Sandworms of DuneBook 8 of the Dune ChroniclesBy Brian Herbert and Kevin J. AndersonBased upon an outline by Frank HerbertA Dune Retrospective by Eric AllenContinuing the outline titled "Dune 7" left by his father, Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson released this, the final volume in the Dune Saga. There are those who love it, those that are indifferent to it, but many more who hate and criticize it. Yes, I understand that the writing style is not the same as that used by Frank Herbert, and that because of the limitations of the outline, some things did have to be added to fill in the gaps by the writers. But does that make Sandworms of Dune a bad book? In my opinion, no, it does not. If it's not written the exact way that the original author might have written it, and if the writers took a few liberties to fill in vague or unaddressed issues in the original outline, it is still written well, and brings a conclusion to the series that we otherwise would never have gotten. I know that it would have been nice for Frank Herbert to rise from the grave on Easter Sunday after three days and all to finish these final two volumes before ascending to the heavens, but seeing as how that did not happen, we must make due with what we have.Sandworms of Dune picks up right after the conclusion of Hunters. Morbella is building a fleet to bring against the Machine Empire, and meeting resistance from every direction due to Facedancer infiltrators, including from within her own New Sisterhood. The Guild Navigators have enlisted the last of the Tlelaxu Masters to engineer them a new source of spice, and have been stealing their ships so that the Guild cannot install the new navigation computers from Ix. Meanwhile, Duncan Idaho and crew flee from the net of the enemy time and time again, doing their best to awaken the memories of the historical figures that they have brought back from the dead so that they might have a fighting chance against the enemy. The Machines have created copies of their own, because a prophecy given in the depths of history says that after the final battle a Kwisatz Haderach must be there to guide events. When they finally catch up to Duncan, everything comes together in a final confrontation that will change the universe forever after.The Good? Like I said earlier in the review, though this book may not be written in Frank Herbert's exact style, that does not mean that it is a badly written book. Brian Herbert and Anderson are both excellent writers in their own rights, but no two writers have the exact same style. Calling the book down because the writers were not able to perfectly recreate the style of the original author seems like a very silly complaint to me. To these people I ask, you do realize that Frank Herbert is dead, right? You do understand that a dead man cannot write books for you, yes? Then why selfishly complain about it? You can't change it, you might as well enjoy it for what it is. Had Brian Herbert not stepped up to complete his father's work, you'd have been left with a cliffhanger ending forever, so stop complaining about his writing style not matching that of his father's. I found the book to be well written, suspenseful, and exciting. It kept me invested in the characters and the plot, kept the suspense dialed up to 11, and was far more coherent a narrative than the several previous books written by the original author before his death.The ending is not the ending that many people would have expected from Dune. I see many, many people complaining about this as well. The biggest complaint being that a lot of people think Brian Herbert just made it up on his own and either lied about finding the outline his father left behind, or did not follow it. However, I believe that the ending we got IS the ending that Frank Herbert would have written. It really seems to have his stamp all over it, and a lot of people seem to complain because it didn't fit what THEY thought should have happened, rather than what the original author wanted to happen. I thought the ending was very good, and it fit the series quite well. It is not a huge, climactic battle, as many people seemed to have been hoping for, but it was still very exciting in its own way, with several pretty huge plot twists and revelations.It is easy to see where Brian Herbert and Anderson had to do some filling in the blanks in the outline left by Frank Herbert. And for the most part, they do very well at it. They took a twenty page outline and wrote two very good books out of it. I don't think many people who complain about the authors of this book realize how monumental a task that had to have been. It is inevitable that they would have a few blanks to fill in, and they did it well, and almost seamlessly.For the most part, it seems as though Brian Herbert published these two final volumes for the right reasons. Not for fame, money, and capitalization upon his father's legacy, but because he truly wished to finish his father's work, and to give his father's fans the ending that they had been asking for for decades. You can feel his passion for the task in the writing, and his desire to do his father proud. I think that these two books are an excellent tribute to his father's memory. They may not be the exact books that Frank Herbert would have written, but that doesn't make them any less entertaining. I would say to those who dislike these books simply because they were written differently, to set that nitpick aside and enjoy the ending that you would never have gotten in any form had Brian Herbert not given it to you.The Bad? Yet more child rape. I'm running out of horrible things to say about child rape. I've been bitching about it for what, four months running now? I feel like a broken record here. Child rape is wrong in every case, whether the child be male or female, it is still just as horrific. There is nothing that makes it right. There is no justification that you can give. I even had a commenter on one of my previous reviews tell me that child rape is okay because it happens in the distant future and the culture is different. Uh, no, it's still child rape, and since that future culture doesn't actually exist, it's my own culture I'm going to be pulling right and wrong from. And in my culture, child rape is one of the most abhorrent crimes imaginable. So don't give me ANY of that BS! I find myself pretty annoyed and rather angry at how casually it gets tossed into the Dune series as though it is nothing of consequence. Again, Frank Herbert's name does not appear anywhere on my copy of this book. It is neither anywhere on the cover, nor anywhere within it. I do believe that this oversight was a mistake made by the publisher, and not by Brian Herbert, as Herbert Jr. does seem genuine in his desires to finish his father's work simply for the sake of finishing it. However, it does seem a pretty big slight against the original creator of the series to completely leave his name off the book entirely. I have seen editions of the book that do have his name on it, but my copy does not.In conclusion, this book is well written, exciting, suspenseful, and highly entertaining. It gives a satisfying ending to a series that has spanned over four decades in its release. Though this may not be the book that the original writer would have given us, it is the ending that he would have given us, whether it was written in his style or not. There are just a few small nitpicks I have with it, few worth even mentioning, and a scene of child rape against it. I thought the book was very good, and an excellent conclusion to an epic series. I invite any Dune fans or fans of Science Fiction to give it a try, and try to see it for the story rather than the differences in the writing styles between authors.And with this I conclude my Dune Retrospective. Thanks go to all of you who have followed me through this journey, and have sent me your letters, comments, and experiences with this series along the way. I hope that I have been informative and entertaining, and that some of you out there, who may not have had the opportunity to have picked this series up will do so now. Though it does have its low points, the series as a whole is well worth the time and effort to read. Next up in my Retrospective series is the Star Wars Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn. Until next month. Check out my other reviews.
"There is no real ending. It’s just the place where you stop the story."- Frank HerbertAfter all this time, we have come to the journey's end. And the contribution of Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson to the wonders of that journey should not be frowned upon. While I personally wanted more from the last book in the series, I truly believe that the authors followed in the footsteps of the Dreamer himself and did the series justice.War has come to the Known Universe. The Enemy has revealed itself. But in the face of inevitable defeat, the ancient sisterhood of the Bene Gesserit stands defiant, fighting against all odds. And all hope lies with one single ship in uncharted space; and its passengers, whose destinies must be unlocked if the universe is to survive.As a whole, this last book was unfortunately nothing more than okay. I may have been a bit too generous with the rating, but it had its good sides and bad sides, like most books. There is, however, one aspect that had enormous impact on my final opinion.Sandworms of Dune has the biggest cliché ending I have ever read in a fictional series.That may sound frighteningly like criticism on my part, but it’s definitely not. A cliché ending was precisely what this series had to have.From the fabled War of Assassins to the reign of the God Emperor; from the horrors of the Butlerian Jihad to the virtually post-apocalyptic universe after the Scattering; this has been fifteen thousand years of the surprising, the shocking and even the downright impossible. But it all comes together in the end. The threads converge, and when all is said and done; when the galaxy-spanning wars have been fought and hundreds of planets have been explored; when great heroes have lived and died for centuries upon centuries; then, at long lost, we go back to where we belong.Bathed in the golden rays of sunset, two figures made their way along the crest of a dune, their steps irregular so that they did not attract the huge sandworms. The pair walked side by side, inseparable. "Dune is reawakening. Just as we are."
What do You think about Sandworms Of Dune (2007)?
Years ago as I closed the book "Chapterhouse Dune" I could hardly wait for the next book in the series. Then Frank Herbert had the audacity to die. I thought I would never know what was going on!Brian Herbert, while not exactly his father, has done a more than adequate job in tying up all the loose ends. In fact, he wrote all of the back stories that had been mentioned in all of the Frank Herbert Dune books. While I may never know if Brian's completion of Dune is what Frank had in mind, I am still very satisfied with his ending. I always wondered why Duncan Idaho was in ALL of the books, usually very prominently, and why the Atriedes were there, just not as prominent as Idaho. Now I know. I stand in awe of anyone who can create an alternate universe, an alternate history (albeit a futre history) and weave together all the many threads that make up this series.Am I completely satisfied. Probably not, but ever so much more than I would have been if there hadn't been the books by Brian Herbert.
—June
I love Frank Herbert. I love Dune. I have read the original six novels multiple times each. When Brian Herbert and KJ Anderson started writing the prequels, I gave the first one a chance. It was horrible. I didn't read any more. Then the two new novels came out, based on Frank's own notes for the last Dune book, and supposedly bringing the story to its ultimate fulfillment. I read them both, the second being this book.It's horrible, of course. KJ Anderson and Brian Herbert are not much when it comes to being, you know, good authors. I was willing to put up with their shallow character presentation and cheesy Saturday morning action-type antics, just to see where the world and characters I love so much ultimately goes. Sadly, this book is pretty dull. Nothing much happens. You have eight chapters of the characters saying predictable things about something important that needs to happen, just talking and talking about it, then when it finally happens it is either a let down or doesn't make any sense. This occurs again and again in the book. On top of that, if you are at all familiar with the Dune universe Frank Herbert created, the ending is TERRIBLE. It flies right in the face of everything Frank did. It just shits on it. It shits all over it.The original Dune books were literature. This book is rape.
—Frank
I hate to leave a book before I finish it. I feel I have a commitment to give each book a chance and see it through to the end. I become very attached to characters. I really tried to finish this book. I got through the first book in the series on pure momentum from the original Dune series. I really wanted to believe that this was Duncan, but it was not. If you are so attached to the Dune universe that you can stomach this, than more power to you, but I do not recommend tainting your memory of Dune with this.
—Rachel
