Sandworms of Dune

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book and the series but it didn't disappoint. I love how they authors stuck to the Herbert and Dune canon. Nothing like a good Sci-Fi book that keeps a story series alive.

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

Thank you! exactly as described.

I wish there were two categories for reviewing this book... If I were judging it on its own merits, as a stand-alone book, based on my level of enjoyment of it on its own steam, I'd say it fully deserves the three stars (maybe even four or five) that I rated it.Except, it's not a stand-alone story. It's the conclusion to the greatest science fiction, social/religious/political/historical-commentary tale of all time. As such, I'd rate it at 2-stars.As anyone who's read the original, six-part "Dune" series knows, the elder Herbert's seminal work is a fully-nourishing, intellectually-satisfying gourmet feast for the mind. In comparison, "Sandworms," and it's predecessor "Hunters" are like mental fast food-- they went down easy, tasted great, and made you want to go back for more, but were not terribly enriching nor ultimately satisfying as were the originals, especially as the lifetime-awaited conclusion to FH's phenomal, epochal tale.According to the younger Herbert and his literary sidekick Anderson, these books were based on an outline left behind by the late Frank Herbert.While I'm glad they wrote them and finally relieved the 22 years of suspense created by the "Chapterhouse" cliffhanger, compared to the elder Herbert's well-grounded cynicism toward the "superhero mystique" and his distrust of all demagogues, superheroes, religious figures and charismatic leaders, the comparatively saccharine, "Let's all hold hands and sing Koombaya"-ending in "Sandworms" seems highly unlikely to have been what Frank Herbert originally intended. I wouldn't be surprised if Anderson and the younger Herbert made up the notion of the long-lost Dune 7 outline in the interest of lending credibility to these last two books-- "wrapping themselves in the myth-fabric" of the original Dune series and such.I don't know if Brian and Kevin have ever specified HOW strictly or loosely these books are based on the elder Herbert's notes, but the ending they wrote seems to abruptly unravel the tightly-woven philosophical fabric of the original series.It's also a little strange to me that the ending so closely parallels the ending to the "Matrix" trilogy...While I'm not entirely satisfied with the conclusion to the Dune Chronicles, I am nonetheless glad it was written. The son of Frank Herbert has certainly proven himself as a capable literary artist in his own right, despite having inherited such a heavy mantle from his father. I can't imagine that he didn't find the prospect of completing his father's amazing, world-changing work to be somewhat daunting, and so I hope critics like me haven't been too hard on him. His father's was a tough act to follow, and I don't have any ideas for how he could have done it better. I wouldn't be disappointed, though, if he took another try someday, and wrote a more fitting conclusion to the saga of Dune.

I really enjoyed this conclusion to both the original books by Frank Herbert and the new books by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.If you are about to read this book after finishing the original 6 books plus Hunters (as I did). Stop. Read the Butlerian Jihad trilogy first. I realized this was necessary about a charter or two into this book and stopped reading it. I went back and read the others and then came back to finish this book. It was definitely the right choice.While Brian and Kevin's books certainly have a different style than the elder Hebert's books, they are great books to read in their own right and they blend beautifully with the original books.If you've read Hunters, it may have left you wondering if the new books were worth pursuing. Now that I've read five of the new books, I'd definitely say yes.This book ties the whole story arc together, unifying the forces behind the Butlerian Jihad with the legacies of the Atreides and the Bene Gesserit. The ending represents the best of all these books and I believe is consistent with Frank Hebert's original vision.

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.

Dune deserves it regard as one of the greatest sci-fi series ever. Brian and Anderson did not drop the ball with the last two books.

For many fans of Dune, having a sequel that continues the story, especially one supposedly based on Frank Herbert's notes is reason enough to be happy with this book.For me however, I loved Dune for its well developed characters, consistent universe and believable and subtle plotting and counter plotting that took place. Unfortunately the authors can't deliver on any of these. They have characters that are all just one dimensional despite having a wealth of material to draw on, internal and external dialogues simplistic and idiotic, and have somehow managed to make a believable universe seem ridiculous where magic things take place. Frank Herbert managed to make you believe that the players were prescient or tactical geniuses and heroes. In this novel they all come across as little ordinary people all be it with some super powers.Having said that, I would not be so harsh on the first book of the two if it wasn't a Dune sequel. It is better that lots of SF out there and quite readable.However the real crime is this book, the second sequel which is truly awful and brings Dune to a cringeworthy conclusion. The characters become even more stupid, the plot more silly, the inconsistencies with “proper dune” more unforgivable.The authors have absolutely no feel for Dune at all. better that they would have left it up to someone else to complete the Dune series. What they have done to the legacy of Dune is a crime.

After the release of the new film, I decided to revisit the Dune story and read the whole series through to Chapter House. I'd forgotten that, with the sad passing of Frank Herbert, the story was left unfinished.So thank you to the authors for finding the notes and completing the journey. I thought you both did a wonderful job. The two concluding books were a wonderful space opera, with plenty of twists and turns to keep me interested.Any negatives? Well ok, it takes a while for the different writing style to not feel jarring. But in all honesty the original books had their moments of tedium, chapter after chapter of people speaking riddles. The new books are far more direct, with the result that I couldn't put them down. There were some chapters here and there, though, that felt a little poorly written by comparison.If you're a Dune fan, and read the rest of the books, I think you owe it to complete them.

The book is simply annoying and inconsistent with previous books. i am sure there are parts of this story that would have acquired Frank Herbert's approval, but most is just linear extrapolation of what happened in Dune Heretics, combined with some craziness from Brian's pre-Dune books. On top of that, I got the idea that Brian Herbert had not really read the original Dune books, or maybe did not understand them. For example, I was very sure the Ixians had invented navigational 'computers' that could do the work or guild navigators, thus making the guild as good as obsolete. In the last two books (Heretics and Chapterhouse) the Space Guild is no institute of significance any more. But here we are in Brian Herbert's books: they are suddenly back on full strength.

If you liked the Dune series written by Frank Herbert......avoid everything after Chapterhouse. The writing is very different , characters are barely sketched and plots feel manufactured. The richness of Dune is betrayed in these later volumes and the difference in authorship is very obvious.

This book really was a superb conclusion that brought together and tied up the various plot threads from the previous books.Everything made sense, the pacing was really good with no slow, dull parts. The characters were also a highlight, where everyone was given time to flesh out their individual storylines.I don’t want to spoil the story but I will say you absolutely have to read the Butlerian Jihad trilogy before starting Hunters or Sandworms of Dune.I’m glad to have not listened to those fans who hold nothing but contempt towards the BH/KJA novels.My advice to anyone reading this is to give these books a try and judge them based on their own merits. You may be pleasantly surprised I was.