Review: A mystery of faith where the revelations have deadly consequences!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 20, 2013
Using the world of Wool as a backdrop, this story takes what you know about Howey's world and explores faith and its role in the Silo, an enclosed and tightly controlled environment. It's who is doing the controlling and for what purpose is what makes this story so compelling.As I read this story, the most central question I kept asking was "what in the WORLD is going on here?" This question kept me riveted, turning the pages eagerly in search of answers. The author unfurls the story about what has transpired here, using the viewpoints of key characters to explore the environment he creates in and around Silo 23.We have Issac, the teenage Seeker traveling up the central staircase on a journey to judgment. When he learns of his judgment, Issac becomes daunted by (and haunted by) the responsibilities of his new role. Can he manage his new role or will he become overwhelmed by it?We also have the leader of the One True faith, The Wise Father, an elderly Pope-like figure who is representative of something far more sinister lurking within the religion that controls all of their lives. It is through him we see the One True's will being carried out, sometimes in the form of Greatfall. We quickly learn what Greatfall is, its place in the silo and its connection to the belief system. As figurehead of the One True, what will happen to him once he learns the truth behind his faith?Finally, we have Maya, sent from Silo 1, to find out why Silo 23 went dark and what happened to cause it. Hers is the story of an outsider looking in, a threat to the very way of life perpetuated in this silo's history for generations. In the process of accomplishing her mission, she is captured and tortured by her captors. Is she able to carry out her mission or will this silo be the death of her?Connecting all of these characters together is Matthew. Enforcer of the One True faith and major domo to the Wise Father, his true role in the silo becomes revealed over the course of the story and how he keeps everyone in line through a stranglehold of fear.Maya's arrival is the catalyst for events which catapult this entire silo towards a catastrophe from which it may never recover. As the stakes climb, the entire culture of the silo begins to unravel and things fall apart in a truly spectacular fashion, causing death and destruction. Will this silo even survive the trying ordeal that it now finds itself faced with?As events coalesce, the story takes you to unpredictable places with its twists and turns, reveals all of its mysteries and steadily builds into a rip-roaring finale that will leave your mouth agape with each stunning revelation. How the story manages this is one of the great delights of this thrilling yarn.I read this story in individual parts when it was first published over a period of months and each cliffhanger left me wanting to find out what happened next. Since there is now a collected edition, you don't have to wait like I did to find out. And believe me, you will not want to wait! This page-turner kept me glued to the story as the author swiftly moved me through the mystery of its faith to a highly satisfying conclusion.