I think this is a valid critique any time a huge structure pops up in sci-fi, including things like the Bat Cave or the Death Star. Can people build large things while concealing their true purpose from outside eyes? Overall, the timeline and scale are genuinely bonkers, but I don’t really dwell on it too much. Answer from only_fun_topics on reddit.com
🌐
All Sci Fi
allscifiallthetime.com › shift-book-2-of-the-silo-series-a-no-spoiler-review
SHIFT, Book Two of the SILO series, A No-Spoiler Review – All Sci Fi
I’m guessing this series would make a great audiobook. It’s not so complex as a story, follows few characters and takes place primarily in the silo, a setting that becomes very familiar by the middle of book 1.
🌐
The Silver Ninja
thesilverninja.com › home › blogger › shift by hugh howey (book review)
SHIFT by Hugh Howey (Book Review)
March 19, 2015 - Essentially, SHIFT revealed its biggest mystery too early and the characters didn’t have enough agency to make them interesting to read about. Let’s start with Donald. He’s the one that helped build the silo and became a congressman of some sort. Who cares? It was just an excuse to get Donald to start planning and building the silos under the guidance of Thurman, who’s one of the masterminds behind the silos. For the beginning of the book we follow Donald as he’s assigned to this ultra top secret project.
🌐
WordPress
strokingfire.wordpress.com › 2024 › 05 › 08 › book-review-shift-2-silo-by-hugh-howey
Book Review – 'Shift' (#2 Silo) by Hugh Howey
April 27, 2024 - A peek behind the curtain that led to Juliette’s rebellion… Genre: Dystopia No. of pages: 566 In a future less than fifty years away, the world is still as we know it. Time continues to tick by. The truth is that it is ticking away. A powerful few know what lies ahead. They are setting…
🌐
Goodreads
goodreads.com › book › show › 17306293-shift
Shift (Silo, #2) by Hugh Howey | Goodreads
MY RATING: 3.5 stars MY REVIEW PROS: Strong beginning; empathy for major characters; challenging philosophical themes about war and sacrifice to survive as a human race. CONS: Third Shift (Book Three) slowed the story way down with minor revelations ...
Author   Hugh Howey
Pages   579
Rating: 4.1 ​ - ​ 9.53K votes
🌐
Reddit
reddit.com › r/siloseries › anyone else have a problem with shift?
r/SiloSeries on Reddit: Anyone else have a problem with Shift?
July 14, 2023 -

I've read all 3 of the books and they're entertaining, but Shift was my least favorite. Please indulge me while I rant.

My biggest concern was the 3 year timeline of everything that happened before the big event (2052 National Convention) that drove the majority of the people to the silos. From conception to occupation of the silos was 2049 (when Donald gets on board, reluctantly) to 2052 and all 50 numbered silos are built, filled, and ready for occupation. No practice runs, drills, etc. Thurman/Anna had been planning this for a few years before but asking someone with no practice in Architecture, other than a class assignment in creating an emergency housing situation, that looked like a silo, to get on board and create the entire thing is ridiculous. Ever renovated your house? The sheer number of people to get on board this project would have to be staggering and multinational. Are best digging machines, hydroponic farm systems, air quality systems and other basic items designed and made in the US? I would think that countries overseas would be the experts and would be all atwitter about having huge orders going to Georgia. No one leaked any news?

Um...no. The majority of people in the silos were filled with the attendees who were at the festival. No 'hey, lets get very specific people with specific skill sets in here ahead of time'. I understand that it makes it easy for the reader to engage in the short timeline (2029-2052). Holy hell... the amount of planning, people, materials, equipment, press coverage, etc makes the 3 year timeline impossible. All this time Donald is blissfully unaware that his architectural plans are for 'emergency housing' in case the spent nuclear fuel rods leaked or something. To build these things and fill them would require decades and trillions of dollars plus...the people of Fulton County didn't know this was going on? Eh.... nah.

Any company working to make something as specific as 'long term sleep pods' or some drug that can put people to sleep and have them be awake and alert within minutes after reviving is sus. To have the millions of meals, clothing, and needs of people to survive hundreds of years is just too much science fiction, considering that this would literally take place in less than 30 years. Also, to have an entire Silo (1) of men only seems to be a recipe for disaster. Like, no one sneaked in and figured out how to thaw out their wife? Oh right... they didn't know they had a wife...or kids...or their real name. So, just a bunch of men happily working 6 month shifts not questioning human needs and urgencies? Hmmm..

If people worked 6 month shifts and then were put to sleep for 100 years, that would mean that the number of people required to do one job would be 50 so that there was overlap. This would mean 50 'Troy/Donald', etc. No one changed any policies, procedures, menus, etc. Just plugging along like human bots without question. Right, its in the water, or air or something.

2212 is when Silo 18 has its uprising (Mission's story) and Donald is awake for that and gets into trouble. Sneaky ThawMan (Thurman) wakes up his daughter (because she's the only one, apparently, to be able to figure things out). He really didn't get the best and brightest.

I don't know, I liked the book. I liked Mission and the story, but the timeline threw me. The reasoning behind everything that the nanobots would cause extinction of entire races of people by simply having them airborne... don't know. I would think that instead of silos and enslaving people to the ideology of this, you'd just invest time and effort to counter the nanobots with your own. By bombing each other back and forth into non-existence and having uneducated people as the future members of humanity being the ones to take over just made no sense.

Sorry for the long rant. It was an entertaining book, if you can suspend your disbelief and try not to roll your eyes everytime that Donald starts bawling his eyes out.

🌐
Fantasy & Sci-Fi
fantasy-faction.com › 2014 › shift-omnibus-by-hugh-howey
Shift Omnibus by Hugh Howey
In a book that talks openly and frequently about how the population of Silo 1 was socially engineered, that was disappointing to me. Still, there are plenty of exciting twists and turns. First Shift kept my brain churning and asking questions, and the characters were interesting, if not quite up to the level of those in Wool.
🌐
The Guardian
theguardian.com › books › 2013 › aug › 18 › shift-hugh-howey-review-wool
Shift by Hugh Howey – review | Science fiction books | The Guardian
March 22, 2018 - Hugh Howey's prequel to the bestselling Wool impresses with its evocations of anxiety and claustrophobia, finds Jessica Holland
🌐
Blogger
bookbybook.blogspot.com › 2017 › 07 › fiction-review-shift.html
Book By Book: Fiction Review: Shift
Like Wool, Shift is an intriguing – perhaps even mind-blowing – premise that only gradually becomes clear. Meanwhile, while you’re waiting for the underlying plot to be revealed (basically, how the silo in book 1 came to be), the characters and the action in both timelines pull you into the story.
Find elsewhere
🌐
William J. McGinn
williammcginn.com › 2025 › 06 › 21 › shift-by-hugh-howey-book-review-silo-series-book-2
Shift by Hugh Howey Book Review (Silo Series Book 2) – William J. McGinn
August 6, 2025 - It took me about six weeks to get through this novel, even though it’s a novel I’ve been anticipating for quite a while. At the end of the day, I have to give this a low grade. But at the same time I’m not going to organize a picket line against it, you know? Shift…
🌐
Kirkus Reviews
kirkusreviews.com › book-reviews › theresa-brown › the-shift-one-nurse
THE SHIFT | Kirkus Reviews
While some of her colleagues take a dispassionate, "just the facts, ma'am" approach to their work, the author takes great care in describing this particular shift. She shows superhuman forbearance of her patients' quirks and the immense demands on her limited time, and she explains that the constant requests by patients are usually defense mechanisms to combat their vulnerability and lack of control over their particular maladies. Throughout the book, Brown doesn’t provide wasted or unnecessary details.
Author   Theresa Brown
🌐
my good bookshelf
mygoodbookshelf.wordpress.com › 2013 › 06 › 14 › review-shift-hugh-howey
Review: Shift; Hugh Howey | my good bookshelf
June 14, 2013 - Though the pace is admittedly a ... with lots of conflict wrought as a consequence. This book becomes emotional at times too, with some interesting moral dilemmas throughout....
🌐
Windsor Public Library
windsorpubliclibrary.com › teens
Teen Book Review – Shift by Jennifer Bradbury – WPL TEENS
Young adults would easily be able to connect to the characters in this story as they are both life-like high school graduates. To conclude, Shift was a fine mystery that completely absorbed its readers with an intriguing plot, exceptional characters and impressive storytelling.
🌐
Fantasy Literature
fantasyliterature.com › reviews › shift
Shift: A prequel and companion to Wool | Fantasy Literature: Fantasy and Science Fiction Book and Audiobook Reviews
Oh yes, there is going to be a next book. And if what I think it is about is actually going to be what it is about, I can’t wait to see what happens next! In “Second Shift”, we learn more of the details of how this society descended into its post-apocalyptic world.
🌐
Drjohnduffy
drjohnduffy.com › home › blog › review of “the shift”, by dr. wayne dyer
Review of "The Shift", by Dr. Wayne Dyer -
February 18, 2017 - Wayne Dyer guides the reader on the road from Ambition to Meaning. The structure of the book is inspired and eminently readable. Each of the four chapters describes one of the significant shifts we can make in this lifetime.
🌐
Goodreads
goodreads.com › book › show › 91239480-the-shift
The Shift by Tinx | Goodreads
A lot of the perspective SHIFTS are told in ways I wouldn’t have necessarily thought of and it really did change my outlook on dating and being single at this age!! I seriously loved this so much I read it (well… listened to it).. TWICE like who the heck am I… recommending to all my single girlies - 10/10 · Laurel Hunter · 40 reviews · Follow · Follow · June 6, 2023 · Reading this book kinda felt like the first time I put on glasses and realized everyone else could see all the leaves !
Author   Tinx
Pages   288
Rating: 3.9 ​ - ​ 988 votes
🌐
Medium
medium.com › @kopacetic_ › shift-book-review-c134cf32a029
Shift Book Review & Thoughts. Author: Ethan Kross | by Kaela Bierce | Medium
July 3, 2025 - Shift is a phenomenally informative and incredibly well-written book. I read every word of this book with intention, making notes mentally and physically, not wanting to overlook even the smallest detail and nuance.
🌐
Blinkist
blinkist.com › categories › health & nutrition › the shift summary
The Shift [Full Summary] of Key Ideas and Review | Gary Foster - Blinkist
With its inspiring stories of personal transformation, the book is a powerful reminder that change is possible for anyone. Offering practical strategies and exercises, it empowers readers to take action and make lasting shifts in their habits ...
Author   Gary Foster
Rating: 4.2 ​ - ​ 346 votes
🌐
Royallypink
royallypink.com › 2023 › 07 › book-review-wednesday-shift-by-tinx.html
Book Review Wednesday: The Shift by Tinx | Royally Pink
In The Shift, Tinx collects all her revolutionary theories and hilarious personal anecdotes in one place, presenting you with a guide to simple mindset shifts that will completely change the way you approach decision making and relationships. Through her own stories, from the good to the bad, Tinx will help you better understand how to step into your power and own self-worth. Some say you cannot love another before you learn to love yourself: Tinx will teach you how to do both at the same time. And she’ll do it while making you laugh out loud. At her core, Tinx is a writer so I knew the book was going to be well though out and put together, but I wasn't expecting it to sound exactly like her own voice.
🌐
Fantasy Book Review
fantasybookreview.co.uk › Kim-Curran › Shift.html
Shift by Kim Curran book review - Fantasy Book Review
Shifting is going to get him killed. In a world where everything can change with a thought, Scott has to decide where he stands. Reality bending novels, when done right, are pretty cool. I like exploring concepts like time travel, alternate realities, and the butterfly effect, so picking up a book like Shift by Kim Curran was definitely a no brainer for me.
Author   Kim Curran
🌐
The Guardian
theguardian.com › books › 2020 › sep › 06 › the-shift-by-sam-baker-review-funny-frank-and-empowering
The Shift by Sam Baker review – funny, frank and empowering | Health, mind and body books | The Guardian
September 6, 2020 - From its aqua blue and sunshine yellow design to its chummy personal tone, it’s a resolutely unthreatening book that relies on uplift and cheerleading: “Confidence is sexy. Agency is sexy. Knowing you mind is sexy. Smart is sexy. Funny is sexy.” · But this very tone enables it to reach the unconverted and speak to new readers. This is something that Sam Baker, a highly experienced journalist and former editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan and Red magazines, is brilliant at doing. The Shift will strike a chord with the English Everywoman who doesn’t see herself as political and has pootled along quite pleasantly in life, only to find everything changing as soon as she hits a certain age.