Shift is the second book in Hugh Howey's Silo Series. I'm now reading Dust, the third book in this series, and will review it here when I'm finished. For the general premise behind this series, and for information on the author, please refer to my review of Wool. What follows are my responses to the "Reading Group Questions on Shift," which are to be found at the back of the book.
1. Q: Thurman truly believes that he is doing what is right for his country by building the silos and forcing people inside them. Do you agree with him based on the information of the possible threat to his country? Or is acting on anything but a certainty of a threat too much of a risk to take?
A: Do we know that though? We know that he appears to believe that what he is doing is right, but I don't know that this belief is ever demonstrated to anyone's satisfaction. Thurman isn't described all that well in any part of this novel, and his personal beliefs seem very far removed from the narrative.
This aspect of the book also strikes me as completely implausible, even given the fact that Shift is set thirty years or so in the future. So... a congressman decides that another country is threatening the United States with some kind of nanotechnology... would this congressman - however well connected - be able to then mobilize a massive construction project and then secretly lure thousands of people into this project in a matter of months? I mean, we're talking about the U.S. government here. As it is, the U.S. government could barely respond to the coronavirus and the George Floyd incident.
But ok, let's step back from that for a moment and get abstract. Is acting on anything less than a certain threat bad? Given that the whole thrust of most countries' relations with one another is anticipatory I would say no, it's not too much of a risk to act. The real argument here is whether or not Thurman's plan is practical, and I don't think it is. Creating a much greater number of smaller cryogenic facilities over a much largeer area would have been more practical. Large silos would be visible to satellite photography, and thus vulnerable to nuclear attack. Any country clever enough to produce that type of nanotechnology would probably also have an espionage program in place and a few nukes lying around.
When you think about it, Thurman's response seems more inspired by the movie G.I. Joe. Could it be that the author has also seen that movie?
2. Q: Mick is obviously aware of the last minute switch between himself and Donald when they go down into the silo just before the rally. Of their two roles, Donald's is the more powerful, with much more responsibility, leading to him living hundreds of more years, but he is envious of Mick's relatively normal live in a silo with Helen. Whose position would you rather be in?
Is it obvious though? I guess. I can't remember that part of the novel that well. I think the choice between the two options is like a choice between a frying pan or a fire. "Enjoy" a family life inside a tomb? Or wake up every hundred or so years in the same tomb, with some vestige of authority? Can I pick Option C instead?
3.Q: The members of silo one are given medication that causes them to forget traumatic events. If you were offered this medication freely, would you take it? Or would you want to remember the truth about your past?
What was Shatner's line in Star Trek 5? "I need my pain?" Something like that. I guess I'd choose to remember.
4. Q: Donald discovers that Anna is the reason he's in silo one, and not with Helen in a different silo, and is furious. Do you think she put him there for purely selfish reasons? Or do you think she thought he would be the best man for the job? In either case, do you think she had the right to make that decision for him?
Anna, like her father Thurman, isn't a very well-defined character. I couldn't say whether her reasons were selfish or not. I also couldn't say whether she thought Donald was the best man for the job or not. I suppose if their insane project made some kind of logical sense then yes, she had the right to make the decision for him. But their project was neither sane nor logical.
In Conclusion: If you loved Wool you'll like Shift. It's much longer than it needs to be, and it adds very little to the premise set up in the first book. Giving the silo more of a backstory would have added interest IF the characters at the center of this backstory are presented in compelling detail. This book never manages to do that.
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