The Dosadi Experiment
Apart from the Dune franchise, Frank Herbert wrote several other books. The protagonist of The Dosadi Experiment is Jorj X. McKie, who appears in other books and short stories. He belongs to the Bureau of Sabotage, an agency intended to moderate the totalitarian tendencies of the ConSentiency, the galactic government. Other galactic players include the Caleban, extradimensional beings who provide teleportation services, and the Gowachin, frog-like humanoids who specialize in law.
McKie learns from a friendly Caleban that they have helped the Gowachin with an experiment that has lasted several generations: they have "accidentally" mistransported various humans and Gowachins to a planet named Dosadi. A "God Wall" keeps them in and everyone else out. Because the planet has poisons everywhere, the millions of inhabitants live in one valley. Their artificial society, already under immense pressure, will explode unless something changes.
With an assumed identity, McKie teleports to Dosadi. The ruler, a Gowachim named Broey, has concentrated his forces to defend against an expected uprising. McKie tracks down the "rebel" leader and finds Keila Jedrik, a human woman and civil servant who has orchestrated civil unrest and rebellion. As in several other Herbert works, a principal character undergoes an evolutionary gestalt.
- Action Girl: Keila Jedrik.
- Crapsack World: Dosadi is the perfect example of this trope.
- Death World: Dosadi.
- Encyclopedia Exposita: Nobody does it like Herbert.
- The End of the World as We Know It: Dosadi might self-destruct. or it might take over the galaxy. Other, "minor" risks include the whole ConSentiency becoming a nastier place (if the experiment succeeds) or turning into complete madhouse as a result of leak.
- The Federation: The ConSentiency, consisting of a wide variety of alien cultures and societies.
- Law Procedural: a full-blown trial in the Courtarena.
- The Power of Love
- Psychic Link / Mindlink Mates: McKie and Jedrik as a side effect of Body Swap.
- Read the Fine Print: One would think that the Gowachin, while preparing a contract with entities having utterly alien minds, always sticking to the letter of their obligations as they understand them, and manipulating stellar amounts of energy apparently at will, would clarify each point as much as humanly (and inhumanly) possible. But no one did a good job in this area. A lot of people ended up with quite unexpected results, and the whole ConSentiency barely survived.
- Showing Off the New Body: After learning they can switch bodies at will with each other, McKie and Jedrik have some interesting sex.
- Take That: Herbert has a couple here, aimed at his more famous work, Dune. McKie is worried about being seen as some sort of Messiah; a native Dosadi replies that it would be utterly stupid for them to worship or follow him, he's just an outsider...
- The Wall Around the World : The God Wall.
- Training from Hell: Every living person on Dosadi is going through this just by living.