Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Sandworms of Dune (Dune Sequels Book 2)

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Satisfying conclusion to the original Dune series

Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2021

I’ve now read eight Dune books- Herbert’s original six and these two from his son, Brian. This book rounds out the series very well. I enjoyed it immensely, with lots of twists and turns, as well as the return of save favorite characters for the grande finale of a truly epic story.

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Nauseating...

Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2020

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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Nauseating...

Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2020

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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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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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MagnumCSC

Understand why it was in the vault

Reviewed in the United States on February 6, 2012

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It's evident that it was primarily composed by Brian and Kevin, not Frank, maybe at most an outline or a coctail napkin more likely. It's like the difference between A New Hope and the Phantom Phlop. Almost like it was an afterthought. Not as memorable as Dune or Chapterhouse, more like Heretics. I read those 20 years ago, couldn't tell u a whole lot about Heretics, and in 20 I won't be able to tell u much more about Sandworms. Brian and Kevin should have taken a break between writing Dune Novels----instead of making trilogies to sell books, maybe read the original Dune Novels so they could keep the assumed conventions intact, maybe craft one really memorable one that takes more than 6 weeks to knock out,------Like Frank did with Chapterhouse, and with Dune. But that is the paperback world we live in now. IE see Harry Turtledoves recent stuff. Trite and designed to suck dollars out of readers, not tell a story.

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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.

25 people found this helpful

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Dreadful

Reviewed in the United States on August 8, 2020

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Even if you’ll be around for another three millennia, life is too short to waste time reading this dreck.

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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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W. McMillin

Did the authors even read the Dune?

Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2010

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I am sorry but this and the book before are horrible. I am a huge fan of the original six Dune novels. I have not read the son's Dune novels as I have never been a fan of sequels or prequels written by someone else. I saw both "Hunters of Dune" and "Sandworms of Dune" were supposedly based on as 30 page outline that Frank Herbert had left regarding the end of the Dune series. I bought the book in the hopes that I could see some of the deep and intricate thinking from the original six books. I did not. These two books seemingly have nothing in common with what came before. I must assume that the outline was a work in progress as I cannot seem to find the emotional nor logical conclusion to Frank Herbert's work. I advise one not to read this.... .

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chris kalous

Enough plot holes to drive a heighliner through

Reviewed in the United States on October 8, 2021

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Though the Hunters of Dune was more like 3 stars and had some intriguing premises, all of those premises fell apart. Terrible ending to the whole series. Shoulda left the original 6 alone.

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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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