Shift Omnibus by Huge Howey is the second series of the Silo Saga. I have to admit that Wool Omnibus is miles better than Shift Omnibus. Shift takes us back in time and tells of how this whole silo adventure actually took place. I, along with many others, have probably salivated over this release. Again, this was due to how refreshing and emotional Wool was. Every major story that starts towards the middle of things should have a back story of some kind. Here, the author decided to dedicate an entire book to it! After reading it though, I’m not sure if it was justified.

One of the major disappointments with this series in my opinion is due to the bland cast of characters and equally bland plot lines. There just wasn’t enough characters in the story for me to care about. Donald, Thurman, Anna, Mission and Jimmy are mainly forgettable in that while they served a purpose in the story, they aren’t memorable. Till this day, I can still remember some of the breath taking moments that took place in Wool. In Shift, not so much.

The book reads like three short novellas. Donald is the main protagonist as we get to read about him in all three parts. The biggest question most readers have is why were the silos built in the first place? We do learn of this. However, the author gives us only tidbits here and there and I’m guessing some readers will still be confused after even having read Shift. I thought the entire Shift series was suppose to center in on this part of the saga. Instead, things feel rushed “up top” and before you know it, the story takes us right back to within the silos for the majority of the book. The connection just wasn’t there.

If you read Wool, then you know that this is suppose to be a depressing story. However, that didn’t stop most readers from putting the book down because it was a refreshing read. Like most readers, I was skeptical as to reading a book that remains in one set location throughout. Wouldn’t that be boring? Surprisingly, it wasn’t. In Shift though, my initial fears were confirmed. This book was mainly boring and tedious to read because what happens in the silos just wasn’t that interesting. In fact, I’m still a little confused as to why some of the events happened. While we do get to learn of some new things in this cruel world, many details could have been skipped or left out.

One of the only good things that I got out of this book is asking myself some questions if I had to live in a silo, especially silo 1. Would I make the same choices as some of the characters? I really tried to like Shift because this series had a fantastic start. I kept hoping that the next chapter wouldn’t be as tedious to read as the last. Unfortunately, many of them were. Granted, if you are invested in the Silo Saga, I wouldn’t recommend you skipping Shift Omnibus. The book is nowhere as bad as I make it sound here. It’s just that I had high expectations from the author and felt let down. To sum things up, Shift is nowhere near Wool’s level. Not even close. Shift barely squeezed an emotional response from me. With Dust being the last in the series, I really am hoping that the author goes back into “Wool” mode and write out a fantastic finishing to his masterpiece.