Wool

I read a blurb on the back cover of Wool by Hugh Howey that calls this book frightening, fascinating, addictive and, in one word, terrific. I fully agree with this statement as I was totally lost in this original story from the minute I picked up the book.

Wool is a dystopian story where the remnants of mankind live in an immense silo. The various professions are grouped together on different levels. The top level contains the mayor’s office, the sheriff’s office and a cafeteria with an outside view. The view, however is rather depressing, showing a brown world with the ruins of a large city in the distance and, numerous dead bodies scattered about. These bodies belong to people who have expressed a desire to leave the silo. These show more banishments are called “Cleaning” as each person who goes outside, takes some time to clean the cafeteria windows from the dust and debris that has accumulated there before succumbing to the poison in the air.

I didn’t know very much about this book when I picked it up and I think that may be why I enjoyed it so much. The writing is top notch, and the characters were well developed and realistic. Juliette who becomes the central kick-ass character is practical, strong willed and intelligent. I am amazed that this cohesive, detailed science fiction story started out as a novella that the author expanded into a full novel. If you are at all interested in dystopian and post-apocalyptic scenarios, Wool is well worth picking up. For me this was an exceptional read. show less

It's impossible to review each book in this omnibus separately because they did not feel like separate books. Rather, they were sequential chapters in the same story that just happened to be published at different times. I honestly didn't realize that the breaks between were actually where one book ended and another began. I'm really glad that I did buy the omnibus rather than just the first volume because I would have gnawed off my arm to find out what happened next. Okay, maybe not my arm - I need that. Maybe just a toe or two.

There is a society in a post-apocalyptic future who lives underground in an enormous silo. The outside world is completely taboo, and even mentioning it can get one sent to "cleaning" - a euphemism for show more essentially exile outside the silo to the toxic, lifeless environment above ground. And these cleaners come by their name because their last act is to clean the sensors outside the silo entrance so the inhabitants have an unmarred view of the wasteland. Kind of a weird premise, and I admit I wasn't completely sold on it at first but it works, and as you read on, you find out just how by golly it works.

Turns out that this isn't just a post-apocalyptic story but a dystopian story as well, and as the story progresses, it starts becoming apparent that there is something rotten in the state of Denmark. And that the conspiracy in the silo is much, much bigger than anyone, including the the reader, initially imagines.

This is dystopian fiction at it's finest. show less

First sentence: The children were playing while Holston climbed to his death; he could hear them squealing as only happy children do. While they thundered about frantically above, Holston took his time, each step methodical and ponderous, as he wound his way around and around the spiral staircase, old boots ringing out on metal treads.

My thoughts: I first read this one in 2013. I loved it so, so, so much. I never went back to reread it, however, until now. I saw that it was being adapted into a show/series. I may never see the adaptation, but I am so glad that I took this chance to reread it. It's been long enough that it was like reading it for the first time--which was glorious for the horror-mystery bits. I love the tension of this show more one.

Premise/plot: Set in the future. What remains of humanity is living underground in a silo--or silos, as the case may be. Generations have come and gone, hundreds of years have passed, those that live in the silo have only ever known the silo. It functions or malfunctions, as the case may be, by following or "following" rules and guidelines put into place. But what happens when little things trigger chain reactions?

So this one is titled, "Wool." Those trouble-makers, those "law-breakers," if you will, are "punished" by being sent OUT. And one of their last responsibilities is cleaning. Cleaning cameras, viewers, windows? But one woman sentenced to this fate refuses to clean....and subsequently....well life in Silo 18 will never be the same.

Further thoughts: I definitely recommend this book. It's a little bit of everything--dystopia, mystery, suspense, horror, science fiction. It alternates points of view. But this is an instance where that is a great thing--used for building suspense. show less

Never ever did I think I could get pulled into a dystopian sci‑fi story the way I got pulled into this one. Wool. the first book of the Silo trilogy, is set in a world that has become so toxic it’s a death sentence to step outside - or to be sent outside. It’s curiously vague about what led to the ruined environment and I think that’s what kept me pulled in the most. There’s no finger pointing at the past and dredging up humanity’s many mistakes. It’s all about what’s happening now and how the characters’ actions impact what happens next. I’m not going to risk spoiling any part of the plot except to mention there's barely enough closure at the end for this to work as a standalone - which doesn't bother me since I’m show more definitely going on with the series. Also, it’s clearly self‑published but I don’t say that as a criticism. It’s well‑written and edited, it just doesn’t have the homogenous feel and polish of a traditionally published book show less

When sci-fi writers contemplate an Earth that is no longer inhabitable, they usually think up — sending people into space to start over on another planet. Hugh Howey thought down instead and put his human survivors into silos buried deep underground.

The first novel in the trilogy is “Wool” (2012). Why wool? Because capital punishment involves sending condemned prisoners out of the silo to clean the few windows with a wool cloth before the poisoned environment kills them. And the windows often need cleaning, it seems.

Another way of keeping down the population is to have a lottery. the winners being permitted to have a child.

Howey kills off one main character after another in the early chapters, and so when Juliette is sentenced to show more a cleaning we don't know if she will survive or not. But she survives long enough to discover another silo and eventually inspire a better future for her home silo.

The silo goes down 144 floors, meaning that characters must constantly climb or descend using the tiring staircases. There are no elevators. Juliette works way down in the mechanical area when she is chosen as the new sheriff of the silo. The man who thinks he should be the one actually running the silo objects to her selection, leading to her being sent out to clean.

The people of the silo know nothing of past civilizations before the silo was built. Horses and elephants seem mythical to them. They don't even know that there are 49 other silos, at least until Juliette finds one of them. War there has left few survivors, and war threatens her home silo as well. Can she save either or both silos?

“Wool” is first-rate science fiction, both a great story and an intriguing imagining of a possible future. show less

So much buzz about this book - I had to get in on the action! This was an edge-of-your-seat read, and I was a bit stressed reading this. Fascinating premise - in the far off future (or not so far off?), the world is uninhabitable (or so we are led to believe) so the remaining people live in an underground silo. They're forbidden to mention going "outside" and if they do slip and say they want out, well they're sent out to "clean". And they don't come back.

Fast paced, lots of action. Husband loved it. I've mentioned this book to several people and one person immediately bought it. I kept having to read ahead - yes, I hate to admit I do that when I get a little too emotionally involved. I'm thinking - do they survive? do they die? Oh my show more gosh, NOW WHAT? So I peek. Just a few pages. Usually, that helps relieve the stress. With this book, not so much. I'd look ahead and think - Oh, no! It gets worse!

I may have to read the rest in the series. But give me awhile for my heart to calm down! show less

If you wanted to explain to an alien, or to someone from the future or the past, what the book-reading scene was like in the decade 2010-20, Wool could be your archetypal example. It is not the best book of our time, nor the most unique – and certainly not the era's nadir. As an illustrative example, it is the one that you could hold up and say 'this is, broadly speaking, what the book scene was like. Of all the books which drifted around the mean, this is the one which seemed to drift along the top.'

Post-apocalyptic setting? Check. 'Strong Woman' protagonist? Check. Well-marketed? Check. Author who engages on social media? Check. Neutral prose, accessible to any reading level without being dumbed-down? Check. Fast plot, teasing out show more just enough each chapter to keep you reading? Check. The checks go on.

And is it good? Yes. Check. None of what I have said is meant to be disparaging: Hugh Howey's Wool is entertaining and guiltless reading, making for you some easy days in your life where you can breeze through hundreds of pages without fatigue. My point is, essentially, that it shows great craftsmanship but when you take a step back you realize it is providing a slightly different slant on well-established tropes. There is a skill in this – in being safe and derivative without being cheap pulp – and it is one that our writing generation seems to have mastered, to fit a publishing environment where you have to have your marketing skills as sharp as your storytelling skills if you want to make money.

It is better than most books in this vein, but not so much from any innate quality in the writing than from the happy fact that, here, all the usual archetypes are used without being defined. There's always one case in a hundred where the reheated leftovers inexplicably taste as good as they would have done the night before, and you don't know why, on this particular day, this has proven to be the case when on other days they just taste like what they are. (Even the marketable Strong Woman protagonist manages to avoid the irritations such characters usually provide.) Just every so often, it seems, the clichés come together to sing.

There are flaws: there is some clunky dialogue, particularly when the uprising starts, and the up-and-down on the stairs can be toilsome to read (though Howey's knack for easy prose allows you to skim-read). Because of all the key changes in the plot, some things get lost. For example, -(spoilers)- who killed Jahns? It seems obvious, but none of the characters ever address it for 'closure'. Furthermore, the final 'cleaning' sentence at the end seemed hasty, and the decision of the condemned to pull away from the heat-blanket seemed out-of-character. -(end spoilers)- The ending as a whole seemed anti-climactic after the slow build (though not necessarily poor), and it seems to be a problem of serialized stories that the endings are disappointing relative to what came before. Writers of this breed can spin a story but don't know how to spool it down impressively. Furthermore, I've heard the sequels are not as good as Wool (apparently – though this does seem to be the common consensus), and this is a shame as you finish the book wanting to know more.

Wool is a good read and, depending on your criteria, a great one. The hours you spend reading it will be easy hours. But I couldn't help but equate this ease with safety and satiety, much like the occupants of the silo in the story. (If this meta angle was deliberate from the author, it is genius – but I don't think it is.) The book is inoffensive, taking no stance. You know who to root for and who to despise, and when you should sympathize with the villains and when not, and which characters to feel fearful for and when. It pushes the right buttons in the right order. But you can see where the template has been rubbed out if you look close enough. And though I enjoyed it, as a reader I don't like knowing wool is being pulled over my eyes by a deliberate craftsman, to keep me safe and entertained. Increasingly, I find I want books with venom. show less