Book Review – Sandworms of Dune

Author: Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson
Cover Artist: Chris Moore
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publication Date: 2008

Sandworms of Dune is the second part of a project by Herbert and Anderson to write the unfinished finale of Frank Herbert’s classic Dune series. I gave quite a lot of thought about how I was going to write this review without spoilers to the final Dune books or Hunters of Dune and I decided I can’t do it. So I am going to throw my usual spoiler free review model out the window and just say it. This review contains spoilers for Heretics of Dune, Chapterhouse Dune and Hunters of Dune as well as Sandworms. There is no point in reading either Hunters or Sandworms until you have competed the original series anyway.

Spoilers ahead, you have been warned.

Herbert and Anderson have been producing a book a year in the Dune universe since 1999. Their efforts are met with mixed reviews. Personally I thought that the Prelude to Dune trilogy was entertaining and the Butlerian Jihad books are mediocre at best. In general all of them fall well short of Frank Herbert’s level. I had my reservations when the announcement was made that Herbert and Anderson would be writing Dune 7 based on notes found in Frank’s archives. Their previous attempt all included periods not covered in the original series, with a host of new characters. They were going to try a direct sequel now. Given their track record it was bound to be a disappointment to the fans of the original series. And it is, even if I have to admit Sandworms of Dune is the best Herbert and Anderson have delivered so far. It is also a major disappointment.

Dune is a charred ruin of a planet after the Honoured Matres obliterate it at the end of Heretics of Dune. The flow of spice is once again threatened. Various factions struggle to create substitutes or find new sources. The Bene Gesserit even go so far as to convert an entire planet to suit the needs of the sandworms. In the mean time the Honoured Matres take more an more planets until at the end of Chapterhouse Dune, Murbella, a woman with both Honoured Matre and Bene Gesserit training, manages to unify the two factions. During the course of Chapterhouse it becomes clear that the Honoured Matres, as powerful as they seem, are actually running for an even more dangerous foe.

Breaking away from Bene Gesserit control, the Duncan Idaho ghola, has made a run for it at the end of Chapterhouse. In a gigantic no-ship Idaho flees from the old empire as well as their unknown enemy. On board with him are a number of sisters not wanting to merge with the Honour Matres, a captured Tleilaxu master and a number of young sandworms. This ship may well be the only hope for humanity to survive the oncoming crisis. Their enemy is desperately trying to find them. Meanwhile the new sisterhood is preparing for an invasion. At the end of Hunters the true nature of the enemy is revealed to the sisters, the thinking machines have not been as thoroughly exterminated as once humanity assumed. As the old empire braces itself for the oncoming storm, Idaho and his company try to stay out of their enemy’s reach. Running will only work for so long, a final confrontation with the Evermind Omnius is inevitable.

As I mentioned before I had my doubts about this project. The Dune novels Herbert and Anderson wrote before didn’t require the reader to have read the original series. This book will only make sense if you have read all of Frank Herbert’s Dune books. These book get progressively less accessible and by the third book a lot of readers will have given up. In short, they are writing Dune 7 for the die-hard Dune fans. A very hard crowd to please. They really had to raise the level in order to succeed. And they did in a way. Which leaves me to believe Frank did indeed leave a substantial portion of the outline behind.

Still, Herbert and Anderson have a style of their own and their books don’t read like Frank Herbert’s writing. Frank intended this to be one book. It turned out to be two 600 page paperbacks. As far as I can tell there are two reasons for it. Firstly, their style is a lot more descriptive. Frank makes the reader think and guess about the details of his books. He is intentionally vague on certain subjects. Herbert and Anderson spell it out. The best example of that is probably the difference in how they treat the horrendous phenomenon of axlotl tanks. Herbert and Anderson also explain in detail what is going on in the various factions and how these occurrences relate to events earlier in the series. In fact they are completely misjudging their audience here. Frank’s later Dune books are brilliant not only for what he writes but also for what he doesn’t tell you. Reading Herbert and Anderson becomes annoying if you are used to that. They are wasting entirely too much time on spelling things out for their readers.

The second reason is that they have added to the original outline. Mostly in order the keep the story consistent with their earlier addition to the Dune universe. And there we hit another fatal flaw in this book. They are forced to let their worst creations, the Evermind Omnius and the ridiculous independent robot Erasmus (and his insane quest for humanity, the historical Erasmus will be turning in his grave), make another appearance. That Frank intended for the thinking machines to be the enemy the Honoured Matres were fleeing from is something that makes sense given the original series. Unfortunately there is no recovering from the mess they made of the Butlerian Jihad books. The revelation that the enemy was indeed Omnius pretty much ruined Hunters for me.

The climax of Sandworms was also rather disappointing. It relies heavily on a deus ex machina occurrence to get rid of Omnius. It renders a whole lot of story lines completely irrelevant (suggesting that it could indeed have been done in one book). So while the writing is good, the story fits in the overall time line and Herbert and Anderson include a number of good action scenes the finale is so poor that the book falls flat on it’s face. They had a real opportunity here to do the work of Frank Herbert justice, I could even have forgiven them for the thinking machines, but after having read the final chapter it is still disappointing. Brian Herbert thought this story had to be told, and from his position I can understand that. I think he would be wise to concentrate on his own creations from now on though. After having read 8 of the Herbert and Anderson Dune novels I am quite convinced they are not going to write anything that holds up to Frank’s standards. Which in itself is not a bad thing. There is only one Frank Herbert after all. Keeping the Dune series alive after his will only invite more criticism. Herbert and Anderson appear not to have reached that conclusion yet, there is another Dune novel scheduled for later this year, Paul of Dune, set before the original Dune novel. It is to be followed by at least two other books.

The real fans of Frank Herbert’s Dune will probably want to read this anyway if only to find out what gems of Frank’s are buried beneath the story crafted by Herbert and Anderson. That’s the main reason I read it anyway, and the only reason I picked up Sandworms after being disappointed by Hunters. I can very well understand people who will settle for the limited sense of closure Chapterhouse offers though. If you can’t contain your curiosity Hunters and Sandworms are not that bad a read but there are far better science fiction novels out there. Think carefully before you pick this up.

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