Omnibus edition, contains the complete texts of four novels: Whipping Star / The Dosadi Experiment / The Santaroga Barrier / Soul Catcher, examples of science fiction set in strange, distant worlds and alternate dimensions of the familiar world. Herbert's novels are the work of a speculative intellect with few rivals in modern science fiction. Frank Herbert used his science fiction novels to explore complex ideas involving philosophy, religion, psychology, politics and ecology. The underlying thrust of his work was a fascination with the question of human survival and evolution. Contents: Whipping Star [Jorj McKie] (1970) / novel by Frank Herbert: In the far future, humankind has made contact with numerous other species: Gowachin, Laclac, Wreaves, Pan Spechi, Taprisiots, and Caleban, and has helped to form the ConSentiency to govern among the species. After suffering under a tyrannous pure democracy, the sentients of the galaxy find the need for a Bureau of Sabotage (BuSab) to slow the wheels of government, thereby preventing it from legislating recklessly. BuSab is allowed to sabotage and harass the governmental, administrative, and economic powers in the ConSentiency. Private citizens must not be harassed, and vital functions of society are also exempt. The Dosadi Experiment [Jorj McKie] (1977) / novel by Frank Herbert: Sent to the planet Dosadi to investigate the vicious, fearsome human and Gowachin societies there, prior to their destruction, Jorj X. McKie is captured by a ruthless woman whose plan to escape Dosadi involves her changing bodies with McKie. The Santaroga Barrier (1968) / novel by Frank Herbert: Santaroga seemed to be nothing more than a prosperous farm community. But there was something, different, about Santaroga. Santaroga had no juvenile delinquency, or any crime at all. Outsiders found no house for sale or rent in this valley, and no one ever moved out. No one bought cigarettes in Santaroga. No cheese, wine, beer or produce from outside the valley could be sold there. The list went on and on and grew stranger and stranger. Maybe Santaroga was the last outpost of American individualism. Maybe they were just a bunch of religious kooks. Or maybe there was something extraordinary at work in Santaroga. Something far more disturbing than anyone could imagine. Soul Catcher (1972) / novel by Frank Herbert:Katsuk, a militant Native American student, kidnaps 13-year-old David Marshall,the son of the US Undersecretary of State. The two flee into the deepest wilds of the Pacific Northwest, where they must survive together as teams of hunters try to track them. David begins to feel a growing bond of respect for his captor, even as he struggles to escape. What the boy does not know, however, is that he has been chosen as an innocent from the white world for an ancient sacrifice of vengeance. And Katsuk may be divinely inspired . . . or simply insane.