I will preface this review by stating that my rating may be somewhat misleading - there are certain things about this, the fifth installment of the Silo series, that had me nodding and smiling... and other parts that simply made me roll my eyes.Generally speaking, the writing gets a big thumbs up - and I'm still surprised by Howey's seemingly natural feel for language and conversation. Though I do have to admit that there are certain characters who I felt were a bit too "soft" - then again, perhaps it's just an off-shoot of socialization at work: people might just not swear or act out of anger as frequently. I mean, we are talking about generations of folks who have only ever lived in silos. Perhaps it's just natural?I think my real bone of contention with the storyline involves the inevitable and utterly predictable ending: everything wraps up just a little too neatly, and that pretty little bow that wraps it all up is just too shiny. Of course, that could be somewhat reassuring and a nice little affirmation of rationale and human goodness. But look at Silo 18 - nothing saved Silo 18 and thousands of people died there for absolutely nothing. It's obviously a flawed world... so Silo 17's redemption is some sort of miraculous. And it's not a clean, easy redemption, but the conclusion IS - too much so. There isn't enough struggle in the end, and there's too much of a happy ending for everyone.But, perhaps that's just the nature of the beast. It does indeed end in a very YA fiction sort of way, which doesn't surprise me much... it is somewhat disappointing though. Anyway, it's a good, fun read and beckons to mind certain semblances - perhaps that's what I liked so much about it. As a very big fan of the Bioshock video game series, there seems to be an unspoken nod here to the series (particularly in Juliette's dive in to the guts of Silo 18 - fantastic section, loved it!). Good, and fun, and flawed - all the same, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it. It was an interesting finish. Don't know how I feel exactly about the children in the end. I guess it makes sense. Still the language at times could be harsh. They hardly ever swore in these short stories, but when they did, it seemed to always be the f word. I think for a self-published writer, the story is amazing and pretty well thought out. Though I found the last two stories to be a bit long, tedious and not always as believable. Really, this is a sci-fi book, so it's not like it really should be believable! Glad I finished the series to the end.
What do You think about The Stranded (2012)?
every book in this series is better than its predecessor.
—Reader17
