Sandworms of Dune by Brian Herbert, Kevin J. Anderson Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Sandworms of Dune
Book Review: A wait so long.
Summary: 4 Stars
Let me say first that I loved the original Dune Series. I believe that Frank Herbert was an author above most others. I don't believe that anyone could write the books as well Frank Herbert did.
But when I read the last page of Chapterhouse Dune, I was utterly disapointed that I would not know how the series was to end. But when I heard that Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson were going to continue in the Dune universe and finish the series I was ecstatic.
While Sandworms of Dune is not exactly what I expected for the final Dune book. I accept the book for what it is and am grateful that I got an end to the series that I love so much. I truly enjoyed revisiting with some of my favorite character, Sheeana, Duncan, Teg and Murbella. It was a true joy to get the point of view of Jessica, Paul, Leto II and Alia again, even in ghola form.
I intend to keep reading any books that are in the Duniverse and enjoy those as well.
Book Review: A whimper and not a bang
Summary: 1 Stars
It was with much frustration that I finished Sandworms of Dune. While I enjoyed parts of both the House and Legend's trilogy's, both Hunter's and Sandworm's of Dune have left me feeling empty. While the action sequences are well written and move along well, the plot and story lag far behind. Just like many Hollywood blockbuster's, character development and plot do not exist and the author's wrote themselves into such a corner that they required FOUR! Deus Ex Machina's to resolve the storyline.
There will be those who enjoy the books for their own reasons and that is fine. For those of us who hold Frank's six books in as high of regard as many hold the bible, there will be emptyness and for some bitterness and more for Kevin J. Anderson is not a writer who'se style, idea's, and storytelling ability is suited to writing Dune material.
With the connection to the Legend's books and the blatent disregard for the foundation's of the universe that Frank created, this works take on the spector of bad fan fiction instead of the carying the legacy torch they have been touted as. While they have done some good, bringing new reader's to Dune and bringing out of print work's back into print, all that has been overshadowed by poorly written books.
The original Dune novels were deep and made one think on different levels, the new books are like popcorn movies, shallow and forgetable, and not worth revisiting.
Book Review: A worthy finale of sorts
Summary: 4 Stars
Some fans of the original Dune series tend to dismiss these new novels as bastardized versions of the original. I wholeheartedly disagree. These books are far more accessible, can be breezed through, and most importantly, fill in the gaps from the Dune Universe.
This book ends the main story of Dune, and while there are other Dune books that will be developed, they will most likely be small, almost irrelevant branches as opposed to continuing the timeline.
So the first question is, does it solve all the lingering issues? The clear answer is yes. Is it a good read? Yes. The style is readable, fluid, and fun. As usual though, the chapter structure takes away from the quality, as each chapter is a mere few pages long, so sub-plots are split up needlessly, and subplot information is needlessly repeated as new chapters have to explain what happened in older chapters.
The main problem of the book is that some of the subplots, especially the internal strife within the ship, are often boring and completely useless. The robot empire behaves in an almost comic way. I almost stopped reading when a robot was discussing Van Gogh as it was so laughably bad.
Basically, the first 400 pages are nearly useless. Out of a 500 page book, that's just not good. You could literally pick it up from 400 and suffer little to no break in continuity. Fortunately, it does go by quick.
However, the last 100 pages more than make up for it. Without getting into specifics, it's an interesting ending that wraps up the final conflict between computers and humans, and it tells you who the true the Kwisatz Haderach is. While many people may find the ending weird, stupid, or confusing, I found it quite satisfying.
Book Review: An Editor would have been nice
Summary: 3 Stars
Thank god (leto or duncan?) I'm done. In the end I was entertained, which is the purpose of reading. That being said, it was a tedious effort to get through this final, maybe?, chapter of Dune. There was a good story to be told in the end, but, it seems the authors were being paid for a word count. An editor should have reigned in the repetitiveness. How many times must they say the names of the reborn gholah's? They have a built in reader base that did not need the retelling of plot lines from five, six or nine books ago. The casual reader will not be reading this. KNOW your audience! It would have been much more compelling to have fleshed out characters (pick a ghola, any gholah..) than to keep retelling what the reader already knew by rote.
Others have posted on the many timeline/plot inconsistencies, but, the one I haven't seen is this....most "plot lines" were tied up in the epilouge save one....whatever happened to Paulo who was in a trance on the floor in synchrony? Is he still there in a trance? Did they rebuild around him? He just kinda got left there. Ooops. Indicative of the book.
I was entertained though.
Book Review: An Ending You Can Live With.
Summary: 4 Stars
If you haven't read most of the Dune series, Don't Read This or "Hunters of Dune."
This is the Companion Volume to "Hunters of Dune" and is the series finale. These volumes take place in the two to three decades right after "Chapter House" ends and could be viewed as a trilogy.
To make the most sense out of all three, you may want to first read the "Legends," AKA Battles, prequel books that cover material Frank Herbert only hinted at in his original 6 books.
It's an ending most Dune fans should enjoy.