Highlights of Sandworms of Dune:

1. It had a happy ending, one that, if you are any kind of fan of Dune and/or are reading the book and have eyes, you will see coming a mile away. Well, ok, not entirely happy, but some characters were just doomed from the start of book 1, and that's just how it is, even for their clones. Others deserve happy endings and they get them, but in their own special ways.

2. If you are a fan of a certain person, as I may have mentioned that I am, you will be more than pleased with The Revelation of the Kwisatz Haderach.

3. It is a much faster read than Hunters of Dune. I finished it in 3 nights. Unfortunately that was due to most chapters reading like this: "Blahblahblah ghola blahblah Paul blahblahblah Duncan blah Oracle blahblah thinking machines blahblahblah."

4. These quotes:
When the forces are arrayed and the final battle is engaged, the outcome may be decided in only a few moments. Remember this: By the time the first shot is fired, half the battle is already over. Victory or defeat can be determined by the preparations that are set in place weeks or even months beforehand. - Bashar Miles Teg

True loyalty is an unshakeable force. The difficulty is in determining exactly where a person's allegiance lies. Often that bond is only to oneself. - Duncan Idaho

5. The worms are happy. And mutant. And there is nothing better than a mutant sandworm.

Downsides:

1. About 10 chapters worth of Captain Obvious statements.

2. Think Matrix: Revolutions. It's pretty sad when you have to rip off an ending from one of the worst sequels ever.

3. Like Sandworms, certain terms get repeated a bajillion times, thereby sucking the incredibly clever logic right out of the whole situation and making you wish that the hero would just turn evil and make it interesting again, although sadly that does not happen.

4. The movie will be just godawful, even if they do retain the previous actors from Dune and Children of Dune. The only upside is, Corrinos aren't in it, so we will not have to endure the melodrama that is Susan Sarandon.

5. The effort to create a happy ending for everyone that can possibly receive one eventually grows so utterly ridiculous it becomes hilarious. There are several people that are completely irredemable and yet manage to suddenly, at the end of the book, morph into a wonderful, modern person and share their Coke with the world and sing Kum Ba Ya. Right. Because thousands of years of evil conditioning and warped thinking can be overcome by a hug.

6. Speaking of years and happy endings and clones, without revealing too much, the idea that one person essentially raises a ghola of their previous love from infancy in order to restart the relationship later... Kind of creepy, don't you think? Brings the Oedipal complex to a whole new level.

As one blogger put it, fanfiction authors writing stories in their mothers' basements could have done a better job.

My suggestion for Book 9: Grow a ghola of Frank Herbert to write it.

Labels: scifi