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hlikker

a good ending.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 17, 2022

I was told it was optional to read books 7&8. I’m glad I optioned to read them. Worth it, especially the 8th

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Pedro Clark Cespedes

Disappointing but decent story ending

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 19, 2021

THESE AUTHORS LOSE ANY GOOD WILL BY REFERRING TO PAUL AS SUPERMAN SEVERAL TIMES. At this point everyone should accept that Brian Herbert in no way has the skill of his father. "Sandworms of Dune" is not a horrible story but is objectively plain. The initial plan by Frank Herbert was one final novel to end the Dune series which was absolutely possible. “Hunters of Dune”, the previous entry, is a pointless setup novel for this book.. “Sandworms of Dune” is a much better story than I was expecting but follows a middle of the road path to end the Dune series. Thankfully, the repetition of information has been vastly turned down here; while still present it is nowhere near as annoying as in “Hunters of Dune”. Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson do the best they can but their limited skill means an average ‘they all lived happily ever after’. This book has cliché plot resolutions at every turn but at the very least the 'balance' mentioned in the original books was achieved. The incredibly predictable finale has been seen several times in books, movies and video games before this book was written and has been seen many times since. An outline is not a story, and a story is not plot. These authors don’t understand this concept and show this with their two ending novels. I suggest reading the Butlerian Jihad trilogy followed by the original books and this ending for a satisfying series.

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Russell L. Adams II

More like a whimper...

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 20, 2007

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I was originally driven to write about my disappointing encounter with Sandworms several months ago, and my review was also "lost" in the nether-world of censorship. After looking at the 5-star and 4-star ratings on this book, I wondered to myself "Did they read the same book I did?" or "Maybe they were paid to put a high rating review in", or maybe, just maybe they got confused about what book they read, because reviews for "Cat in the Hat" belong in the children's section because they obviously did not read the same book I did! Don't get me wrong, I am a DIE-HARD Dune LOVER. I recommend the reading to anyone and everyone who hasn't had the privilege to experience it. After reading the over-rated hot air reviews, I felt obligated to re-add my 1-star review back for others to see for themselves.

I have read every single book that deals with the Dune series. From the moment that a friend of mine loaned me their copy of a truly sorry excuse of a dog-eared mutt of a book, I was hooked! I believe that it took me almost 3-months to read Dune, Dune Messiah and Children of Dune, and "believe you me", that was FAST for me back then (I was a painfully slow reader). The worst part of reading it back in 1980 (before many of you were born) was that I had to wait for God Emperor of Dune to be published! I was truly saddened when Frank Herbert passed away because I thought there would never be another Dune book published, and there was so much more left unsaid.

Then out of nowhere came Brian Herbert and Anderson. I absolutely loved the books they put out! The histories of the Dune families, and the ancient history of WHY computers were forbidden! I was like a kid in a candy store! I couldn't wait for the next installment! When Hunters of Dune came out I enjoyed the book, but not as much as the previous books, then along came Sandworms of Dune. I was so anxious to get my hands on a copy I did an advanced order so I could get it as soon as possible.

When it finally arrived, I curled up in my chair and began to read one of the most disappointing books I have ever laid my eyes on! In fact I felt insulted!! I thought the conclusion to such a GREAT series would go out with a BANG! It didn't even have the decency to just fade away! This book is more like an insulting cowardly whimper!!!!! Here in front of me is what was supposed to be the culmination of one of the greatest science fiction stories ever written, and I felt like I was reading a Readers Digest abridged version. It was hurried, poorly written, and grossly unfocused. Did I mention I was sorely disappointed?!?!?! It felt like a parody! Like Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson couldn't wait to "wash their hands" of this burden. The last two books of this series (Hunters and Sandworms) had enough plot lines that could have spanned 6 more books. Instead, the authors tried to wrap everything up in Sandworms, placed a pretty cover on it and said "here, enjoy" knowing that fans would gobble it up.

Plot lines in the books seemed to abruptly cut off leaving the reader going "HUH?" wondering if the editor was randomly snipping pages. Then at the end of Sandworms the authors leave poor Duncan Idaho trying to sum everything up in a "B-grade" movie style narrative thinking that should satiate the readers hunger for a hearty plot-line wrap-up

It truly saddens me to give a Dune series book a 1-star rating. I never thought I would ever do that! I have read all of the post Frank Herbert books at least three times each (except this one and Hunters of Dune), and I have read all of the first 6 books at LEAST 2 dozen times over the last 20 years. Up to this point I would have ranked Children of Dune the lowest because it was a slllooooowwwwww read. But even Children of Dune was well written and unrushed. It had a story to tell and it served it's purpose without insulting the reader.

The ONLY reason I would suggest for ANYONE to read this is if they have already taken the time to read the rest of the series and wanted to know what else happened. Even then I would only suggest that you read this book if you

1. Check it out from the Library
2. Buy it from a yard sale for $1
3. Come over my house and I'll give you my copy for free

DON'T waste your money on a new copy of this book.

27 people found this helpful

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Jonathan C. Pike

Instead of getting your enemies syphilis for Christmas, why not Sandworms of Dune?

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 14, 2007

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It's the perfect gift that says you hate the person enough to give them the very worst! When insanity and probable death from a terrible disease just aren't enough, your best bet is a Brian Herbert novel. And Sandworms doesn't disappoint. And who knows: if your enemies have the mindset of a none-too-bright 4th grader who just spent recess eating dirt and banging his head against the pavement, they just might enjoy the book!

I was sitting around thinking: hmm... how could the Dune series possibly be made worse after the travesty that was "Hunters"? And then BH smacked me in the face with Sandworms. While other reviewers have admirably pointed out the many obscenities in this book, here are a few highlights:

- Man, I love the fact that formerly admirable and extremely formidable characters have been basically reduced to babbling retarded chimps. Take the Bene Gesserit for example. They're pretty much the most awesome characters throughout the Dune series. They can kill you with one blow, discover your innermost secrets, or simply just make you do as you're told with Voice. Plus, they've been fused with the ferocious Honored Matres, making them even more dangerous. So what do these super-intelligent killing-machines do in this novel? They waste time making bad bargains with Guild bankers, getting tricked by Ixian technicians, and basically getting their asses handed to them by Face Dancers left and right. Sweet! That makes perfect sense!

- It's great that so many characters have been brought back for such important reasons. Like Leto II. I mean, if he wasn't brought back, then who would've rode the worms around Synchrony, causing such devastation as destroying a few buildings and a robot or two? Seriously, it was definitely one of the most important acts in the whole Dune series. Or Yueh! Man, I can't get enough of that guy. I'm so glad they brought him back to reprise his role. It was completely necessary. In fact, BH should write another prequel trilogy focusing just on him. He could call it: "The Adventures of Wellington Yueh: Medical Marvel or Maniacal Madman?". It's going to rule!

- One of the best literary techniques is when you force illogical solutions onto seemingly impossible problems. All great authors do it. Like Brian Herbert. I mean, having Norma Cenva whisk Omnius into another dimension: pure genius! It solves the whole "how do you defeat an omnipresent and almost omnipotent enemy" problem just like that! Why waste time with reasonable solutions when those pages could instead be filled with completely irrelevant plotlines like planet Qelso, or better yet: more Yueh!

- BH is really great at building on his father's legacy without using clumsy techniques that blatantly try to trump already existing phenomena. Like ULTRAspice. What a subtle way to improve on the existence of mélange! Or the ULTIMATE kwisatz haderach. This one's an even better idea because it doesn't at all conflict with Frank Herbert's theme throughout the Dune novels that humanity should not flock behind a hero figure, but should instead diversify itself. And then there's SEAworms. Sheer brilliance. It's like the complete opposite of what a sandworm should be. I can't imagine the agonizingly long hours BH must've endured to produce that piece of esoteric genius. Speaking of which, I was a little disappointed that the word "esoteric" was only used in this book 17 times: far short of his usual 60-70 quota per book. But then I was cheered up by the appearance of SUPER Yueh! Wait, I'm not sure that actually occurred... But how awesome would it have been if Yueh suddenly sprouted magical wings of prescience and took to the sky where he rained down death, destruction, and irrelevance onto Omnius, all with a dignified air of esotericism. Man, I'm gonna email that idea to BH for the Yueh trilogy. Keep an eye out, Dune fans! I'm sure BH has much more in store for us, and I for one will be lining up at the book store for the release. Either that, or I'm going to incinerate my copy of Sandworms, jump up and down on the ashes, and bury them in a deep, deep hole.

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Benjamin Strange

A pearl of Frank Herbert's consciousness lives on in an endless nightmare...

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 4, 2014

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*NO SPOILERS*

Never have I been so enraged by a piece of entertainment that I have been compelled to write a review, until I mistakenly committed to re-read the entire Dune series, this time including Hunters of Dune and Sandworms of Dune. Sure, I've read poorly written books before, but I've never read a series that so thoroughly squandered the original author's vision.

True - taking on the monumental task of completing the (possibly genius) works of Frank Herbert was destined to fail to meet the somewhat impossible expectations of his readers, but this... this was absolute failure on every possible level. There's just so many things wrong with these books, but the most unforgivable sin is this: it is insulting to the reader. The authors seem to think that their readers don't remember what happened in the previous books, nor even remember what happened just paragraphs before, and take it upon themselves to explain EVERYTHING to us. Indeed, there is ENDLESS unnecessary rehashing of various plot points, character motivations, basic concepts of the Dune universe, and even reminders of what the various factions such as the Bene Gesserit and Honored Matres even represent, in the most dull and stilted dialogue possible. Characters are constantly explaining themselves and their situations to each other (and, by proxy, to the reader), a tactic that the elder Herbert never stooped to. Part of the allure of the previous Dune novels was that there were giant leaps of logic and intuition presented to the reader, which still managed to make sense and only increased in richness upon re-reading. Hunters of Dune and Sandworms of Dune dispense with this altogether, and instead we're presented with a writing style that's somewhat akin to micro-managing boss: telling you exactly what's going on at all times, with no room for interpretation nor imagination.

These books' other failings are described in much greater detail in other reviews, so I won't bother with re-hashing those here. I will pile on my hatred in a more general fashion: the writing style, while purposefully (and wisely) different from Frank Herbert's, is a huge drop in sophistication from the previous 6 novels. Hunters and Sandworms seem to be written for an audience of 10 year olds. The characters that were once rich with individual traits are reduced to nothing but names and only the most basic motivations. The good guys are good, the bad guys are evil, and not one of them bothers with a single moment of true introspection. Even the long awaited Enemy, whose identity was only hinted at in the Frank Herbert novels, is a huge let-down in this regard. Worse, the characters that we have come to know in the previous books, who are supposed to be the culmination of the best characteristics of the entire human race - leaders of incomparable genius, some gifted with prescience, some gifted with super-human physical qualities - are reduced to complete and total morons. None of them can figure out even the most obvious situations without having it explained to them in mind-numbing detail. There is no pretense of high art here: word choice is extremely limited, as if a Thesaurus is something B. Herbert and K. Anderson have never heard of, and the writing style is clunky, stilted, and repetitive. Unnecessary (and stupid) plot lines and characters are introduced, given short shrift, and then completely abandoned. It's just really, really bad writing.

I committed to reading these, as I was curious about the 30 page outline that Frank Herbert had left behind, which was to supposedly wrap up a story arc that had run the course of thousands of years and untold manifestations of Duncan Idaho gholas. It was a colossal disappointment, in every possible way. It seems funny (not funny in a "haha" kind of way) that Frank Herbert had supplied an apt metaphor, in that a pearl of his vision lurks beneath the surface of these books, much like how the God Emperor's consciousness lived on in his sandworms. I struggled through these books, trying to read between the lines of horrible prose, unremarkable characters, and idiotic plot in an effort to see what Frank Herbert had originally envisioned for his Golden Path. Sadly, all I found was insult piled upon insult. This was NOT the way to continue Frank Herbert's legacy. This is a disgrace.

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F. McGregor

Don't Bother, the Next Book Will Repeat Everything in This Book - Just Read the Next One, Don't Bother

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 12, 2014

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If you're expecting Frank Herbert here - forget it. At least 35% of this book is filled with repetitive elements. For example, the writer has to remind you what the character is thinking, even though he just reminded you three pages before, and eight pages before that. The same thing goes for recapping previous events. I guarantee you will be reminded who Paul Muad'Dib was at least forty times throughout this book, or who Duncan Idaho was, along with what he thinks and feels, and who he knew - over and over and over again. Frankly, it's like reading a book meant for those who aren't very bright, and have never read any of the actual Herbert books. Odd that the new authors of the Dune serious just can't grasp that. Brian Herbert shame on you. Your father knew how many times to remind or introduce things to a reader (very few), but someone has made you do this repeatedly. Was it the publisher, asking for a formula script, or (more likely) Kevin Anderson who obviously treats his readers, like a nine-year-old? In reality, Anderson's condescension toward his readers is palpable, and he should not be rewarded for his shortsightedness or downright dislike for the people who read his books.

Then there's the story and characters. Let me lay it out for you. Picture a movie director with cameras full of unexposed film, a huge cast of characters - and no script. He yells "Action" and the actors proceed to mill around murmuring to themselves until the director yells "Cut" at the end. Then everybody goes home. In Sandworms of Dune, the author dredges up Paul Muad'Dib, his father Leto I, his Mother Jessica, his son Leto II, Duncan, Thufir, and many more. Kind of a mixed up all-star reunion. Once sufficiently dredged (reminding us who they were, who they knew, etc.) the author just has them mill around and almost display brilliance - almost. Did I mention the sandworms of Dune - aren't even in this book? Some other worms are, but they are used as window dressing, never really demonstrating their appearance. I am so saddened and frustrated writing this, it's just time to stop.

Don't bother with this book, it leaves you completely unsatisfied.

14 people found this helpful

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Ronald Craig

The only Dune book you ever need read!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 29, 2007

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I'll keep this short but sweet. I've had intermittent access to an advance copy of this book since mid-June, and my copy of the final version since a few days after its release. I have read most of the book, but *not yet every word of it*. (I am currently posting a "chapter" by "chapter" "dissection" elsewhere as I reread everything.)

My reasons for giving this book a one-star rating:

1. Inept use of language
2. Poor story-telling
3. Bad science...applied badly
4. Inconsistencies with Frank Herbert's original works

Those should be self-explanatory (but if not, I'll be happy to go into detail in the comments). By "poor story-telling" I mean primarily the repetition and recapitulation for which the authors are infamous. The amount in this book is even greater than in "Hunters of Dune"...because "Hunters" itself is now a source of material to repeat. I first thought that this style was adopted because the authors were targeting today's attention-deficient average (teen?) reader, but now I'm not so sure....

I now wonder if the unnecessary recap and explanation of basic Duniverse elements isn't an attempt to make this book more palatable to a new reader, one who has never read any of the Dune books but who has heard of them and happens to buy this thing on impulse. In itself it provides a complete (albeit extremely skewed) overview of the entire series. Hence my title here.

The above notwithstanding, I urge every Dune fan to read this book...just so you will know how bad a bad book can be.

42 people found this helpful

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James Fife

Crawling toward Kralizec

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 5, 2022

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I read the two posthumous novels solely to try to glean some idea of what might have been in Herbert's outline for his last Dune novel. That required me to read through the entire book, but it was torturous. I'd much prefer they just published the outline. The writing is ponderous, the pace is glacial, and the characters developed to comic book level at best. The plot line is also 180° from what Frank Herbert clearly indicated about the inevitable effect of a hero. That was the theme of books 2 to 4 in the series. That meant it was hard to discern what was truly Frank's idea, but I realized any passage where I wasn't irritated or bored must have been based on some point in his outline. Those passages were too rare.

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G. Vardaman

Very disappointing culmination to an epic story.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 11, 2007

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After waiting so long, I bought the last two books together this past week and read them back-to-back. Wow. I am shocked. It seems like so much was wasted, so many threads turned into nothing and lots of build up for very trite wrap ups to the storylines.
I don't want this review to be a spoiler, but the characters remained undeveloped throughout and abilities that had been so spectacular were now trivialized and seemingly commonplace.

I feel crestfallen.

I wish I could have not read them and left the ending to my own imagination.
The prequel stories were very entertaining and even those now seem like they were merely groundwork for the last two, where few new ideas were presented (and when they were, they were disregarded.)

Added to all of this, there is a major plot point that is so staggeringly obvious to the reader in a way that should be more than obvious to the main characters (Mentats, Bene Gesserit trained, et. al.) it makes them look stupid.
When Frank Herbert originally published many of the characters used in these last two books, they were thought-provoking and in many cases, awe-inspiring. Now, it seems, they are just there for the sake of the reader to be reunited in an attempt to recapture some of that awe. Except they are two-dimensional wasted.

[...]

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Client Amazon

Nauseating...

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 29, 2020

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I first read the 6 original Dune books in the late 80's, early 90's and always so far abstained in reading the sequels or books by the son. But a new movie is coming soon, the trailer is quite good, so I reread all the series and then got trapped by the heavy marketing the son does for his two sequels on the Kindle edition. I really shouldn't have. I read through them in a few days (it's so vapid that if you read the first and last sentence of each chapter, you get the drill anyway) with a sort of morbid fascination : how can the heir of such a great mind release words with such abysmal lack of style, depth, interest, plausibility, consistency with the previous stories ... And it took two to do that ? This is the shameless exploitation of an undeserved legacy. Stay away if you ever loved the original books !

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James May

Hunters and Sandworms of Dune - awful

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 18, 2009

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Although I enjoyed Herbert/Anderson's other Dune spin-offs, Dune 7 and 8 are simply trash. These 2 books fail on so many levels that I wouldn't know where to start: lack of any characterization, repititious, hurried, just awful.
Although I believe that Frank Herbert left an outline for sequels to Dune 6, that doesn't necessarily mean Brian Herbert and Anderson used it. Frank Herbert wasn't the kind of writer to have giant robots marching around smashing humanity and I believe the Butlerian Jihad was a revolt against computers on a cerebral/philosophical level and not literally evil robots. Siona's rite of passage in the desert with Leto in Dune 6 suggest otherwise and it is far from clear. Maybe Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and the Fantastic Four would have created such monsters but not Frank Herbert. These books are a mess; even comic books have more nuance.
Bringing back the panoply of characters from the first 6 Dune books served no purpose whatsoever. They are ill-done as characters with no depth whatsoever or purpose to fulfill.

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Allen

makes you dumber.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 14, 2022

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Go read the plot on wiki if you feel the need to know but it’s an abomination. It’s a shame.

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