Sandworms of Dune by Brian Herbert, Kevin J. Anderson
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Book Reviews of Sandworms of Dune
Book Review: This book should have been called Quagmire of Dune
Summary: 2 Stars
Let me begin by saying I've only read one of their prequel so I basically knew who the villian was in the end. If I hadnt I would have had no clue about the thinking machines and their history. The ghola aspects were interesting but totally boring. Maybe bringing back Jessica, Paul, Leto II, Alia and Chani but they did not need to bring back Yueh, Stilgar, and Chani's father. They should have included Ghanima since she was just an aside character in Children of Dune and rarely mention in God Emperor. They could have brought back Siona now that would have addded some conflict aboard the Ithaca. Frank Herbert was definitely an expert in personal conflicts and crises of faith. There were hardly any crises at all between these characters.
Norma was a stupid character with that whole Oracle of Time crapola. The villians did not produce any real fear or shock. It was mentioned that the Honored Matre were originally rebel Tleilaxu women enraged at their treatment, Bene Gesserits and Fish Speakers. Wouldnt it have been better to have the main villian be those TLeilaxu women who created a new race of face dancers and merged with them to become a new race. Turning the face dancers mules into being able to reproduce. Now they are bent on taking over the universe. Instead we are treated to Ultraspice even more concentrated than melange because it comes from the ocean world of Buzzell! As religious as Waff was why would he recreate the worms and adapt them to live in oceans? He would not have it is a plot element that makes no sense at all. We get a Mother Commander Murbella who is so dumb she never even expects to be betrayed so follows blindly. All the Bene Gesserit skills of manipulation and empire building are tossed aside for I am guessing Honored Matre aggression. As a character she never really develops or shows she is capable of rational thought. Sheeana miraculously can channel Serena Butler even thought Serena had no descendents its just magic I guess.
Dune made me think. When I was a teenager and read it for the first time I felt awe and inspired. When I read these I just feel sad because they have no lessons to teach. Frank Herbert was trying to spread a message about how religion, politics, society, and economics are consistant facts of our lives. There are no lessons to be learned in the new books. They feel and read as thin stretches. Too many times I have noticed that when the author dies someone feels the need to step in and "recreate" their vision or discovers "the lost manuscripts". If they wanted to continue the story they should have went out into the Scattering and started from scratch with their own vision. Anyway enough of the rant and rave.
Book Review: This can't be what Frank had in mind.
Summary: 2 Stars
"Sandworms of Dune" (SoD) is such a mess it's hard to know where to begin.
Billed as the second half of "Dune 7," Frank Herbert's proposed final novel of the classic Dune series, SoD picks up after "Hunters of Dune" with the passengers of the no-ship Ithaca looking for a new homeworld while evading Marty and Daniel -- the elderly couple who were revealed to be the artificial intelligence Omnius and the cross-dressing thinking machine Erasmus. So yes, to understand who Marty and Daniel are, you have to have read Kevin J. Anderson's Legends of Dune prequel books, because they were never mentioned in Frank Herbert's original series.
After a series of meaningless events, which includes the complete waste of the original series gholas, the novel ends with the defeat of the thinking machines, the realization of the Ultimate Kwisatz Haderach, the disappearance of Omnius and the Oracle of Time, and the death of anything remotely resembling Frank Herbert's themes.
As you can tell, I'm not a fan of SoD. I think Anderson and Brian Herbert totally misinterpreted the themes that Frank Herbert had written about in the original Dune series.
For one, Frank Herbert showed in "Dune Messiah" how charismatic leaders and supermen can be detrimental to a society. He also wrote about how humanity being ruled by one force could face extinction in "God Emperor of Dune." Yet, Anderson and Brian Herbert chose to end the Dune series with humanity and the thinking machines united under the Ultimate Super-Duper Kwisatz Haderach/Evermind.
Another issue is that of the Golden Path. According to the original books, the Golden Path was the centuries-long plan that led to the Scattering, an explosion of humanity throughout the universe. The God Emperor believed such a spreading of human beings throughout multiple galaxies -- in addition to genes that make people "invisible" to prescient visions -- would insure the survival of humanity. However, in SoD, we learn that the God Emperor was a fool. The Scattering, according to the new books, was a failure because the thinking machines had humanity surrounded and it took the Oracle of Time (an Anderson and Brian Herbert character from the Legends of Dune series) to save humanity.
In the end, SoD fails on so many levels I could write a 10-page review. Instead, I will just say that fans of Frank Herbert's original books will not enjoy this book. It lacks the intelligence of Frank Herbert's novels and turns the Dune universe upside down.
It's unfortunate that a ghola of Frank Herbert can't be made to finish the Dune series.
Book Review: Is that a sandworm in your pocket? Or is it DOON III?
Summary: 2 Stars
Or just another B. Herbert- KJA bomb? I have to give them props, they really tried hard...to make the longest most dragging high expectations in two books that I almost thought this book was going somewhere. It almost does. Where it fails miserably, is that the lucky charms leprechaun comes in at the end, saves the day, and everybody lives happily ever after. Of course, I'm being facetious, but the climax was almost that simple. There I was, eagerly anticipating a real battle, only for a POOF magical solution in the end. A lot of this book seems like a Dune parody, especially as the Baron H seems more like a villain out of Scooby Doo than the wickedly evil persona we all know and hate. Some questions are answered in here, like what Leto II's golden path was, although not very clearly. Neither is the purpose of bringing the Jews out of hiding, there really isn't a reason to put them in the story. Weaker yet, is Murbella's role, especially in her thinking that she is solely responsible for saving the human race, her character was completely destroyed by these guys. The issue with axlotl tanks, never resolved.Thanks for wasting my time and money. Even after lowering my expectations as much as possible, I still found disappointment. I don't hold the original Dune series sacred, but the climax of this book is its lowpoint. I'll be sure never to read another one of the Herbert-Anderson DOON collaborations.Book Review: I wonder at how much Frank Herbert outlined.
Summary: 2 Stars
Brian Herbert, supposedly, was asked by his father to continue the series and, according to Kevin Anderson, to flush out the Butlerian Jihad story with some prequels, so they did. However, when it came time to complete the actual series (Hunters and Sandworms)they clearly were still stuck on the Butlerian Jihad storyline they had created. They use the characters and plots they created in the prequel and superimpose them into the storyline here. The mysterious Daniel and Marty become Omnius and Erasmus, characters created by BH and KA in the prequels, and the storyline becomes saturated with the Butlerian Jihad. Plus all the gholas! A Paul ghola? Seems unlikely since he died millenia ago and you need the person's cells but ok. But Yueh, Hawat, Gurney, Chani, Alia, Stilgar, Leto II, Liet (died in a spice blow how'd they get his cells?) Baron Harkonnen?!, Serena Butler?! etc. It just seems silly and unnecessary. Did the authors ever ask themselves, "is this getting out of hand? We're just reviving everyone for little real reason." The whole work seems like a silly mess that is transparent in it's flaws.Book Review: Dune has become a sad addiction
Summary: 2 Stars
So, Dune could be my favorite sci-fi book and I'm a dedicated Dune reader. Which means that even though I have learned that anything written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J Anderson isn't going to be quite to par, I pick it up anyway. This hadn't been a real issue until recently. Well, this book was actually disappointing. It was just bad. Writing, story, characters- just bad. But the wrost part is I know they are going to put out another book and I'm going to read it too! Boys, its time to leave the series be- Let daddy Herbet have a little peace in the after life, seriously. And next time you two write something, for my sake don't try to slip it into the dune series.