Dust is the final installation in the Silo Saga. I was eagerly looking forward to finishing this series and it didn’t disappoint. Dust continues where both Wool and Shift left off, joining the two strands of the story together so you can watch what’s happening in both Silo 18 (Jules’ silo) and Silo 1 (Donald’s silo).
As with Illuminae, Gemina is told through a series of emails, instant messages, schematics, classified files, and transcripts. In addition, there is the benefit of Hanna’s journal pages also being included. I love the different format of the way these novels are written. It involves the reader and makes them feel like they are part of the investigation and subsequent trials taking place.
Illuminae isn’t written like a traditional novel. The story unfolds through a “dossier” of hacked documents — emails, ship schematics, military files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more.
Like Nevernight, Godsgrave begins by switching back and forth between two different events in Mia’s timeline. It was used to great affect in the first book, but I’m not sure it has the same impact here. The characters I fell in love with – Mia, Ashlinn, and Mercurio – were all back, along with a whole heap of new characters in the form of the Gladiatii.
Nevernight wasn’t at all what I was expecting. The narrator’s viewpoint was a little disorienting for me at first, but by the end I barely noticed it. The comparison between two different scenario’s Jay Kristoff used in the first chapter intrigued and sucked me into Mia’s story. I was invested in her as a main character and wanted her to succeed. I loved that while she was a killer, she had a heart.
Vigil wasn’t at all what I was expecting, but I was pleasantly surprised. The story takes place in a modified version of Brisbane which has both the normal human elements as well as those of the Weyrd. It follows Verity’s investigation into the Weyrd’s involvement in the disappearance of normal human children, including a more personal element, and becomes more complex with added layers of intrigue as the novel progresses.
