Friday, August 8, 2014

Wool 2 - Proper Gauge (Silo #1b) by Hugh Howey


Release Date: November 30, 2011
Publisher: Broad Reach Publishing
Series: Wool series (Book 2), Silo series (#1b)

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.

Synopsis:
After a cleaning, celebration and relief filled the air of the silo. Unfortunately, this cleaning also left a hole within the administration and forced Mayor Jahns and her deputy to consider three candidates for the job. Mayor Jahns used the celebratory atmosphere to visit the lower levels of the silo in order to get a sense of her candidates instead of forcing them to come to her.

As she and Deputy Marnes traveled over a hundred floors into the darkness of the silo, Mayor Jahns found herself accompanied by the ghosts of promises unfulfilled and unanswered questions. Interviewing their main candidate aimed a bright light on more than was expected, but all those problems lit a fire inside Mayor Jahns to make things right when she reached her home level. An unexpected incident put a dent in her plans, but will it stop everything? Will it put the entirety of the silo in jeopardy?

Review:
I purchased this book after I finished the first story in the series, Wool (Silo #1a), which I found thanks to OHFB. The events in the book began where the first ended, but the author used the opportunities within the story to give the reader a tour of life within the silo itself. There was a different air about this book since the cleaning relieved the pressure of uncertainty and uneasiness that filled the first book. Though this was the second in the series, the story within stood on its own and referenced enough of the first book to give the reader a full view of events without rehashing everything.

Two of the main characters in this book were introduced in the first one. Both Mayor Jahns and Deputy Marnes played supporting roles to Sheriff Holston. In this book their histories and current lives were on display as was their candidate to fill the void left by Holston. In an interesting twist, the silo itself became a main character as they traveled into its depths to interview someone on the deepest levels. On the way down to the Mechanical levels, we were given a glimpse of how life in the silo worked. Shops, farms, and porters filled the levels and provided everything that the people within could ever want. Hidden within the information about the various floors were tiny nuggets of information about the people that live and work on those same floors.

With the story beginning slightly after the events of the first book, the pacing started off strong. It continued on a steady pace as the story unfolded. There were moments where the characters rested or reflected on things in the past. These allowed a moment or two for the reader to take a breath and digest what had been revealed. I won't spoil the story, so the major points will stay hidden. However, I will say that much of the story provided background, but there were a few jaw-dropping moments that left me wanting to know more.

All in all, I enjoyed this book and look forward to the next part of the series. Many of the questions I had after reading the first one were answered in this one. I have a feeling that many more will be answered the deeper I dig into the series. With this being a quick read, the pages all but turned on their own as I wanted to know more of what was happening. If you like dystopian or post-apocalyptic stories filled with humanity and intrigue, then this book (and the series) is the one you need to read!

Wool 2 - Proper Gauge (Silo #1b) by Hugh Howey is currently available at many online retailers in either paperback or Kindle formats. Click the link below to visit the book's Amazon page.
Wool 2 - Proper Gauge (Silo #1b) by Hugh Howey

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