Modern Inklings

The trouble with books in a series, and worse, a series expanded from a short story is that the books become predictable and repetitive.  Unfortunately, that may be just the case with the Silo series of books, Wool, Shift and Dust written by Hugh Howey.  Catchy names for books that instantly raise the curiosity of the reader.  What’s really intriguing is that the author puts a lot of sentimental words and phrases into his forwards and epilogues that don’t quite seem to make it into the actual novels.  Although the reader is enchanted by the ideas behind the book, a real connection to the characters and the world they live in is just not satisfactory enough to endear the reader to the material presented.

At the end of the third book, Wool, the author states, “In July of 2011, I wrote and published a short story that … took me on world book tours and changed my life.  I couldn’t have dreamed that any of this was… to happen the day I published Wool.” (Howey, Dust, p. 469). By the time the reader reaches the end of the book and reads this note from the author, they have read three books of 500 pages or more, and most will be kicking themselves for wasting hours and hours of reading.  While the first book is entertaining enough, it lacks any bit of closure or solid conclusion and obviously leads into a (surprise!) sequel: ‘She glanced up that great shaft in the center of the humming silo and lifted her boot to the next tread. “I’ve got to go see my father first”’ (Howey, Wool, p. 567). As if to explain this unsatisfactory end to book 1, the author states in his Q & A at the end of the first book, “To quote every one of my favorite kung-fu movies; Every end is a new beginning” (Howey, Wool, p. 568). In other words, brace yourself for 2 more books of 500 words or more before getting any real answers to all the questions raised in book 1; hoping for all hope that the author makes the journey actually worth it.

One intriguing aspect of the people who live in the silo, of which the books revolve around, is that the silo is 100 floors that are reached by stairs only. There is no elevator. In the first novel, it takes the mayor two days to descend from the upper floors to the “down deep” of floor 100. Yet, in later settings, the protagonist, Juliette, and other characters seem to move deftly between floors in a matter of hours, or even minutes. Additionally, somehow an elevator appears in another silo later in the storyline.  This is just one example of the inconsistencies of the story being told. 

 One key element that takes up most of book 2 and book 3 is the finding of large digging machines in the “down deep.” First of all, it’s hard to believe that these giant machines went unnoticed for hundreds of years by the inhabitants of the silo. Additionally, Juliette and others spend chapters and chapters of “fixing” these humungous machines so that they can escape but end up not really needing them after all. The reader then gets the feeling that this aspect of the story telling was mostly used as page fillers and non-essential to the story. 

After all the climbing up and down the stairs, the sudden appearance of some “found” children, a baby that belongs to one of the children whose origin is never explained, working on machines that are eventually deemed inconsequential to the story, characters that are unrelatable, and a world building that doesn’t really work, the story ends up being a hodge-podge of page fillers and pointless mis-directions in a world that is hard to really imagine after all, despite the intriguing idea of people living in a silo and the supposedly interesting lives they lead.  

Some of the people living in the silo are occasionally sent out into the poisonous outside world to “clean” the silo windows as a permanent punishment. They are tricked into thinking that there is a better world just beyond the horizon. Or is it a trick? It could be true. Or not.  It’s hard to really tell from one moment to the next. Then there is the confusion of one person being put into a stasis pod then not really being the person who is supposed to be in that stasis pod, but still others are intentionally put into the wrong pods for reasons that are not entirely made clear. All of this and more makes the storyline difficult and disappointing for the reader. Even worse for the reader is the fact that these questions and more are brought up throughout the books, but are not ever really satisfactorily answered by the end of book 3. The author states, “We long for stories that drag us through agony but give us hope” (Howey, Wool, p. 567). This series certainly does make one feel like they are being dragged through agony and the only thing that keeps the reader going is a false hope; hope for a fantastic conclusion which never really materializes. The best advice is not to waste time reading 1500 words of this book series and wait for Apple TV’s interpretation of the books because it’s a much better way to spend one’s time when it comes to the Silo books. 

“Such a good rating, so many good reviews. And yet Wool by Hugh Howey didn’t make a fan out of me. While a good story, and thus not a bad book, it felt dull, at times – forced, and very repetitive.”

— Nosferatu

Howey, Hugh. Wool. Boston, First Mariner Books, 2020.

Howey, Hugh. Shift. Boston, First Mariner Books, 2016.

Howey, Hugh. Dust. Boston, First Mariner Books, 2016.

Nosferatu. “Book Review: Wool by High Howey: Silo 1.” Nosferatu Reads, 11 Sept. 2022, nightmodereading.wordpress.com/2017/04/25/high-howey-wool-silo-1/. Accessed 20 Jan. 2024.