The first thing that must be said about ["The Dosadi Experiment"] is that it takes place in an entirely different universe from his justly celebrated and popular "Dune" trilogy. The "Dune" novels are superb space opera—persuasively detailed fiction set against the broadest backdrop imaginable. By contrast, everything about "The Dosadi Experiment" is claustrophobic—the basic premise, the setting, even the writing. Sometime in the past, an illicit experiment was established on the barely habitable planet of Dosadi….

The result of this cold-blooded venture in Social Darwinism is, as expected, a planet full of cunning survivors. But the experiment has been too successful—the survival skills of the Dosadis are so awesome that the experimenters are afraid their guinea pigs will eventually escape from the planet and conquer the galaxy. To guard against this possibility, they decide to destroy Dosadi. (p. 42)

[A] number of important elements in this...