How many here in the Community have read this? A very different take and human interaction, with world doom on the line. If all humans were organized as an insect colony, mammals would be lost. Another Q: Would the Borg be able to overcome a human-hive mentality, or be assimilated themselves?... Why are ther no insectoids amongst the Borg?
Never read the book, but my devotion to the source of your name compels a response. I would think that two collectives meeting might produce a true fusion of the opposing sides... a human collective would be more accepting of the concept of joining in a mass than individualist humans would be, if not the reality of not being dominant in said fusion.
Confusing....one would dominate the other...this is a philosophy, not a concrete answer to the Q posited.
The "devotion" is to the Galactic Milieu. I guess I'd have to actually read the book to be more specific ... I have several non-Dune Herberts but not that one.
AT LAST!!! Have you read all about the "Saga of Pliocene Exile"? The Many Colored Land The Golden Torc The Non-Born King The Adversary Intervention: Survelliance Metaconcert Jack the Bodiless Diamond Mask Magnificat Aside from the Dune Chronicles, my favorite books!!
Check my recent thread on favorite worlds lol... I read the Saga all at once and read Intervention and the Milieu Trilogy as they came out, have 'em all in hardcover,
What do you think Felice would do to the Milieu if she got loose...Uncle Rogi! Aside from Jon or Denis Remillard, Felice is the most powerful EVER!! I've a letter JUlian May wrote a fan about this and she said any more novels in the series would center about Felice, and her very real threat to the Millieu after Unifex moved on. But we are off topic...would you (or anyone) join a "hive"? How would anyone react to suddenly be a Drone? In a human-based imitation of ants? This is a chilling novel; the main character smiles at the reporter while eating human meat, all the while saying "It's the way of things..."
Another here who enjoyed the Julian May saga, even if it turned out that "Danny Boy," aka "Londerry Air," (no, I'm not joking) dates back to the Pleistocene. For some reason that was nearly a dealbreaker on willing suspension of disbelief. I guess the psychic powers got grandfathered in. Is Hellstrom's Hive the one where the people Spoiler: the book, maybe ended up with chlorophyll in their skins?
It's been a very long time (more than thirty years) since I read Hellstrom's Hive; I picked it up after going through the first three Dune books. I remember that I didn't care for it all that much, but it's been so long since that reading that I really couldn't tell you why I didn't like it.