After reading Sandworms of Dune, I can finally set down the entire Dune Chronicles. I read The Legends of Dune trilogy, The Houses of Dune trilogy, Frank Herbert’s original 6 volumes in the Dune Chronicles and the concluding two volumes by his son and Kevin Anderson. This was a reading project that took me a couple of years to complete. I was unimpressed by Legends, found Houses to be entertaining, the original Dune is still a classic and the next four to be worth reading. FH’s last volume, Chapterhouse Dune was not as good though it ended on a very interesting note that I wish (as many others do) that he had been able to follow up on it. The last two volumes, Hunters of Dune and Sandworms of Dune by BH and KJA were a slog to read - I found them frustrating.

So what annoyed me in Sandworms? The colonial attitude that the universe is for humans to do with as they wish without thought of other lifeforms. Resources are there to be used by humanity. I also found this attitude to be extended to women which was odd as women think of each other as resources to use both in breeding programs and as axlotl tanks.

Axlotl tanks! What an abhorrent idea. In the Houses trilogy and in the first couple of volumes of Frank’s original Dune books, the idea of using women simply as incubators was treated as something awful. By Sandworms, it had become normalized and offered sort of like a career choice to women. What a sad thing to suggest and it made no sense to continue with the technique. Using the axlotl tanks to resurrect characters long dead because they had special properties that might help humanity defeat the thinking machines sort of made sense when the thinking machines were a threat. But at the end of Sandworms, there has been a reconciliation between human and machine. What is the point if dehumanizing women to simply be incubators. Once the threat was removed this abhorrent technology should have been completed dismantled. It made no sense to me that it should continue.

And at the end of Sandworms the Bene Gesserit breeding program is apparently going to continue? Why? That also makes no sense! The BG breeding program had as its goal to produce the Kwisatz Haderach but by the end of Sandworms, the BG have committed to not producing another KH. So what is the point of continuing the breeding program? Why is it assumed in the book that this sort of positive eugenics is a good thing? Something that kept coming up in the books is how prescience and controlling the future becomes boring and static and that what makes life worth living is being surprised. A breeding program tries to avoid surprises - the point is to control what offspring are produced. This did not make sense to me that it should continue.

I did not like the appearance of an ultimate Kwisatz Haderach. What made the idea of a KH interesting was that the individual would be uniquely gifted and that they were the result of careful breeding. But now it seems in Sandworms that KHs are all over the place and can be engineered by ghola engineering. The KH is no longer unique and became, for me, a boring concept even though at the end of Heretics of Dune, Frank Herbert did something really interesting with Miles Teg. But the character - the idea - didn’t develop well for me in subsequent novels.

I also did not appreciate how the Dune Chronicles ends with the other memory of the BG referred to as racial memory. I thought other memory was supposed to be something developed in humanity and not localized to a particular race.

Finally, at the end of Sandworms, there is supposed to be a great rapprochement between thinking machines and humans. But the ultimate KH gives the homeworld of the thinking machines to humans to do with as they see fit. Humans yet again get to colonize a world that was not theirs to begin with. And then, “thinking machines” are simply used by humans as workers to rehabilitate/terraform/rehabilitate worlds inhabited by humans. But there is no sense that these machine “partners” with humanity are given any agency. If they are thinking machines don’t they have their own goals/dreams/aspirations?

Very disappointing end to something that had such auspicious beginnings in the original Dune. ( )

Good but not great. Would be amazing if written by Frank and published in the 80s, but the pacing feels all wrong and there are too many plot holes and character inconsistencies for my liking ( )

This is a terrible ending to the epic. The pacing is terribly drawn out. The plot twists are obvious. The brilliant characters are suddenly idiots who don't have backup plans. The resolution between the enemies is utter nonsense.

I know they claim this is based upon Frank Herbert's notes for the series but the heavy leaning on the butlarian jihad reads like Brian and Kevin trying to make their prequels meaningful. If that was really the direction being planned Frank would have had some sign in an earlier story.

The Ghola plots we're a cheap way to get readers in with familiar characters despite having no real purpose. In the end, the action of the main characters was irrelevant. The plans and plotting had no bearing on the outcome at any level. The extended Hollywood ending was trite as well.

If you, like me, loved the Dune books so much that the cliffhanger after book 6 made you want to read these last two to wrap things up... don't. Just don't. Your musings and daydreams are better. ( )

"You stupid sons of bitches". That was my reaction to finishing this book. I don't know where to start with what is wrong with this book. Wait, I know, how about every single thing in this book. No, wait there is one good thing in this book but mentioning that might make someone want to read this thing. Don't do that. This book will hurt your mind. If you loved the original Frank Herbert books than stay away from this book. The book before is not horrible but its not good either. But this, is trash. How do you not realize that the one human person in this whole series is meant to stay human. You stupid sons of bitches. If not for Frank Herbert inspiring this I would give it one star. Preferably I would give a negative one star. ( )

Once again if it was possible to rate books in the negative I would do so.

This...atrocity gives new meaning to phrases like "Nuke it from orbit" or "Kill it with fire". I would recommend nuking it from orbit while killing it with dragonfire and then shooting the remnant ashes into the Sun.

What can I say? After a long, boring narrative comprising of characters being stupid and talking in stilted dialogue the book climaxes in a deus ex machina to end all deus ex machinas. Or rather a cluster of deus ex machinas. The ending is possibly the worst this series could have.

Avoid this and all other works by these two people like hell. I certainly will. ( )