Took me a while to get to this one, but I'm so glad I did. Felt like a return to the brilliance of Wool. I'd definitely recommend this read.

ACROSS THE SAND

I was excited that I was given an ebook from one of my favorite authors in exchange for an honest review. ACROSS THE SAND by Hugh Howey, it’s the second book in his SAND series.

Split between two viewpoints of people on differing sides of society. One is just trying to eek out a living on the miles deep sand that covers the old world, and one that is determined to ruin those people in any way they deem necessary. It’s a harsh existence on both sides but one side finds ways to enjoy it as much as possible and one side seems to only find pleasure in watching the world burn.

This is a great dystopian novel and its really intriguing to see the world in this way and how it’s being inhabited. I can’t wait to read more in this series. 5 stars!!

Thank you NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for letting me review this book, I truly appreciate it.

I seriously love all of Hugh Howey's books and was thrilled to see another book in the Sand universe. If you enjoyed Sand you'll definitely enjoy this one!

Turns out that if you dump half a mile’s worth of sand on top of Colorado, it suddenly becomes fascinating. That’s the premise of Hugh Howey’s “Sand Chronicles” whose second installment, Across the Sand, is out today.

https://bookandfilmglobe.com/fiction/book-review-hugh-howey-across-the-sand/

When I requested this book I had no idea that it was the second in The Sand Chronicles. Howey provides just enough background information that the reader can understand the setting and character relationships (actually, I think that I had to figure things out made it more intriguing). I do recommend that the series be read in order, and to further enhance your enjoyment, to read the Wool series too.

Very much an action/ adventure book, with a touch of a YA feel, this book will be a hit with those readers looking for an escapist read in a fascinating world.

QUICK TAKE: I haven't read SAND in a few years, so I struggled to pick up the hanging story threads here, though was still able to enjoy the sequel as a standalone. Fans of the first book or Howey in general will find a lot to like here. Very solid.

It has been six long years since Hugh Howey released a new novel and the wait has been a long one for me who considered him among my favorite authors in the early-mid 2010s. The first novel in this series, Sand, was released way back in 2014 so this has been a long-time coming to say the least. Across the Sand picks up right where Sand left off with its agonizing cliffhanger. Across the Sand follows the same family as Sand but introduces some new characters and whole new perspective with the addition of Anya - a child from the other side of No Man's Land.

While Sand felt like a family drama set within a post-apocalyptic treasure hunt, Across the Sand finds Howey exploring the limits of the sand shifting technology and really leaning into the sci-fi aspects more. I actually feel this serves the book very well because it breathes new life into the excellent world building of Sand and avoids the sequel feeling like a retread of the original. The drama, action, and social commentary from the first are still found here but the stakes are raised and the new perspective added by Anya provides additional depth and understanding of how things came to be.

If you were a fan of Sand I strongly encourage you to strap on your suit and visor and dive back in to this world. One final word of advice though is to brush up on the events from Sand because there is not much in the way of a recap woven into Across the Sand.

It's been too long since I read <I>Sand</I> -- in fairness, it's probably been too long for MOST people who read it, as there was a nearly 9 year gap between that book and this one. As such the book was fine, but I often felt like I was missing the full impact of events or characters that I should have remembered from the last book, or been more impressed by what seemed to be expanding the scope of the world of the narrative (but, if I don't remember the extent of the POVs last time around, I can't be sure of that). If you have time to reread <I>Sand</I>, or you're only coming to the series in the first place now, that will probably enhance the experience.

Welcome back to the world of SAND! I was fortunate to delve into this world years ago. It was always in the back of my mind to see more stories by this author and this world. The author writes in a way that he had me going through a number of emotions. So hard to write this review without giving anything away. The less you know, the better the experience. And that ending? Just enough to be satisfying, but also leave breadcrumbs for the next book!

#NETGALLEY #ACROSSTHESANDS

I have been a huge Howey fan since discovering the WOOL series, which was simply transformative. This sequel to his other post-apocalyptical book, Sand, is just as immersive. While it would be very helpful to read the first book before this one. I feel like Across the Sand can also be a standalone book. Howey is amazing at making you see a new, future world in the scope of our badly damaged current one. None of his plots seem *too* far away. Which is terrifying and galvanizing. You won't be able to put it down.

SAND was a book I read immediately after I devoured the Silo Saga and loved the vividness of the world and the society of ‘divers’ in the high-tech dystopian steampunk world. It was a bit ‘Mad Max’ and ‘Waterworld’ (but replace the water with sand.) where society lives on dunes that rest atop the ‘old world’ hundreds of meters below. ‘Divers’ use specialized suits to manipulate and soften the sand around them allowing them to dangerously submerge in search or treasures below.

We return to that world with ACROSS THE SAND following the lives of 2 families on opposites sides of the map. What I found most engrossing about this is the rich dynamics between these characters in their own society as well as the contrast between them.

Hugh Howey has mastered the art of the dystopian lifestyle. A community of people living against the odds, content in their place and yet there is one who seeks more. The story never feels bleak or downtrodden, it simply carries on like this is how things are supposed to be. The relationships that he crafts between the family, friends, as well as enemies are strong and complex, never feeling fleeting or inconsequential.

Across the Sand flows like 2 galaxies colliding, We get to experience the motives of those who oppose our existence and seeing things from the point of view of Anya within the town of Agyl was really an enriching POV. While the dynamic between Connor, Palmer, and Violet was engaging, light, familial, and honest.

There is enough action to put into an Indiana Jones movie, including pirates, treasure hunters, and the inspiring adventurer. Layered with intrigue and close-calls Across the Sand hits the bullseye on all fronts.

Across the Sand is a highlight of engaging story craftsmanship. I left this book with a sense of empathy as i experienced the struggle of these characters and the outcomes. Hugh Howey did a remarkable job with this follow up and I encourage you to check it (as well as ‘SAND’) out. Both are available today.

Palmer and his family are picking up the pieces after the tumultuous events in the explosive finale of “Sand”. Rose’s Honey Hole has become an important fixture in town. Palmer is reluctantly getting to know Violet, his half-sister who was sent by their father.

Rob is tinkering away with Graham in his dive shop as an apprentice. Connor is settling down with Gloralai. Everyone is working together to help Springston recover after being attacked in the previous novel. The location of Danvar is now more widely known, so more people are plumbing its depths to become rich.

Meanwhile, we meet Anya, a teenager, and her peculiar acquaintance Jonah, whom she knows from school. Living in No Man’s Land, they eke out an existence far different and with much more resources than those who live in the desert wastes of Springston. But when revenge brings destruction to their town, Anya burns with a desire to hurt those who took away her way of life. But what is her father going to do about it?

Together, these two disparate storylines play out as a looming threat makes itself known. Hidden secrets are now revealed, people divulge their secret agendas, and once hidden identities are now exposed. Once again, the lives of everyone in Springston are put at risk as a deadly plan is enacted that will have deadly consequences for everyone if it is not stopped once and for all. Who is this threat, how do they know so much about what’s under the sand and why do they want to kill everyone?

Each of these two storylines is by themselves intriguing. The story switches viewpoints between Palmer and his siblings, as well as with Anya. Together, each sibling has their own separate adventure that at first, doesn’t seem all that relevant to each other. However, part of the plotting expertise being utilized here is that each character has their own journey.

For the siblings, each one holds a crucial piece of the story in their character arc. Each character has a thread and as they are woven together more, the larger tapestry becomes more disturbing to behold. Questions are asked and each one builds suspense.

Questions such as why are Palmer and Violet being pressured to join the raider gang known as the Low-Pub Legion? Why is Rob pushing on going to Danvar and what secrets of technology does he discover that will change their understanding of the world forever? Who is Anya’s father and why is he so dangerous?

This novel expands this world in the most interesting of ways that maintain and intensify the story with each passing chapter. It builds on the tension developed over the course of the story and propels the narrative forward with each new development.

We also see an evolution in the way sand diving is perceived by different people, as well as how it can be employed in some of the most powerful ways imaginable so far.

When we reach the final act, it all comes together into a propulsive and powerful end where everything is at stake and not everyone will make it out alive. It’s a magnificent finale with plenty of sarfer action, breathless spectacle, and innovative usage of sand diving technology in new ways that we haven’t seen previously.

All the events in this novel answer many of the questions you might have had after reading the previous one. But some dangling threads demand answers and there is plenty of material here that suggests there will be another adventure in this dystopian universe.

With the multiple storylines featuring different characters, they eventually weave themselves together in such a clever way that I couldn’t have foreseen. Once they did, I was awestruck at the insidious machinations at work and the long-term planning made by hidden enemies to make it happen. Questions I had at the beginning of the novel were resolved once all the surprises were revealed.

Palmer, now known as a legend for discovering Danvar, has inspired a gold rush of sand divers who want to be rich. He also is hesitant to spend time with his half-sister Violet, as it reminds him of his father who deserted his family when he was younger. But Palmer discovers Violet has some unknown diving abilities and both of them are pulled into a larger sinister undertaking by unknown enemies.

Rob is hellbent on sand diving, even though as the youngest sibling, he’s told not to because he’s twelve years old. However, apprenticing under Graham, he continues to show an aptitude for technology and how it works. This intuitive understanding of sand diving technology makes for some stupendous breakthroughs as well as displays of power that no one has ever seen before.

Anya struggles with the secrets that her father has been keeping from her all these years. As she does so, she tries to come to grips with his motivations for the reprehensible actions he has taken over the course of the story. The consequences of these actions alter her life in unforgivable ways.

Each character gets their own arc that not only contributes to the story, but it also enhances the character work being done. It effortlessly blends the two together in such a way that you not only want to know what happens next, you care about the characters and what their fate might be. They evolve over the course of this story through the difficult trials and tribulations that they face.

The hurt that they carry and how that pain informs their actions is apparent in every scene. Their collective grief at the disappearance of their father long ago hangs over their heads with a melancholy that never goes away. This demonstrates itself every time they reminisce over their recent losses from the previous novel as well.

These core themes of family are always clear in this novel, bringing them together despite their disparate points of view and the suffering each of them has experienced. But together, this family can and does do amazing things with the support of one another. The value they place on their relationships is what holds this family together. Each character matures over the course of this journey, though it is always fraught with difficulty and the constant specter of death hanging over their heads.

Along with the siblings, there is something which is a character unto itself here: nature and the sand environment everyone struggles to survive in. The author captures this beauty in simple but elegant prose, a reverence composed of poetry that acknowledges the deadly nature of sand diving and the sheer raw power of nature. The domination of nature over man in this harsh sand environment and the eternal struggle to just survive in it is deeply infused into the fabric of this story.

On the flip side of that, some passages demonstrate the appreciation of sand diving and sailing your sarfer over harsh terrain. The peacefulness of these settings and finding satisfaction in these actions while being challenged by nature, these experiences bring soulfulness to the story as well as to the characters experiencing this deep feeling.

If you haven't re-read Sand recently or if don't remember what happened in it, I wholeheartedly encourage you to read it again. There are some characters and situations here that directly connect to the events from that novel. It also sheds new light on events in the previous one, with the addition of some stuff going on behind the scenes and new characters who play a larger role in the overall story.

I first read Sand when it was first self-published in 2014 after the serialized installments were collected into one omnibus. I wanted to re-familiarize myself with that novel before diving into this one. I’m glad I did because, though it’s been eight years since then, the events in this novel take place immediately in the aftermath of that finale.

This novel has everything you could ever want in a sequel. It has all the elements you enjoyed in the previous novel and then it gives you much more. Lots of sand diving, shifting alliances, surprising revelations, deadly enemies, the majesty of nature, and sarfing across the empty deserts. All of this deepens the mythology of this apocalyptic landscape and gives you well-rounded but wounded, flawed characters.

The author has masterfully expanded upon the world of Sand in such an astounding, imaginative and unexpected way. I look forward to seeing what the author does with the next book in this series!

Please note I received an advance copy of this ebook through NetGalley.

In this sequel to Howey's previous book "Sand", we find ourselves far into the future in a land where Sand overwhelms everything. Divers frequently unearth unknown treasures, and Anya, one of our protagonists finds out that her father, who she previously thought not much of, is up to something she never would have dreamed. We also follow a family of young men, and their young sister who it would seem that their mother has adopted after their father went "Across the sand". The book is wonderfully and engagingly written, bringing to life a land unlike anything we have experienced previously. I have enjoyed the author's previous works and this was no different, though the storyline diverged from anything I remember from his works in Wool.
I recommend this book to you if you want something not only dystopian, but interested and not like something you have read before, but relatable nonetheless.

This ebook was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Howey takes us on another adventure into his Sand universe. Absolutely remarkable writing, engrossing story. You absolutely do not have to read the first book (it has really been 8 years since it was published?!?) but it does help. If you have enjoyed his other writing or you are looking for a new dystopian series to pick up, you need to give this a read.

Let me start by saying I loved Hugh Howey’s previous works, Wool and Sand. If you haven’t read Sand, read it first as this is a sequel. It’s also a great book in general. Both stories take place in a future Colorado that’s covered in sand dunes. As you can imagine, life is VERY different than it is now.

Heading into Across the Sand, I was worried I would need to re-read the previous book as it had been 8 years since I read it. Thankfully, I was able to settle back into this post-apocalyptic thriller quickly due to the amazing storytelling and world building that Howey does within the first few chapters.

This story starts with an introduction to new characters, Anya and Jonah, before quickly picking up with many of the familiar faces from Sand. The book is broken into two separate stories—one following the new characters and the other following the original cast. Halfway through the book, these worlds start to collide and that’s when things begin to get really interesting. It’s clear there are some MAJOR differences between these groups.

As a fellow diver and explorer, I’m intrigued by these stories of sand divers trying to survive in a very difficult world. I hope Howey continues to deliver more. Fingers crossed it’s not another 8 years to get it.

Special thanks to Harper Collins and NetGalley for the advanced copy!

So much sailing. So much jargon. 🫤

So. I reread the Sand Omnibus before diving into this and I did appreciate it more and feel more invested in it than I did on the first read. However. As exciting as it was to have a new Hugh book (like really, whaaat), this next installment didn’t really do it for me. In a way it further de-mystified some of what happened in the end of Sand 1, and I felt like its mysterious nature was one of the best things about it. The plot in ATS was also dragged major. Like I mentioned above, <i>so</i> much time was spent on the sarfers (sand sailboats) which was a downer for me twofold: the time it took to physically move people around multiple times took forever, and the amount of sailing/boating jargon made me legit cross-eyed.

Anya’s realizations if the core truths of their society was a great moment, but it took so long to get there I’m not sure I enjoyed it as much as it merited after the long slog it took to get there, alas.

<i>Thanks so much to Avon, Harper Voyager, and NetGalley for an eARC of this book!</i>

Hugh Howey's ACROSS THE SAND is a post-apocalyptic (and kind of pre-apocalyptic?) dystopian-ish scifi in keeping with his Silo series, for which he is best known. Unfortunately, this book failed to grasp me. I didn't care about the characters because I didn't like them, and I was never really engaged by the book.

I’ve read a few of Hugh Howey’s books now and I’ve really liked all of them. Across the Sand is no different. Definitely read “Sand” first though. You’ll be able to read this book without reading Sand and get it okay but it won’t have the same impact as it does when you know the characters and the previous events that are talked about throughout this book. This book never really slows down. It splits into various character POVs and then by the end, all the characters come together. I do feel that the ending was a little rushed and somewhat anticlimactic, but it was still pretty good overall. Hugh Howey is the king of Adult Dystopia. Read all of his books!

A little more dystopian than I generally prefer, and I think I would have been better served reading the first book before I went into this one, but very interesting world building. I really started to get into the story once all the storylines started to come together!

Hugh Howey is hands down one of my all-time favorite science fiction/futurist authors, and it was well worth the six-year wait for his latest book, which continues his Sand Chronicles. You don’t have to, but I would recommend reading Sand first, as this new book jumps in where the first novel in this series left off.

Generations far in the future, the cities of Earth have become buried deep under sand. The rugged survivors of humanity located in former Colorado either cluster in a smallish new city on top of the sand or live out in the desert sand-diving to bring up spoils of humanity’s past civilization and sell these. Some of the barely surviving desert dwellers head into the city seeking refuge but instead become brutally enslaved and forced to mine for ore. Animosity runs deep between the two factions of humanity, to the point of seeking to destroy each other.

Howey’s tale focuses on two families: a talent dessert sand-diver clan of four surviving siblings and their mom, having lost both their father and oldest sister who were two of the greatest sand divers ever. One of the brothers discovered the buried city of “Danvar” (Denver eroded over time) and the youngest brother has a unique talent for restoring old technology. The other family: a father and daughter from the city, where the father both oversees the mines and also goes on mysterious assignments, and the daughter has befriended one of the prisoners.

City and desert dwellers collide in a thrilling adventure – from swashbuckling times riding sand surfers to being sand-imprisoned by tech-wielding sand nomads – all with a looming threat of catastrophic destruction. Keeps you on the edge of your seat and marveling at Howey’s great capacity for powerful world building.

Thanks to Avon, Harper Voyager and NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy.