“Shift” by Hugh Howey – The Fall of Bionic Man

Through arts and literature Man has sought to develop himself from within, to elevate himself intellectually and spiritually... and through technological progress and science, Man sought to take complete control of the world, becoming the master of his own fate.

However, as Hugh Howey explores it in his Silo Saga, there is a certain threshold to how much humanity can discipline itself, and how much it can control what it unleashes into the world.

The second volume in the series, Shift, takes us back into the strange dystopian world presented in Wool, essentially continuing the chronicle of mankind's downfall following its incapability to master its own doings.

If there is one thing which intrigued people from the first book, as was mentioned in our review of it, is all the mystery surrounding a bizarre world driven by robotics and rather questionable medical practices... and of course, the purpose behind those ominous silos.

There was also the grand question as to what exactly happened to make it all go down the drain, how humanity put itself in a position to forget about its own demise, and why it took the path it did.

Now, you are certainly not going to get all the answers out of Shift, but let me tell you, there is a whole lot of background information and context which gives sense and meaning to what is known about the world thus far, and I can almost guarantee that you will be driven to re-read the first volume for that reason alone.

Howey certainly takes care not to reveal all of his cards, showing us enough to quell our thirst for knowledge but ensuring he has a couple of aces up his sleeve to wow us with in the next volume.

Hugh Howey was never a bad writer, and his skills showed in the Wool volume. This time there is a marked improvement in his overall technique and ability to pace the story and weave together sentences that are light on the eyes and the brain.

We get a deeper sense of what drives this world and where the characters get their motivations from. In other words, we get down deeper into the muck and plunge our claws beneath the surface, not only looking at this world, but also feeling and understanding it (or at least attempting our best to do so).

Also, speaking of the characters, in my opinion most of them behave, for the most part, realistically and consistently with what you would expect from them, knowing how they are and the way they think. Their dialog is also rather pleasant to read, never feeling clunky, unnatural or too verbose for its own good.

And so, to conclude our thoughts on this second volume in the Silo Saga, Shift is an ambitious, solid and rather successful effort at offering us a science-fiction story that goes above tired cliches and delivers a riveting story that is as entertaining as it is thought-provoking.

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Hugh Howey Personal site Hugh Howey is an American author who generally specializes in science-fiction literature, and is best known for his popular series Wool. Prior to working as an author, Howey tried numerous careers, including roofer, audio technician, and yacht captain.