Now, in Shift, he takes us back 300 years to reveal the beginning of the story and introduce us to the man who finds himself, unwittingly and unwillingly, in the position to determine the fate of the human race.
When newly-elected congressman Donald Keene is asked by his mentor, Senator Thurman, to design an underground safety bunker for a nuclear waste storage site, he has no expectation it will be used. But when an unknown enemy launches a nuclear attack during the opening of the new facility, he finds himself sheltering in his own creation and learns it is one of 50 secretly constructed under the senator's instruction with just such an eventuality in mind.
While the inhabitants of the other 49 will live out their normal life spans, Donald and the others in Silo One are to spend the next 100 years or so in cryogenic sleep, awakening for six-month shifts to ensure the rest of the plan is implemented. Above all else, it is essential each silo believes itself the only one and any knowledge of the past is suppressed.
Over the course of several shifts, during which he faces a series of crises, Donald discovers the true extent and ruthlessness of Thurman's vision and just how thoroughly his former hero has manipulated him. And still he is being used, pushed into positions of increasing power and responsibility, this time by somebody who believes he is the one man who will do not what is correct, but what is right.
The novel is divided into three sections that correspond to each of Donald's awakenings, and contains multiple narratives. ''Present'' events are interleaved with his memories of the past, and with perspectives from characters in other silos, including a boy whose older self we have already met in Wool, and the novel ends at the point where the two novels intersect.
Keeping track of the shifting time-lines is, at times, a challenge, and there are some stylistic problems with the writing, but these are minor irritations and more than compensated for by the twists and turns of the plot. Like Wool, Shift was published as a series of shorter e-books and it is just as fast-paced and eventful as its predecessor.
The story becomes more and more fascinating as Donald peels away layers of secrecy and lies, while the snapshots from other silos are used effectively to control pace and tension, both of which increase as the plot lines begin to intersect. The final chapter is not a resolution but a culmination; a critical threshold has been reached and the ultimate crisis is coming.
Shift was even harder to put down than Wool, and I can't wait to see where Howey takes us next.
- Cushla McKinney is a Dunedin scientist.
