Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Not in a million years.... (Spoilers included), 22 Nov 2008
I too have been waiting for this book to appear for some 20 odd years Then here it was, or here they were.
That was the first thing, in a long line of things, that annoyed me.
How on earth did DUNE 7 manage to become DUNE 7.1 and DUNE 7.2? One earlier reviewer stated that they thought it scandalous that some of us may think that the authors might try to milk this series for profit. The proof is right there sunshine, the proof is right there. This was one of the MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS EVER, we did not need warm ups, reminders or other superflua to 'get us back up to speed' no, we just needed the story.
As to the actual story, if you are prepared to grace it with such a honourable descriptive, no way pal. My review title says it all. Not in a million years did Frank Herbert intend his story to end this way. I can see that there would be a reason why the Duncan Ghola character had been kept around all that time. I can see him as the ultimate Super Kwizatz Haderach. Can even see that this as being one of the only true and original Frank Herbert ideas to weave its way through this mess of instant toilet paper. It makes more sense as such because not only has he been around for ages, he has all of his serial Ghola memories inside him. So in a FH kind of way, it would fit in the 'real' DUNE universe
As for the rest...
Characters appear for no real reason, then get killed. Characters appear for no real reason, do not get killed but do NOTHING. Characters who have been around for a while (by this time, about 4 books worth of 'aroundness'!) certainly long enough for you to get used to how they act and react...suddenly start to act and react totally differently to any previous description! Usually in the most stupid and brain dead manner possible.
Then of course, there are the characters (and events) that have never appeared in any previous (i.e. FH's canonical) DUNE books and yet, somehow, are totally vital to the conclusion of the plot. When I read those part, I felt like I'd watched an episode of COLUMBO and the murderer had ended up being the director of that episode!
And as for the hidden enemy..?
Am I the only person that has noticed. I know that I cannot be but it certainly seems like it.
The whole of the new sections of this book (i.e. the sections that were not a part of Frank's original notes) shine out as clear as day to me because they refer to parts of the 'supposed Dune' story that only happened in the prequels written by the same two hack, no hopers. The hidden enemy, as revealed in these two works of travesty, is not even hinted at in the original six books.
If FH had wanted the great thinking machines to be the secret enemy that even the Honoured Matres were running from, would there not have been just a few more clues?
Sorry, it just does not work. A total crime of rancid cack, wrapped in glossy-cover graphics - the 'BATTLEFIELD EARTH movie' of the book world, if you get my drift.
I would only give it half a star if I could because, technically, it has all the things a book needs...
Two covers, a spine, loads of sheets of paper, words...etc.
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20 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Please, Please No More, 20 Oct 2007
This book is dire. Lets face the facts - Everybody is stupid, the so called super humans could not find their way home in the dark(yes they are that bad) there is no plot to speak of and really it seems that this series is in a different universe from Frank Herberts novels.
The book plods along at an snails pace and it makes no sense as Brian and Kevin just seem to have made up and changed the rules as book progressed and they just seem to have killed anybody off just to tie up any loose ends. I have not looked at the original books for over a decade but I know from memory that every rule in the universe was broken during this book.
Still if you are like me you will read this book just to see what happens and when you do you want to expunge all memory of it. This book was for money and really it is very sloppy that seems to me that they did not really care about what really happened and do not value your custom either.
If you are strong willed avoid this absolutely awful rubbish and stick with whatever version you thought of yourself as it WILL be better than this drivel.
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20 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Could have been better, but at least it's over now, 3 Sep 2007
The original Dune books were full of intrigue and scheming as the various factions attempted to manipulate and deceive each other, with layers of nuance and meaning depending on particular choices of words or carefully controlled body language. You certainly always felt that the protagonists were a lot smarter than you, and a lot more switched on. Unfortunately, some time in the last few years, a terrible plague swept through the Dune universe, reducing everyone's ability to understand things that aren't made blindingly obvious to that of your average 21st century 14 year old.
The result is not a total disaster, but on the other hand, if my idea of top quality entertainment was shouting out "it's behind you" I'd go to the local panto.
Let's face it, anyone who's come this far in the series is going to buy this to find out what happens, and in that respect the book finally ties up all the big loose ends that were left hanging at the end of Chapterhouse. Whether or not you'll be left thinking that the resolution is a satisfactory (or even believeable) one is another matter. Too many characters and factions suddenly change the ingrained behaviour of a lifetime within the last few chapters, while others simply conform to irrational stereotypes, and a number of the key people from the last novel turn out to be essentially pointless fluff. To be honest, by the end I was hoping that Omnius would finally win just to have done with it.
Having said all that, I'm glad they wrote it, because it does finally bring some closure to the storyline after all these years. Kudos to the authors for even attempting it.
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