Publisher’s Thoughts:
Humanity clings to survival in the Silo, a subterranean city extending one hundred forty-four stories beneath the surface. The series initially follows the character of Holston, the sheriff of the Silo, with subsequent volumes focusing on the characters of Juliette, Jahns, and Marnes. An ongoing storyline of the series is the focus on the mystery behind the Silo and the secrets it holds.
Staff Thoughts:
During the pandemic, I was hungry for new books to read and was looking for something that fit the mood – post-apocalyptic, tense, and with a touch of mystery. After hearing a podcast interview with author Hugh Howey, I immediately ordered the first book of the Silo Series. The trilogy, consisting of Wool, Dust, and Shift, made for entertaining and gripping reading during the last year. It is a tale of survival, struggle, power, questioning authority, and hope.
The series starts off with Wool, and it is full of mystery and marvelous world-building. The reader is drawn in from the very beginning as they meet Holston, Sheriff of an underground Silo where the last of humanity is confined due to a worldwide disaster that occurred in the distant past. Through the story one gradually learns that any talk of the outside world is quickly and brutally punished by giving the speaker the knowledge they desire – sending them outside. As the Sheriff faces the consequences of his own curiosity and grief, his Undersheriff is tasked to speak with a courageous but troublesome female protagonist by the name of Juliette. Juliette is not one to just accept things the way they are, and she begins to follow in the Sheriff’s footsteps, unraveling the mysteries of the Silo and the outside world bit by bit, risking all and realizing all is not what it seems.
In the second book, Shift, the story continues. Now it moves between the past (somewhere slightly ahead but within sight of our present day) and to various points in the future when the events of the first book are set in motion and as they occur, with the distance between these times quickly shrinking. The origin of the Silo is explained through the point of view of one of the early designers, intertwined with a heart-wrenching survival story and leading up to the immediate aftermath of the climax of the first book. Betrayal, conspiracy, intrigue, and survival are the name of the game in this volume. The switching between different times does get a little tedious during the book, making this my least favorite of the trilogy. However, it contributes much to the story and contains the same tension build up and power struggles that drew me in to the first book.
The final book, Dust, wraps the saga up beautifully, and has one of the most satisfying endings I have ever encountered in a novel. Picking up right where Shift left off, this volume has the remaining citizens of the Silo facing down those who have been in control. Survival is becoming the paramount concern, and people are asked to take a leap of faith and risk all they have known to see if they can create a better future. The entire novel culminates in a tense climax and is peppered with both tragedy and hope.
When you finish this series, you will want to go outside, look up at the wide-open sky and appreciate it in a whole new way.
Thank you I watched it on our TV