Shift. Hugh Howey. 579 pages. 2013. [Source: Book I Bought] [adult science fiction; dystopia; futuristic; apocalyptic]
First sentence: Troy returned to the living and found himself inside of a tomb.
Premise/plot: Shift is the second book published in the Silo science fiction series by Hugh Howey. It is a series of flashbacks. It spans centuries. It reveals how the Silo(s) came to be. It isn’t until the end of the novel that the action catches up to Wool.
So there are essentially two or three stories: 1) Donald’s story of how the Silo project came to be and how the world ended; 2) Donald/Troy’s various shifts through the centuries as manages the Silo project(s). 3) Jimmy (aka Solo)’s never-ending nightmare as the “only” survivor of his Silo. He’s not really the one and only survivor–as revealed in Wool. But he might as well be…to some extent. It’s all survival of the fittest, shoot to kill, trust no one. This section has CAT. (I’d forgotten about the cat).
My thoughts: Jimmy’s story was SO compelling and heartbreaking. This character and his experiences have sticking power. I don’t think I’ll soon forget him. Troy/Donald is perhaps a less likeable character. Perhaps. He’s a pawn in many ways. Even if he’d “woken” up and seen the truth about how things were going down, what could he have done???? Is there anything he could have done? anything he could have said? I don’t think there is.
I do think this is a thought-provoking read. It is MORE political than Wool (in my opinion). But it was written political in a time BEFORE politics went…I’m trying to think of a good, polite way to say it…before politics became so very, very, incessantly divisive and explosive for the nation. So it doesn’t feel like it was written with a hammer directed at anyone in particular. (Which I appreciated.)
I’ve never read the third book in the series. So I’m not sure how the series ends….but I have to keep going now.
© 2023 Becky Laney of Becky’s Book Reviews
