Dust by Hugh Howey

Nila completes Hugh Howey’s popular Silo Saga with the final installment: Dust

Dust by Hugh Howey

Published by Broad Reach Publishing, August, 2013

Review by N. E. White.

Hugh Howey ends the silo madness in Dust. The story of the beleaguered people of the underground silos picks up immediately after the events in Third Shift (SFFWorld.com review here). In Silo 1, we have Donald and his sister, Charlotte, desperately trying to save another silo from the whim of a madman. In Silo 17, the empty stairwell soon rings anew with the steps of an invading population; Solo and the surviving children must learn to cope with the new comers. And in Silo 18, Luke and Juliette stare into the abyss of extinction.

It begins with Juliette, the plucky mechanic turned major. She wants answers, and she’s got promises to keep. The first order of business for her is to go about keeping those promises, much to the ire of her people in Silo 18. Juliette’s proposals mean a drastic and desperate change to the way they live. The remains of the recent conflict that engulfed the silo in chaos are everywhere, both physically and mentally. Folks are distrustful, and her proposal, while heeded, is not welcomed. Many feel her actions herald bad things to come.

And they’re right. Bad things do come, but not specifically because of that. But because Donald failed – yet again. It was only a matter of time for him. Really, we all knew he couldn’t keep up the charade of playing God instead of Senator Thurman. Donald’s murderous deeds haunt him in Dust and when the real senator is woken, we all know nothing good will come of it. Even so, Donald does manage to set up his drone-pilot sister, Charlotte, with information. They even get a chance to ‘see’ the outside world far enough away from the Silos to get a glimpse of what it really is like out there. Charlotte takes it a step further and, after her own dastardly deeds, contacts the inhabitants of Silo 17 and 18. The silo walls are crumbling and people want out.

But before that can happen, Senator Thurman gets the upper hand.

I won’t go into much more detail. In Dust, there is tragedy and triumph in equal measure. You’ll be surprised at some of the revelations, but also relieved when the truth comes out. If you’ve kept up with my reviews, you know that I loved the initial 5-part series (Wool 1-5) of the Silo Saga. I couldn’t get enough of the cast of characters Mr. Howey introduced us to and I had hoped the series would continue long into the future. But then came the next parts. I actually thought I could have done without the entire follow-up 3-part series (Shift: Legacy, Order & Pact). But this last book, Dust, has shown me that Mr. Howey is truly a masterful storyteller. His clear prose, peppered with lingering images, ends the mystery of the Silos in a satisfying manner, linking all the subplots and revealing the plans that set everything in motion. If you are a fan like me, you might not be happy with the direction the story ultimately went, but Dust will remind you why you fell in love with the series and dream of more under the stars with Juliette.

Though…I do have to whine about something.

[SPOILER WARNING! Do not continue reading if you don’t want me to spoil the story.]

I never took a liking to Donald. He is manipulated so much throughout this story and he makes such bad decisions, I just couldn’t relate to him. Though I thoroughly enjoyed reading the story from his point of view (Hugh’s writing ability is stellar), I sped through his parts, anxious to leave his depressed state of mind behind me. So, I was very disappointed that he ended up doing in Senator Thurman. I really wanted a stand-off between Juliette and Thurman. Juliette seemed the worthy heroine capable of taking that man down. And I also wanted a final speech from Thurman to Juliette, some sort of explanation from his own lips to the people he controlled as to why he did it. Ah, but that’s just me. Maybe I should re-write the ending to suit myself in Amazon’s Kindle Worlds.

[END OF SPOILER]

Regardless of my dashed hopes, the entire Silo Saga is wrapped up nicely in this fast-paced, final installment. I highly recommend Dust by Hugh Howey.

N.E. White, September 2013.