Sand Omnibus is the next science fiction work by Huge Howey, who is smoking hot right now after his insanely popular Silo Saga. Will the author be able to avoid the sophomore slump? Sand Omnibus is similar to the Silo Saga in that the author writes and releases smaller parts of the story that readers can buy and read immediately without having to wait for everything to be released at once. However, this omnibus edition includes all of the previous parts so you’ll be getting the most bang for your buck at the expense of waiting. With that being said, no, this is definitely not a sophomore slump and if you enjoyed the dreary environment of the Silo Saga, you’ll feel right at home here with Sand.

In this dystopian world, Huge creates an environment where everything is covered by sand. Life is dreary for most people as they are constantly needing to fight the ever flowing sand from the east. Sand is a story of survival and of discoveries and adventures buried beneath the sand. At first I was a bit disappointed with the concept of “diving” but it steadily grew on me as I read on.

There doesn’t seem to be a main protagonist in the story. I thought it would have been Palmer at first but then it shifted to Connor and Vic. I did wanted the author to paint Vic as a much more “hardcore” chick than she currently is so hopefully I’ll get to see that later. Nonetheless, Sand is a smooth and easy read that while it doesn’t excite me as much as when I first read the Silo series, there’s still something magical here that got me through to the end. The world building is pretty solid although you’ll really have to flex your imagination. It’s not every day you read about people strapping on tanks of air and goggles to dive right underneath sand where the world of the old is buried!

It’s only about 3/4 in to the book that we really get to see the upcoming battle that will no doubt shape the rest of this series. It does have that “rehash” feeling from the Silo Saga but I’m definitely reserving judgement until I read the next book in the series.