Sand is latest book by Hugh Howey, the author best known for Wool and the rest of the Silo Saga. Like Wool, this was initially published in five parts. I initially read part of the first book, but with a full reading queue I opted to wait for the full version to come out and bump that to the top of my list. Sand starts by taking you into an unfamiliar desert world where we are introduced to a couple of divers- Palmer and Hap. Unlike the type of diving we are accustomed to, these divers traverse the sand by means of a specialized dive suit which causes the sand to flow around it. From the beginning this idea really intrigued me. The idea of swimming though sand hit me as both brilliant and obvious. I had a feeling of “Why didn’t I think of that?” followed by a daydream of swimming through sand dunes. It feels like a thought you would have as a kid sitting on a playground looking at the sand and letting your imagination wander.

We quickly learn is these divers are not on an alien world, rather a post-apocalyptic Earth. The divers use their suits to dive down below the sand dunes to scavenge whatever our modern society has left behind. Story follows the lives of several family members living on the outskirts of one of these desert towns, situated a few hundred feet above modern day Colorado. Palmer is a somewhat accomplished diver, who lives in the shadow of his more accomplished older sister Vic. Their two younger brothers Conner and Rob live at home and are still in school. While neither are divers, both are interested in the family profession. Their mother is around, occasionally supporting them financially,  while their father walked out on them years prior. Though their lives are mostly separate, certain decisions and unimaginable events in their sand covered, dreary world lead them down crossing paths, forcing them to work together to survive this increasingly hostile and lawless world.

The way this world was created was truly imaginative and as the story goes progresses there are several moments of realization that only add to this. What I most enjoy about Hugh Howey’s writing is the care he takes in building solid characters. I find myself actually relating to and caring about the characters because they have such depth and history. They easily feel like real people and I feel like I have spent time getting to know them. While some might find this type of building up slow, I find it to be essential and wholly interesting. If you are one of the people who does not appreciate this as much as I do, the story does build to a much more eventful turn of events that should be able to carry anyone’s interest.

I can honestly say I loved this book because it met and exceeded my expectations of what makes my ideal post-apocalyptic story. The only criticism I have is that there were a few point which I felt were a little too predictable, but I cannot say that it had any negative effect on my enjoyment. Most reviews I have read around time of publication were comparisons to Wool. I find this to be a poor comparison. While they were written by the same author, that is not enough to warrant any expectation of similarity. Howey himself has said these are polar opposites. Wool was about a totalitarian society, whereas Sand is almost anarchistic. Wool is a bit more family friendly, Sand is completely adult with some strong adult themes and language. To the author’s credit, I prefer to judge a story on its own merit.

Then end left me wanting more, but in a good way. I did not feel that it was lacking, I just wanted to know what comes next. At the time of this entry the author has not indicated that this will be a series, but he has said that there is a lot that could be done with this world. I will remain hopeful for now.

You can find more from Hugh Howey at:

HughHowey.com

@HughHowey

Goodreads