Suspend reality this fall with two relatively new series with similar backdrops – in a tower looming over a desert and inside a post-apocalyptic silo extending deep into the earth.

“The Books of Babel” by Josiah Bancroft, recommended to me by Kelsey at the Ishpeming Carnegie Library, is steampunk fantasy. Fans eagerly await book four, the concluding book, due in 2020.

Book One, “Senlin Ascends” The story of an unlikely couple (Senlin, a reserved academic and Marya, a passionate pianist) who take a train trip to the single, most important destination in their world, the Tower of Babel. Although it is his first tower visit, Senlin is a self-proclaimed expert in all things Tower of Babel, or so he thinks. Upon arrival, Senlin quickly loses Marya in a market at the base of the tower and his knowledge of the tower and, eventually, of himself, are put to the test.

Book Two, “Arm of the Sphinx” It becomes clear that Senlin’s tower guidebooks are inaccurate and useless. It is when he finds himself jailed in a cage suspended on the side of the tower that Senlin realizes that he knows only one thing, that he doesn’t know anything at all.

Book Three, “The Hod King” Senlin has found his courage and a team to help him, yet he’s trapped in the middle of an impostor complex, wondering when everyone will figure out that he’s just a mild-mannered schoolmaster who has no idea what he’s doing. He meets someone who offers to help but with terms that may place his quest and companions in jeopardy.

Hugh Howey self-published “Wool” in 2001, and it became a Kindle bestseller. “Wool” is now book one of “Silo,” a dystopian, post-apocalyptic Science Fiction trilogy. The book titles indicate the progress of the storyline. In “Wool,” the characters question the story of the world around them in an effort to remove the wool that has been pulled over their eyes. In “Shift,” there is a shift in thinking and of what’s possible. Lastly, in “Dust,” the characters, once and for all, face the ominous toxic dust.

Book One, “Wool” Howey helps us imagine what it’s like to live in an underground silo. At night, we sneak up with Lukas to the top level to gaze at stars through dirty windows. We look at the night sky and start thinking about the vastness of the universe. We begin to see beyond the story we’ve been told as truth. With Juliette, we hear about past uprisings and we wonder, in the face of the safe and comfortable life we have, what idea or event could possibly have motivated our ancestors to rise up?

Book Two, “Shift” This book gives us the backstory for Wool as we meet the silo founders, those who want to save the future in case of war (Thurman), design great big beautiful things (Donald), and save love at all costs (Anna). We meet the early generations who “live under the rules of a document they have never read.” We meet Solo, back in time when his name was Jimmy, and we experience the violent silo uprising that changed his life.

Book Three, “Dust” The effort to break free of the silo continues with Juliette working to overcome the physical structures that keep her people powerless and in the dark. We meet Charlotte, who didn’t grow up in the silo and remembers what life was like before, making her thoughts dangerous. Through these people, we discover the dark truth behind who is responsible for the “end the world,” the toxic dust, the silos, the document, and the rules – a cautionary tale of harm born from good intentions.

By Tonia Bickford

Circulation