Thoughts on Sandworms of Dune , AKA Dune 7, by by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson

***CONTAINS SPOILERS*** - Written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, Sandworms of Dune is the second and final part of the conclusion to the epic science-fiction series Dune by Frank Herbert. Although fans have been waiting twenty years to learn the fates of Duncan Idaho, Sheeana, Miles Teg, and the other inhabitants of the lost no-ship, one cannot help but wonder if this is the conclusion that Frank Herbert had intended.

Those who had read Hunters of Dune, as well as Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson's Legends of Dune series, which took place during the epochal Butlerian Jihad, knows what the elusive Enemy hinted at in Chapterhouse: Dune actually is. The fact that there is still debate regarding who the Enemy actually is alludes to some of the discord amongst the fans of the original novels and those who started with the Legends of Dune and Prelude to Dune series by the new authors. In truth, not much about this Enemy was revealed by Frank Herbert before his death.

There is Siona's vision in God Emperor of Dune in which she sees machines ruthlessly destroying mankind, but it is not revealed whether it is a vision of the past, a vision of what may have been had Leto II not enforced his Golden Path, or if it is a vision of the future. Of course, it is also possible that all of these interpretations can be correct. The other bit of information that the readers know is that the Enemy has a relationship with the New Facedancers from The Scattering, who appear to be the old couple trying to ensnare Duncan Idaho in their tachyon net throughout Chapterhouse: Dune, Hunters of Dune, and Sandworms of Dune

The old couple is Marty and Daniel who, up until the reveal in Hunters of Dune, are thought to be Facedances based upon their conversation at the end of Chapterhouse: Dune. Instead of being what seemed to be intended by Frank Herbert, these two characters are revealed to be the thinking machines masterminds who have apparently "absorbed so many lives (from their Facedancers) that they sometimes forget who they are."