What do you think?
Rate this book
Hellstrom's Hive
Hellstrom est un spécialiste réputé des insectes et en particulier des fourmis et des termites. Il a installé ses laboratoires dans une vallée perdue de l’Oregon.
Mais quel est son véritable projet, le fameux et mystérieux Projet 40 ? Trois hommes de l’Agence, le plus puissant des services secrets américains, parfaitement équipés et entraînés, ont disparu en se contentant d’observer la Vallée.
Comme s’ils avaient été avalés par la terre, par cette monstrueuse termitière humaine souterraine qui est l’avenir qu’une secte pluriséculaire a promis à l’humanité.
Hellstrom n’est qu’une façade.
Le roman le plus inquiétant de l’auteur de Dune.
Préface de Gérard Klein.
278 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 1973
96 people are currently reading
3099 people want to read
About the author
Frank Herbert
547 books16.5k followersFranklin 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.
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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 211 reviews
April 30, 2024
As with most works from Frank Herbert, Hellstrom’s Hive is not only very good on the surface, it also works well on many different levels. And like most of his writing, all excellent, it is difficult to assess this work without references to his greatest work, Dune.
First published in 1973, four years after Dune Messiah and three years before Children of Dune, many themes of Herbert’s Dune series can be seen in Hive, particularly a fascination with genetics and a dynamic econo-socialization. A fan of Dune will recall that the Bene Gesserit were particularly adept at arranged breeding patterns and the Bene Tleilaxu have a hive mentality, de-emphasizing individualism.
The contrast between individualism and a group consciousness is a major theme in this work. Herbert has created a world (presumably modern day / current time United States) where a centuries old movement to replicate insect “hive” organizations in a human society have evolved to challenge the “wild” human population for dominance. In Herbert’s present day, though, America has become a police state and government agencies exist atop the country’s power structure. Most interestingly, and representative of his genius for writing, Herbert tells the story from the perspective of the hive and the American police state is the “outside” enemy. In his own words, this created a "peculiar kind of tension".
This may also be seen as an allegory about communism. At the time of the writing, the U.S. and USSR were gripped in the global stalemate of the Cold War. Herbert’s Hive resembles an autocratic society by its genetically manipulated, highly specialized caste worker system. But here is where Herbert’s genius transforms this simple metaphor into something much more interesting as he describes similarities between our police state society and a hive like insect inspired one. Hellstrom’s Hive then can also be seen as a statement that not only could a police state be seen as a insect like drone system, but our reliance on "elite" leadership of such a state may not even be the most successful model.
Taking his inspiration from the Hellstrom Chronicle, a 1971 film describing a Darwinistic struggle for survival between humans and insects that has elements of satire and sci-fi horror; Herbert makes use of his exceptional ability to produce well-crafted characterization to further create a first rate science fiction novel.
Readers who enjoyed Dune will be pleasantly surprised to see that Herbert’s non-Dune writing was also first rate.
*** 2024 reread -
While this can definitely be seen as an allegory about collectivism, Herbert crafts this in such a way as to be a comparison between two rival types.
On the one hand the author describes our own government, but as a police state filled with competing agencies vying for behind the scenes power. On the other is the horrific human hive that Herbert demonstrates with a certain amount of sympathy and while he is an omniscient narrator, the reader understands that Hellstrom and his citizenry are the real protagonists.
First published in 1973 when the Cold War was sill vert much a thing, Herbert takes the side of a dehumanizing, centuries old cult like population to underscore his cautionary tale about our own government going rogue. The reader finds the layered allegory about a human hive-like city to be perhaps more palatable than our own system featuring clown like malcontents.
Was Herbert advocating for collectivism? Not really. He was also demonstrating a distrust of government, particularly noteworthy as this was also occurring during the Watergate investigation. By comparing the more sympathetic hive mind, reaching its current state after centuries of development, to a hive like structure of our government, Herbert is using hyperbole to explore ideas about group thought and about the nature of individualism and especially as this term may be understood within the parameters of a police state.
Thought provoking and kind of scary, Herbert’s Hive is an important work by itself but also significant when readers consider this in the light of its setting as well as by comparison to his more recognized Dune works.
First published in 1973, four years after Dune Messiah and three years before Children of Dune, many themes of Herbert’s Dune series can be seen in Hive, particularly a fascination with genetics and a dynamic econo-socialization. A fan of Dune will recall that the Bene Gesserit were particularly adept at arranged breeding patterns and the Bene Tleilaxu have a hive mentality, de-emphasizing individualism.
The contrast between individualism and a group consciousness is a major theme in this work. Herbert has created a world (presumably modern day / current time United States) where a centuries old movement to replicate insect “hive” organizations in a human society have evolved to challenge the “wild” human population for dominance. In Herbert’s present day, though, America has become a police state and government agencies exist atop the country’s power structure. Most interestingly, and representative of his genius for writing, Herbert tells the story from the perspective of the hive and the American police state is the “outside” enemy. In his own words, this created a "peculiar kind of tension".
This may also be seen as an allegory about communism. At the time of the writing, the U.S. and USSR were gripped in the global stalemate of the Cold War. Herbert’s Hive resembles an autocratic society by its genetically manipulated, highly specialized caste worker system. But here is where Herbert’s genius transforms this simple metaphor into something much more interesting as he describes similarities between our police state society and a hive like insect inspired one. Hellstrom’s Hive then can also be seen as a statement that not only could a police state be seen as a insect like drone system, but our reliance on "elite" leadership of such a state may not even be the most successful model.
Taking his inspiration from the Hellstrom Chronicle, a 1971 film describing a Darwinistic struggle for survival between humans and insects that has elements of satire and sci-fi horror; Herbert makes use of his exceptional ability to produce well-crafted characterization to further create a first rate science fiction novel.
Readers who enjoyed Dune will be pleasantly surprised to see that Herbert’s non-Dune writing was also first rate.
*** 2024 reread -
While this can definitely be seen as an allegory about collectivism, Herbert crafts this in such a way as to be a comparison between two rival types.
On the one hand the author describes our own government, but as a police state filled with competing agencies vying for behind the scenes power. On the other is the horrific human hive that Herbert demonstrates with a certain amount of sympathy and while he is an omniscient narrator, the reader understands that Hellstrom and his citizenry are the real protagonists.
First published in 1973 when the Cold War was sill vert much a thing, Herbert takes the side of a dehumanizing, centuries old cult like population to underscore his cautionary tale about our own government going rogue. The reader finds the layered allegory about a human hive-like city to be perhaps more palatable than our own system featuring clown like malcontents.
Was Herbert advocating for collectivism? Not really. He was also demonstrating a distrust of government, particularly noteworthy as this was also occurring during the Watergate investigation. By comparing the more sympathetic hive mind, reaching its current state after centuries of development, to a hive like structure of our government, Herbert is using hyperbole to explore ideas about group thought and about the nature of individualism and especially as this term may be understood within the parameters of a police state.
Thought provoking and kind of scary, Herbert’s Hive is an important work by itself but also significant when readers consider this in the light of its setting as well as by comparison to his more recognized Dune works.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 12, 2018
Three and half stars.
As I mentioned earlier, in my poor ignorance, I thought that Frank Herbert was a "one success man". That is: Dune and the sequels. Fortunately, I was curious about this novel when I found it in the prestigious SF Masterworks collection. Now I know that this author has other interesting novels that I have added to my list of pending readings.
Hellstrom's Hive is a good classic (1973). An entertaining novel about genetics and social experiments, so the novel is also a bit speculative. It is also a critique of secret agencies: those in which the left hand does not know what the right is doing (and vice versa).
The main characters are the agents of an unknown secret organization, each one with their own peculiar vision of how the problem they face should be dealt with according to their interests. And, of course, there's Mr. Hellstrom, a kind of entrepreneur with ... a hidden agenda.
As I say, a good science fiction novel, which deals with a little-treated subject in the genre. And about this, it reminds me, have you read Stephen Baxter's Coalescent? (another good one)
As I mentioned earlier, in my poor ignorance, I thought that Frank Herbert was a "one success man". That is: Dune and the sequels. Fortunately, I was curious about this novel when I found it in the prestigious SF Masterworks collection. Now I know that this author has other interesting novels that I have added to my list of pending readings.
Hellstrom's Hive is a good classic (1973). An entertaining novel about genetics and social experiments, so the novel is also a bit speculative. It is also a critique of secret agencies: those in which the left hand does not know what the right is doing (and vice versa).
The main characters are the agents of an unknown secret organization, each one with their own peculiar vision of how the problem they face should be dealt with according to their interests. And, of course, there's Mr. Hellstrom, a kind of entrepreneur with ... a hidden agenda.
As I say, a good science fiction novel, which deals with a little-treated subject in the genre. And about this, it reminds me, have you read Stephen Baxter's Coalescent? (another good one)
October 29, 2024
“The path to species extinction begins with the proud belief that in each individual there is a mentalistic being – and ego or personality , spirit, anima, character, soul, or mind – and that this separated incarnation is somehow free.” (p.307)
Pressed to contextualize this quotation, one might feel tempted to guess it can be found in Mein Kampf or any other völkisch pamphlet because of the Du bist nichts, dein Volk ist alles drift underlying this gross statement. And yet, it is actually one of the tenets by which the Hive people in Frank Herbert’s novel Hellstrom’s Hive live. These people have modelled their lives on that of eusocial insects, especially ants, in that the individual specimen is entirely subject to the survival and the needs of its society, yea even moulded by these considerations.
The novel depicts a conflict between these Hive people and the outer world represented by a mysterious Agency, which is in some way linked with the American government. When the Agency starts to spy on Hellstrom’s farm in Oregon, its leaders have no idea of what they are dealing with, but they think they have the chance to cash in on either plans for a new kind of weapon or on some metallurgical technologies – whatever is behind the label of the so-called Project 40 they have got wind of as being hatched out on that Oregon farm. Later, though, their agent Eddie Janvert will stumble into the horrors of Hive life hidden deeply beneath the surface of that sham farm in Oregon. Horrors that culminate in Janvert’s coming across a room filled with countless “procreative stumps”. That, however, is merely the grossest manifestation of life in a society that emulates insects, others being breeding programmes, chemical manipulation of, let’s call them: specimens, according to the function they are going to fulfil in the Hive, the replacement of verbal language through sign language, or the disposal of corpses in so-called vats where they are turned into foodstuff for the community.
Written in 1973 and inspired by a 1971 documentary called The Hellstrom Chronicle [1], the novel does not simply denounce collectivism as an evil, as many science fiction stories in the fifties did by contrasting it with a free and individualist society, but it puts the Hive people into an Outside society that is teeming with ruthlessness and strife. In the novel, the U.S. has become a police state in which various organizations vie for economic, military and political power, using democracy as a smokescreen to the unsuspecting citizens. What is presented as the Agency is a strictly hierarchical organization with political affiliations – Hellstrom has some of these himself by means of so-called front people, i.e. Hive members that live a life in Outsider society and have achieved positions of power – in which the agents are treated as expendables. Contrary to the ruthlessness of the agency leaders, Hellstrom always tries to avoid unnecessary pain or deaths, and the driving philosophy of the Hive is not to try to master nature, as the Outsiders do, but to accept it as a framework within which to operate with judgement and care. Or, as Trova Hellstrom, Hellstrom’s ancestor, put it,
Hellstrom is doubtless wise in a certain way when he realizes that they cannot emulate the insects in any way because what with the insects’ unfettered drive to multiply and eat, this would mean the end of the ecological system sooner or later. We may actually have the spirit of the Club of Rome in these thoughts of limiting growth with a view to what our planet can sustain. The Outsiders as exemplified by the Agency, though, have no concern for these considerations because they are too concentrated on their own personal benefits, money, influence, power, and that is why their workings are presented as an everlasting game of chess whose rules are constantly changing and in which everyone is plotting and hedging against everyone else. The narrative voice sides with neither the Outsiders nor the Hive but gives us equal insight into the mindsets of both conflicting parties and their protagonists, which may be annoying to readers who like to have someone to identify with or to have their world explained to them in terms of good and evil, but which is uncommonly thought-provoking.
However much we may loathe the collectivism and utilitarianism of the Hive, which eventually turns humans into replaceable cogs of human flesh – or shall I say meat in the light of their cannibalistic society? –, the cold egoism of the Outsiders is surely not much better. However we abhor the machinations of the Agency officials, we may surely feel that life within the Hive is a life without dignity and freedom. A dilemma like that may turn our attention to a question such as the one whether the allegedly impending ecological disasters justify attempts at creating more sustainable societies by imposing limits of our freedoms, e.g. the freedom of consuming what we want, or rather by developing technology that may make it possible for us to self-determined (consumer) lives without simultaneously harming the environment to such a degree as we may be doing now. If you go for the first option, you may have some awkward questions to deal with, such as, “How can you justify the necessary restrictions?” or, most urgent of all, “Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?” (“Who is going to watch the watchers?”)
Due to its ambivalence and Herbert’s decision not to give us a well-working counter-example but to show us a kind of justification for the undignified way of life in the Hive the novel has aged extremely well and is highly thought-provoking. If you read it carefully, you may even discover some contradictions that Herbert has, probably intentionally, worked into the text: To give but one example, the text says that Hive life will eventually do without a person’s ability to express their feelings via facial expressions and smiles – probably these are too unreliable and subjective, and feelings as such will become unnecessary for the community – but then, shortly afterwards, we are presented with a situation in which a smile from one Hive member to another clarifies the verbal message that is conveyed. Also, (okay, this is a second example) the idea of introducing sign language – to limit the range of messages that can be expressed? – may be a two-edged sword in that it does not allow members to communicate without seeing each other or with having their hands full of work.
As I said, all in all, the novel aged well but recent events have sensitized me to the thought that modern totalitarianism and collectivism may come in subtler ways, not by forcing people to live in a Hive but, on the contrary, by atomizing them, by making them confine themselves to their houses, their so-called private lives, which, due to digitalization and the politicilization of individual values and decisions, are no longer private at all. People stewing in their own grease and taught to regard each other as a potential menace, either as carriers of diseases or of unwholesome ideas are a compliant mass easily manipulated and herded by those who promise them protection from threats they have come to accept as imminent.
With due alterations, the following statement from Hive society may even apply to us,
Cave salvatores!
[1] Strictly speaking, The Hellstrom Chronicle is not really a documentary but more of a documentary-like film in the vein of Michael Moore’s works, i.e. a film that tries to instil certain beliefs in its viewers, in this case that life is a struggle for survival in which the insects are always one-up on us humans due to their lack of individuality, their capacity for limitless breeding and their adaptability.
Pressed to contextualize this quotation, one might feel tempted to guess it can be found in Mein Kampf or any other völkisch pamphlet because of the Du bist nichts, dein Volk ist alles drift underlying this gross statement. And yet, it is actually one of the tenets by which the Hive people in Frank Herbert’s novel Hellstrom’s Hive live. These people have modelled their lives on that of eusocial insects, especially ants, in that the individual specimen is entirely subject to the survival and the needs of its society, yea even moulded by these considerations.
The novel depicts a conflict between these Hive people and the outer world represented by a mysterious Agency, which is in some way linked with the American government. When the Agency starts to spy on Hellstrom’s farm in Oregon, its leaders have no idea of what they are dealing with, but they think they have the chance to cash in on either plans for a new kind of weapon or on some metallurgical technologies – whatever is behind the label of the so-called Project 40 they have got wind of as being hatched out on that Oregon farm. Later, though, their agent Eddie Janvert will stumble into the horrors of Hive life hidden deeply beneath the surface of that sham farm in Oregon. Horrors that culminate in Janvert’s coming across a room filled with countless “procreative stumps”. That, however, is merely the grossest manifestation of life in a society that emulates insects, others being breeding programmes, chemical manipulation of, let’s call them: specimens, according to the function they are going to fulfil in the Hive, the replacement of verbal language through sign language, or the disposal of corpses in so-called vats where they are turned into foodstuff for the community.
Written in 1973 and inspired by a 1971 documentary called The Hellstrom Chronicle [1], the novel does not simply denounce collectivism as an evil, as many science fiction stories in the fifties did by contrasting it with a free and individualist society, but it puts the Hive people into an Outside society that is teeming with ruthlessness and strife. In the novel, the U.S. has become a police state in which various organizations vie for economic, military and political power, using democracy as a smokescreen to the unsuspecting citizens. What is presented as the Agency is a strictly hierarchical organization with political affiliations – Hellstrom has some of these himself by means of so-called front people, i.e. Hive members that live a life in Outsider society and have achieved positions of power – in which the agents are treated as expendables. Contrary to the ruthlessness of the agency leaders, Hellstrom always tries to avoid unnecessary pain or deaths, and the driving philosophy of the Hive is not to try to master nature, as the Outsiders do, but to accept it as a framework within which to operate with judgement and care. Or, as Trova Hellstrom, Hellstrom’s ancestor, put it,
”The defeat of the Outsiders is assured by their arrogance. They defy powers greater than themselves. We in the Hive are the true creatures of reason. We will wait patiently in the manner of the insects, with a logic that perhaps no wild Outsider will ever understand, because the insects have taught us that the true winner in the race for survival is the last to finish that race.” (p.307)
Hellstrom is doubtless wise in a certain way when he realizes that they cannot emulate the insects in any way because what with the insects’ unfettered drive to multiply and eat, this would mean the end of the ecological system sooner or later. We may actually have the spirit of the Club of Rome in these thoughts of limiting growth with a view to what our planet can sustain. The Outsiders as exemplified by the Agency, though, have no concern for these considerations because they are too concentrated on their own personal benefits, money, influence, power, and that is why their workings are presented as an everlasting game of chess whose rules are constantly changing and in which everyone is plotting and hedging against everyone else. The narrative voice sides with neither the Outsiders nor the Hive but gives us equal insight into the mindsets of both conflicting parties and their protagonists, which may be annoying to readers who like to have someone to identify with or to have their world explained to them in terms of good and evil, but which is uncommonly thought-provoking.
However much we may loathe the collectivism and utilitarianism of the Hive, which eventually turns humans into replaceable cogs of human flesh – or shall I say meat in the light of their cannibalistic society? –, the cold egoism of the Outsiders is surely not much better. However we abhor the machinations of the Agency officials, we may surely feel that life within the Hive is a life without dignity and freedom. A dilemma like that may turn our attention to a question such as the one whether the allegedly impending ecological disasters justify attempts at creating more sustainable societies by imposing limits of our freedoms, e.g. the freedom of consuming what we want, or rather by developing technology that may make it possible for us to self-determined (consumer) lives without simultaneously harming the environment to such a degree as we may be doing now. If you go for the first option, you may have some awkward questions to deal with, such as, “How can you justify the necessary restrictions?” or, most urgent of all, “Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?” (“Who is going to watch the watchers?”)
Due to its ambivalence and Herbert’s decision not to give us a well-working counter-example but to show us a kind of justification for the undignified way of life in the Hive the novel has aged extremely well and is highly thought-provoking. If you read it carefully, you may even discover some contradictions that Herbert has, probably intentionally, worked into the text: To give but one example, the text says that Hive life will eventually do without a person’s ability to express their feelings via facial expressions and smiles – probably these are too unreliable and subjective, and feelings as such will become unnecessary for the community – but then, shortly afterwards, we are presented with a situation in which a smile from one Hive member to another clarifies the verbal message that is conveyed. Also, (okay, this is a second example) the idea of introducing sign language – to limit the range of messages that can be expressed? – may be a two-edged sword in that it does not allow members to communicate without seeing each other or with having their hands full of work.
As I said, all in all, the novel aged well but recent events have sensitized me to the thought that modern totalitarianism and collectivism may come in subtler ways, not by forcing people to live in a Hive but, on the contrary, by atomizing them, by making them confine themselves to their houses, their so-called private lives, which, due to digitalization and the politicilization of individual values and decisions, are no longer private at all. People stewing in their own grease and taught to regard each other as a potential menace, either as carriers of diseases or of unwholesome ideas are a compliant mass easily manipulated and herded by those who promise them protection from threats they have come to accept as imminent.
With due alterations, the following statement from Hive society may even apply to us,
”Freedom represents a concept that is inextricably tied to the discredited abstract of individualism/ego. We sacrifice none of this freedom to gain our more efficient, reliable and convenient basic human stock.” (p.323)
Cave salvatores!
[1] Strictly speaking, The Hellstrom Chronicle is not really a documentary but more of a documentary-like film in the vein of Michael Moore’s works, i.e. a film that tries to instil certain beliefs in its viewers, in this case that life is a struggle for survival in which the insects are always one-up on us humans due to their lack of individuality, their capacity for limitless breeding and their adaptability.
February 25, 2020
Една класическа фантастична история , признавам , че този стил мн ми липсва , с мн хуманизъм , въобще Хърбърт винаги ще остане в сянката на великата си творба Дюн ,но мисля че ще трябва да прегледам и други негови творби напълно заслужено .
January 17, 2008
It involves the encounter between normal Americans in the "modern day" and a strange, cultish society that has been secretly living among them since the 19th century, the Hive.
A lot of major Herbert themes are here, in particular science and human genetic potential, as well as encounter with an "alien" that's actually just another human culture.
While the people of the Hive may have settled down in the US since the 1800s, they've existed (in small numbers) as a secret society for at least a hundred years before that. In essence, they're a group trying to model their society on what they see as the most successful type of organisms on earth: Insects. But they want to add human intelligence to the mix.
Which leads to a very scary society. 50,000 people live in secret in the caverns underneath the farm that is secretly their Hive. They're trying to breed a "domesticated" form of humanity, with different strains, like dogs; most notable is the scientist strain, with gigantic heads and useless bodies, who are working on a strange electromagnetic weapon to protect the Hive for when it is inevitably discovered by "wild, Outside humanity". The average worker is controlled with various chemicals, which make them placid and truthful, and they of course have developed chemicals for increased fertility, including various aphrodisiacs, which are especially useful when sending breeder females out into Outside society. In fact, they're so concerned with controlled breeding and maintaining important genetic stocks, they do some pretty scary things...
Herbert makes the storyline more nuanced by being careful to increase your sympathy for the Hive, and by carefully selecting those who encounter the Hive so you're less sympathetic to them than you would otherwise be.
For example, there is room for individual merit in the Hive; exceptional persons are given "leader foods" (their nutrition science is very advanced) and given leadership positions, while remaining loyal to the Hive overall (mostly due to how they were raised); one such leader is the Hellstrom for which the book is named, who only has an individual name (not common in Hive society) because he's part of the front the group maintains to keep themselves secret from the Outside. Also, the Hive members are very loving and concerned about all its members, in their own oddly communist way; plus they don't emulate the insects slavishly. For example, they know that insect appetite is ultimately destructive unless kept in check, and being intelligent, they intend to keep it in check themselves, by being very ecologically sound in their science, and recycling everything for food. (This leads to another of their button-pushing habits: cannibalism. A dead worker is usually sent to the Vats to be recycled as food.)
The Hive is discovered by a particularly nasty secret Agency, an ultrasecret Cold War espionage arm of the executive branch, with all the callous attitude toward human life (contrasted with the Hive desire not to kill unless in self-defense) that one might expect from such an Agency. This tilts your sympathy a bit away from the "normal" humans a touch.
The idea, and I think Herbert pulls it off, is to make both sides equally sympathetic and unsympathetic in their own ways. The narrative flips between the Hive perspective and the Agency's perspective, as each finds out more about what the other is doing, the Agency trying to find out about the weapon the Hive is working on, and the Hive trying to keep Outsiders away and in the dark long enough to reach some accommodation with them.
It's quite tense and interesting, and each loss and gain by either side is thrilling as your sympathies are engaged regardless of who is winning or losing.
The only thing about this book is the ending is kinda weak. It reaches a "stopping point" -- a sort of logical lull in the action -- and then just stops.
A lot of major Herbert themes are here, in particular science and human genetic potential, as well as encounter with an "alien" that's actually just another human culture.
While the people of the Hive may have settled down in the US since the 1800s, they've existed (in small numbers) as a secret society for at least a hundred years before that. In essence, they're a group trying to model their society on what they see as the most successful type of organisms on earth: Insects. But they want to add human intelligence to the mix.
Which leads to a very scary society. 50,000 people live in secret in the caverns underneath the farm that is secretly their Hive. They're trying to breed a "domesticated" form of humanity, with different strains, like dogs; most notable is the scientist strain, with gigantic heads and useless bodies, who are working on a strange electromagnetic weapon to protect the Hive for when it is inevitably discovered by "wild, Outside humanity". The average worker is controlled with various chemicals, which make them placid and truthful, and they of course have developed chemicals for increased fertility, including various aphrodisiacs, which are especially useful when sending breeder females out into Outside society. In fact, they're so concerned with controlled breeding and maintaining important genetic stocks, they do some pretty scary things...
Herbert makes the storyline more nuanced by being careful to increase your sympathy for the Hive, and by carefully selecting those who encounter the Hive so you're less sympathetic to them than you would otherwise be.
For example, there is room for individual merit in the Hive; exceptional persons are given "leader foods" (their nutrition science is very advanced) and given leadership positions, while remaining loyal to the Hive overall (mostly due to how they were raised); one such leader is the Hellstrom for which the book is named, who only has an individual name (not common in Hive society) because he's part of the front the group maintains to keep themselves secret from the Outside. Also, the Hive members are very loving and concerned about all its members, in their own oddly communist way; plus they don't emulate the insects slavishly. For example, they know that insect appetite is ultimately destructive unless kept in check, and being intelligent, they intend to keep it in check themselves, by being very ecologically sound in their science, and recycling everything for food. (This leads to another of their button-pushing habits: cannibalism. A dead worker is usually sent to the Vats to be recycled as food.)
The Hive is discovered by a particularly nasty secret Agency, an ultrasecret Cold War espionage arm of the executive branch, with all the callous attitude toward human life (contrasted with the Hive desire not to kill unless in self-defense) that one might expect from such an Agency. This tilts your sympathy a bit away from the "normal" humans a touch.
The idea, and I think Herbert pulls it off, is to make both sides equally sympathetic and unsympathetic in their own ways. The narrative flips between the Hive perspective and the Agency's perspective, as each finds out more about what the other is doing, the Agency trying to find out about the weapon the Hive is working on, and the Hive trying to keep Outsiders away and in the dark long enough to reach some accommodation with them.
It's quite tense and interesting, and each loss and gain by either side is thrilling as your sympathies are engaged regardless of who is winning or losing.
The only thing about this book is the ending is kinda weak. It reaches a "stopping point" -- a sort of logical lull in the action -- and then just stops.
February 16, 2024
A nightmarish sci-fi world by Frank Herbert, the creator of Dune. Near a small Oregon town is a "farm" which is actually an attempt to replace the human race with a kind of half-human, half-insect form of life run by one Nils Hellstrom. A quasi-governmental agency called, simply, "the agency," attempts to spy on what is happening there, but their agents wind of getting captured or killed.
This becomes a bit of a problem, as the reader keeps having the rug pulled out from under him to the extent that he or she does not know whom to follow as the hero. Hellstrom's Hive's human-insect "hive" seems extraordinarily difficult to snuff out.
I remember, when I first read Dune, I had difficulty with the beginning, as the author tended to throw too much abstruse information at the reader all at once. Eventually, I grew to love the book and enjoyed the beginning; but I notice that this book shared the same problem, complicated by the number of disappearing agents.
Still, the end was quite exciting -- and surprising!
This becomes a bit of a problem, as the reader keeps having the rug pulled out from under him to the extent that he or she does not know whom to follow as the hero. Hellstrom's Hive's human-insect "hive" seems extraordinarily difficult to snuff out.
I remember, when I first read Dune, I had difficulty with the beginning, as the author tended to throw too much abstruse information at the reader all at once. Eventually, I grew to love the book and enjoyed the beginning; but I notice that this book shared the same problem, complicated by the number of disappearing agents.
Still, the end was quite exciting -- and surprising!
June 28, 2021
This was my first non-Dune Frank Herbert novel and it did not disappoint! Herbert revisits many of the themes of Dune in this book but from a different, darker angle. The Hive is an analog to the Fremen, but where we admire the latter there's something terrifying about the former. The endings also parallel with Paul's threat to destroy the spice comparing to Project 40.
Hellstrom's Hive showed me I've made a mistake in sleeping on the rest of Herbert's work. I intend to rectify that error
Hellstrom's Hive showed me I've made a mistake in sleeping on the rest of Herbert's work. I intend to rectify that error
November 11, 2023
All the summaries say the America in which this novel is set is a police state. However, I did not pick up on that in reading (or, more accurately, listening to the audio version). There are two opposing groups in the story, the most interesting, and alarming, being a population of 50,000 genetically modified people secretly living in subterranean tunnels far beneath an isolated Oregon farm. Dr. Hellstrom, their leader, is an entomologist known to the Outside world for educational films about insects. The farm contains his studio. Whatever importance those films may have for him, his true focus is on the well-being of his "Hive," and on the potential it offers for an evolutionary leap forward for the human race. On the other hand, Outsiders are represented by an unnamed government Agency. The Agency suspects something unusual may be afoot at Hellstrom's "farm," and has been sending agents to investigate. The agents are disappearing without a trace.
Neither group is at all attractive, although individuals may excite our sympathies. (This is the point at which I should mention that there is, arguably, no main character in this story, but many interesting supporting characters.) The Agency is definitely concerned about having lost personnel, but only because that's evidence that the farm is not all it seems. I did not see expressions of alarm on behalf of the missing people. The leadership acknowledges that it's not at all unusual for agents to be lost in the field. Another agent observes grimly, "They expect casualties." Such losses seem comparable to foraging ants who don't make it back to their anthill.
As for those individuals, the narrative begins with the point of view of Carlos Depeaux, an agent who, disguised as a birdwatcher, attempts to spy on the farm from a nearby hillside. Unbeknownst to Carlos, Hellstrom and others in the Hive are tracking his every move. When night falls he finds himself in a panicked flight with unknown creatures in pursuit. Later, it introduces his partner, Tymiena Grinelli, who is more intelligent, or at least more alert, but not much luckier. They, and other individuals, are our only reason for caring what happens
Despite its own brand of depersonalization, the Hive too has a few individuals who stand out. There is Saldo, a young male who has received special nurturing in the form of food and chemicals that prepared him to move into a leadership role. (The Hive has definite parallels with the situation I remember from Brave New World, where people are engineered for predetermined roles in life.) There is also Fancy, a voluptuous female who craves Outside genetic input and senses that swarming (i.e., moving out and establishing a new Hive, with herself as brood mother) might be in her future.
Dr. Hellstrom himself tries to look past the individuals and toward an envisioned future in which "we of the Hive will do away with names someday," and perhaps with spoken language, and perhaps even facial muscles for showing emotions. The long-term goal is "to absorb [the Outside world] into our unity." Expressed another way, he sees the Hive as "a cocoon from which the new human will emerge." He does occasionally have misgivings. In moving "a step closer to the insects we mimic," he sees an erosion of consciousness among Hive members. "Without consciousness to reflect back upon life, all life might lose its sense of purpose."
There are also Hive members living double lives in the Outside world, looking after Hive interests. One of them mistakenly left a few pages from a technical document concerning a "Project 40" where Outsiders could find them, and the resulting stir prompted the Agency's interest in Hellstrom's farm. Project 40 looked like it might be a new kind of weapon under development. Alternatively, in the view of a director named Peruge, it could be a new metallurgical process with potential for making a lot of money.
Nobody at the Agency even imagines the existence of the underground Hive, although it's impossible to observe goings-on at the farm without finding something a little strange.
As the two opposing entities, Agency and Farm, collide, both sides realize they've made mistakes. Hellstrom should have confused his early visitors with a cover story and sent them on their way. Belatedly, he realizes "they were sent in to see if they would be killed," and now he has to deal with more aggressive investigations. For his part, Peruge wishes he'd inquired through official channels rather than wasting multiple agents. (But then Peruge doesn't realize how corrupted those official channels have become. His boss is already getting pressure to back off.)
The premise of the story is certainly interesting, and the characters are engaging. The problem for me is that I expected more from each character. Okay, some meet untimely ends, but I felt vaguely let down or disappointed by even those who don't die. Some just seem to fade away. And as for the story's conclusion, I'll just say it's unusual. I'm left with the thought that, even though Hive life sounds horrifying, Frank Herbert might see it as a reasonable future for humanity.
Although I consume a lot of audiobooks, I didn't particularly care for the voice actor of this one. At about the halfway point I found a print copy, which worked better for me.
Neither group is at all attractive, although individuals may excite our sympathies. (This is the point at which I should mention that there is, arguably, no main character in this story, but many interesting supporting characters.) The Agency is definitely concerned about having lost personnel, but only because that's evidence that the farm is not all it seems. I did not see expressions of alarm on behalf of the missing people. The leadership acknowledges that it's not at all unusual for agents to be lost in the field. Another agent observes grimly, "They expect casualties." Such losses seem comparable to foraging ants who don't make it back to their anthill.
As for those individuals, the narrative begins with the point of view of Carlos Depeaux, an agent who, disguised as a birdwatcher, attempts to spy on the farm from a nearby hillside. Unbeknownst to Carlos, Hellstrom and others in the Hive are tracking his every move. When night falls he finds himself in a panicked flight with unknown creatures in pursuit. Later, it introduces his partner, Tymiena Grinelli, who is more intelligent, or at least more alert, but not much luckier. They, and other individuals, are our only reason for caring what happens
Despite its own brand of depersonalization, the Hive too has a few individuals who stand out. There is Saldo, a young male who has received special nurturing in the form of food and chemicals that prepared him to move into a leadership role. (The Hive has definite parallels with the situation I remember from Brave New World, where people are engineered for predetermined roles in life.) There is also Fancy, a voluptuous female who craves Outside genetic input and senses that swarming (i.e., moving out and establishing a new Hive, with herself as brood mother) might be in her future.
Dr. Hellstrom himself tries to look past the individuals and toward an envisioned future in which "we of the Hive will do away with names someday," and perhaps with spoken language, and perhaps even facial muscles for showing emotions. The long-term goal is "to absorb [the Outside world] into our unity." Expressed another way, he sees the Hive as "a cocoon from which the new human will emerge." He does occasionally have misgivings. In moving "a step closer to the insects we mimic," he sees an erosion of consciousness among Hive members. "Without consciousness to reflect back upon life, all life might lose its sense of purpose."
There are also Hive members living double lives in the Outside world, looking after Hive interests. One of them mistakenly left a few pages from a technical document concerning a "Project 40" where Outsiders could find them, and the resulting stir prompted the Agency's interest in Hellstrom's farm. Project 40 looked like it might be a new kind of weapon under development. Alternatively, in the view of a director named Peruge, it could be a new metallurgical process with potential for making a lot of money.
Nobody at the Agency even imagines the existence of the underground Hive, although it's impossible to observe goings-on at the farm without finding something a little strange.
As the two opposing entities, Agency and Farm, collide, both sides realize they've made mistakes. Hellstrom should have confused his early visitors with a cover story and sent them on their way. Belatedly, he realizes "they were sent in to see if they would be killed," and now he has to deal with more aggressive investigations. For his part, Peruge wishes he'd inquired through official channels rather than wasting multiple agents. (But then Peruge doesn't realize how corrupted those official channels have become. His boss is already getting pressure to back off.)
The premise of the story is certainly interesting, and the characters are engaging. The problem for me is that I expected more from each character. Okay, some meet untimely ends, but I felt vaguely let down or disappointed by even those who don't die. Some just seem to fade away. And as for the story's conclusion, I'll just say it's unusual. I'm left with the thought that, even though Hive life sounds horrifying, Frank Herbert might see it as a reasonable future for humanity.
Although I consume a lot of audiobooks, I didn't particularly care for the voice actor of this one. At about the halfway point I found a print copy, which worked better for me.
December 20, 2013
I wanted to read something by Frank Herbert and I found this going cheap so why not. For me this is a so-so book. I liked the plot idea and some of the execution is excellent, but I got a bit teed off with the titillation passages sprinkled almost randomly throughout - I suspect this book was aimed at the teen boy pulp fiction market
November 16, 2013
....Despite an ending that could have been better I enjoyed Hellstrom's Hive a lot the second time around. Seeing where Herbert got his inspiration did significantly change my perception of the novel so I guess it was worth watching the rather poor movie after all. I still think The Dosadi Experiment is his best non Dune novel but this one is not that far behind. It takes the ecological awareness that can be found in many of his novels to a new level and the creepiness Herbert works into it make it stand out. If you can forgive Herbert the ending, I think it is well worth the read.
Full Random Comments review
Full Random Comments review
March 15, 2017
Audiobook sounds like someone reading Wind in the Willows. Unfortunately, this is a stakeout: lacks tension.
Read
November 15, 2019I read this book.
May 31, 2019
Images from this novel have stayed vivid in my memory for more than thirty years. I reread it recently to see how it stood the test of time and was quite pleased.
Hellstrom is the leader of a secret community which has modeled itself after insect populations. The more you learn about this community, the less human the denizens seem. The hive is now threatened with discovery by the outside world as a secret government agency attempts to learn what is happening in the valley which conceals the hive.
This is a powerful story with intriguing characters and a couple of genuine heroes. There are three motive forces to follow (the hive, the agency leadership, and a couple of field agents who are the people I most related to in the book) that are all coming into conflict here. One of the things that makes Frank Herbert's books so exciting is that there is never any certainy that the "heroes" will win (see The Green Brain and The Santaroga Barrier for examples). This adds quite a bit of tension to the novel because you really can't anticipate what the outcome will be.
When I was a teenager, reading this for the first time, I would have given it five stars, but thirty years later it is still worth four.
Hellstrom is the leader of a secret community which has modeled itself after insect populations. The more you learn about this community, the less human the denizens seem. The hive is now threatened with discovery by the outside world as a secret government agency attempts to learn what is happening in the valley which conceals the hive.
This is a powerful story with intriguing characters and a couple of genuine heroes. There are three motive forces to follow (the hive, the agency leadership, and a couple of field agents who are the people I most related to in the book) that are all coming into conflict here. One of the things that makes Frank Herbert's books so exciting is that there is never any certainy that the "heroes" will win (see The Green Brain and The Santaroga Barrier for examples). This adds quite a bit of tension to the novel because you really can't anticipate what the outcome will be.
When I was a teenager, reading this for the first time, I would have given it five stars, but thirty years later it is still worth four.
April 29, 2017
1980 grade B+
2017 grade A
This is a structurally & thematically unusual novel. Structurally, there are no chapters - but there are a lot of breaks for POV changes that make good stopping points. Thematically, there are no true protagonists and antagonists. It is basically the clash between two governments that starts small and escalates. The two governments are Hellstrom's odd hidden society and a secret US government agency that I would guess is akin to the NSA. The NSA people are the farthest from protagonists in my opinion, but Hellstrom's society becomes off-putting enough in places to make many people consider them evil. I found their procedures very logical at an almost Vulcan level - which I like.
The story starts out grade A- but ends grade A+. It does have some long winded rumination by various characters and some repetition. But there is not much and it is easy to skip over without resorting to pure speed reading - just skip to the next paragraph - you won't miss anything important.
As for the overall story itself, it is incredible, and I had a hard time stopping many times. The conclusion is long and engrossing. I recommend this book.
2017 grade A
This is a structurally & thematically unusual novel. Structurally, there are no chapters - but there are a lot of breaks for POV changes that make good stopping points. Thematically, there are no true protagonists and antagonists. It is basically the clash between two governments that starts small and escalates. The two governments are Hellstrom's odd hidden society and a secret US government agency that I would guess is akin to the NSA. The NSA people are the farthest from protagonists in my opinion, but Hellstrom's society becomes off-putting enough in places to make many people consider them evil. I found their procedures very logical at an almost Vulcan level - which I like.
The story starts out grade A- but ends grade A+. It does have some long winded rumination by various characters and some repetition. But there is not much and it is easy to skip over without resorting to pure speed reading - just skip to the next paragraph - you won't miss anything important.
As for the overall story itself, it is incredible, and I had a hard time stopping many times. The conclusion is long and engrossing. I recommend this book.
September 11, 2014
I listened to this book as an audio book.
The concept is good but delivered in an arcane manner that is hopefully buried in the 1950's. The book can be read as a study of that era's mindset but that is all, in my opinion.
The skill of Frank Herbert as a writer is chrystal clear and the narrator does a superb job in speaking it to us.
Unfortunately in this book Frank Herbert used that skill in what I guess is an attempt to gain a larger public, trying to write a regular spy thriller for the 50's with some SciFi blended in.
If you are an experienced SciFi reader/listener I think you'll only be frustrated by this book since it hardly delivers any surprises, unless the concept of a hive society is new to you. As for the character development, you can pick any random ten minutes of listening and then you've got it all.
Compared to "Dune", this is not even worthy of comparison.
The concept is good but delivered in an arcane manner that is hopefully buried in the 1950's. The book can be read as a study of that era's mindset but that is all, in my opinion.
The skill of Frank Herbert as a writer is chrystal clear and the narrator does a superb job in speaking it to us.
Unfortunately in this book Frank Herbert used that skill in what I guess is an attempt to gain a larger public, trying to write a regular spy thriller for the 50's with some SciFi blended in.
If you are an experienced SciFi reader/listener I think you'll only be frustrated by this book since it hardly delivers any surprises, unless the concept of a hive society is new to you. As for the character development, you can pick any random ten minutes of listening and then you've got it all.
Compared to "Dune", this is not even worthy of comparison.
October 7, 2019
Frank Herbert is part of the old school camp of SciFi writers that offends me regarding their treatment of women and sex in their books. I thought this would be a funny book about insect domination of the world but it get all twisted. And this is his second book that seemed to cast entomologists in a negative light. For once I'd like there to be a book about an entomologist saving the world without twisted perverted orgies.
November 5, 2020
Sci-fi as quasi-spy-thriller. A decent story idea but way too long in its execution. Several protagonists came and went. The first half of the book could have been omitted. With its alternative human society based on hive mentality and social-insect biology, H.G. Wells would have done a much better job. Can't hold a candle to Herbert's Dune. Audiobook narration was by Scott Brick whose over-dramatic style is not my favorite.
November 4, 2024
4.5 ⭐
de la buena ciencia ficción
Herbert logra enganchar con esta novela de investigación y de la mejor forma; con su "Plan detrás del plan" dónde cada personaje especula, supone y establece congetura de lo que está sucediendo, es lo que más me gusta de este autor.
La idea de que pueda existir una sociedad humana tipo colmena es fascinante, dónde no solo se limitan a imitar a los insectos sino que aprenden lo mejor de cada especie y la aplican en su conjunto.
Recomendada a todo fan de la ciencia ficción y en especial si te gusta Frank Herbert
de la buena ciencia ficción
Herbert logra enganchar con esta novela de investigación y de la mejor forma; con su "Plan detrás del plan" dónde cada personaje especula, supone y establece congetura de lo que está sucediendo, es lo que más me gusta de este autor.
La idea de que pueda existir una sociedad humana tipo colmena es fascinante, dónde no solo se limitan a imitar a los insectos sino que aprenden lo mejor de cada especie y la aplican en su conjunto.
Recomendada a todo fan de la ciencia ficción y en especial si te gusta Frank Herbert
May 11, 2020
So different to anything that I anticipated. A pacy combination of espionage and sci-fi. Redolent of those classic movies from the 70s with its themes of paranoia and conspiracy. The language at times was archaic, but it did not hurt the flow. A very different book to Dune. I might have to seek out more Herbert now.
August 30, 2023
La seule raison pour laquelle je n'ai pas abandonné ma lecture au bout de 30 interminables pages est que l'auteur est Franck Herbert.
A part ça, l'histoire est d'une lenteur remarquable et les personnages, des deux cotés, assez antipathiques. La misogynie de certains personnages semble dater des années 30...
Cela ne mérite même pas une étoile.
A part ça, l'histoire est d'une lenteur remarquable et les personnages, des deux cotés, assez antipathiques. La misogynie de certains personnages semble dater des années 30...
Cela ne mérite même pas une étoile.
April 10, 2022
This is the only Frank Herbert book that I've read that is nearly as good as Dune. Hellstrom's Hive follows an investigation of a small farm in Oregon where human's have begun to live like insects. Interesting comparisons of human and insect living conditions, purpose, abilities, and reproduction are explored, along with the results of genetic engineering. This is a fast paced, action packed page turner.
February 17, 2025
Good standalone, fast-paced, and lots of action.
June 6, 2025
Loved the hive concept. Did Orson Scott Card steal ide for his buggers in Enders Game? Fun read.
January 4, 2025
Herbert ma różne, bardzo dziwne pomysły... Czy pasują do zamysłu? Tak..? Da się je obronić for sure. Sama problematyka książki mi się podobała, jedyny problem mam z poszczególnymi wyborami autora
May 26, 2024
Преди около 2 години бях прочела някъде следния аргумент, който ми направи впечатление поради простотата и своевременно дълбочината на посланието, което носи. Превеждам по памет: "цивилизацията е започнала в момента, в който група от ловци-събирачи е решила вместо да изостави свой ранен член на милостта на стихиите и зверовете, за да не забавя и отслабва цялостно групата, да намести повредената му кост и да го лекува, както може и знае." Дали беше в една от книгите на Ювал Ноа Харари, книгата на Джон Кийгън "История на военното дело" или някоя археологическа статия, на която съм попаднала в стар брой на National Geographic, не помня, пък и не е важно. Фокусът в случая е, че немалка част от нас - както обикновените читатели и лаици, така и специалистите в областта на историята и други науки, свързваме идеята за цивилизованост въобще с грижата за ближния, емпатията, милосърдието. Приемаме, че те формират брънка от качествата, необходими за успешна кооперация между индивидите и изстрелването на човека на върха на хранителната верига. Дори считаме или сме считали, че наистина велики научни, технологични и културни постижения са невъзможни, ако не почиват върху дадена морална основа.
Тази книга не е за това. Тя рисува дистопични светове, в които бродят хора, решили се да изоставят всичко човешко в себе си, възприемащи чистата емпатия, взаимопомощ, уважение към достойнствата на индивида така, както ги разбираме днес, като символ на бъдещия упадък на човешкия вид и неговото неизменно потапяне в дълбините на историческото и чисто биологичното небитие. Писана в годините на Студената война, творбата е отчасти предназначена за целите на културната и пропагандата борба срещу Съветския съюз. Десетилетия след неговия крах обаче, тя продължава да предизвиква интереса на читателите с фундаменталните страхове, на които е изразител.
Измежду нейните страници крачат представителите на човешкия кошер - колония от биоизменени хора, черпещи вдъхновение за организацията на своята общност от, според тях, най-устойчивия и адаптативен от всички земни форми клас - този на насекомите. Разделени в клъстъри на работници, индивиди за разплод, учени и прочие, представителите на този на външен вид неотличителен от хората вид използват различни стратегии, носещи началото си от света на членестоногите, от прикриване в недрата на земята и сливане с околната среда до неочаквани нападения с налични оръжия. Те са по-дребни от средностатистическия човек, по-силни, по-безскрупулни, неимоверно по-склонни на безропотно подчинение и в същото време способни на невиждан технологически прогрес. Не губят време с абстракциите на любовта и романтиката, вместо това разглеждайки междуполовите отношения като такива, основани на праксиса на възпр��изводството. Желанията на отделните индивиди и дори техният живот имат значение дотолкова, доколкото спомагат за разширяването на кошера и неговото бъдещо помитане на света, като дори телата и органите на умрелите и убитите служат за хранителни протеини и инкубатори за новите поколения. Всяко действие, всяко чувство, всяко намерение са нежелателни, ако не спомагат за чисто биологичната еволюция и възпроизводство. Както Хелстрьом твърди, смисълът е в самото оцеляване.
Подобно на други известни дистопични творби от типа на "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" и "Прекрасният нов свят", и тази разглежда страха на човека от обезличаване и обезчовечаване в името на хода към възприетото за колективно добро. Тя също представя емоционалността на човека, неговата емпатия и милосърдие като пречки в очите на решилия се да оцелява на всяка цена, като старческа слабост и наивна сантименталност. И тя като тях обаче не успява да сломи изцяло идеята за вродеността на човешката душа, за нейното достойнство и за правото на свободен избор, нито пък успява да зачеркне вътрешния шарен свят на емоции и картини, характерен за всяка личност и уникалната за човешкия вид необходимост да търси смисъла навсякъде и във всичко. Не съм особен почитател на научната фантастика, но препоръчвам книгата.
Тази книга не е за това. Тя рисува дистопични светове, в които бродят хора, решили се да изоставят всичко човешко в себе си, възприемащи чистата емпатия, взаимопомощ, уважение към достойнствата на индивида така, както ги разбираме днес, като символ на бъдещия упадък на човешкия вид и неговото неизменно потапяне в дълбините на историческото и чисто биологичното небитие. Писана в годините на Студената война, творбата е отчасти предназначена за целите на културната и пропагандата борба срещу Съветския съюз. Десетилетия след неговия крах обаче, тя продължава да предизвиква интереса на читателите с фундаменталните страхове, на които е изразител.
Измежду нейните страници крачат представителите на човешкия кошер - колония от биоизменени хора, черпещи вдъхновение за организацията на своята общност от, според тях, най-устойчивия и адаптативен от всички земни форми клас - този на насекомите. Разделени в клъстъри на работници, индивиди за разплод, учени и прочие, представителите на този на външен вид неотличителен от хората вид използват различни стратегии, носещи началото си от света на членестоногите, от прикриване в недрата на земята и сливане с околната среда до неочаквани нападения с налични оръжия. Те са по-дребни от средностатистическия човек, по-силни, по-безскрупулни, неимоверно по-склонни на безропотно подчинение и в същото време способни на невиждан технологически прогрес. Не губят време с абстракциите на любовта и романтиката, вместо това разглеждайки междуполовите отношения като такива, основани на праксиса на възпр��изводството. Желанията на отделните индивиди и дори техният живот имат значение дотолкова, доколкото спомагат за разширяването на кошера и неговото бъдещо помитане на света, като дори телата и органите на умрелите и убитите служат за хранителни протеини и инкубатори за новите поколения. Всяко действие, всяко чувство, всяко намерение са нежелателни, ако не спомагат за чисто биологичната еволюция и възпроизводство. Както Хелстрьом твърди, смисълът е в самото оцеляване.
Подобно на други известни дистопични творби от типа на "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" и "Прекрасният нов свят", и тази разглежда страха на човека от обезличаване и обезчовечаване в името на хода към възприетото за колективно добро. Тя също представя емоционалността на човека, неговата емпатия и милосърдие като пречки в очите на решилия се да оцелява на всяка цена, като старческа слабост и наивна сантименталност. И тя като тях обаче не успява да сломи изцяло идеята за вродеността на човешката душа, за нейното достойнство и за правото на свободен избор, нито пък успява да зачеркне вътрешния шарен свят на емоции и картини, характерен за всяка личност и уникалната за човешкия вид необходимост да търси смисъла навсякъде и във всичко. Не съм особен почитател на научната фантастика, но препоръчвам книгата.
September 25, 2023
What a huge disappointment. I’m shocked that Frank Herbert wrote this book between Dune Messiah and Children of Dune. Messiah remains a shining example of his writing for me, so it’s wild to see him stoop to . . . this. Honestly, maybe this explains why Children of Dune was so boring compared to Dune and Dune Messiah. Herbert wanted to switch things up perhaps.
The general gist of this spy thriller novel is survival of the fittest between normal humans and hivemind-evolved humans. What a neat idea! You could really explore the ideas of individuality and conformity. But in function, Herbert writes a boring, meandering “plot” without any interesting characters, philosophy, or anything.
So we have this Agency that . . . does things? They aren’t well explained, but you’re supposed to assume they’re a corporate-government entity that’s outside both parties’ control. The Agency works to procure information and assets. It’s implied they’re quite good, but throughout the plot, every single one of their agents either killed, captured, or embarrassed.
And then there’s the hive. A hive of genetically altered humans selectively bred to be like ants or bees—a hive. They believe they’re the next step in human evolution because bugs are the ultimate lifeform. They are just minding their own business, murdering passing hikers and using the local police to cover it up.
The whole plot kicks off when the Agency sends a man to spy on the Hive because they believe the Hive has a super weapon. The man gets murdered, so the Agency sends two more people. Who also get murdered. This basically repeats until the story ends.
The plot dragged along like a broken leg: painfully. Somehow, the main villain (or is he the main character)—the eponymous Hellstrom—manages to screw up every time, but also win? It’s baffling and frustrating. Every single loss becomes a victory. It’s like plot armor, but for the villain.
Overall, this was a miserable experience. The best way to fix this book would’ve been to cut down the length (almost 300 pages?!) and make the spy characters more engaging or charismatic. The only reason I’m not putting it at a one star review, is because the writing was serviceable and didn’t suffer prose-wise.
Edit: After a month of sitting on it, I changed my mind. This book does deserve a one star review. Though the prose wasn’t terrible, it was a miserable experience.
The general gist of this spy thriller novel is survival of the fittest between normal humans and hivemind-evolved humans. What a neat idea! You could really explore the ideas of individuality and conformity. But in function, Herbert writes a boring, meandering “plot” without any interesting characters, philosophy, or anything.
So we have this Agency that . . . does things? They aren’t well explained, but you’re supposed to assume they’re a corporate-government entity that’s outside both parties’ control. The Agency works to procure information and assets. It’s implied they’re quite good, but throughout the plot, every single one of their agents either killed, captured, or embarrassed.
And then there’s the hive. A hive of genetically altered humans selectively bred to be like ants or bees—a hive. They believe they’re the next step in human evolution because bugs are the ultimate lifeform. They are just minding their own business, murdering passing hikers and using the local police to cover it up.
The whole plot kicks off when the Agency sends a man to spy on the Hive because they believe the Hive has a super weapon. The man gets murdered, so the Agency sends two more people. Who also get murdered. This basically repeats until the story ends.
The plot dragged along like a broken leg: painfully. Somehow, the main villain (or is he the main character)—the eponymous Hellstrom—manages to screw up every time, but also win? It’s baffling and frustrating. Every single loss becomes a victory. It’s like plot armor, but for the villain.
Overall, this was a miserable experience. The best way to fix this book would’ve been to cut down the length (almost 300 pages?!) and make the spy characters more engaging or charismatic. The only reason I’m not putting it at a one star review, is because the writing was serviceable and didn’t suffer prose-wise.
Edit: After a month of sitting on it, I changed my mind. This book does deserve a one star review. Though the prose wasn’t terrible, it was a miserable experience.
December 23, 2013
I bought this book on a lark because we have some dear friends named Hellstrom and it's written by Frank Herbert so, how bad could it be, right? Turns out, it is quite good. I don't see the point in hashing over the story in a review. I'll just say that Mr. Herbert creates a believable work of fiction from the rather implausible concept of an insect race developing technology and genetic engineering in parallel to us on earth. He advances the story well using the point of view of multiple characters which slowly brings you into "Hellstrom's Hive".
An interesting footnote is that the book was inspired by the "hoax" documentary "The Hellstroms Chronicle" which is available in a bad transfer on YouTube. Old sci-fi rocks!
An interesting footnote is that the book was inspired by the "hoax" documentary "The Hellstroms Chronicle" which is available in a bad transfer on YouTube. Old sci-fi rocks!
February 19, 2024
It's more like 2.5. Pretty disappointed with this and probably a good lesson to not get too many wise ideas when reading a blurb. The good moments are around the unexpected espionage twists that have the story feeling more of a spy thriller than anything else. I found a lot of Hellstrom's timeline to be very dull, and don't get me started about the "Hive logs!" The first 150 or so pages are a real struggle as the story overcomplicates itself in all the wrong ways. Mainly, there is a lack of any character to root for or truly loathe. They're all a bit meh (even Hellstrom, who comes across as quite polite). Don't get me wrong, there's some pretty messed up gnarly things going on in the hive, but it was all too little too late to change how I felt about the story.
February 14, 2016
Despite managing to finish this book, I never really got into it. While the premise and certain elements of the story were vaguely interesting, there was nothing beyond that "promise" to hook me. And it just wasn't enough. There was not a single character I could relate to, so certain "plot points" lacked the punch they could have done, and the story felt dragged out. There was this underlying dissatisfaction throughout the entire story for me, and my belief was stretched more by the "Outsiders" actions than the hive itself...but this could well be a result of that fact this was written in the '70s.
October 28, 2022
This was a really good read; I'd give it a 4.5 if I could. The tension mounts as the story builds and you cross your fingers that it can't be real. The small sub sections that are fit into the main storyline give interesting insight into the Hive's history and are reminiscent Dune.
I watched the related 1971 drama/documentary, "The Hellstrom Chronicle", when I was about halfway through to get a feeling for where Frank Herbert was coming from in regards to Nils Hellstrom, his movie making business and his warnings to the world. While the film was just interesting, how Herbert expanded on it is exceptional.
I watched the related 1971 drama/documentary, "The Hellstrom Chronicle", when I was about halfway through to get a feeling for where Frank Herbert was coming from in regards to Nils Hellstrom, his movie making business and his warnings to the world. While the film was just interesting, how Herbert expanded on it is exceptional.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 211 reviews