Shift

Possibly one of the best prequels ever written.

Story: 7 / 10
Characters: 8
Setting: 8
Prose: 7

The book starts to lose direction towards the end. Mainly, this is because it is trying to align with WOOL, but that doesn't make it reasonable. Still the first 2/3 are fantastic and a brilliant commentary on aggressive, pre-emptive war policies.

Executive Summary: Not as good as [b:Wool 13453029 Wool Omnibus (Silo, #1) Hugh Howey https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1349614200s/13453029.jpg 18979356], but that's to be expected after such an enjoyable debut.Audio book: I first listened to [a:Tim Gerard Reynolds 4132657 Tim Gerard Reynolds https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1370714999p2/4132657.jpg] with [a:Michael J. Sullivan 2063919 Michael J. Sullivan https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1396351926p2/2063919.jpg]'s Riyria books. To me he is THE voice of that series. It made listening to this book a little strange at first. I kept expecting Royce or Hadrian to show up in one of the Silos.That said, he's a great reader. He does voices and accents with the best of them. When I found out he was the reader for this, it made doing audio over reading it a no brainer.Full ReviewIt's a bit strange to write a prequel as the second book in a trilogy. Yet somehow Mr. Howey makes it work. We start to get some of the answers I was left with at the end of [b:Wool 13453029 Wool Omnibus (Silo, #1) Hugh Howey https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1349614200s/13453029.jpg 18979356], though a few of them not nearly to my satisfaction. Hopefully we'll get more details in the final installment.It's a bit strange being back in the US, albeit many years in the future. There is a whole new cast of characters, that at first seem completely unrelated to the first book. However, as the book goes on things start to click in place and eventually we catch up to the events of the first book. This book fills in some background, but mostly seems to be setting the stage for the finale.It seems like this book is the lowest rated of the three, so hopefully it finishes as strong as it starts and we'll see the two halves of this story finally come together. Personally though, I found this book to be a solid 4. Not as good or as page-turning as [b:Wool 13453029 Wool Omnibus (Silo, #1) Hugh Howey https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1349614200s/13453029.jpg 18979356] was, but enjoyable none the less.On to [b:Dust 17855756 Dust (Silo, #3) Hugh Howey https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1369522849s/17855756.jpg 24576986]!

Shift is the second omnibus installment in the Silo Saga. Whereas Wool told a tight, linear story about Silo 18, Shift jumps back and forth. While it does so well, this did lead to some mild confusion. Also, as it covers quite a bit of time, it was difficult to keep everything in order for me at times.

Still, it was a very enjoyable read. Shift explores the genesis of the silos, the reason behind their existence, and hints at a dark purpose buried under ground with them. It was a fascinating look into what lead to the world we encountered in Wool. And while many questions were answered, I felt there were still many left at the end of the book.

Just wow. Such great story telling. When I read wool it was a great story on it's own, but as the universe it's set in expands, it's... Oh man.