Review: Howey's silo successfully put into use as a metaphor
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 24, 2013
It's nice to be back in Howey's silo domain while waiting for his own story to continue. Even if this story is imagined by someone else, it doesn't feel that way. This isn't trite fan-fiction, it's a well-played story set in a world that doesn't cease to fascinate.What stayed with me the most isn't the story in itself, but the way it uses the silo as a metaphor for the present state of our own world. If I were Hugh Howey, I'd curse Davies for beating me to it. In The Runner, the people living "top-side" don't see with their own eyes the problems that for now is troubling the bottom dwellers. The privileged few at the top of the world know about the flooding, they know they'll eventually have to deal with both refugees and then the flood itself. Still, the idea of a flooded silo appears too far-fetched and disconnected from their own reality to be taken seriously yet.The Runner mirrors today's climate change debate in a way that gives the actual story depth and a lot more impact. Well done, Davies.