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High-Opp

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High-Opp

By: Frank Herbert
Narrated by: Scott Brick
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Published posthumously, this dystopian novel was written between Frank Herbert's classics The Dragon in the Sea and Dune.

EMASI! Each Man a Separate Individual! That is the rallying cry of the Seps, the resistance force engaged in a class war against the upper tiers of a society driven entirely by opinion polls. Those who score high, the High-Opps, are given plush apartments, comfortable jobs, every possible convenience. But those who happen to be low-opped live crowded in warrens, facing harsh lives and brutal conditions.

Daniel Movius, ex-senior liaitor, rides high in the opinion polls - until he loses everything, brushed aside by a very powerful man. Low-opped and abandoned, Movius finds himself fighting for survival in the city's underworld. There, the opinion of the masses is clear: It is time for a revolution against the corrupt superprivileged - and every revolution needs a leader.

©2012 Herbert Properties, LLC (P)2015 Blackstone Audio, Inc. Adventure Fantasy Fiction Science Fiction
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Really enjoyed the subject matter in this story, especially given how long ago it was written and how much it foresaw aspects of modern life. The expected great character development didn't disappoint either.

one of the best Herbert standalone novels

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clever story. I got lost halfway through with all the fururistic government department names and just who was in power where, but still well worth a listen.

clever story

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Somehow this story seemed sub-par for the author that wrote Dune. A classic tale of its type with an interesting twist wrapped inside it. The plot is hurried and the romantic elements are trite. You’ll need to take into account the attitudes at the time of writing with respect to the female roles.

The narrator, however, gave a great performance.

Published posthumously - I can see why

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Well written and performed, another interesting take on the human psyche by Frank Herbert, I always am impressed by FH’s insight and find similarities to how our society could easily take these dark roads.

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From the opening sequences, the reader is drawn into the bleak dystopian world of Daniel Movius as he looks out on his coming fall from one of the haves to that of used-to-be, from the quietude of luxury, to noisy, jostling squalor. And his crime? A popular vote had eliminated his government office for 'tax economy purposes'. But how had his driver known the results of the poll at least an hour before the results could have been called?

This is a fun romp through political manoeuvrings, with the same bleak prescience as Brave New World or 1984. Although there is little attempt to flesh out the characters, dialogue and action carry the story forward at a brisk pace to the elevated ending. Narration is by Scott Brick whose reading is immaculate, further adding to the sense of bleak inevitability of all that occurs..

Over an half mercury since it was written and lacking the later immersive polish of Dune, High-Opp is still a good read. My thanks to the Audible Plus programme for the complimentary download.

"Majority opinion rules."

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