Sand

Howey has created a world very different from Wool. The world of Sand is about life on the margins and doing whatever is necessary to survive. He's created a post-apocalyptic world where sand has overrun everything, and the inhabitants of what was once Colorado have to fight against the ever encroaching sand. The world before - our world - is buried under hundreds upon hundreds of meters of sand, and divers wearing special suits swim down into the depths to bring back remnants of the past to sell.

This is the story of a family of four siblings. The two oldest are divers, and some of the very best. The two youngest survive on their own in the town of Springston. Their mother is the owner of the local bar and brothel. Their father show more abandoned them years before, disappearing into the wasteland of No Man's Land, where no one has ever returned from.

I had a hard time reading this book. I got very invested in the characters, and kept having to put the book down because I was so scared horrible things would happen to them. But I almost immediately picked it back up again because it was so good.

I haven't been able to stop thinking about this book. It haunted me when I wasn't reading it, and after finishing it, it still haunts me. I've spent the past few hours staring at a map of the United States trying to figure out where the places mentioned in the story actually are. (I think Agyl may be Kansas City. I'm not positive, though, and it's driving me a bit crazy to not know for certain.)

I don't want to say too much about the plot because it really has to be experienced. It took a bit for me to really get into the story because it opened fairly early with a diving scene, and it took me a while to realize the characters were diving into sand and not water. But once I did, I fell into it headfirst. show less

This is a standalone novel, which I think is important to point out as the author has a bias toward single word titles which can get confusing. I had to use Wikipedia as a primer.

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My wallet is a temple cow which few are allowed unfettered access to the milking teats of. Subscriptions and the like are just not part of my world if alternatives exist. I do not allow bills to auto-debit, only a handful of services have that honor (I love you Netflix).. An exception may be ready to occur however. Writing books in a serial format seems to the standard MO for Mr Hugh Howie, and if all of his work holds true to the quality of Sand, then I am going to have to be monitoring RSS for new releases or auto purchase items as they become available. I show more loved loved loved this novel. I bought the omnibus forms of another serial series of his (wool). If it is just as good, then he will het my cash in a small trickling gush as he releases installments on future work. I despise him for gaining this much power, yet will allow him access to the milk.. He must wear gloves.

Sand is beautifully crafted. Just the right amount if drama, scifi, mythology and action. Just enough characters to remain diverse, but nowhere in the untrackable realm of russian classics.

Set in the future, timing is kept unclear. Huh? What kind of statement is that? Well, It is far enough in the future that Orion no longer carries the name Orion. The constellation has modified. No longer does it tie to Gilgamesh fighting the Bull. Now it is the constellation of Colorado, though the bull is still involved, the warrior Colorado is now the emphasis.

Time being what it is, this is not the center point. Sand. This is the key. Sand covers everything. Great roiling hot dunes of sand. Living on this sand is a society eking out existence, digging ever moving pits to access underground aquifers, avoiding the badlands from whence men do not return.

There is a special class in this society who have a skill set to control the sand, Sand Divers. Imagine Scrooge McDuck dives into his money-bin and splats dead onto the hard as concrete surface layer. Imagine McDuck instead actually breaches the surface and makes it under his money just to be crushed to death, suffocating because he is unable to inhale due to pressure. His money is sand.. Small, easy to carry or move, but increasing in power with each individual element added to the pile. Now imagine him wearing an electronics excessive wetsuit, rechargeably powered by sun and wind, controlled by his mind, which allows him to radiate energy. This energy moves the money around him like water. He is swimming and leaping in no time. Duck Tales whoo hoo.

This is what sand divers do. Sand bends to their will, their technology, their drive to survive. They swim to the valleys and dead world beneath the sand searching for relics and salvage. These elements are prized in the shops and markets. Metals, plastics, papers. The trash and knick knacks of our existence. Everything from the bygone age has use and value.

Sand is about what occurs when you find something beneath the sand that could get you murdered.

Kids book? No. Probably good for teens. I had trouble putting this one down. Written as a standalone novel, it is hard not to be disappointed when the end comes. It is really easy to hope for and be frustrated that no more of the Sand universe is available for reading. I have to wonder if this is an artifact of the serial progression. I find that short stories have the same feeling. All is right, but why isn't there more. I assume that the Wool series which is an omnibus trilogy, will feel more naturally resolved, but who are we kidding :)

Excellent read. Worth the money, but if you are not sure, combine all those left over dollars on your holiday giftcards and spend that.. No harm no foul. show less

This outstanding story takes place in the former West, barely recognizable because it is covered by deep sand. It is a constant struggle to keep sand out of every unprotected opening, and to mine water and oil from far below the shifting surface.

Sand divers have learned to use special equipment to plunge into the sand and recover treasures from the deeply buried cities that they can sell to buy food and water for themselves and their families. But sand diving has another appeal for its skilled practitioners. Palmer, one of the protagonists who comes from a family of sand divers, lived for “that razor-thin line between insanity and good sense.” He explained:

"Once the sand enveloped him, Palmer felt the exhilaration a dune-hawk must show more feel in flight, a sense of weightlessness and liberation, the power to glide any direction he liked.”

Palmer’s father was a great sand diver, but walked out on the family twelve years before, leaving his mother with four children and no options to support them but prostitution. The kids - Victoria (“Vic”), Palmer, Connor, and Rob, endure harsh treatment from others who know of their mother Rose's occupation. But the cruelty of those around them is just one other aspect of the harsh nature of reality. As Vic described it:

"Everywhere she looked, she saw life squeezing people, forcing them from one tight spot to the next, the cruel palms of misfortune wrapped around hapless necks.”

As the story begins, Palmer has taken a job offered by some dangerous brigands of the Northern Wastes, to dive deeper than he has ever gone. They are in search of the legendary city of “Danvar” (Denver). But the brigands don’t want to find Danvar for the obvious reasons of its fabled wealth of artifacts, but something more sinister. Palmer is in great danger. The dive unleashes forces that could destroy even the already fragile balance of the sands of this post-apocalyptic civilization.

Discussion: I love this author. Besides his prowess at innovative and realistic world-building, he is so talented at character development. He creates outstanding but not perfect characters who are brave, resourceful, and willing to pick themselves up again and again in the face of life-threatening struggles and adversity.

What Howey also manages to do in his books is take an awful, dire post-apocalyptic scenario and balance it with both (a) the very bad people who caused it and/or are exacerbating it and (b) people who are the best humanity has to offer - courageous, altruistic, and determined to survive. What stands out about this horrible/wondrous incongruous mix is that there are no caricatures in this complex, nuanced world. Yes, the bad guys are evil, but they think they are doing the right thing, or they are doing what they think they need to do to survive - it’s never a black and white situation. And the good guys are so memorable and so admirable, you come to absolutely adore them (enough so to make you split an infinitive to express it!).

There is also lots of tension-filled, gripping action, so that you really don’t want to set his books down, either because you can’t wait to find out what happens, or because you just like these people so much and want to spend all the time you can with them.

Evaluation: For fans of science fiction and/or post-apocalyptic dystopias, this author is not to be missed. show less

I enjoyed Sand much more than Howey's earlier Wool. Whereas Wool was dense with world-building to the extent that the details only highlighted the shaky underpinnings of his dystopia's social structure, Sand focuses on the characters first, and as a consequence is much more resonant and memorable. While the setting is still not exactly innovative - this time it's a cross between Mad Max and a sand-themed Waterworld - the family drama at the center of Sand is far more moving this time around. Howey's portrayal of a family whose ties have been stretched to the breaking point by their own individual reactions to the cruel environment they live in is very well-done, and because of the vastly improved pacing, you come to feel for these show more struggling people in their pitiful sand world, caught between dangerous jobs and hopeless lives. There's enough world-building to get you interested in the setting without distracting from the plot, and it's conveyed in appropriate doses at the relevant times. Even the obligatory sci-fi aspects, like the mind-controlled sand suits that the characters use to liquefy sand in order to dive down to scavenge technology from the buried ruins of our own civilization, feel generally more plausible and well-thought out than in Wool, integrated with the character's thoughts and actions nearly seamlessly. I read the whole thing in barely more than a sitting and wanted to read more, which I can't say about a lot of dystopian fiction. show less

Four and a half rusted and sand-blasted stars. Mr. Howey is a talent, I absolutely loved Wool and part of the challenge is the expectations it created. The setting for Wool and now Sand is brutal and post-apocalyptic. Something happened . . . we don’t know what, nuclear war, extreme climate change . . . something happened. And what’s left is sand, lots of grit, gravel, and sand. So much that there is an entire lexicon around it, which Howey reveals throughout the novel. But, somehow, people are surviving. Sand focuses on a family that persists. They are broken and shattered. They toil all day to keep the wells open. They scavenge the dunes for treasures from the past. And they sand dive . . . I’ll stop there, you’ll have to read show more the novel if you’re intrigued.

Howey’s prose is wonderful. His characters are believable and interesting. He tells a great story, but also skillfully weaves in theme on a regular basis. For instant, “Conner wondered if dredging up the past was even a good idea. It was like being a sand diver in many ways. There were all these rusty hurts buried deep. . . “.

I largely enjoyed the story, but it’s so gritty and dark, just like Wool. I would like to see Howey, with all his talents, take on a brighter, more hopeful story. Yes, conflict and struggle make rich literary ground, but so little hope leaves the ground a bit too dry, a bit too grimy in my view. Maybe I need to read Beacon 23, not sure if that explores a bright future or not. In addition, I did think the ending was a bit abrupt.

Anyways, still a wonderful book. I could taste the grit in my mouth, feel the matte in my hair, and see the sift in the air. I’m a fan, and will keep picking up Howie’s future works. Strongly recommended, maybe just not if you need some positivity or if you’re the type that’s really annoyed by the beach . . . show less

Blurb from the back of the book: We live across the thousand dunes with grit in our teeth and sand in our homes. No one will come for us. No one will save us. This is our life, diving for remnants of the old world so that we may build what the wind destroys. No one is looking down on us. Those constellations in the night sky? Those are the backs of the gods we see.

What I liked:
I realize that blurb is pretty vague - but it's quite poetic so I wanted to include it. This is definitely a dystopia, somewhat similar to his Wool series (check that out, if you haven't), where the world we live in today is gone and the earth is covered in sand. The cities we used to inhabit have been completely covered in sand and the remaining colonies of show more people struggle to eke out lives amid the dunes and keep the sand from burying them. This book specifically takes place on top of what used to be Colorado and the story focuses around one family: Vic and Palmer are divers who swim through the sand like scuba divers, rummaging for useful items from the past. Their younger brother Connor wishes to be a diver too, but he's stuck hauling buckets of sand away from the town well, while keeping an eye on the youngest brother, Rob. Their mother, Rose, owns and works at the local brothel that her husband left her when he disappeared into No Man's Land. I enjoyed Howey's concept and I also like that he chose to focus on the dynamic of one family and how this world affected them.

I enjoyed the character development in this book - the struggle that Palmer and his family were living through was obvious and it affected not only their lives, but their family dynamic. I don't want to say too much about the plot, but Vic and Palmer are divers and they spend their time beneath the sand, scavenging, discovering and trying to earn money for their finds. Because of this and the fact that their mother runs the brothel, leaves Connor at home with his brother Rob. He failed diving school, and as a result spends his days attending school and hauling buckets of sand away from the town well so that everyone can still have water to drink. He often feels neglected by Vic, Palmer and his mother. He struggles between wanting to leave everyone behind, yet remain present for Rob, who will only be left in Connor's position if abandoned by another family member. Connor can still remember their past life - before their father left, when they had money and a better home - whereas Rob remembers nothing and has only known their little hut, slowly filling up with sand. Each character felt unique, yet they were all in some part deeply affected by the loss of their father.

Here's a little preview of the world they live in: "What had once been rafters holding up a roof were now floor joists in Palmer's house. Someone else's house stood below theirs, long abandoned and unclaimed. Soon, his own home would be someone's basement and this a sand-filled cellar. And so it went, sand piling up to the heavens and homes sinking toward hell."

There's more to this world than Howey touched on in this book, and I'd love to find out more. Personally, I wonder if this is somehow in the same universe as his Wool series - maybe even farther in the future? There's almost no explanation as to how the world came to be this way - I'd love to know how it all started, yet by not detailing that, Howey allowed me to follow my own theories. While I'm curious, I can also appreciate the lack of an origin-type story because it could take up too much time explaining whatever happened and pull the reader away from the current events at hand.

What I didn't like:
Howey includes footnotes for vocabulary words the people of this world sometimes use, such as scoop - sand that collects in boots. However, these footnotes just highlight other words for sand. I understand that the people living in this world are essentially covered in sand every day - so they have words for different types, such as what collects in your boots, what falls off your clothing, what gathers in your house. While I do think that's a valuable element in his world-building, I don't think the footnotes were essential, and I would have rather been given more information on other parts of the story, like how the dive suits work for example.

Speaking of dive suits, I have to say that I didn't get a clear picture of them or how they really functioned. What I imagined were silver scuba suits, with air tanks on the back and then some sort of digital screen covering a person's face. But Howey mentions wires and bands strapped to foreheads or hands or wrists and at times I wasn't sure what I was supposed to picture. These suits are an integral part of the story, as they allow the wearers to dive below sand, almost as though it were water, and somehow mentally manipulate it. I really enjoyed what Howey was doing with the suits, but I wish there had been a little more explanation as to their function, as I found them very interesting.

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While I didn't get instantly sucked into this book the way I did with Howey's Wool series, I was compelled to keep reading, though the going was a little slow. The ending left me wondering if he might try to write more books in this world. If he does, I will read them because there are definitely a few unanswered questions and since I enjoyed the characters I'd like to see more of them. I don't think this book was as strong as what Howey created in Wool, Shift and Dust, but it's not a bad book, by any means. I'm going to continue reading his work and if you haven't read anything by him, I suggest you check him out! show less

I read this way too soon after reading [b:Wool|12287209|Wool (Wool, #1)|Hugh Howey|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327889474s/12287209.jpg|17263666], as I think that my brain kept trying to connect the two worlds. I think that the Wool series was much more developed than this book; or rather, I should say that the first book in the Wool Series felt much more developed than this one, as I'm hoping that there are more Sand books. It's obvious that there's still a lot more story to be told here.
That under-developed part of the story is what kept my from giving this 5 stars. While I definitely don't need to know everything about a world to GET the story, there was just too much left unexplained here.
Audiobook notes: the narrator (Karen show more Chilton) did a fine job, only mispronouncing one word (using the wrong pronounciation of "lead" when referring to the wires on a battery), but otherwise handling the various voices very well. show less