When & Where Does ‘Silo’ Series Take Place?

‘Silo‘ is a new upcoming sci-fi postapocalyptic series set to be released on Apple TV+. The series is based on books written by Hugh Howey and deals with themes of survival and mystery in a strange new toxic world. The catastrophe happened, and no one remembers how it started. All our protagonists know is that the Silos are their homes now, and one breath of toxic outside air is lethal. Due to the interesting premise of the series, and its similarities with other works of fiction, fans want to know when & where exactly does ‘Silo’ series takes place?
The Silo series takes place in the postapocalyptic future somewhere around the year 2345 in Silo 18. Centuries, after the original catastrophe that rendered the world inhabited through mysterious means took place. This is according to the timeline of the first book in the series that the show is set to adapt. Even though the books alternate between several different timelines, the show will most likely focus on the more linear timeframe.
Now that we’ve covered the general “when & where,” it’s time to explore it in more detail. If you’re interested in more, stay with us and take place.
What is ‘Silo’ about?
‘Silo’ TV series is based on a series of books under the same name written by Hugh Howey. It tells the story of a civilization that lives in underground silos because the outside world is too toxic to support human life. Or so they think. The series as a whole is full of mysteries, most notably, how the catastrophe took place in the first place. The silos are hundreds of stories deep and have numerous departments, each designated with a special function to make the experience of living in silos more tolerable and, well, possible.
We know that the show will adapt the first book in the series titled “Wool,” Due to that, we know the general events that will take place, although we can’t say how closely the Apple TV series will follow books.
The series begins with a novella, Holston, set in a Silo where people live due to an unknown catastrophe that made the outside world toxic. Holston, the sheriff, suspects that the IT department is hiding something from the inhabitants. He decides to explore the outside world but dies after discovering it is toxic. Mayor Jahns and Deputy Marnes go to the Silo’s lowest region to find a new sheriff and encounter various areas, including the mysterious IT department, where Bernard demands his preferred candidate. Juliette impresses them and takes the job, while Jahns and Marnes begin a romantic relationship but are later poisoned. Juliette completes a vital project, while Lukas, an astronomer, helps her uncover Silo’s true mystery.
Juliette, played by Rebecca Ferguson, is set to be the main character of the upcoming live-action adaptation.
‘Silo’ Timeline explained
The first book was kind of vague regarding the timeline of the events, and almost no concrete years are mentioned. We know that people have been living in silos for several centuries up to that point, and this is pretty much the only thing certain. The timeline of the first book was vague because the author, Hugh Howey, never hoped that the series would amass such popularity, and the original “Wool” was released as a stand-alone short story and was published through Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing system.
The following material was released later, and shorter books were bound in a much larger volume. Eventually, the author expanded the series, which now includes a whole fleshed-out world. The second book in the series, titled “Shift,” holds the key to understanding the timeline since it serves as a prequel to the whole series, and we can see the fateful events. Due to this, we can piece together the following timeline.
We know that in 2007 the Center for Automation in Nanobiotech (CAN) proposed a platform enabling small “cell-sized” robots to make medical diagnoses and perform repairs. The robots were self-sustainable, and they even could reproduce. At the same time, the CBS network also aired a program about propranolol, a pill that could erase traumatic memories with a single pill. At that moment, the destiny of humanity was sealed. It was inevitable that the catastrophe would take place and that humanity’s memories about it would be erased.
The second important year is 2049 since this is the year in which book two starts. We follow the story through the eyes of a young congressman Donald Keene who worked with Paul Thurman, a Georgian Senator who got him pulled into the Silo project and invertedly caused the fall of society as we know it. The Silos were just starting to be built around the year 2045.
The next time jump in the books leads us centuries into the future, Silos are fully functional and operating. The year is 2212, and we now follow the story through the eyes of Donald, who wakes up for his “first shift.” We learn that the people who operate Silos are put into cryogenic sleep and wake up periodically after periods of prolonged rests to work six-month shifts, only for their memories and minds to be erased once again, and they are put into cryo-sleep. When they wake up, they have no recollection of the events that led to the catastrophe, but Donald is starting to become aware, which leads to deep and severe depression.
The third part of the book leads us to the year 2345, another time-jump, and several decades later, Donald is once again woken up for his shifts, but after a series of destructive events, he reunites with Juliette, our protagonist of the first book. The third book starts where books one and two ended, and we can conclude that the Silo TV series will take place in 2345, some 300 years after humanity started working on Silos.
The timeline is complicated due to many shifting narratives. Hopefully, the live-action adaption will be more linear.
Where does ‘Silo’ series take place?
Once again, it’s important to mention that the ‘Silo’ TV Series will be adapting the first book, and the first book was not only vague about the chronology of the events, it was vague about the location. This is because only in the later works do we find out that there are numerous silos out there, and Juliette’s Silo is officially designated as Silo 18. The majority of the first book takes place at Silo 18, and this is most likely the Silo that the live-action series will be taking place in.
For the rest of the details, we’re going to have to wait for the release of the series. The first two episodes are set to be released on May 5 on Apple TV+.