I read this book because it seemed like The Dosadi Experiment, which I had in paperback, was a sequel. Which is true, but I resent reading this book.

McKie is a Saboteur Extraordinary of the Bureau of Sabotage, a strange governmental body which has grown like a cross between a parasite and a vital hormonal gland in the galactic government, throwing sand in the works of a machinery of government that is too perfect. His vital mission this time is to sabotage the whipping to death of a Caleban at the hands of an evil and supremely rich woman. The Calebans gave everyone else the portals vital to interstellar civilization, and if this one dies, everyone who used a portal will die.

The Whipping Star focuses around communication with the Caleban, who clearly does not perceive space-time in the same way we do, with all the grace of a sophomore physics major in the depths of a DMT trip (trust me on this one). It's not a great premise, and someone with a more absurdist touch, like Harry Harrison, might have been able to pull it off. Frank Herbert misses any joy and wonder in the premise entirely, replacing it with a stale space opera zoo of aliens and a weirdly misogynistic antagonist.