[.ca] Sandworms of Dune: 16 CDs (ISBN 1427201129)

Finally, a true osmose of both Herbert:
Compare to the original Frank Herbert's books of the Dune saga, the prequel books written by Anderson & Brian Herbert (the Houses saga) definitely presented a strong asset and a deep flaw: they brought detailed information to the events preluding the Dune saga and made us understand all the references to past people and events made in the original Dune books.That is the asset. But they suffered from a very bad sickness: they did not convey, neither in the writing style nor in the general atmosphere of the books, the fever carried by the Dune books and the high-end minimalist style of writing Frank Herbert as gotten us used to. No such things with the Sandworms of Dune. This is the first book by B Herbert and Anderson that I almost felt it had been written by Frank Herbert. All the ingredients that made the Dune books the best SF fiction ever written are present, from the style of writing, the interlaced plots, etc. Fortunately, it fits in the original saga perfectly. A real jewel of a finish... and an interesting finale development!

Dissapointing:
I was really dissapointed with this book. The Hunters of Dune wasn't too bad, I thought. There was some good action, good intrigue and development. And sandworms of dune started decently well. What was wrong with it is how they tied up the loose ends and pieces at the end. I won't spoil, but I'll say that the rhythm was ridiculous. Everything is slow through the first 800 pages of Dune 7 and 8, and then in the last 200 pages everything clears up, a lot of it in a very nonsensical manner. I realize these are not the original author, but it was still dissapointing. For example, I certainly thought they did a better job in the Battle of Corrin.

A good ending to a great series!:
I have read the Dune books from start to finish with the Butlerian Jihad right to the, now, end with Sandworms of Dune. It's a great story taken from start to finish about extremism and absolutes from one side or another. (Spoiler!) In the end their ulimate human finds that what the universe needs isn't victory but balance. It made me go "ah ha!" when I read it seeing how logical the story was. We're given a lot of wrap up very quickly and I think it works. It's meant to be fast paced because the sides aren't crawling towards each other any more, their are crashing down on one another in a final battle that just can't be won. The use of old characters being brought back to life in Hunters of Dune was clever since Herbert himself wrote a foreshadowing of this in God Emperor of Dune, Heretics of Dune, and Chapterhouse. We see that the idea of a person living multiple lifetimes makes sense in this universe. The authors weave their characters nicely around this idea as they debate their past crimes and mistakes despite the fact they aren't actually those people. The poor Ghola is an individual to begin with but then really gets hijacked by a previous life knowing every thing that the old version did. Before you read this book read the entire series. You'll be well rewarded.

enjoyable but frustrating:
I've approached the Dune prequel/sequel novels with a relatively open mind, recognizing that they weren't written by Frank Herbert and couldn't possibly be expected stand up to the originals. On their own merits, I've found them enjoyable, if a bit lightweight, despite some fairly clumsy writing in spots. Having said that, I found Sandworms of Dune in particular a bit frustrating, mostly because I could see tiny hints about what the conclusion of the Dune series could have been like if Frank Herbert had survived long enough to write it himself. The story really called for more of the 'philosophical' style of Frank Herbert, rather than the action/space-opera style of Brian Herbert & Kevin Anderson. I'd actually be really interested in reading Frank Herbert's original outline for the story to find out how much of the overall plot was him and how much his son and Anderson made up.

Horrible finish to a great series:
Unfortunately it's very clear that Frank Herbert's son doesn't have half the skill his father did. The final book in the Dune series leaves me wishing I had not read it. The ending of this book contradicts of lot of what was written in the first 6 books. The conclusion felt extremely rushed and very immature. The last 200 pages of the book basically throw out everything written in the first part of the book and the reader is left feeling like there was little point to the first half of the book. The character development is very weak and many of the characters behave completely opposite to how they were developed over the last several books in the series. In the end, the entire conclusion became completely unbelievable. I give this book 2 stars for simply providing an idea of what Frank Herbert's intentions were to finish the series. I wish I had been allowed to read his raw notes rather than having to go through this book, I probably would have found it more enjoyable.