Book Review: Sand by Hugh Howey
A gritty, beautifully woven story set in a dystopian future.
I'm a big fan of Hugh Howey's work on the Silo Series, so I expected a great book when I picked this up. Y'all, this does not disappoint.
Set in the far future, in a world that has long been buried (and continues to be buried) by sand, this gritty, post-apocalyptic novel hooks you in the beginning and gets you to start asking questions immediately. The story quickly picks up the pace and had me gripped by the end.
I was especially drawn in by the technology created to allow people to "dive" in the sand, as one would water. The scavenging for buried relics from a past long ago was fascinating.
"It was easy to blame people for the misery of life rather than blaming the sand. Yelling at the sand got you nowhere. People yelled back, and at least that was a response."
I also loved how real the characters felt. It's a beautifully woven story of survival-of-the-fittest with people doing what they feel they need to do to keep going.
Final Thoughts: Should You Read It?
I’d rate Sand ★★★★ (4/5 stars).
- Cool world-building
- Survival-of-the-fittest, immersive environment
- Unique setting separates it from other post-apocalyptic stories
This book definitely had me guessing how this environment came to be, especially when everything felt so separated from its past. He doesn't give us many answers in this one, so I'll definitely be reading the sequel soon!
Do you like dystopian books? Have you read any of Hugh Howey's other work? Drop a comment below!
Book Summary
- Title: Sand
- Author: Hugh Howey
- Genre: Science Fiction, Thriller, Suspense, Dystopian
- Who Should Read It?: Anyone who enjoys dystopian settings and immersive environments.
- Synopsis: The old world is buried. A new one has been forged atop the shifting dunes. Here in this land of howling wind and infernal sand, four siblings find themselves scattered and lost. Their father was a sand diver, one of the elite few who could travel deep beneath the desert floor and bring up the relics and scraps that keep their people alive. But their father is gone. And the world he left behind might be next.
