Sand

Howey’s first installation in the “Sand Chronicles” series, originally published as a series of novellas in 2013–14, is now available as an audiobook, narrated by Jeremy Arthur. Much like Howey’s phenomenally popular “Silo Saga,” this novel introduces a blighted postapocalyptic world, engulfed by desert sands in what was once the American West. Four siblings—Palmer, Connor, Victoria (“Vic”), and Rob—live hand-to-mouth, eking out an existence by diving deep into the sand to retrieve artifacts from the past. When they are caught up in a sinister plot that puts their fragile homes and families in danger, they must draw upon their meager resources to survive. Arthur’s careful, suitably grim narration conveys the bleakness of the land and the exhausted tension of the people. His characterizations are generally apt, although his voicing of the brigands can be difficult to make out, as it is marked with notable volume changes. These flaws notwithstanding, this propulsive presentation of people surviving on the edge is entirely captivating.