Shift

By: Hugh Howey

Narrated by: Peter Brooke

Length: 18 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's Summary

The much anticipated prequel to best seller Wool that takes us back to the beginnings of the silo. The full novel which brings together First, Second and Third Shift.

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 preparing for it. They are trying to protect us. They are setting us on a path from which we can never return. A path that will lead to destruction; a path that will take us below ground. The history of the silo is about to be written. Our future is about to begin.

©2013 Hugh Howey (P)2013 Random House AudioGo

Critic Reviews

"The next Hunger Games" ( The Sunday Times)

"An epic feat of imagination. You will live in this world." (Justin Cronin)

I Loved this book

I so enjoyed this book. The story was a little more original than many of these sorts of books and it made me think. I enjoyed the narration too. If you like your science fiction with a little less alien action and with some real world action this is for you. A dark future that you can imagine happening in a way.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Not as as good as the first. 3 1/2 stars

I thought the story was average. Not a huge fan of the narration. Story seemed to drag at places. Hopefully next installment will pick up

Great book, terrible performance!!

Was really looking forward to this book after the excellent Wool that was excellently performed by a lady with a lovely expressive and versatile voice.
Have found this book hard going despite the great story, the narrator sounds like a surfer and I keep waiting for him to say 'duuude'.
It looks as though Audible are looking to cash in on the success of Wool by bringing over this recording from America but it is so difficult to get past the narrator's voice.
Listen to the sample before you buy, if you can listen to narrator then you are in for a great story.

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

Oh Dear

I wanted to love this as much as I had wool, but its too long winded and gets tied in knots with its time lines.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

A rewrite of Wool from a different point of view

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

Stop using silly voices

Any additional comments?

If you've read Wool (which is brilliant) and want to read Dust (which is very good) then you need to read Shift for it to make sense. Apart from that, I'd give it a miss. I would give Wool 10/10, Shift 5/10 and Dust 8/10.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

AMAZING!

Would you consider the audio edition of Shift to be better than the print version?

Yes, I would never have found the time to read it in print where as I could listen to at least an hour a day in the car driving to work. Who has regular time these days to actually sit and read consistently? (well i dont although i would love too) but walking or commuting to work is so much more enjoyable listening to an audio book :-)

What other book might you compare Shift to, and why?

This is a pretty original book and concept so, for me, there is no comparison. It was just so clever and linked in well with the first book cleverly and originally (to use the same adjectives again) .

What about Peter Brooke’s performance did you like?

The narrator was perfect, he did a good job.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes! I sped through this book unfortunately and it ended too soon for my liking, I was gripped from the very start.

Any additional comments?

How perfectly the author linked this book and some of the characters with the first of the trilogy and he did amazingly well in providing the back story and the origins of the silos. I CANNOT WAIT for the final book.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Perfect prequal to Wool

Where does Shift rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Shift is one of the best audio books I've listened to, always exciting and surprising, with well developed characters and great narration.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It's a book where emotional detachment isn't possible, not when you consider the scenarios presented in it and the possibility of human nature being more then capable of precipitating them.

Any additional comments?

How did the silos come about and how is it possible for people to have no memories of their human past and history, are just a few questions answered in this great prequel to Wool. I can't wait for the next instalment.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

The mystery deepens

Would you listen to Shift again? Why?

I am planning to relisten to both Wool and Shift over the summer as I prepare for the final episode (Dust) in the Autumn. There are many nuances that washed over me first time around as I was so keen to move on with the story.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Shift?

The most memorable moment was the realisation that it would conclude with the events that unfolded in Wool and hearing those events from a totally new viewpoint. This time the reader can understand both sides of the story and yet still be unsure how things will eventually unfold.

What about Peter Brooke’s performance did you like?

Peter Brooke provides distinctive voices for the charaters although I found his accent irritating at times.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

It is unlikely I would ever listen to something this long on one sitting but I did find that I was using every spare moment to move on a few chapters. I wanted to save it up and listen over a longer period but found it too compelling and just had to keep sneaking a few minutes here and there.

Any additional comments?

Hugh Howey has shown us a mysterious and totalitarian world in Wool and in Shift he explains exactly how that came to be to the extent that we can now feel some sympathy for those who set things up (or at least some of them). There are enough glimpses of an even bigger picture that make the reader keen to see the closing episode. Roll on Dust!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Disturbing and awful narration

I have written this review for all of the trilogy, though this one was particularly bad because of the narration.
This review probably applies to the complete trilogy, the story was well written, but I really didn't enjoy it. Most of the characters weren't 'full enough' to get to know them and like them. The situation was bizarre to say the least, but very disturbing in general. I wish I hadn't read this at all.

Good prequel but not as good as the first

Getting the biggest negative out of the way first. This book jumps around in time which I guess is ok when reading a paper copy as it allows you to refer to the year at the beginning of the chapter but in an audiotape the listener can become a little lost at times.

All in all a good story of how the plot of WOOL came about, though I feel there are some unanswered questions which I feel should have been answered in this book rather than the third in the trilogy.

If you are going to explore the whole WOOL trilogy then a must to understand the world they live in but if the first book was enough then move on.

My Review

Ok so I'm not going to sit here and slander this book, it wasn't bad but in my opinion it was nowhere near as good as the first book in the trilogy. I didn't like the narrator's voice, however I'm sure people would. I didn't like the style of the book, I didn't enjoy the back and forth of the story. I guess I am comparing it to Wool and I didn't enjoy it as much. I'd probably read the book instead of listen to this if I had to do it again

Don't skip it

Some of the other reviews on here suggest that you should skip this and go straight for the third book. Don't do that. First up if you enjoyed the first one, you'll love this one too. It enriches and rounds out the world answering many questions. Secondly, if you skip this you'll miss a lot of important detail.

The pacing is interesting, it starts well before the beginning of the first book and tells its story from the perspective of silo 1.