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The Shell Collector
The ocean is dying. The sea is growing warmer and is gradually rising. Seashells have become so rare that collecting them is now a national obsession. Flawless specimens sell like priceless works of art. Families hunt the tideline in the dark of night with flashlights. Crowds gather on beaches at the lowest of tides, hoping to get lucky.
Supreme among these collectors is Ness Wilde, CEO of Ocean Oil. Ness owns many of the best beaches, and he keeps them to himself. It's his fault the world turned out this way. And I aim to destroy him.
My name is Maya Walsh. You might be familiar with my shelling column in the Times. I was working on a series of pieces about Mr. Wilde, when out of the blue, he called. He says he wants to talk. But I don't think he's going to like what I have to say.
Supreme among these collectors is Ness Wilde, CEO of Ocean Oil. Ness owns many of the best beaches, and he keeps them to himself. It's his fault the world turned out this way. And I aim to destroy him.
My name is Maya Walsh. You might be familiar with my shelling column in the Times. I was working on a series of pieces about Mr. Wilde, when out of the blue, he called. He says he wants to talk. But I don't think he's going to like what I have to say.
206 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 23, 2014
385 people are currently reading
2,174 people want to read
About the author
Hugh Howey
142Ìýbooks57kÌýfollowersI'm the author of WOOL, a top 5 science fiction book on Amazon. I also wrote the Molly Fyde saga, a tale of a teenager from the 25th century who is repeatedly told that girls can't do certain things -- and then does them anyway.
A theme in my books is the celebration of overcoming odds and of not allowing the cruelty of the universe to change who you are in the process. Most of them are classified as science fiction, since they often take place in the future, but if you love great stories and memorable characters, you'll dig what you find here. I promise.
A theme in my books is the celebration of overcoming odds and of not allowing the cruelty of the universe to change who you are in the process. Most of them are classified as science fiction, since they often take place in the future, but if you love great stories and memorable characters, you'll dig what you find here. I promise.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 450 reviews
December 20, 2014
I have read 11 of this author’s books� ELEVEN� so clearly I am a fan of his work. But with this one I could not feel the unique magic he always weaves around his stories.
Kudos to Mr Howey for trying something new and write outside his comfort zone but the problem I have with romance novels is that 99% of them follow the same predictable recipe and this one was no exception:
1) Our male lead is devilishly attractive, highly successful/rich/damaged but with a heart of gold under his cold persona
2) Our heroine is ballsy, driven and more beautiful than she realizes
3) Then a misunderstanding/betrayal almost destroys their budding romance but this gets resolved just in time�..
4) And they live happily ever after
I’ve had my fill of Nora Roberts books for a lifetime and because I know this author could have done so much more with this story I cannot give a high rating.
Am I still a fan of Hugh Howey? You betcha
Will I read more of his work? Yes but not before I can find out what genre it falls into.
Kudos to Mr Howey for trying something new and write outside his comfort zone but the problem I have with romance novels is that 99% of them follow the same predictable recipe and this one was no exception:
1) Our male lead is devilishly attractive, highly successful/rich/damaged but with a heart of gold under his cold persona
2) Our heroine is ballsy, driven and more beautiful than she realizes
3) Then a misunderstanding/betrayal almost destroys their budding romance but this gets resolved just in time�..
4) And they live happily ever after
I’ve had my fill of Nora Roberts books for a lifetime and because I know this author could have done so much more with this story I cannot give a high rating.
Am I still a fan of Hugh Howey? You betcha
Will I read more of his work? Yes but not before I can find out what genre it falls into.
February 3, 2015
is one of my favourite authors of science fiction but in this book he ventures into the genre of Romance - not one of my favourites by a long shot! So I approached this book with some trepidation. As it turns out the science fiction is still there the story being set in a world where the oceans have been ruined and shells have become something precious. This was good. However the romance was so horribly predictable that I would be quite prepared to discover Howey was having a joke at our expense. The hero is incredibly rich and good looking with a stupid name, the heroine is feisty and also amazingly good looking but doesn't know it yet. They meet, are more attracted to each other than is feasible at first sight, fall in love, engage in ridiculously romantic sex, are separated by a foolish misunderstanding and get back together in the nick of time to live happily ever after. Three stars because I read it to the end and because the silly story line was set in an excellent background. I want to know more about that watery world where city underground train lines flood during high tides and people splash through sea water in city streets to get to work.
December 3, 2014
Hugh Howey, you're not unlike an octopus. Your tentacles not only have the potential to reach out across genres, but also have enviable grasping power. And oh, just to stretch this out --- all that romance in the "The Shell Collector" is too much for one heart; you too, my friend, have three hearts.
Okay, with that lame attempt to laud Howey, let me be a bit more sensible and say, "Kudos!".
Howey successfully ventured into the steamy land of romance with this book, but he didn't leave his own familiar (pre/during/post) apocalyptic world far behind. In "The Shell Collector", the world is in a bad shape, but it hasn't quite ended. The water bodies are warmer and seashells are precious commodity. A reporter, Maya Walsh, is on a quest to get the story behind Ness Wilde, a rich oil man who apparently has had a part in destroying the world. Maya and Ness are thrown in together, and sparks fly.
I usually steer clear of reviewing any romance books I end up reading, partly because they're all very predictable and have the same old familiar plots. What'd I say about them that hasn't been said before? If I were to be really critical, I'd say that I see those familiar elements in "The Shell Collector" as well --- there's a rich, misunderstood guy, his young, naive daughter, and an idealistic, I'm-on-truth's-warpath woman. Yes, there's definitely more meat in the plot than your standard romance books, and the backdrop of the whole story is intriguing. However, I refuse to be overly critical. Romance books are like fairy tales for grown-ups; we all know how they are going to end, but it's the getting there that tells a passably okay book apart from an excellent one. "The Shell Collector" falls resoundingly in the excellent spectrum.
I've always appreciated Howey's ability to write his books from the perspective of a female character (Juliette from Wool, Molly Fyde, etc.). However, somewhere in the middle of the book, I couldn't quite identify with Maya all that well; she seemed a bit remote. This little bit aside, I enjoyed "The Shell Collector" immensely. I'm looking forward to more meatier romances from Howey. Who knows, he might end up writing a nice whodunnit as well!
Okay, with that lame attempt to laud Howey, let me be a bit more sensible and say, "Kudos!".
Howey successfully ventured into the steamy land of romance with this book, but he didn't leave his own familiar (pre/during/post) apocalyptic world far behind. In "The Shell Collector", the world is in a bad shape, but it hasn't quite ended. The water bodies are warmer and seashells are precious commodity. A reporter, Maya Walsh, is on a quest to get the story behind Ness Wilde, a rich oil man who apparently has had a part in destroying the world. Maya and Ness are thrown in together, and sparks fly.
I usually steer clear of reviewing any romance books I end up reading, partly because they're all very predictable and have the same old familiar plots. What'd I say about them that hasn't been said before? If I were to be really critical, I'd say that I see those familiar elements in "The Shell Collector" as well --- there's a rich, misunderstood guy, his young, naive daughter, and an idealistic, I'm-on-truth's-warpath woman. Yes, there's definitely more meat in the plot than your standard romance books, and the backdrop of the whole story is intriguing. However, I refuse to be overly critical. Romance books are like fairy tales for grown-ups; we all know how they are going to end, but it's the getting there that tells a passably okay book apart from an excellent one. "The Shell Collector" falls resoundingly in the excellent spectrum.
I've always appreciated Howey's ability to write his books from the perspective of a female character (Juliette from Wool, Molly Fyde, etc.). However, somewhere in the middle of the book, I couldn't quite identify with Maya all that well; she seemed a bit remote. This little bit aside, I enjoyed "The Shell Collector" immensely. I'm looking forward to more meatier romances from Howey. Who knows, he might end up writing a nice whodunnit as well!
August 3, 2015
This has got to be one of the most boring messes ever disseminated via kilobytes.
First, let's get one thing straight: THIS ISN'T A ROMANCE. It's not women's fiction. It's not a convincing dystopian-set novel. The science in it is laughably bad, so it's not SF. It's good for several laughs, however.
All the reviews blaming the genre for the book's suckage? You missed the sole culprit: the book sucks because the writing sucks. But thanks, Hugh Howey. By using the most hackneyed, eye rolling cliched tropes and writing first person present tense prose so breathless and overwritten that Harlequin would have rejected you within three pages, you only confirmed petty prejudices and biases against the genre.
On the other hand, the genre is doing just fine as it is, so perhaps it's for the best there will be no crossover between audiences.
The Shell Collector is set on the East Coast of the US in an undefined time period (89% of the way through the book, we finally discover the year is 2040) when rising tides have decimated the coasts and major seaside cities rely on levees to protect them. This is apparently the result not of global warming, not of a systemic abuse of the environment, but because one single oil company did...something...that caused the sea to rise and sea life to die off. Well, some sea life. Actually, for a book about depleted oceans, an awful lot of marine animals make an appearance.
Shells are now, like, super rare and there's a Dutch tulip mania surrounding them. To the point that if a few dozen shells make their way into the world, it will crash the global economy. Or something like that. The world building in this book is sketchy at best, illogical and highly unscientific at worst (which is any time the reader stops to think about it). To begin, the food chain repercussions aren't even touched on.
Life seems to go on as absolutely normal, the only difference being inconvenienced bridge-and-tunnel New Yorkers may have to wear galoshes to commute. Poor New Yorkers. Technology remains exactly the same as 2015 if not devolving backward, to the point where Our Heroine slams down a newspaper on her editor's desk like it's 1940 and she's Hildy Johnson. And she knows her articles are being read because people held actual newspapers on the commuter trains instead of staring at their screens. Apparently in 2040, no one will read newspapers on screens like they do, oh, right now.
Our Heroine is Maya, a thirty-two year old mixed race (her description) woman. Maya is a divorcee, whose marriage broke up nine years ago when her premature daughter didn't survive birth. Which is truly sad. It's beyond horrible to lose a child. But...she was twenty-three at the time and there is no mention of infertility or complications that would keep her from conceiving and bearing a future child. Yet Maya is convinced she will never ever have a child, ever. And that makes her wax (and wax) maudlin. Because women, we're broken and useless and empty inside if we don't have our own biological children, amirite? We can't possibly have other value or form other relationships or be happy making a life for our single, barren selves.
Also, as a child Maya was horribly teased for being mixed race so she feels ugly and in need of a new "shell" (oy, the marine metaphors and similes in the book - there must be at least one if not more per page) until the (white) hero tells her she is beautiful, natch.
(He also tells her women half her age must envy her body - so still maturing sixteen year olds are supposed to be jealous of her? Ick).
Maya is a marine biologist who wrote a renowned column on shelling but who now works as an ace investigative reporter. It's a good thing we are told these things, because in the course of the novel she is shown to be terrible at all of them. She's a marine biologist who can't recognize a specimen case and who is shocked, I say, SHOCKED to learn that sea life is possible, to quote The Little Mermaid, fathoms below. I guess the Discovery Channel and/or PBS don't make it to the year 2040. And she's an investigative reporter who refuses to listen to voicemail or read her texts because, yeah, those aren't necessary in her line of work at all.
Maya wrote an absolutely brilliant expose, if she does say so herself, on four generations of the Wilde family, who own Ocean Oil and apparently single-handedly cause the ecological sorta-but-not-really disaster that appears to have no real consequences for the world except for making galoshes manufacturers really happy. Oh, there's some reference to the Wilde grandfather channeling his inner Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor and buying up near-coastal land so he'd own all the beaches when the seas rose, but otherwise, again, the ocean thing is barely touched on. Still, her first article - on the great-grandfather - caused the current Wilde male, first name Ness to get in touch and offer her an exclusive interview.
Yes, people, it's the "reclusive, enigmatic billionaire grants plucky heroine an interview" time again! Roll eyes.
But Maya doesn't have to worry about her virtue. While Ness, of course, has Big Secrets, they are nowhere as naughty as Christian Grey's. In fact, the only character trait he shares with Christian is the creepy, stalker-ish tendency to watch females while they're asleep and to never let them out of his sight. (Dear Authors: characters who exhibit latent Ted Bundy traits are NOT sexy. Stop it. Now).
Ness is, in fact, among one of the most beta heroes put on paper. He cries at the drop of a hat and is unfailingly passive. We're told he's a playboy who loves 'em and leave 'em, but we're shown a milquetoast. Maya, on the other hand, is abrasive, rude and aggressive. I'd enjoy the flipping of the cliched gender stereotypes if it felt like an intentional author choice, or if the characters approached three dimensions. But despite being in Maya's head in first person present tense, neither character reads as authentic.
An interview with the elusive Wilde just falling into her lap isn't enough for Maya. Extra convincing comes in the form of FBI Special Agent Cooper, who I assume enjoys a slice of cherry pie and a damn fine cup of coffee every now and then (thankfully, there were no dancing dwarves in the book). Cooper shows Maya three perfect lace murex shells, which would apparently be worth millions on the open shell market. They both immediately conclude that Ness boy must be up to no good! What motive an oil billionaire who owns most of the beachfront property and possesses a museum-worthy collection of shells would have for counterfeiting and selling new shells is never really touched on.
So now Maya is wearing a wire for her interview. When she meets Ness, I think the reader is supposed to see the sparks flying, but two characters with less chemistry on the page would be hard to find. Yadda yadda, Maya finds herself continually thrown in Ness's company, and a relationship of sorts forms.
I say "of sorts" because they are both aware Maya is a journalist and Ness is her subject. Although, for someone who ASKED for a reporter to come out and get the real story, Ness is unaccountably coy. He insists on keeping things mysterious and cryptic, for no other other reason except if he told her upfront, there would be no story. So Maya (and the reader) is dragged from one watery setting to another for some basic lessons in marine biology.
To prove Maya is utter rubbish at her job, as soon as Ness is about to tell her His Big Secret about the shells, she decides to instead jump him, out of blue, while they are far below surface in a deep sea submersible. But no sex. Oh no. This book is as coy about sex as Ness is about his activities. This leads us to eye-rolling narration such as:
It's the prose a teenager writes for English Comp 101 thinking he is being erudite and profound when in actuality it's overwritten, pretentious and rather nonsensical ("Icarus kiss?!").
So after their bout of "comfortable, writhing, squirming" embraces, Maya and Ness go to his Caribbean island hideaway for no story reason other than it makes a "romantic" setting. .
And then we're back at Ness's Maine mansion (pun intended) for the denouement, which is straight out of the most hackneyed suspense novel ever. Complete with Maya fearful for her life even though Ness has been nothing but laid back and rather submissive since the beginning. Only to discover, of course, that's it's all One Big Misunderstanding that would have been cleared up in Chapter Three if it weren't for Ness's inexplicable reticence to come clean and Maya's shoddy reporter instincts.
The book is a mishmash of bad romance tropes, all used in their most blunt, anvil-like and cliched forms. To make matters worse, the characters do not earn their romance novel happy ever after ending.
And Ness's Big Secret? Here's a hint: apparently the Jurassic Park/World franchise didn't survive into 2040, either.
In fact, the book seems to have a very...interesting...message: Don't worry about global warming, boys and girls. Don't worry about rising sea levels. Don't worry about species extinction and mass life die-offs. Just invest in galoshes and near-coastal land and you'll be peachy keen. Nature has a way of righting itself and even if it doesn't, kindly billionaire philanthropists, without any oversight or regulation or checks/balances, will help it along because they're just swell people that way.
Thanks, but no thanks.
First, let's get one thing straight: THIS ISN'T A ROMANCE. It's not women's fiction. It's not a convincing dystopian-set novel. The science in it is laughably bad, so it's not SF. It's good for several laughs, however.
All the reviews blaming the genre for the book's suckage? You missed the sole culprit: the book sucks because the writing sucks. But thanks, Hugh Howey. By using the most hackneyed, eye rolling cliched tropes and writing first person present tense prose so breathless and overwritten that Harlequin would have rejected you within three pages, you only confirmed petty prejudices and biases against the genre.
On the other hand, the genre is doing just fine as it is, so perhaps it's for the best there will be no crossover between audiences.
The Shell Collector is set on the East Coast of the US in an undefined time period (89% of the way through the book, we finally discover the year is 2040) when rising tides have decimated the coasts and major seaside cities rely on levees to protect them. This is apparently the result not of global warming, not of a systemic abuse of the environment, but because one single oil company did...something...that caused the sea to rise and sea life to die off. Well, some sea life. Actually, for a book about depleted oceans, an awful lot of marine animals make an appearance.
Shells are now, like, super rare and there's a Dutch tulip mania surrounding them. To the point that if a few dozen shells make their way into the world, it will crash the global economy. Or something like that. The world building in this book is sketchy at best, illogical and highly unscientific at worst (which is any time the reader stops to think about it). To begin, the food chain repercussions aren't even touched on.
Life seems to go on as absolutely normal, the only difference being inconvenienced bridge-and-tunnel New Yorkers may have to wear galoshes to commute. Poor New Yorkers. Technology remains exactly the same as 2015 if not devolving backward, to the point where Our Heroine slams down a newspaper on her editor's desk like it's 1940 and she's Hildy Johnson. And she knows her articles are being read because people held actual newspapers on the commuter trains instead of staring at their screens. Apparently in 2040, no one will read newspapers on screens like they do, oh, right now.
Our Heroine is Maya, a thirty-two year old mixed race (her description) woman. Maya is a divorcee, whose marriage broke up nine years ago when her premature daughter didn't survive birth. Which is truly sad. It's beyond horrible to lose a child. But...she was twenty-three at the time and there is no mention of infertility or complications that would keep her from conceiving and bearing a future child. Yet Maya is convinced she will never ever have a child, ever. And that makes her wax (and wax) maudlin. Because women, we're broken and useless and empty inside if we don't have our own biological children, amirite? We can't possibly have other value or form other relationships or be happy making a life for our single, barren selves.
Also, as a child Maya was horribly teased for being mixed race so she feels ugly and in need of a new "shell" (oy, the marine metaphors and similes in the book - there must be at least one if not more per page) until the (white) hero tells her she is beautiful, natch.
(He also tells her women half her age must envy her body - so still maturing sixteen year olds are supposed to be jealous of her? Ick).
Maya is a marine biologist who wrote a renowned column on shelling but who now works as an ace investigative reporter. It's a good thing we are told these things, because in the course of the novel she is shown to be terrible at all of them. She's a marine biologist who can't recognize a specimen case and who is shocked, I say, SHOCKED to learn that sea life is possible, to quote The Little Mermaid, fathoms below. I guess the Discovery Channel and/or PBS don't make it to the year 2040. And she's an investigative reporter who refuses to listen to voicemail or read her texts because, yeah, those aren't necessary in her line of work at all.
Maya wrote an absolutely brilliant expose, if she does say so herself, on four generations of the Wilde family, who own Ocean Oil and apparently single-handedly cause the ecological sorta-but-not-really disaster that appears to have no real consequences for the world except for making galoshes manufacturers really happy. Oh, there's some reference to the Wilde grandfather channeling his inner Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor and buying up near-coastal land so he'd own all the beaches when the seas rose, but otherwise, again, the ocean thing is barely touched on. Still, her first article - on the great-grandfather - caused the current Wilde male, first name Ness to get in touch and offer her an exclusive interview.
Yes, people, it's the "reclusive, enigmatic billionaire grants plucky heroine an interview" time again! Roll eyes.
But Maya doesn't have to worry about her virtue. While Ness, of course, has Big Secrets, they are nowhere as naughty as Christian Grey's. In fact, the only character trait he shares with Christian is the creepy, stalker-ish tendency to watch females while they're asleep and to never let them out of his sight. (Dear Authors: characters who exhibit latent Ted Bundy traits are NOT sexy. Stop it. Now).
Ness is, in fact, among one of the most beta heroes put on paper. He cries at the drop of a hat and is unfailingly passive. We're told he's a playboy who loves 'em and leave 'em, but we're shown a milquetoast. Maya, on the other hand, is abrasive, rude and aggressive. I'd enjoy the flipping of the cliched gender stereotypes if it felt like an intentional author choice, or if the characters approached three dimensions. But despite being in Maya's head in first person present tense, neither character reads as authentic.
An interview with the elusive Wilde just falling into her lap isn't enough for Maya. Extra convincing comes in the form of FBI Special Agent Cooper, who I assume enjoys a slice of cherry pie and a damn fine cup of coffee every now and then (thankfully, there were no dancing dwarves in the book). Cooper shows Maya three perfect lace murex shells, which would apparently be worth millions on the open shell market. They both immediately conclude that Ness boy must be up to no good! What motive an oil billionaire who owns most of the beachfront property and possesses a museum-worthy collection of shells would have for counterfeiting and selling new shells is never really touched on.
So now Maya is wearing a wire for her interview. When she meets Ness, I think the reader is supposed to see the sparks flying, but two characters with less chemistry on the page would be hard to find. Yadda yadda, Maya finds herself continually thrown in Ness's company, and a relationship of sorts forms.
I say "of sorts" because they are both aware Maya is a journalist and Ness is her subject. Although, for someone who ASKED for a reporter to come out and get the real story, Ness is unaccountably coy. He insists on keeping things mysterious and cryptic, for no other other reason except if he told her upfront, there would be no story. So Maya (and the reader) is dragged from one watery setting to another for some basic lessons in marine biology.
To prove Maya is utter rubbish at her job, as soon as Ness is about to tell her His Big Secret about the shells, she decides to instead jump him, out of blue, while they are far below surface in a deep sea submersible. But no sex. Oh no. This book is as coy about sex as Ness is about his activities. This leads us to eye-rolling narration such as:
The frentic energy is gone, replaced by a comfortable caressing, a writhing embrace, a pleasurable squirming. I wrap my arms around him and squeeze. I kiss his neck.
"Maya," Ness whispers in my ear. If there is more, it is lost as he buries his head in my shoulder. The steel shell around us groans. We are the torus inside. There is no space or time. No concept of being. Just a floating feeling, a sense of escape and flying, another Icarus kiss, completely free, the empty cosmos around us, exploring each other there at the bottom of the sea.
It's the prose a teenager writes for English Comp 101 thinking he is being erudite and profound when in actuality it's overwritten, pretentious and rather nonsensical ("Icarus kiss?!").
So after their bout of "comfortable, writhing, squirming" embraces, Maya and Ness go to his Caribbean island hideaway for no story reason other than it makes a "romantic" setting. .
And then we're back at Ness's Maine mansion (pun intended) for the denouement, which is straight out of the most hackneyed suspense novel ever. Complete with Maya fearful for her life even though Ness has been nothing but laid back and rather submissive since the beginning. Only to discover, of course, that's it's all One Big Misunderstanding that would have been cleared up in Chapter Three if it weren't for Ness's inexplicable reticence to come clean and Maya's shoddy reporter instincts.
The book is a mishmash of bad romance tropes, all used in their most blunt, anvil-like and cliched forms. To make matters worse, the characters do not earn their romance novel happy ever after ending.
And Ness's Big Secret? Here's a hint: apparently the Jurassic Park/World franchise didn't survive into 2040, either.
In fact, the book seems to have a very...interesting...message: Don't worry about global warming, boys and girls. Don't worry about rising sea levels. Don't worry about species extinction and mass life die-offs. Just invest in galoshes and near-coastal land and you'll be peachy keen. Nature has a way of righting itself and even if it doesn't, kindly billionaire philanthropists, without any oversight or regulation or checks/balances, will help it along because they're just swell people that way.
Thanks, but no thanks.
December 10, 2014
I have very mixed feelings about this book. Hugh took a crack at romance, and maybe underestimated the genre. I'm a huge Hugh fan, so this is hard to write, but he left a lot of unanswered questions. Did Maya just abandon her career with the New York Times to live with Ness and write a book? How did she get out of her assignment with the FBI? Though I think passion can develop quickly between a man and a woman, especially in a book, I'm not sold on the quick attachment between Maya and Ness's twelve-year-old daughter. The first quarter of the book had me confused about why shells mattered, if ness was an old man, and if the mystery was whether or not Ness killed a guy. I'm still wondering why that man's death was even an issue!
While there was a lot of characteristic beautiful Hugh Howey prose, and thought provoking/quotable lines, I was left wanting and looking for a more fleshed out story.
While there was a lot of characteristic beautiful Hugh Howey prose, and thought provoking/quotable lines, I was left wanting and looking for a more fleshed out story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 26, 2014
If you're looking for a sci fi fix, this is not it. If you're looking to step out and try something a little different, you've found it. Howey's love for the ocean and concern for our environment shines through and he gives it to you in an easily digestible way. He also gives you a love story to round it out. The only reason I gave this 4 stars instead of 5 is because I figured out where this story was going and how it would end; I like to be surprised.
December 20, 2014
This could have been much more
HH writes books that suck you into the story. You feel for the characters. This books subject matter could've done the same. Our heroine has more baggage than a freshman going to go off to college. She does not elevate herself to hero status. We do not learn how Ness and his ancestors became scoundrels but that they were despised by society. There is no adventure here. Basically this is a so so romance novel with several very good moral and philosophical lines.
HH writes books that suck you into the story. You feel for the characters. This books subject matter could've done the same. Our heroine has more baggage than a freshman going to go off to college. She does not elevate herself to hero status. We do not learn how Ness and his ancestors became scoundrels but that they were despised by society. There is no adventure here. Basically this is a so so romance novel with several very good moral and philosophical lines.
August 18, 2015
4.5 stars
This was nothing at all like any previous Hugh Howey book I've read thus far. More a romance and character study than an apocalyptic recovery story, it was very well-written. The narrator was perfect for the story, too, and the Audible version was very well done.
This was nothing at all like any previous Hugh Howey book I've read thus far. More a romance and character study than an apocalyptic recovery story, it was very well-written. The narrator was perfect for the story, too, and the Audible version was very well done.
December 15, 2015
Fifty Shades of Shells. Well not quite but still a strange shift for Hugh Howey to move form his post apocalyptic scifi to something a bit softer and with a strong romance theme in there.
Still post apocalyptic to some degree but a much smaller slower apocalypse, basically set in the near future where sea levels and temperatures have risen by quite a bit , but aside form that a lot of its the same just with most life in the sea wiped out and shells highly collectable and expensive because of this.
The plot revolves around a female journalist spending a week with one of the villains of climate change, an oil mogul from a long line of oil moguls as he tries to change her mind on a piece she wrote about his Grandfather and to show his own progress.
Quite an interesting environmental piece. Not as action packed or dark as the Silo or Sand books but still interesting and always good to see an author try something new.
Still post apocalyptic to some degree but a much smaller slower apocalypse, basically set in the near future where sea levels and temperatures have risen by quite a bit , but aside form that a lot of its the same just with most life in the sea wiped out and shells highly collectable and expensive because of this.
The plot revolves around a female journalist spending a week with one of the villains of climate change, an oil mogul from a long line of oil moguls as he tries to change her mind on a piece she wrote about his Grandfather and to show his own progress.
Quite an interesting environmental piece. Not as action packed or dark as the Silo or Sand books but still interesting and always good to see an author try something new.
December 11, 2014
Hugh Howey invents curious, future worlds where people live and work for centuries in silos beneath a toxic surface (Wool, Shift, and Dust). Worlds where people surf over deserts that have smothered cities, diving in as survival warrants the pilfering of long-abandoned wares (Sand). And, more contiguous, where people face the predicament of rising waters and coastlines creeping into the sea.
Okay—so in none of Howey’s worlds would anyone want to live. But once you start reading, you never want to leave. The Shell Collector is set more than a quarter century away on the coast of Maine and in a submerged New York City. It brings the usually speculative and remote welfare-of-your-great-grandkids argument on climate change, to the table. But unlike, say, the hard-hitting image of water that’s “a hand sweeping everything from the table� in Jim Shephard’s “The Netherlands Lives with Water,� Howey’s conservationism here is more subtle. This story is more about the characters—Ness Wilde and Maya Walsh, Holly, Special Agent Stanley Cooper, and a generation of what could be our future grandkids coping with disappearing shores. And because these characters are convincing and realistic individuals, like all Howey’s characters, they have to point their fingers somewhere—the past.
So they place blame on the closest they have: Ness Wilde. Wilde is the CEO of Ocean Oil, and he and his patrilineage of CEOs of Ocean Oil have profited from the rising levels, temperatures, and acidity of the seas for decades. They’ve contributed to countless dying oceanic species while hording their share of everyone’s most esteemed and yet elusive treasure: seashells.
Maya Walsh, an avid shell collector herself as well as a contributor for the Times, is determined to bring to light these wrongdoings—and not just the blood on Wilde’s hands of endangered seashells and marine life. She has the rare opportunity to interview this infamous man, and she dives in. Scuba suit and all.
The Shell Collector is stirring and beautiful. It captures environmental problems and catastrophes we’re familiar with today, especially along the Eastern seaboard, but exacerbated over decades. And yet we see the resilience of humanity through qualities like forgiveness and empathy. The way Howey uses environmental issues as an impetus for actualizing certain human emotions, connections, and insights reminds me of how Karen Thompson Walker did it with The Age of Miracles. In this novel, a slowing of the earth’s rotation affects not only time, sleep cycles, gravity, tides, and animal migrations. It’s more about self-realizations, relationships, and legacies. So too is The Shell Collector.
The science fiction, activism, romance, race and heredity, shell collecting—none of it is heavy-handed in this novel. Even the occasional torrent of shelling verbiage like sozon’s cones and conchs and lace murexes flows with the storyline. By and large, the novel is an authentic balance and a cohesive, well-researched piece, written in a first-person female voice that’s immediate and credible. Here Howey demonstrates flexibility of narrative and plot as well as shares his personal hobby of shelling he took up while living in North Carolina.
And the imagery is unforgettable. Sentences are poignant, drawing us in with, “My earliest memory of the beach is of it being a harsh place for a wheelchair.� Others like, “They don’t belong here, the palms…perhaps these are million-dollar annuals whooshing by�; “No longer beautiful backdrops skirting the city, [the rivers] became a coiled threat�; and “Hey. The story isn’t over yet. Keep reading,� kept me reading. Even through the Acknowledgements.
The Shell Collector is a new genre for Howey. He calls it “something like an environmental thriller romance with a sci-fi dystopian aftertaste.� But once again, he immerses his readers with layers of themes, imagery, and mystery to deliver a story that’s truly profound.
- Ashley O’Brien, Copywriter and Freelance Writer in Massachusetts and Rhode Island
Okay—so in none of Howey’s worlds would anyone want to live. But once you start reading, you never want to leave. The Shell Collector is set more than a quarter century away on the coast of Maine and in a submerged New York City. It brings the usually speculative and remote welfare-of-your-great-grandkids argument on climate change, to the table. But unlike, say, the hard-hitting image of water that’s “a hand sweeping everything from the table� in Jim Shephard’s “The Netherlands Lives with Water,� Howey’s conservationism here is more subtle. This story is more about the characters—Ness Wilde and Maya Walsh, Holly, Special Agent Stanley Cooper, and a generation of what could be our future grandkids coping with disappearing shores. And because these characters are convincing and realistic individuals, like all Howey’s characters, they have to point their fingers somewhere—the past.
So they place blame on the closest they have: Ness Wilde. Wilde is the CEO of Ocean Oil, and he and his patrilineage of CEOs of Ocean Oil have profited from the rising levels, temperatures, and acidity of the seas for decades. They’ve contributed to countless dying oceanic species while hording their share of everyone’s most esteemed and yet elusive treasure: seashells.
Maya Walsh, an avid shell collector herself as well as a contributor for the Times, is determined to bring to light these wrongdoings—and not just the blood on Wilde’s hands of endangered seashells and marine life. She has the rare opportunity to interview this infamous man, and she dives in. Scuba suit and all.
The Shell Collector is stirring and beautiful. It captures environmental problems and catastrophes we’re familiar with today, especially along the Eastern seaboard, but exacerbated over decades. And yet we see the resilience of humanity through qualities like forgiveness and empathy. The way Howey uses environmental issues as an impetus for actualizing certain human emotions, connections, and insights reminds me of how Karen Thompson Walker did it with The Age of Miracles. In this novel, a slowing of the earth’s rotation affects not only time, sleep cycles, gravity, tides, and animal migrations. It’s more about self-realizations, relationships, and legacies. So too is The Shell Collector.
The science fiction, activism, romance, race and heredity, shell collecting—none of it is heavy-handed in this novel. Even the occasional torrent of shelling verbiage like sozon’s cones and conchs and lace murexes flows with the storyline. By and large, the novel is an authentic balance and a cohesive, well-researched piece, written in a first-person female voice that’s immediate and credible. Here Howey demonstrates flexibility of narrative and plot as well as shares his personal hobby of shelling he took up while living in North Carolina.
And the imagery is unforgettable. Sentences are poignant, drawing us in with, “My earliest memory of the beach is of it being a harsh place for a wheelchair.� Others like, “They don’t belong here, the palms…perhaps these are million-dollar annuals whooshing by�; “No longer beautiful backdrops skirting the city, [the rivers] became a coiled threat�; and “Hey. The story isn’t over yet. Keep reading,� kept me reading. Even through the Acknowledgements.
The Shell Collector is a new genre for Howey. He calls it “something like an environmental thriller romance with a sci-fi dystopian aftertaste.� But once again, he immerses his readers with layers of themes, imagery, and mystery to deliver a story that’s truly profound.
- Ashley O’Brien, Copywriter and Freelance Writer in Massachusetts and Rhode Island
June 25, 2016
I read Hugh Howey's Wool trilogy a few years ago, and loved it so much I felt too much trepidation to read another of his books, incase it didn't live up to the same expectations. After a few lackluster reads I decided it was time to read more by an author I find intriguing. The Shell Collector is an ecological dystopian novel with a difference. I wasn't sure what to expect when I began reading it, it's different to the style of Wool in many ways (it's minus the Wool similarity to Game of Thrones of characters suddenly falling off this mortal coil), but it's excellent in its own way.
This is only my fourth Howey book (if you count the Wool trilogy individually), therefore I don't have many comparisons as to how this measures up to his usual style. I did read other reviews online before I bought this, with some commentators not impressed that this had a romance storyline running through it and romance is their least favourite genre. I read most genres, so this didn't worry me, and in comparison to other books the romance is negligible for the first 50% of the book. However, I can understand how some of the fans of Wool who avoid the romance genre may feel luke warm towards this book, and that if you don't particularly enjoy romance storylines and are only a die hard dystopian fan, then this book may not be your cup of tea.
The concept of the story is set at some undetermined (the year is revealed at one later on point in the book, but not the century) point in the future, where the oceans are dying, marine and bird life bordering on extinction and sea levels rising at rapid rates. Seashells have become rare and invaluable collectors items, with most of the worlds beaches pillaged clean of them.
He doesn't go into too much detail about how this is affecting human life and people still seem to be living relatively normal existences, just with the threat of a world heading into a climate meltdown with the sea levels rising and mass extinction of animals/mammals/sea life. Given what is happening today, this is a believable and scary storyline which grips the reader and makes you wonder if the damage our own planet is undergoing is reversible. It's not set so far into the future and is not so much dystopian fiction, as this could actually be us in another 50-100 years non fiction unless something changes.
I won't say too much more about the premise of the book - that is easily read on the description - apart from the story revolves around a female reporter who finds herself investigating and interviewing the rich, powerful, yet elusive man (the heir of a huge oil drilling corporation) whose family she deems responsible for much of the damage caused to the oceans.
The plot is simple, yet riveting. Probably because it is easy to imagine this world actually occurring in not so many years in the future. It would be a perfect beach read for the northern hemisphere summer (it's winter here in the southern half), with vivid descriptions of beaches, crashing waves and sea shells.
I give this book 4.5 stars, although because of the Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ system, I'll round it up to 5 rather than down to 4. Hugh's shown he can be an author with diversity in his writing style by trying out new genres and has produced another super interesting book touching on topical matters.
This is only my fourth Howey book (if you count the Wool trilogy individually), therefore I don't have many comparisons as to how this measures up to his usual style. I did read other reviews online before I bought this, with some commentators not impressed that this had a romance storyline running through it and romance is their least favourite genre. I read most genres, so this didn't worry me, and in comparison to other books the romance is negligible for the first 50% of the book. However, I can understand how some of the fans of Wool who avoid the romance genre may feel luke warm towards this book, and that if you don't particularly enjoy romance storylines and are only a die hard dystopian fan, then this book may not be your cup of tea.
The concept of the story is set at some undetermined (the year is revealed at one later on point in the book, but not the century) point in the future, where the oceans are dying, marine and bird life bordering on extinction and sea levels rising at rapid rates. Seashells have become rare and invaluable collectors items, with most of the worlds beaches pillaged clean of them.
He doesn't go into too much detail about how this is affecting human life and people still seem to be living relatively normal existences, just with the threat of a world heading into a climate meltdown with the sea levels rising and mass extinction of animals/mammals/sea life. Given what is happening today, this is a believable and scary storyline which grips the reader and makes you wonder if the damage our own planet is undergoing is reversible. It's not set so far into the future and is not so much dystopian fiction, as this could actually be us in another 50-100 years non fiction unless something changes.
I won't say too much more about the premise of the book - that is easily read on the description - apart from the story revolves around a female reporter who finds herself investigating and interviewing the rich, powerful, yet elusive man (the heir of a huge oil drilling corporation) whose family she deems responsible for much of the damage caused to the oceans.
The plot is simple, yet riveting. Probably because it is easy to imagine this world actually occurring in not so many years in the future. It would be a perfect beach read for the northern hemisphere summer (it's winter here in the southern half), with vivid descriptions of beaches, crashing waves and sea shells.
I give this book 4.5 stars, although because of the Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ system, I'll round it up to 5 rather than down to 4. Hugh's shown he can be an author with diversity in his writing style by trying out new genres and has produced another super interesting book touching on topical matters.
January 14, 2015
The Shell Collector ... not my cup of tea
I was mesmerized and immediately drawn in to the beginning of this story. The promise of a time when things in the world were not like they used to be -- Discovering and finding sea shells that have all but disappeared in the world. A top notch reporter working on stories to uncover the real truth behind the oil family who for generations may have caused the demise of the sea wildlife. Then suddenly, the story takes a big left turn and the story gets lost in romantic flights halfway around the world, love in a 2-man submarine at a depth of 20,000 feet, private islands private jets, research ships and helicopters. Yawn. There is still a plot, and many emotional outbreaks. Lots of ragged emotion, hyperventilating and tears. Champagne in bed too. Yawn yawn. The story had such promise. I was looking for magic. I wanted to know more about shelling, more about the treasures that were gone, and the treasures that were left behind. Maybe I was looking for a story like 'Sand', but one that involves water instead of sand. This just felt like a perky romance story. I am a Hugh Howey fan, and read most everything he publishes. This story just didn't satisfy.
I was mesmerized and immediately drawn in to the beginning of this story. The promise of a time when things in the world were not like they used to be -- Discovering and finding sea shells that have all but disappeared in the world. A top notch reporter working on stories to uncover the real truth behind the oil family who for generations may have caused the demise of the sea wildlife. Then suddenly, the story takes a big left turn and the story gets lost in romantic flights halfway around the world, love in a 2-man submarine at a depth of 20,000 feet, private islands private jets, research ships and helicopters. Yawn. There is still a plot, and many emotional outbreaks. Lots of ragged emotion, hyperventilating and tears. Champagne in bed too. Yawn yawn. The story had such promise. I was looking for magic. I wanted to know more about shelling, more about the treasures that were gone, and the treasures that were left behind. Maybe I was looking for a story like 'Sand', but one that involves water instead of sand. This just felt like a perky romance story. I am a Hugh Howey fan, and read most everything he publishes. This story just didn't satisfy.
January 3, 2015
Not typical Hugh Howey fare...too much like a romance novel which is just not my thing.
July 20, 2022
This book was really great and suspenseful. I loveeee this author!!??!! I also love that he shelled with his Mom and Grandmother. Oh, and that he thanked his Mom at the end.
March 13, 2021
This turned out to be sort of a dystopian romance, not really what I expected or hoped for after reading and enjoying seven other science fiction books by the author. I probably should've expected a romance as the novel was chiefly about two main characters who were adversaries at the start; I mean, they spend the whole novel together. C'mon, man.
In one corner we have a female journalist, Maya Walsh, who writes a shelling column for a major newspaper and is outraged like the rest of the world about global warming. In the other corner we have Ness Wilde, CEO of Ocean Oil, who owns many of the best shelling beaches and many other things in the world, and is the poster boy for fossil fuels, the main culprit in the global warming blame game. He is the most hated man in this dystopian future world. His family built this empire on oil extraction and the world paid is paying for it now. Ness (guess what he's named after?) contacts Maya because he wants to set the record straight in the press and Maya agrees to because she hates him and wants to take him down.
Enviro-adventures ensue as Ness shows her his empire of riches and islands, and fun sea toys. How will this all turn out? It kept me guessing right up until the very end.
I'm not a romance reader. I would guess fans of romance would enjoy this more than I did. I'll give this one 2.5 stars, rounded up to 3 stars based on the ending, which I though was really good. So, an overall positive rating from me. Howey IS a great storyteller.
In one corner we have a female journalist, Maya Walsh, who writes a shelling column for a major newspaper and is outraged like the rest of the world about global warming. In the other corner we have Ness Wilde, CEO of Ocean Oil, who owns many of the best shelling beaches and many other things in the world, and is the poster boy for fossil fuels, the main culprit in the global warming blame game. He is the most hated man in this dystopian future world. His family built this empire on oil extraction and the world paid is paying for it now. Ness (guess what he's named after?) contacts Maya because he wants to set the record straight in the press and Maya agrees to because she hates him and wants to take him down.
Enviro-adventures ensue as Ness shows her his empire of riches and islands, and fun sea toys. How will this all turn out? It kept me guessing right up until the very end.
I'm not a romance reader. I would guess fans of romance would enjoy this more than I did. I'll give this one 2.5 stars, rounded up to 3 stars based on the ending, which I though was really good. So, an overall positive rating from me. Howey IS a great storyteller.
September 14, 2018
1.5-2 stars
I found the whole audio uninspiring. Whilst the synopsis promised an interesting dystopian read with a splash of romance, I felt bored and I tried to power through but now I wonder why I wasted precious reading time. I found the heroine rather mundane and I really disliked the hero.
Decent narration.
I found the whole audio uninspiring. Whilst the synopsis promised an interesting dystopian read with a splash of romance, I felt bored and I tried to power through but now I wonder why I wasted precious reading time. I found the heroine rather mundane and I really disliked the hero.
Decent narration.
December 19, 2015
I probably would have given this book 2 stars had the jacket description actually described what the book was about however, it was entirely misleading. This is a romance book, and a boring one at that, although, I will be the first to admit that I have no interest in the genre to begin with.
The description led me to believe that this was going to be some kind of dystopian mystery. It was not. Don't fool yourself if you think it will be because you will be sorely disappointed.
For clarity, I generally do not read reviews before picking something up because I don't want to walk into a book with any preconceived notions. However, it sounds like I need to change my habits because the last few books I have read I could have avoided, had I read some reviews beforehand.
I picked this book up for four reasons: 1) I've heard that Howey's Wool / Silo Series is pretty good, so I tried to give him a try; 2) It had good ratings (again, I didn't read reviews); 3) the jacket description had me intrigued; and 4) It was cheap on Audible and I DIDN'T find it in the romance section.
Spoilers follow, or rather, a series of points as to why this book was a waste of my time.
The description led me to believe that this was going to be some kind of dystopian mystery. It was not. Don't fool yourself if you think it will be because you will be sorely disappointed.
For clarity, I generally do not read reviews before picking something up because I don't want to walk into a book with any preconceived notions. However, it sounds like I need to change my habits because the last few books I have read I could have avoided, had I read some reviews beforehand.
I picked this book up for four reasons: 1) I've heard that Howey's Wool / Silo Series is pretty good, so I tried to give him a try; 2) It had good ratings (again, I didn't read reviews); 3) the jacket description had me intrigued; and 4) It was cheap on Audible and I DIDN'T find it in the romance section.
Spoilers follow, or rather, a series of points as to why this book was a waste of my time.
February 7, 2017
I am angry at Hugh Howey for luring me into an atrocious romance novel when he promised a semi-dystopian crime. Why would you do this to me Hugh? You betrayed me! Now, any time I read one of your books, I have to ask myself if this is a romance in disguise.
Before I begin, a brief synopsis of how the novel begins its plot. Maya Walsh, a journalist , is writing about the family of Ness Wilde, who is incredibly rich due to oil and his massive shell collection. The world is flooded, and shells are rare. Ness asks for an exclusive interview with her, which she turns down. She then gets a call from the FBI asking her to help her investigate Ness because they believe he is creating fake shells. This also ties into a murder they are investigating.
All of this presents as an intriguing mystery for our heroine to unravel.
Too bad Maya is terrible at her job, and Howey threw up his hands in the air in regards to carrying out the plot and solving the mystery fully.
There were many things that irked me about this novel, and I have created a list of them. Hopefully this will serve as a warning to any of you before you decide that you'd like to give it a shot.
1. Why are shells so valuable? Where did they all go? What impact is this having on the environment? - I hope these questions never pop up in your head, because Howey doesn't answer them. He just hopes you'll accept them as facts.
2. What about other sea life? Another good question. Too bad these is no answer.
3. There is a man named Ness, who was named
4. Howey uses a lot of shell metaphors. Maya hates her shell, she hides in a shell, Ness's whole facade is a shell, relationships are shells, the TMNT are heroes in a half shell, etc. etc.
5. There is a prolonged and unrealistic scene where the main character bonds with Ness's daughter, never asking questions about her dad that might be relevant to the case.
6. It turns into a romance novel for no good reason, and Maya seems to throw many of her career duties out the window.
7. Maya acts like 32 is crazy old.
8. Ness is a big harmless lug the whole novel, and regardless, at one point in the novel
9. The murder
10. Maya, who apparently loves the sea, is taken into the down deeps with Ness in a sub. Instead of marveling about how cool it is to be under the sea in the sub, the two disrobe and have a poorly written make out scene. She then gushes on and on about making out with Ness, and sounded like a girl half her age.
I feel like ten reasons should be enough to dissuade you from giving this book the time of day. Consider yourself warned.
Before I begin, a brief synopsis of how the novel begins its plot. Maya Walsh, a journalist , is writing about the family of Ness Wilde, who is incredibly rich due to oil and his massive shell collection. The world is flooded, and shells are rare. Ness asks for an exclusive interview with her, which she turns down. She then gets a call from the FBI asking her to help her investigate Ness because they believe he is creating fake shells. This also ties into a murder they are investigating.
All of this presents as an intriguing mystery for our heroine to unravel.
Too bad Maya is terrible at her job, and Howey threw up his hands in the air in regards to carrying out the plot and solving the mystery fully.
There were many things that irked me about this novel, and I have created a list of them. Hopefully this will serve as a warning to any of you before you decide that you'd like to give it a shot.
1. Why are shells so valuable? Where did they all go? What impact is this having on the environment? - I hope these questions never pop up in your head, because Howey doesn't answer them. He just hopes you'll accept them as facts.
2. What about other sea life? Another good question. Too bad these is no answer.
3. There is a man named Ness, who was named
4. Howey uses a lot of shell metaphors. Maya hates her shell, she hides in a shell, Ness's whole facade is a shell, relationships are shells, the TMNT are heroes in a half shell, etc. etc.
5. There is a prolonged and unrealistic scene where the main character bonds with Ness's daughter, never asking questions about her dad that might be relevant to the case.
6. It turns into a romance novel for no good reason, and Maya seems to throw many of her career duties out the window.
7. Maya acts like 32 is crazy old.
8. Ness is a big harmless lug the whole novel, and regardless, at one point in the novel
9. The murder
10. Maya, who apparently loves the sea, is taken into the down deeps with Ness in a sub. Instead of marveling about how cool it is to be under the sea in the sub, the two disrobe and have a poorly written make out scene. She then gushes on and on about making out with Ness, and sounded like a girl half her age.
I feel like ten reasons should be enough to dissuade you from giving this book the time of day. Consider yourself warned.
December 2, 2014
Another Hugh Howey book. Another vision of the future.
This time out, however, the future isn’t so bleak and isn’t a terrifying place to be. In fact, in The Shell Collector, the world he’s created has been decimated by rising sea levels, but the story is bright and hopeful, a stark contrast to the previous trips to the future we’ve taken with him.
I really enjoyed The Shell Collector as a speculative fiction romance, featuring Maya Walsh as the intrepid reporter, trying to unearth the truth about Ness Wilde, the CEO of Ocean Oil. Wilde and his family are pariahs because of the earth’s condition; sea levels rose in no small part to the ways the Wildes have abused the earth’s resources over the years. But, as she gets to know Ness, she discovers that the story she is planning does not accurately paint him or his family. That there is far more behind the man.
Throughout it all is a search for elusive shells, which have become collector’s items and currency in this futuristic society when shells have all become rare due to the ocean conditions.
This book is vastly different than anything I’ve seen from Howey before, but there are themes that he has certainly tapped into again. A prominent one is going beneath the surface of the earth. In WOOL, the deeper the characters went, the more the sparks of rebellion grew. In Sand, the deeper the divers went, the more death and despair crept in. In both, claustrophobia was present, but the way out was usually through death.
In The Shell Collector, Howey again takes our characters deep—this time to the ocean’s floor to see the creation of new life in the volcanic hearth in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean. Claustrophobia is present, but this time, our characters experience hope and healing. The shells that each of them are for different reasons, are given new life in a submarine at the bottom of the world, and they discover each other in the process. Unlike in WOOL or Sand, where the depths of the earth usually lead to death, Howey utilizes the intense pressure to create love and affection between our protagonists.
Science fiction plays a role in this book, to be sure, but it is a light one. Howey has created a romance novel and a good one at that. The plot was consistently pushed along by twists and turns, but wasn’t bogged down by unnecessary points where Howey could have devolved the story to erotica levels. Howey once again shows he knows how to write, no matter the genre or convention. Well done!
This time out, however, the future isn’t so bleak and isn’t a terrifying place to be. In fact, in The Shell Collector, the world he’s created has been decimated by rising sea levels, but the story is bright and hopeful, a stark contrast to the previous trips to the future we’ve taken with him.
I really enjoyed The Shell Collector as a speculative fiction romance, featuring Maya Walsh as the intrepid reporter, trying to unearth the truth about Ness Wilde, the CEO of Ocean Oil. Wilde and his family are pariahs because of the earth’s condition; sea levels rose in no small part to the ways the Wildes have abused the earth’s resources over the years. But, as she gets to know Ness, she discovers that the story she is planning does not accurately paint him or his family. That there is far more behind the man.
Throughout it all is a search for elusive shells, which have become collector’s items and currency in this futuristic society when shells have all become rare due to the ocean conditions.
This book is vastly different than anything I’ve seen from Howey before, but there are themes that he has certainly tapped into again. A prominent one is going beneath the surface of the earth. In WOOL, the deeper the characters went, the more the sparks of rebellion grew. In Sand, the deeper the divers went, the more death and despair crept in. In both, claustrophobia was present, but the way out was usually through death.
In The Shell Collector, Howey again takes our characters deep—this time to the ocean’s floor to see the creation of new life in the volcanic hearth in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean. Claustrophobia is present, but this time, our characters experience hope and healing. The shells that each of them are for different reasons, are given new life in a submarine at the bottom of the world, and they discover each other in the process. Unlike in WOOL or Sand, where the depths of the earth usually lead to death, Howey utilizes the intense pressure to create love and affection between our protagonists.
Science fiction plays a role in this book, to be sure, but it is a light one. Howey has created a romance novel and a good one at that. The plot was consistently pushed along by twists and turns, but wasn’t bogged down by unnecessary points where Howey could have devolved the story to erotica levels. Howey once again shows he knows how to write, no matter the genre or convention. Well done!
December 3, 2014
This book is like nothing else Hugh Howey has written so don't read it expecting WOOL or SAND. Hugh describes this as 1/3 dystopia, 1/3 romance, 1/3 environmental mystery. One of my personal barometers of an excellent writer is the ability to write in mutiple genres and Hugh certainly proves that ability in The Shell Collector. I finished this book with tears in my eyes. My biggest complaint would be that I wanted MORE. I did not want it to end, I wanted more details about Maya's parents, and I definitely wanted more Ness.
One of the reasons this book feels so different than Hugh's other book is the dystopia is so recognizable as our current world. While the book shows us a damaged world, it isn't one that feels foreign. There is an environmental message in it, one that I can relate to.
There is romance and mild sexual themes in this book. I love romance and wouldn't have minded more sex. Maybe it is just me and my dirty mind.
Hugh challenges are notions of evil and monsters. The book had a soul searching quality which I quite enjoyed. Maya's character tells the story in 1st person so the reader learns more as the story unfolds.
Once again, Hugh proves I will read anything he ever writes.
One of the reasons this book feels so different than Hugh's other book is the dystopia is so recognizable as our current world. While the book shows us a damaged world, it isn't one that feels foreign. There is an environmental message in it, one that I can relate to.
There is romance and mild sexual themes in this book. I love romance and wouldn't have minded more sex. Maybe it is just me and my dirty mind.
Hugh challenges are notions of evil and monsters. The book had a soul searching quality which I quite enjoyed. Maya's character tells the story in 1st person so the reader learns more as the story unfolds.
Once again, Hugh proves I will read anything he ever writes.
January 12, 2015
In Wool, Shift, and Dust, Hugh Howey showed us his mastery of a future in which humanity has caused it's own downfall. He told complicated stories of a far future that we can deflect as being truly fiction. In the shell collector, Howey tells a less dramatic yet much more disturbing tale of a not so distant future. This future is more disturbing, not because of it's magnitude, but because it is such a believable extrapolation of todays world.
The shell collector tells the story of a NY Times reporter, trying to dig up some dirt on an oil magnate called Ness. The setting is a world in which shells have become a most valuable commodity, not for their beauty, but for their rarity, for the animals which create these shells as their homes have become extinct.
This story combines the all too familiar stories of: big oil, political lobbying, fear of the 'un-natural', and public opinion gone wrong. Though these stories are familiar, they are brought together to tell a new story of caution in more ways that you might expect.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. At times it was heartbreaking, beautiful, and nostalgic, not always at the same time, but always with an intensity that made me feel as well as think.
The shell collector tells the story of a NY Times reporter, trying to dig up some dirt on an oil magnate called Ness. The setting is a world in which shells have become a most valuable commodity, not for their beauty, but for their rarity, for the animals which create these shells as their homes have become extinct.
This story combines the all too familiar stories of: big oil, political lobbying, fear of the 'un-natural', and public opinion gone wrong. Though these stories are familiar, they are brought together to tell a new story of caution in more ways that you might expect.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. At times it was heartbreaking, beautiful, and nostalgic, not always at the same time, but always with an intensity that made me feel as well as think.
December 18, 2014
Wow, I loved the Silo books, but this was unfortunately an incredible FAIL.
Although the premise of the book is to present a future greatly impacted by climate change, the reader comes away with the impression that there are only a few inconveniences: flooding (but we can invest in big projects to protect large cities and people on the coasts have to move, big deal) and wildlife extinction (leading to the main character's unconvincing nostalgic thoughts about the disappearance of shell fish and of seagulls when she goes to the beach, but no serious consequences). Seriously? No mention at all of major impacts on the human food chain, water shortages, massive migration, resource wars?
I started reading expecting good sci-fi, and all I got was this ridiculous romance novel. The Love Interest "has more money than God", is super hunky, has a heart of gold, is using (part of) his ridiculous wealth to save the world, AND falls madly in love with the main character.
Although the premise of the book is to present a future greatly impacted by climate change, the reader comes away with the impression that there are only a few inconveniences: flooding (but we can invest in big projects to protect large cities and people on the coasts have to move, big deal) and wildlife extinction (leading to the main character's unconvincing nostalgic thoughts about the disappearance of shell fish and of seagulls when she goes to the beach, but no serious consequences). Seriously? No mention at all of major impacts on the human food chain, water shortages, massive migration, resource wars?
I started reading expecting good sci-fi, and all I got was this ridiculous romance novel. The Love Interest "has more money than God", is super hunky, has a heart of gold, is using (part of) his ridiculous wealth to save the world, AND falls madly in love with the main character.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 9, 2016
don't expect this book to be anything like the silo or sand series. it's a romance story with a bit of an ecological disaster twist. i read it all the way because i love Howey's writing, but...the scientific setting for the story is flawed in my opinion, the male character is not believable, and the ending predictable after a point. it's not that i particularly look at characters when i read howey. rather, it's the idea, the vision, the gloomy story and setting, the suspense and mystery, the action that i'm always looking for, the way he builds a world from top to bottom and every detail is fascinating, and in that field, he is a master. but when the whole book is about just two people, you notice that they're rather stereotypical, superficially constructed - the strong woman who doesn't take crap from anyone, with a heart breaking back story, the poor rich boy. it just wasn't my thing, i guess
December 26, 2014
I wanted to love it, but could barely stand it. the premise for the storyline was a great concept. the main character was so cliche. a broken, but strong woman who immediately falls for the rich handsome guy, who may or may not be evil. there was promise, but the insipid, implausible love story that took over ruined it for me.
October 2, 2015
I am a HUGE fan of Hugh Howey's books. I've adored Wool/Silo series and Sand enormously and whilst I admire him venturing into a new genre this, this is disappointing.
The romance is so predicable for reasons already explained in detail by other reviewers. And the crying, there is so much crying in this book and the depiction of the female character made me want to cry.
The romance is so predicable for reasons already explained in detail by other reviewers. And the crying, there is so much crying in this book and the depiction of the female character made me want to cry.
February 27, 2015
Not the typical Hugh Howey dystopian read but it was captivating from start to finish.
Read
October 9, 2020The near-future setting was interesting and the protagonist's memories of searching for shells as a child in the book's beginning helped convey the impact of the dramatic loss of marine life later on. I was intrigued and hooked from the start and was quite happy reading until it became (read this next part in Fred Savage's child character in the ): a kissing book. I hate kissing books!
I appreciate Howey's openness to cross or mix genres between post-disaster scifi with romance. And I've tried to make myself be a little more open to romances. Honestly I have. (I know it must be some weird psychological flaw I have.) But he followed the romance formula so faithfully that I had my usual frustration with it: the narrative suffers as the pheromones increase and the plot is tossed aside along with the protagonists' clothing.
Brief interludes are fine, but at one point I wanted to reach into the book, tap the narrator's shoulder and ask, "I'd kinda like to know what's going with the shells and I think you've relayed all the information about his anatomy that I find useful at this point. Should I go make a sandwich or read another book until you're done?"
I have that issue with most romances, particularly where things move really fast and without much logic. It's particularly frustrating when characters who are supposed to be sensible (or even brilliant) suddenly jump to conclusions about each other to increase tension, then jump on each other passionately, and then irrationally jump to more conclusions about each other to add more tension. But I suppose sensibility and rationality make boring love stories, and for those who don't mind books that sacrifice those for love, I recommend this book wholeheartedly.* It's not a bleak book at all, so don't fear the marine catastrophe aspect too much.
But for me, I wish that half the pages spent on intimacies or silly accusations could have been spent on fleshing out the challenges of resolving the marine life crisis. Or at the very least, an equal amount of time. I did like learning about the various seashells and intend to pay a lot more attention to them whenever I can go to the shore and see some again. I've loved all the other books that I've read by Howey, so I'm still open to reading anything else he writes.
*Note, the book is written in present tense which I found framed the near-future setting nicely. But since I know that some people have an almost physical aversion to fiction written in that style, you might want to preview a portion first to see if you're ok with it.
I appreciate Howey's openness to cross or mix genres between post-disaster scifi with romance. And I've tried to make myself be a little more open to romances. Honestly I have. (I know it must be some weird psychological flaw I have.) But he followed the romance formula so faithfully that I had my usual frustration with it: the narrative suffers as the pheromones increase and the plot is tossed aside along with the protagonists' clothing.
Brief interludes are fine, but at one point I wanted to reach into the book, tap the narrator's shoulder and ask, "I'd kinda like to know what's going with the shells and I think you've relayed all the information about his anatomy that I find useful at this point. Should I go make a sandwich or read another book until you're done?"
I have that issue with most romances, particularly where things move really fast and without much logic. It's particularly frustrating when characters who are supposed to be sensible (or even brilliant) suddenly jump to conclusions about each other to increase tension, then jump on each other passionately, and then irrationally jump to more conclusions about each other to add more tension. But I suppose sensibility and rationality make boring love stories, and for those who don't mind books that sacrifice those for love, I recommend this book wholeheartedly.* It's not a bleak book at all, so don't fear the marine catastrophe aspect too much.
But for me, I wish that half the pages spent on intimacies or silly accusations could have been spent on fleshing out the challenges of resolving the marine life crisis. Or at the very least, an equal amount of time. I did like learning about the various seashells and intend to pay a lot more attention to them whenever I can go to the shore and see some again. I've loved all the other books that I've read by Howey, so I'm still open to reading anything else he writes.
*Note, the book is written in present tense which I found framed the near-future setting nicely. But since I know that some people have an almost physical aversion to fiction written in that style, you might want to preview a portion first to see if you're ok with it.
August 21, 2017
So this one was possibly my least favorite Hugh Howey book to date. I don't know quite how to pinpoint an exact reason as to why that is, but I just felt like it fell short a bit when it comes to the characters. I wasn't incredibly compelled by the main character. The story was alright, interesting enough a concept of a flooded world. The idea of shell collecting, alright, I can see it, but. Meh. It's not a bad book it's just that I've come to expect so much from every Hugh Howey book... I dunno it just didn't do it for me. It's ok though I still love Hugh Howey and now 99.9 percent of his books. Lol :D This is the .1 percent that I don't love, but don't exactly dislike either.
January 19, 2023
Set in a dystopian future where seashells are more valuable than gold.
After reading the Wool trilogy, I thought I'd try this freebie on Kindle Unlimited.
It was a great read. I loved the descriptions about deep-sea diving and going in a submarine thousands of feet below the ocean. The romance didn't take a whole lot of the book and seemed fitting for the story.
I shall definitely look out for more of his books.
After reading the Wool trilogy, I thought I'd try this freebie on Kindle Unlimited.
It was a great read. I loved the descriptions about deep-sea diving and going in a submarine thousands of feet below the ocean. The romance didn't take a whole lot of the book and seemed fitting for the story.
I shall definitely look out for more of his books.
June 21, 2022
This was not what I expected. Maya and Nes both surprised me at turns. Their individual love for the ocean warmed my own ocean-loving heart. Both were as unfair to themselves as they were to each other. The story gave me hope that perhaps we can salvage some things for the Earth before we take it all too far.
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