How to read the Silo books in order after Apple TV+ series

He said: "I have another trilogy planned that follows Silo 40 from before the events of WOOL to after DUST. That silo was pivotal in how things played out in 17/18/01."

The show has relatively faithfully followed Howey's books, which follow Juliette Nichols (played in the series by Rebecca Ferguson) but there's a level of detail that can only be gained from reading them.

So, as we await seasons 3 and 4, which are set to adapt Shift and Dust, the second and third books in the series, here's everything you need to know about the books.

How to read the Silo books in order

Howey first published short story Wool in 2011. It was later published as a novel with the same name and included four sequel novellas.

The author later published his novels Shift and Dust, and several short stories.

1. Wool

Wool, published in 2011, is the first novel in the series – and the starting point for fans wanting to read them all.

It consists of five books: Holston, Proper Gauge, Casting Off, The Unraveling and The Stranded.

The TV show covers a fair amount of the first novel, although there are some changes.

Howey previously told RadioTimes.com: "Getting to show Holston and Juliette working together and having conversations, when I wrote the book, I wrote it in a serialised fashion. I didn't know there would be anything beyond the first 56 pages. The short story Wool was the whole thing.

"Not all the characters in that story make it to the end and there is some backstory alluded to, times that they overlapped with future characters, and that was all I could do at the time because I'd already published that first bit when the success of that story necessitated writing more.

"So having Juliette and Holston work together on a case is like two sentences in the novel, and here we get to tell it over episodes and, for me, that was such a thrill to be able to tell that part, and I think it's going to be huge fan service to the readers."

Buy Wool for £9.99 at Waterstones

2. Shift

Shift, published in 2012, is the second instalment in the series. It consists of three books: Legacy, Order and Pact.

It serves as a prequel to Wool and shows how the silo was first constructed. However, it does then pick up with Juliette's story.

Season 3 of Silo is set to adapt Shift, and Howey has established that Juliette will be more present than she is in the book.

He told TVLine: "In the book Shift, Juliette doesn’t appear until like the last page, right? It’s about this silo [No 18], but it’s also the origin story of the whole silo project.

"I would say that we have Rebecca Ferguson playing Juliette, and she is not just going to be in the last scene of the season."

Buy Shift for £9.99 at Waterstones

3. Dust

Dust, published in 2013, is the third and final instalment, and consists of just the one book of the same name.

It concludes the story that started in Wool and continued in Shift.

Considering Silo will end after seasons 3 and 4, we're expecting to be able to see the whole of Howey's trilogy on screen.

He previously told RadioTimes.com: "My sense is that if we try to tell all three books, the whole trilogy, that will probably take four seasons, possibly."

Teasing what's to come next, he added: "What I love about this series, the book series, and what we would do with the TV show if we get an opportunity, is it doesn't tell the same story over and over again. There's not a lot of repetition.

"The story gets bigger over time and you try to maintain the DNA in the heart of what makes the series fantastic, but there's new characters to introduce, and again, every time you think the mystery is solved, it just gets more intriguing.

"That's been the thrill of this show and the thrill of the books, and we have to get a chance to keep doing it."

Buy Dust for £9.99 at Waterstones

Silo is available to stream on Apple TV+.

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