''High-Opp'' is a

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

novel by American writer

Frank Herbert Franklin Patrick Herbert Jr. (October 8, 1920February 11, 1986) was an American science fiction author best known for the 1965 novel '' Dune'' and its five sequels. Though he became famous for his novels, he also wrote short stories and worked a ...

, written between ''

The Dragon in the Sea ''The Dragon in the Sea'' (1956), also known as ''Under Pressure'' from its serialization, is a novel by Frank Herbert. It was first serialized in ''Astounding Science Fiction, Astounding'' magazine from 1955 to 1956, then reworked and published ...

'' (1955) and ''

Dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, f ...

'' (1965), and published posthumously in 2012. It contains a foreword by

Kevin J. Anderson Kevin James Anderson (born March 27, 1962) is an American science fiction author. He has written spin-off novels for ''Star Wars'', ''StarCraft'', ''Titan A.E.'' and ''The X-Files literature#Novels, The X-Files'', and with Brian Herbert is the ...

, who co-authored many books in the ''

'' series with Frank Herbert's son,

Brian Herbert Brian Patrick Herbert (born June 29, 1947) is an American author who lives in Washington (state), Washington state. He is the elder son of science fiction author Frank Herbert (who died in 1986). Brian Herbert's novels include ''Sidney's Comet' ...

. Though the novel was never published in Herbert's lifetime, some elements of the story were used in his 1977 novel ''

The Dosadi Experiment ''The Dosadi Experiment'' is a 1977 science fiction novel by American writer Frank Herbert. It is the second full-length novel set in the ConSentiency universe established by Herbert in his short stories "A Matter of Traces" and "The Tactful Sab ...

'', sometimes word-for-word.

Plot summary

On a

dystopia A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia (from κακός ''kakos'' "bad") was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 1818 Plan of Parliamentary Reform (Works, vol. 3, p. 493). ...

n future Earth, an ongoing series of opinion polls set the boundaries of the

caste Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...

system: the high scored High-Opps are rewarded with luxury and privilege, while the low-opped struggle for comfort and survival in the crowded Labor Pool. When Senior Liaitor Daniel Movius falls from the upper ranks to the lowest depths of society, he faces the harsh and brutal conditions of the underworld and finds a brewing revolution in need of a leader.

References

2012 American novels American science fiction novels Dystopian novels Novels by Frank Herbert Novels published posthumously {{2010s-sf-novel-stub