This 2021 novel is a good airplane book as it is a fast-paced thriller, with two ex-convict fathers doing battle against a motorcycle gang of white supremacists funded by corrupt politicians. It. is different because it deals with LGBTQ characters and issues and a lot of dialogue about discrimination in the USA against African-Americans. It is set in rural Virginia, just southeast of the city of Richmond. I have only visited the Virginia suburbs of Washington DC and the towns and rivers in northern Virginia near the border with West Virginia. The southern part of Virginia is more “South” than “North” and the entire state is south of the Mason-Dixon line.
The two “heroes” of the book are a black father and a white father. Their sons were in a gay marriage and both fathers never accepted this. They have a change of heart when both of their sons are murdered. The story tracks their revenge to find the killers. Cosby in the book argues through one of the main characters that African-Americans are discriminated equally or more against than LGBTQ people. Cosby does a good job of capturing the vernacular of the rural Virgina. The book has been optioned to Paramount to be made into a movie.
I had a bad cold this weekend and was in bed. This gave me the opportunity to binge some television, which I rarely do. I watched the entire season of Apple TV’s Silo. I love science fiction and anything post-apocalypse or set in the future. The drama is about a community of 10,000 people living underground because nuclear war has turned their earth’s atmosphere poisonous. One of the most remarkable aspects of the 10-episode program, is the “silo” that must have cost the producers a fortune to build. In one of the extras for the series, the director said they built 70, detailed sets that the actors remarked brought the world alive for them. It is a visual treat and really puts the viewer in this world.
One of the big themes of the show is truth. Some of the characters think that the leaders of the community are hiding something and perhaps, the earth’s ecosystem is not poisoned. They find “relics”, objects from “before the rebellion”, and conspiracy theories run rampant. I imagine the founders of the system thought long and hard about how to maintain an enclosed, artificial life support system underground for many generations. I see why the colony has so many rules to guide its actions, especially after everyone who was there for the war has died. How do you maintain the “silo” when imperfect and selfish human beings are the occupants. I won’t spoil the series here, but the ending is excellent and worth watching until the end.
The show is based on Hugh Howey’s novel series, Wool, Shift, and Dust that were published between 2011 and 2013. I won’t read the books because there is so much else to consume.
This reminds me of a conversation I had this summer about time travel. I would definitely choose to time travel to the future instead of the past if I had a choice. I already know the past, but I would like to see what the future holds for humanity and the planet Earth. Most of my friends prefer to travel to a specific time in the past.
In summary, highly recommend Silo, and Razorblade Tears gets a middling recommendation from me.
Bill's Blog 