Silo 49: Dark Till Dawn

This author is a superb storyteller. Her work is totally addictive. Now that I have discovered her, I am a fan for life.

I’m not usually one for books about sports and this one is mostly about prep for a foot race. The POV is interesting tho and I enjoy all stories set in the Silo series. I’m wondering if these expanded universe stories will make their way into the AppleTV series.

I first rated this book with 1 star. After finishing it, I raised it to 2 stars. But now I have a clearer understanding of this author's writing style and am happy to raise it to 4 stars. By careening through the mid section of the novel in about 15 minutes, page 93 transitions beautifully into page 236. From that point onward, the book becomes mesmerizing.The first book, Going Dark, was incredible and true to the flavor of Hugh Howey's Wool series.The second book, Deep Dark, although interesting in the beginning and again in the end, was tedious to read in the bulk of the mid section. Deep Dark should have been heavily edited to reduce it to half its pages.This third book, Dark Till Dawn, could have been a winner...but it isn't. From page 93 to page 236 it is down right dreadful...a true chore to read.. Fortunately, I learned my lesson with this author's second book and wisely skimmed through it as it became monotonous. At page 236, the story line caught my interest again. By the end of the story, I was glad that I had read it.My suggestion to this author is to condense books 2 and 3 into one book. To scrap the dead wood which load down both books and condense these 2 books into a Silo 49 masterpiece.

This is the third and final installment of the Silo 49 series fan-fiction written in Hugh Howey's WOOL world.This story starts quite some time after the last books in the series and marina's discovering of the truth. You see Marina for a moment in the very beginning of the story and she helps to set the picture for the continuing story line. The silo is falling apart and something needs to be done - the people need to get above ground. All this happens because someone saw a little patch of blue once - and they have been pursuing that patch of blue ever since.In this story, Lilian and Leo are cousins competing to run the 89th Race. They have been training together and truly feel they have a good chance to be in the top three competitors. What do they win? A chance to run outside - free from the constriction of walls and stairs and people milling about. The best runners are trained and the best of the best gets the honor of being outside. They are outside in a special suit and harness complete with many bits and bobs they have to use to collect information while outside for the scientists along with placing a marker to show where they have gone and how far.

Over a century after going dark, Silo 49 soldiers on. In that time they've turned their attention toward mapping out as much of the landscape surrounding them as possible. To accomplish this, runners train and compete on a yearly basis for the privilege of donning one of the suits originally meant for cleaning and making their run. It's a dangerous, laborious process, one that sees them rewarded and revered as heroes of the Silo for the rest of their days and beyond. Enter Lillian and Leo, two cousins who present more as twins and want nothing more than for one of them to be Race Year 89's runner. The training is meticulously detailed, and the element of sport it infuses into the Silo as people gather to cheer for their favorite runners is refreshing and original. Some have said they felt this slowed down the narrative, but I found it a fascinating part of the story. Besides, the wait is worth it, as Ann really opens up the throttle in the last quarter of the book. And the ending! Wow! Obviously I won't spoil it for you because that would make me the worst reviewer ever, but suffice it to say it's good. Damn good. I can't wait to read Ann's next book, but until then I wouldn't be surprised to find myself revisiting Silo 49 again.

I loved the first books in this series, this one not so much. The whole idea of the race is a great concept, but I found that this book got bogged down with the minutia of the training regimen early on in the story. The relationship between the two main characters got pretty stupid at times: she jabbed him in the ribs, he smirked and came out with another cutting remark. Really? Are they 11 years old? I can understand how those trapped inside would want to explore further and further away, but the once a year idea struck me as a little weird. What remains unclear to me is what is going on in the atmosphere there? Whatever it is in the air causes the suits to disintegrate, and burns the skin, but a couple of miles away everything seems to be paradise? I just didn't get that at all. Whatever is poisonous or corrosive only exists in the vicinity of the silos? And I would think that knowing what they know of the existence of 48 or 49 othere silos that they would be desperately trying to contact the other people any way that they could. I should think that would be human nature, not running toward the blue patch of sky that they can see from time to time. Still in all a fun read, but falls short of the others in this series.

I loved Lillian and Leo's story. They have a wonderful relationship that most people can only dream about.  Their closeness and shared goal of being the one to run outside makes for fierce competition through their training and practices.The author is wonderful at describing things that are familiar to us as someone in an alien world would.The race was intense, once that door opened and it began, I was not able to put the book down until I got to the end of it. The story was fascinating and had an ending I was happy with. Off to read book fourth and final book in the series now.

I loved the story and the characters, I particularly liked the ending, it is an uplifting story with many possibilities.

I'm biased - the Silo universe Hugh Howey created was the ultimate and had me wanting more - this author does not disappoint. If you enjoyed the Wool books, then read this set for more.

Optimistic silo story finally. Kind of a teen reader level story though. I will continue to follow this story arc.

I really identified with Lillian and Leo. The beginning in the silo is gripping but the ending is so uplifting.

Ok, well here I am on book three of Ann Christy's phenomenal Silo 49 series and what an enjoyable journey it has been.I have seen Silo 49 brought back from the brink of destruction at the hands of Silo 1 and the inhabitants of the silo claiming it back for themselves and learning more about how they came to be there in the first place.Following on from Deep Dark, the inhabitants are now exploring the outside of the silo, mapping the area around them but they just don't send anybody, there is a race to discover who is the fittest, who can go the extra mile.Lillian and Leo are cousins and are the fittest in the silo, Dark Till Dawn follows them as they go from fledgling trainees to fully blown racers.I wont tell you who wins the race as that's a spoiler!But I will say that we see a lot more of the outside in this story and I really appreciated Ann describing that, after the inhabitants being in the silo for so long I wondered how the outside world would have changed.Another thing I liked about the book was the description of the animals in the silo, it still puzzles me how when they were building the silo's did people not notice all these goats being led down to the farms!Anyway I really enjoyed this book, the character of Lillian stood out, she was really strong and despite her young years not afraid to go the extra mile.I have been really impressed with the world building that Ann has done, I loved the original Hugh Howey books and the Silo 49 series is just as good.Silo 49: Dark Till Dawn I award 5 out of 5