente-alveare non meglio specificata, quella che darebbe il titolo al libro anche in originale ma che rimane completamente indefinita e a cui vengono dedicate quattro pagine in croce, la quale controlla tutti gli insetti ma non si capisce se anche altro, non è felice e vuole da loro non si capisce esattamente cosa (credo usarli come portavoce per il fatto che certe brutte cose non si fanno, ma anche qui non sappiamo bene come).
Per il 90% del tempo, i tre sono rinchiusi in una capsula che discende un fiume, le apportano riparazioni, si lagnano e si impanicano perché vedono gli insetti fuori, si chiedono se siano arrivati e si rispondono "quando arriviamo siamo arrivati", la dottore piagnucola istericamente e si fa coccolare, il cinese continua a ripetersi di dover apparire cattivo sennò non sarebbe abbastanza cinese, il maschione maschieggia. E si lagnano per gli insetti. E piagnucolano. E vedono dove stanno. E vedono se ci sono le rapide. E dicono "ma siamo arrivati alle rapide?" "No." "E quando ci arriviamo?" "Boh non lo so tra due giorni" "E quando ci arriviamo che facciamo?" "Ci attacchiamo" e piangono. E si lagnano. E lei è isterica. E lei vuole le coccole perché è bella e inutile. E si lagnano. E il cinese fa il cattivo. E...

Idea di partenza potenzialmente buona, con idee simpatiche -simulacri umani fatti di insetti per esempio, o una mente-alveare che prende forma-, ma esecuzione da discarica.
Talmente brutto che me lo voglio togliere di casa per non vederlo nemmeno sugli scaffali (spoiler: sul cervello verde non troverete quasi nulla).

[Ryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The conceit of the book is that some bugs have evolved a consciousness after certain areas of the world have tried to eradicate them from their lands because they need every crop for human consumption.

It's not even that they want to wipe out the bugs that only eat the plants, they want to wipe out every bug. In so far as they will spray copious amounts of horrific poisons in nature to eradicate them.

This conceit is incredibly dumb. I can stand a dumb premise if the story is good but it's really not. The characters are annoying and conniving against each other. Herbert switches perspectives in a jarring way. There is a potential espionage honey-pot situation where of course they fall in love or do they because who would fall in love while attempting to escape some bug commandos trying to catch you.

It just kind of sucks but it's short so you can get through it quick.

[Mario · Rating 2 out of 5]

La idea es increíble, la ejecución es terrible.

Herbert tiene una suerte de don para las intrigas políticas en la ciencia ficción (Dune es el perfecto ejemplo), y en esta historia supo urdir todo el fondo que desencadena los eventos actuales. Me pareció de más innovador, para su tiempo, la descripción del Cerebro, de sus pensamientos, de sus inquietudes respecto al ser humano. ¿Cómo es posible que el cerebro de los insectos pudiera llegar a comprender la complejidad del cerebro humano? Esas intrigas fueron bastante agradables de leer.

Pero el desarrollo de esa política, el mismo desarrollo de los personajes (excepto el Cerebro), las descripciones de cada escena, me parecieron sosas y muy apresuradas. El tema merecía un abordaje más profundo, un análisis que fuera digno de tomarse como una verdadera profecía del cambio climático HOY. Y otra cosa. Leo que a muchos les parece insufrible el personaje femenino de la doctora Rhin, que ha sido maniatada a un mero juguete sexual e indefenso, entre otros adjetivos. Y en defensa de Herbert me animaré a decir que es intencional. Es decir, creo que Herbert quiso pintarnos a esos personajes así de "simples" y "límbicos" para justificar las incoherencias del ser humano y lo compleja que puede ser la especie a los ojos de otra.

O tal vez fue víctima de la época. Quién sabe.

[Cristina · Rating 2 out of 5]

I expected more from this book, as I had heard a lot of good from the author. It seemed to me very misogynistic, plain, with flat characters. The story is very interesting although a bit unbelievable, and even though it is not a long book, I feel like it could have explained much more in the 200-odd pages that it has.

[Duane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Highly Relevant Video!!

[Stuart Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good idea but poorly executed. Not one of the author's better offerings. Nearly DNF'd but persevered as it was so short. Still felt longer than the Magic Mountain.

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5 an interesting concept.

[Kerry · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a strange little book. For the most part it was about three people stuck in a thing together, and one of them was a woman, and although she was ostensibly a scientist, her main point of existing was to be sexy. Which is dumb and frustrating, but not enough to like TOTALLY ruin the book or anything.

It didn't feel very Dune-y until the last third or so, when they all were attempting to play psychological games on each other. And then they'd be like oh my god that so comment is so insightful, how did they know that???? and I'm like, "really? Okay, if you say so" so basically exactly like all of Dune.

Anyway, bugs, we need 'em, the end.

[Nathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Green Brain is by far the least philosophical of Herbert's novels, which I think is a flaw. Herbert is at his best when examining the undercurrents of human nature and culture, which he does well in the Dune novels and others like The Dosadi Experiment. The Green Brain is clearly an early novel and though it works well as an adventure story, even a bit of an action suspense story, it lacks the depth that Herbert could have put into it. Again, worth reading for die hard Herbert fans who want to see his development, but standing alone it is only average.

[Gabe Chaves · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book stirs up some excellent concepts and ideas yet it sadly fails to live up in the execution. I feel that for the scope that the author was trying to bring he needed a longer novel and a more dynamic plot. Half of the novel ends up being about three people in a boat which sadly becomes tedious and boring. The more interesting parts of the novel were ,ironically, with the non-human characters. Its a pulpy scifi novel that could have been a real scifi classic. Great ideas but poor execution. A rewrite would benefit the novel greatly.

[Bob Rawski · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, originally published in 1966, portrays a chilling world in which man's destruction of the environment has pushed nature to the point that it decides to strike back. A great read for the current generation of eco-sustainable folks looking for an "I told you so!" story. With the advantage of current CGI technology, this book would now make a really cool movie. Hope someone finds it and gives it a go!

[Isabel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Causally sexist and racist, with limited scientific vision and a convoluted writing style that made the plot very difficult to follow, riddled with tired phrases, dead metaphors and cliche tropes. Best thing about this book was the sick death metal style cover.

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nature strikes back.