Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book
Rate this book
A world covered in ice...
A missile silo prepped for war...
Threats looming everywhere... After a new ice age smothered the planet, most perished along with the sunlight, leaving only the desperate. It was kill or be killed, pitting neighbor against neighbor in an epic battle for survival.

Now humanity is almost gone.

Armed camps remain.

For some, strength comes in numbers, attacking anything that moves in a blur of anger and revenge.

For others, keeping their dignity and a few scavenged items are the only things worth saving.

It’s the classic struggle of good versus evil.

Except no one truly knows which side they’re on.

274 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 17, 2019

1146 people are currently reading
367 people want to read

About the author

Jay J. Falconer

45 books186 followers
Jay J. Falconer is an award-winning screenwriter and USA Today Bestselling Author whose books have hit #1 on Amazon in Action & Adventure, Military Sci-Fi, Post-Apocalyptic, Dystopian, Terrorism Thrillers, Technothrillers, Military Thrillers, Young Adult, and Men's Adventure fiction. He lives in the high mountains of northern Arizona where the brisk, clean air and stunning views inspire his day.

When he's not busy working on his next project, he's out training, shooting, hunting, or preparing for whatever comes next.

You can find more information about this author and his books at www.JayFalconer.com.

Awards and Accolades:
2020 USA Today Bestselling Book: Origins of Honor
2018 Winner: Best Sci-Fi Screenplay, Los Angeles Film Awards
2018 Winner: Best Feature Screenplay, New York Film Awards
2018 Winner: Best Screenplay, Skyline Indie Film Festival
2018 Winner: Best Feature Screenplay, Top Indie Film Awards
2018 Winner: Best Feature Screenplay, Festigious International Film Festival - Los Angeles
2018 Winner: Best Sci-Fi Screenplay, Filmmatic Screenplay Awards
2018 Finalist: Best Screenplay, Action on Film Awards in Las Vegas
2018 Third Place: First Time Screenwriters Competition, Barcelona International Film Festival
2019 Bronze Medal: Best Feature Script, Global Independent Film Awards
2017 Gold Medalist: Best YA Action Book, Readers' Favorite International Book Awards
2016 Gold Medalist: Best Dystopia Book, Readers' Favorite International Book Awards
Amazon Kindle Scout Winning Author

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
246 (34%)
4 stars
219 (30%)
3 stars
166 (23%)
2 stars
58 (8%)
1 star
23 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews
Profile Image for Howard.
2,126 reviews120 followers
November 22, 2024
3 Stars for Silo: Extinction Series, Book 1 (audiobook) by Jay J. Falconer read by Gary Tiedemann.

For me, it’s hard not to constantly compare this story to Wool which also takes place in a silo. Wool’s story is much simpler and much more character driven to this one. Silo so far seems like the author tried to compiled as many tropes together as he could. And this first book is really just a setup for the series.
1 review
August 20, 2020
Talk about men writing women...

Couldn't get past the second chapter due to the sudden immature writing of the author. The female character begins the book running from zombies. As she's about to get attacked in chapter two, she suddenly realized she's never seen a female zombie. She, moments from engaging in battle for her life, thinks, "they must've eaten all the women, not in a good way... Am I about to die a virgin? *Ta-hee*" Hard pass, y'all.
Profile Image for RANGER.
314 reviews29 followers
February 21, 2022
Weak, unrealistic post-apocalyptic storyline with an even weaker, less real protagonist
Silo (Book 1) is the second post-apocalyptic novel I have read by Jay J. Falconer. The first one, the first in the Bunker series, had some good possibilities but it was less than I expected given the novel's premise. Yet, I did feel that sequels in that series could flesh out the lead character and give the series potential. However, I refused to follow-up with the sequel as I feared Jay J. Falconer would repeat one of that novel's grievous sins that are prevalent in self-published books and which I absolutely cannot tolerate -- using pointless drama and small-minded character conflicts to create tension and drive unreal human interactions to create more drama and calling it a storyline. It's called soap opera plotting and it ruins most post-apocalyptic novels written by world-builders who really have no story to tell. *sigh*
Silo caught my attention because bunkers fascinate me and I was actually going on vacation to visit the Titan Missile Silo Museum in Green Valley, AZ. And the silo in the novel is a Titan II missile silo.
Also, I hate the cold. And the cover photo of an artic post-apocalyptic world on the surface above the silo got my attention.
I figured I was onto something -- maybe a cross between "Damnation Alley" and "The Colony."
But I was wrong. You really cannot judge a book by it's cover... or it's summary premise.
Silo is actually more like that terrible, "young adult" novel serialization that became a monster hit as a omnibus edition, "Wool" by Hugh Howey. I hated that book.
Silo is like Wool in many ways. First, there is the unskilled, unlikeable, unrealistic "strong female that everyone loves" protagonist -- a teenage female who, despite having no leadership ability or particular gift or wisdom, is destined to become the next leader of the people in the silo -- because that's the ridiculous plotline created by the author. I forgot the girl's name in Wool. In Silo it's Summer Lane, the adopted daughter of the Silo's original visionary leader, Dr. Edison, who founded the survivalist community of Nirvana in a Titan II Missile Silo in anticipation of whatever it was that caused the artic freeze on the surface that is now melting faster than a Midwinter Michigan snowman FEDEXed to Miami, Florida, for a school show-and-tell.
Her name is Summer, get it? A name symbolizing hope for a brighter, warmer future. A juxtaposition against that brutal cold atmosphere above ground. *yawn*
Second, the world outside in both novel's is perilous... but in the case of Wool, where people die when exposed to the polluted surface above the silo, it created a construct for the author to develop a whole secret underground history of life in the multiple silos created to sustain human life... with no end-state for ever leaving. It was a pretty creepy scenario. In Silo, it's cold on the surface... but hardly artic cold. It's seems more like a cold winter night in Southwest Texas than the artic depiction on the book cover. That there are naked human cannibals roaming the surface proves this is no artic apocalypse. Just false advertising by the author. *sigh*
Anyway, none of the characters here make any sense. The protagonist, Summer Lane, is in a personality conflict with Krista Carr, the Nirvana Security Chief. How a female boat mechanic from the pre-apocalypse US Army ever became like the female Delta Force commando depicted here in Krista is beyond me. But I actually found myself cheering her on in her conflicts with Summer. Krista was certainly a better candidate to lead the Nirvana community than Summer... but common sense means nothing in books like this.
The plausibility factor came into play in this review. The Nirvana community is large enough to have a complex governmental structure led by a committee of key people with Dr. Edison the key vote. During the course of the novel, so many new people come in that original members like Summer don't recognize them. It's a depiction of a community size that is too large for an actual Titan II Missile silo, as I discovered on my trip to Green Valley, AZ. While the launch silo, emptied of the massive Titan II missile COULD be turned into small living units one on top of each other to accommodate more people, in the book we are told that the empty rocket launch area is dedicated to hydroponic farming. The actual quarters including the command center in a Titan II silo was only ever designed to house a four-man crew. But I digress.
I don't want to get too far into the weeds on this novel's plot. I simply had no taste for the story. Like a good trooper, I read the book to the bitter end. But I wish I'd read something else.
Needless to say, there is a community of people still living on the surface, and another group of military-biker types living in their own bunker complex and most of the plot involves our "heroine," Summer, getting into pointless drama breaking the various rules meant to govern all the various faction relations.
The military-biker types are led by a sociopathic scoundrel named Frost. His motto is "Failure is not an option" and he is depicted as unexpectedly dispatching people on his team who make any petty mistakes. In a lawless, post-apocalyptic world, a tyrant like that wouldn't last too long. He is simply depicted as too over the top to be a credible or realistic leader of military men. And this depiction only adds to my opinion that this is an adolescent themed novel aimed at adolescent readers who are addicted to adolescent dystopian novels populated by adolescent characters. *sigh*
Pass on this one, people. Go find a copy of "Monkey Planet," the classic 1963 science fiction novel by French author Pierre Boulle instead. Now THAT is a post-apocalyptic novel that needs to make a comeback!
Profile Image for Pam Shelton-Anderson.
1,961 reviews65 followers
November 20, 2021
I struggled to engage with this book. The writing is generally good and the plot of survivors of catastrophic volcanic eruptions had promise. Unfortunately, I was not able to connect with any of the characters. The leaders of the two factions were problematic; one was a homicidal sadist and the other an unrealistic softie. The "Artful Dodger"-esc Summer was just annoying. Krista ended up being more interesting. She is rigid but not wrong in wanting discipline in their base and from the people and ends up going to great lengths to save Summer from Frost. The Nomad also had some interest as a mysterious force. I was toying with giving the second book a try, until Nirvana's silly rules of succession made the erratic teen, Summer, their leader. Just nope.
Profile Image for Wendy.
2,371 reviews45 followers
January 6, 2020
Set in a violent environment after the ash from a massive eruption of volcanoes blocked out the sun causing a planetary new ice age, starvation and a shortage of supplies, “Silo: Summer’s End” the first book in the “Frozen World” series opens with Summer Lane a Seeker returning from a scavenging mission into forbidden territory. Pursued by a band of cannibalistic Scabs she’s saved by one of Simon Frost’s military patrols which temporarily allows her to go on her way. But in a world where survival of the fittest is a way of life and borders between enemy camps are rigidly patrolled, all too soon Summer is pursued by another of Frost’s teams, barely escaping capture and death.

In the missile silo where Summer lives, trouble also brews as her delay in returning has been noticed by hard-nosed, rule-oriented Security Chief Krista Carr who is determined to oust her from “Nirvana” for not obeying the rules. With little support from the leader Dr. Edison, Krista pursues her request with the Council only to have her plan to be seen as a strong future leader thwarted especially after Summer’s thrown into the brig.

In an electrifying thrill-ride filled with betrayal, deception, violence and death the action ramps up with Summer’s escape from Frost’s men; a plot to exile her; to be confronted by the outcome of her lies at a negotiation meeting; and an attack by hundreds of Scabs. Fast-paced the action never stops with the intervention of a mysterious "Nomad", defections and new allegiances as the death toll rises. All too quickly the plot progresses to an explosive cliff-hanger that paves the way for a second book.

Among the compelling and multi-dimensional characters is Summer Lane, a clever young risk-taker who’s well-liked by many in the silo; short-tempered, bloodthirsty and cruel Simon Frost; kindhearted, decision-maker Dr. Edison; and the tough, no-nonsense, proud and driven Krista Carr. All these personalities and others infuse the plot with excitement, high tension and suspense.

I thoroughly enjoyed “Silo: Summer’s End” and can’t wait to read the second book in the series.
28 reviews
January 5, 2020
Started OK but summer became annoying pretty quickly...
The side story seemed interesting but wasn't followed up in the first book
The ending put me off getting the second book
273 reviews3 followers
January 26, 2025
I bought the wrong Silo book, but figured I'd give it a try. This is not the book that is described in the summary. Writing is boring and the action is barely describable as such. DNF
Profile Image for Dylan Casciano.
7 reviews
July 5, 2025
The character arc of the dog, Sgt. Barkley, was the part I liked the most.
Profile Image for Sara Sykora.
93 reviews4 followers
February 13, 2020
Silo: Summer's End is a fantastic start to another series written by ML Banner.

I really enjoyed the cast of characters in this book. They had great arcs and pulled you into the story right away. Just when you thought you didn't like someone or liked someone, your opinion of them changes. The story kept you going so that you didn't want to put it down. And the end, oh my goodness, the end.

I am picking up book two today, I need to know what happens!!!
12 reviews
January 9, 2020
The author created an interested sudden ice age future, but his characters are very unrealistic and some of the circumstances quite improbable. I'm interested in the full story but I don't think it's worth the time to read the rest of the series as there are so many really good books waiting for my time.
22 reviews1 follower
December 30, 2019
Not sure...

Summer was a pretty irritating character. The ancillary characters are more interesting. I thought about abandoning it but kept going in the end. I may try the second one before making up my mind.
35 reviews
February 3, 2021
An interesting beginning of a story

A good story line and fairly fast moving. The author is a gifted storyteller and well worth reading. I will be following this series to see if he keeps up.
10 reviews
January 25, 2020
Not sure if I'll continue with the series. Started out ok, but the problem is I don't really care about Summer. Maybe I'll come back to it at some point
444 reviews3 followers
February 12, 2020
Interesting concept

I enjoyed this story especially the wide assortment of characters whom are very beleivable. Hopefully the stiry will continue to be as interesting as this one.
Profile Image for measure twice.
395 reviews
Read
April 21, 2020
2 / a recognized selfish, unreliable, compulsive lying child is made leader of a group of survivors?
Profile Image for O.
23 reviews
January 29, 2025
The attempt for inclusivity, by having lead female characters, was deeply appreciated. Equally appreciated was when I stopped listening to the audiobook midway.
31 reviews
April 25, 2025
The characters had no dimension. Especially the women. Was the book originally longer then chopped into shorter ones? It seemed like all but the last chapter was setting up, then rushed all plot advancement in that last chapter. Yet I still don't understand what's happening. How old is Summer?? She has memories from before the event, which seems to have been 10-15 years ago so logically she's got to be in her 20s, yet she's continually described as 'girl', small, young, snot nosed, needs to grow up. Which, someone living through the end of the world and tasked with scavenging for supplies while cannibals roam the area, you wouldn't expect to hear them described as immature. But what CAN NOT get over is the multiple references to a woman's stretch marks on her stomach only possible cause is by giving birth. It is one of the dumbest things I've ever read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Cyn.
612 reviews4 followers
August 5, 2024
Eh ... it's okay. I'm not sure if it was the story itself or the narrator, but this just didn't work for me like I had hoped. I'd seen a tiny bit of the Apple TV show that was based on this series and I guess i expected something better. But it was rather dull and boring most of the time. And the main character of Summer is far too annoying to like her very much. Most of the characters are rather flat and unlikable. None of this bodes well for the chances of me continuing with the books. I might just stick to the Apple show instead.
Profile Image for Bookish Fam.
305 reviews2 followers
November 19, 2025
Silo is a dystopian, action packed book about rebuilding society after everything has been destroyed. This has all the things you expect from this type of book: clashing groups that are just trying to survive, not really humans that hunt and eat people, and a mystery of why Summer seems to be the chosen one. Some people try to rebuild actual society, others try to build military to survive. Some of the conversations just seem awkward, and it’s a little confusing about whose perspective you’re reading from. Overall, I enjoyed listening to this book tho!
665 reviews6 followers
June 19, 2022
Wow what an ending!

I would like to see another book so many loose ends. Summer and gang leave Nirvana to meet Blackstone people . There are unknowns ahead.
Fletcher destroys Nirvana and takes The Nomads female scabs. Not a good idea. When he sees the destruction and loss he is set for revenge , which he goes after. I don't like to write too much of the story in a review, so trust me there is plenty of action and surprises .
These books are a series that are best read in order and it does stop here. That doesn't mean there are not further story lines the author could pursue . I would personally love to read more, e.g. Summer's story continued, Cravens story, and wasn't there someone left behind when The Nomad took off?
There, I said it twice!!!
31 reviews
July 15, 2025
Sorry but disappointing. Based on the write up and book cover, I thought is would be something different. But it ended up being another tiny young female novel with her beating up large men, using “me too” tactics to get what she wanted. Couldn’t bring myself to read the second book with her commanding the entire group of survivors.
3 reviews
December 3, 2025
An interesting new series.

There is a huge area here for our primary heroine to grow and learn, along with peripheral characters who obviously will be playing a major part in coming books. This book set the stage, but most of the story has yet to develop. I suspect it will be an interesting ride.
Profile Image for Barry L. McGuire.
12 reviews
November 23, 2021
Constant Bickering

It’s a good storyline but the endless arguing between characters takes away from the story’s momentum and becomes very tedious. Hopefully it will be toned down in #4, I’d like to find out where the story goes from here.
Profile Image for JoEllen McClendon.
36 reviews
November 25, 2021
silo is a good read

I have enjoyed this book, it’s well worth the read. The characters are believable and the storyline is different. Moving on to the next in the series to continue the tale and se where it goes .
Profile Image for Saint Vitas.
219 reviews3 followers
November 14, 2023
Ten years after an event and things are falling apart

More than I expected. The survivors are very hard individuals who only interact monthly to trade, but not trust. I can see all of this happening.
4 reviews
January 24, 2024
Definitely an entertaining read.

Silo Book 1 was an entertaining read. Very well written with interesting characters. Book 1 felt like an intro to the main characters so I’m looking forward to reading the next two.
2 reviews
August 8, 2024
couldn’t put it down

Action packed. Riveting. Excellent read. Once you start, it’s hard to put it down. Already looking forward to book 2. Just found a new favourite author. Looking forward to more great reading.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.