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bluepigeon 's review for:
Sand
by Hugh Howey
I have not read anything else by Howey, so I will not, unlike other readers, compare my experience reading the Sand omnibus with reading Wool or Shift or Dust. If Wool is better than Sand, like many people have said, I will check it out.
Sand Omnibus is a page turner, a quick, exciting read, that has plenty of slow, contemplative moments. There is a bit of everything: pirating (scavenging), family drama, young love, terrorists, rich people vs. poor people, and of course, the mystery of why everything is buried in sand and the wind never stops and it never rains and there is a distant, regular thumping that is eternal. Beyond the bonds that tie families together, which Howey hints is more history than blood or love, the book is based on apathy. Myths are crushed and others are confirmed, and we even get a clear picture of how our now might connect with their now, maybe.
Howey manages more showing than telling than is standard in the genre, so I was grateful for that. One complaint was that all the siblings, especially the boys, seemed very similar in character, despite having grown up under very different circumstances. Everyone was basically good, not only in the core, but really, all the way to the surface, which seemed kind of unrealistic. The three bothers seemed like the same person at different stages of life than three different men/boys. Come to think of it, the women (mom and Vic) were also very similar, in how they see the world, in how they survive, how they act, but this wasn't that problematic (perhaps also because we do not know that much about Rose for it to become problematic).
Recommended to beach fans and desert hikers, and sci-fi fans, of course.
Sand Omnibus is a page turner, a quick, exciting read, that has plenty of slow, contemplative moments. There is a bit of everything: pirating (scavenging), family drama, young love, terrorists, rich people vs. poor people, and of course, the mystery of why everything is buried in sand and the wind never stops and it never rains and there is a distant, regular thumping that is eternal. Beyond the bonds that tie families together, which Howey hints is more history than blood or love, the book is based on apathy. Myths are crushed and others are confirmed, and we even get a clear picture of how our now might connect with their now, maybe.
Howey manages more showing than telling than is standard in the genre, so I was grateful for that. One complaint was that all the siblings, especially the boys, seemed very similar in character, despite having grown up under very different circumstances. Everyone was basically good, not only in the core, but really, all the way to the surface, which seemed kind of unrealistic. The three bothers seemed like the same person at different stages of life than three different men/boys. Come to think of it, the women (mom and Vic) were also very similar, in how they see the world, in how they survive, how they act, but this wasn't that problematic (perhaps also because we do not know that much about Rose for it to become problematic).
Recommended to beach fans and desert hikers, and sci-fi fans, of course.