The long awaited final book in Frank Herbert's much celebrated Dune series, Sandworms of Dune, written by the author's son Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson has been released and soared to the best seller lists. Since the first 6 books of the series have been some of my favorite books, Mad Professah has looked forward to the completion of the "Dune 7 project" since Frank Herbert died in 1986 soon after the publication of the masterpiece Chapterhouse: Dune. The 7th Dune 7 book project ended up being split into two books, Hunters of Dune which was published last August and Sandworms of Dune which came out this August.Sandworms is one of much awaited novels published this summer in the science fiction/fantasy genre. Of course, J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (see review) was the mostly highly anticipated and best-selling book of the year. The Children of Húrin based on notes left by J.R.R. Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings), but written by his son Christopher Tolkien and illustrated by Alan Lee is another book which seeks to leverage the popularity and success of their father's landmark works with publication of updated works.
I must say that is incredibly sad to report that a complex, intricately written series of books like the six Dune novels written by Frank Herbert (Dune, Dune Messiah, Children of Dune, God Emperor of Dune, Heretics of Dune and Chapterhouse: Dune) have come to such a pedestrian denouement in Sandworms of Dune. I had read the first half of the final "Dune 7" book, titled Hunters of Dune earlier in the year but somehow I had convinced myself that somehow when it came to end the series Anderson and Herbert would rise above their previously barely competent approach to the material so evident in the Prelude to Dune and Legends of Dune series. Surely, they wouldn't end the series shoveling the schlock they had previously delivered?
Sadly, Sandworms of Dune gives the reader more of the same. Incredibly shallow characterizations. A thumbnail sketch of a plot. Appearances by beloved, familar characters acting unrecognizably. Simplistic, sodden prose.
I can understand why the estate of Frank Herbert has authorized these explorations into the Dune universe, but my recommendation for anyone who has not yet read Dune is to reject these counterfeit imitations of the master's works and to only read the Dune books written by Frank Herbert.
GRADE: D.
What an incredible disappointment to end the Dune series with these two books: Hunters of Dune, Sandworms of Dune. It's like waiting 20 years for an exquisite bordeaux only to find out that it's corked. What will I find to wash out the bad taste of this finale?
ReplyDeleteIt truly is depressing to see how far some people (the Herbert Family) will let avarice lead them astray. They seem to believe they are doing something good, keeping Frank Herbert's legacy alive, but I can't help but feel there were other, better ways to achieve that goal (which is, of course, a good and admirable one).
ReplyDeleteI personally suspect (and hope?) that Brian Herbert had very little to do with the writing of these eight (soon to be nine, with Paul of Dune, the first volume in the next trilogy, Heroes of Dune?!)...stinkers and that Kevin J. Anderson is to blame for most of the smell.
They Ruined it.
ReplyDeleteI think that Just publishing Franks notes on Dune7 would have satisfied me a whole lot more, at least I have an imagination!
It's my fault, I should've never read hunters and sandworms after reading the prequels.
KJA hasn't even read Dune.
Does he know what a mentat is?
Can he imagine what a thousand lives are like?
I'm gonna be sick, excuse me........
I haven't actually met anyone in my life who loves Dune as much as I do, except for the teacher who first made me read it. No one I know will even attempt it, so I am glad to know others are so passionate about the original series. Now I got through the series several times when I was in school, happy, depressed and even pregnant. However, I found BH's Dune series to be tasteless. FH had a style...he would portray a Harkonnen using clues as to their behavior, whereas BH will take every deviance from the norm he can and explain it in explicit detail. There were times I was so disgusted that I had to put his books down and just skip to the next one. (I tried to read the whole series from prequels to original to new ending a few months ago) some of the scenes made me too depressed. I hated Harkonnens because they were evil not because they were disgusting. Plus I didn't like how BH tried to tie characters in from his prequels like Erasmus, that was upsetting. I did like that the story ended happy, but I also like FH's endings in his novels because it wasn't fairy tale, but they were good. It wasn't like oops well lets tie up all these loose ends we made in the last twenty pages!
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