Wool

The first three books have some decent reveals, interesting enough to keep me reading. But the last two books were an awful slog to get through. There's a really obnoxious preference for telling over showing, with the narration explaining ad nauseam how characters feel when it's perfectly obvious how they feel.

Also, it feels, oddly, like a young adult novel. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but the characters are all adults and yet they feel like teenagers. It's a weird dissonance when someone's age is mentioned, because they don't feel like they should be that old.

This is a story that started as a series of e-book only installments and grew and grew in popularity until – quel surprise – a publishing company picked it up. Not only that but Ridley Scott has optioned the movie rights. AND I've heard various comments of the “you gotta read this” variety. So. Expectations were kinda high.

But. As you can see it took me over a month to read this. Doesn't classify as a page turner. I read it in very small portions and it was just okay. I don't think it'll make all that interesting of a movie either. What's it about? Well, scores of years after some unnamed apocalyptic event you've got a whole community living in an underground silo. To go outside will kill you. But the denizens of the silo are getting restless and asking the forbidden questions.

Interesting concept but could not compel me enough to go the whole way i.e onto the next book. THe premise is not new but the back and forth between what is real and what is not is quite interesting. The ending is a bit simple and thus does not tick my boxes. But a quick and nice short story none the less.

I haven't really been keeping up with my book reviews, so here I am trying to catch up. First on the list is Wool Omnibus by Hugh Howey. 4.5 out of 5 stars from me. This was a pretty solid read. It's actually a collection of 5 short stories/novellas focusing on this post-apocalyptic world. I actually thought the first three stories were stronger than the last two. I wish he would have stuck to keeping each book under one person's POV (although I can see why he had to change it up for book 4 and 5). That being said, I'm still very anxious to pick up the next collection in this series [b:Shift Omnibus Edition (Silo, #2) 17306293 Shift Omnibus Edition (Silo, #2) (Wool, #6-8) Hugh Howey https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1361727046s/17306293.jpg 23965619]. Been hearing rumors that this is about to become a move? If so, I definitely recommend this to my pop culture peeps (that means you Richelle), and any science fiction fans out there. Also, check out this really cool (book?) trailer for Wool: http://youtu.be/KmAAextwvkY (Jules is awesome!!)

Fun read, does a good job of subverting expectations at key moments.

It starts slow but the author manages to expand the world as the story develops. Some of the incidents is rather hard to believe, but it's still a compelling read.

A page turner of a post-apocalyptic story with, thankfully, no zombies, vampires, or werewolves. Well-written. Interesting characters.

Reminds me of The Twilight Zone–one of the hour long episodes that goes interesting places but takes so long getting there that you've lost all interest by the end. There were moments I liked, but mostly there were long descriptions of people climbing up and down stairs.

The characters are all minimally developed (if I can't relate to a female mechanic character, then there are some serious issues that need to be dealt with). The work-related metaphors get old fast (again, if I'm getting tired of mechanical analogies, that's a really bad sign). The “twists” are all easy to see coming, which would be forgivable if they weren't so built up. The world, though initially fascinating, gets less and less interesting and more and more illogical as the story progresses. People do things that no real people would ever do. And, when the characters aren't spending page after page thinking about nothing, the plot takes turns that are either absurdly predictable or just plain absurd.

I thought there was so much potential in the beginning, some fascinating ideas buried within the plodding pace, but by the third book it turned into a cliche action movie (that was still, somehow, paced absurdly slowly)

I really, really enjoyed this. There were times when I found myself counting down the time until I could get back to the book. This is not to say that I never wanted it to end. I read part one for free last summer and enjoyed it, but not enough to actually buy the next installment. This has more to do with me reading things in the installment method and less to do with the book (I feel the same way about the Scalzi-I'm waiting for the whole thing to be published). Anyway, Wool. What's not to love?
I feel as though I have read the entire Dystopian cannon from A-Z, or the good to the bad (Into the Forest being, I still feel, the BEST). Wool is far from perfect, but it is a great story with a unique premise. Honestly, I know there has been a bunch of griping about the lack of characterization, but I find, as a reader, it is easier to insert yourself into a story if the author gives you less than more-so that didn't bother me. I was a little put off by Juliette's super human abilities (the woman is a MacGyver with the luck of James Bond), but that didn't really bother me either.
It's a page turner that is perfect for floating around in the pool and reading.
I'm determined to remain spoiler free in this review, so I'll leave it at this: it's a good read.

This was a really good book. I enjoyed it thoroughly. I hope that the stories continue I have to check to make sure. Hugh Howey really got this story full of great characters.

I walked into this book with rather low expectations on account of it being so very hyped, but I walked out with exactly the sort of apocalypse I was looking for.

The first book works brilliantly as a short story and a hook to the larger omnibus. I see how this book was able to develop a cult status based on Howey giving away chapters. The story did a nice job of subverting my expectations, and whatever I was absolutely sure was going to happen, didn't. That's what made me bump this book up to five stars. For me at least, (and I haven't read a lot of post-apocalyptic sci-fi recently, to be fair), this book was almost entirely unpredictable. Howey establishes early that no character is safe, no solution without cost, and thus he keeps his suspense on high for the entire story.

The world Howey creates also sucked me right in. Everything from the limited resources to the tension between IT and Mechanical works within this tiny spiral. The normalcy of living within a few floors for entire lives, of never inventing elevators in order to preserve stratification (the only reason I can think for not having elevators), of birth control lotteries and registered relationships – it all plays together to complete this society that makes a terrifying sort of sense.

I also can't help but enjoy the dynamic between Juliette and Lukas. I shouldn't have liked it because really they don't have enough time together to establish the kind of bond they develop, but I found them believable nonetheless. I think that if an infatuation were cut off as quickly and cruelly as theirs was only to be relit again with both of them in isolation, desperately needing a voice of sanity and truth... that infatuation would become a dependency if not love. It would become something they both needed, which is how Howey plays it. I'm also somewhat pleased to see the novelty of the woman being substantially the older partner in a relationship.

All of Howey's characters, from Holston to Solo are entirely real and believable. Bernard is maybe a bit obviously villainous as he is malicious from the start, but his true motivation is perfectly righteous, saving him from being too much of a mustache-twirler. My only disappointment was that we didn't get more backstory about his relationship with Lukas. I'm not sure why Bernard trusted him so very quickly. It seems like he should have checked him out more thoroughly for a position of that importance.

The real key to this story, though, is its suspense. Howey is a master of the slow-build, and he finds every source of danger and tension available to his characters. If I had to describe the book in one word, it would be claustrophobia. Everything is packed tightly together, with no room for the reader to take a breath. The characters' panic becomes the readers' panic time and again as the walls move in just a little closer. Even in the second story (probably the more forgettable one for me), climbing stairs is laced with mystery and a question of where danger is lurking. By the time we follow Juliette out into the world and Silo 17, I couldn't put the book down. I kept rushing through to get back to her chapters. I could feel her suffocation, her terror, and her exhaustion. Books 4/5 had me sweating right along with the characters.

The book may still be a lot of hype. The science may not be the soundest. The characters might be a little rushed. However, the intensity of the story made this one of the most enjoyable books I've read all year. That's why I'm giving it the full five stars. It may not be perfect sci-fi, but it's definitely my kind of sci-fi.

Executive Summary: While I feel only the first story works by itself the 5 stories as a collection make for an excellent novel that shouldn't be missed.

Full Review
I first heard about Wool sometime last year as it gaining momentum, but before Mr. Howey had signed the print deal. It's become a pretty trendy pick as of late, and Sword and Laser chose it for the May pick this year.

While this is technically 5 connected stories, I think it reads much better as a novel. I think only the first story is satisfying by itself.

My original plan was to read the first 3 stories (a little under half the book) one weekend, then finish the book the next. Well Mr. Howey ruined those plans. When I got to the end of the third story I couldn't stop. Instead of reading 125 pages I read over 200, and put my original reading plans on hold so I could finish this first.

To me that's the ultimate sign of a great book. If you find yourself going out your way or re-arranging plans just to read.

The story mostly reads like a mystery novel, in a post-apocalyptic setting. People live in a large underground society. To the inhabitants, this is what life is like, and has always been like.

There is a screen on the top floor that shows “outside”. The imagine slowly degrades over time as the camera gets dirty. To think of going outside is dangerous, to express that thought is a crime.

Many secrets lie beneath the surface, but discovering them can lead to your death. Through the series of five stories, we learn how things got the way they are.

I find it interesting that given recent events Mr. Howey is now considered by some to be sexist, when he's written one of the best female characters I've read in a long time. Personally I think the “controversy” has been overblown, and shouldn't deter anyone from checking this novel out.

The pace of the first three stories are pretty breakneck, but Mr. Howey does a great job of world building, especially in the second story. The pace slows down greatly in the final two books, especially the final one. I think the third story was my favorite part of the five.

Despite this the ending did feel a little rushed, and I'm certainly eager to continue on in the series.

The next set of stories is a prequel of sorts and helps to fill in some of the gaps I've been told, but what I really want to know is what happens next. Hopefully the next set of stories Mr. Howey is currently working on, will pick up where this one left off.

Stellar. It starts at breakkneck speed and pulled me in right away. I'm a sucker for post-apocalyptic, but this is also a rich version. Howey did a great job of revealing mysteries without revealing them all and keeping me interested in what was going to happen next. I liked that he didn't just keep teasing me. This isn't a suspense novel, it's roller coaster and anything can happen.

The first four parts were great and I couldn't wait to find out what happened next. The last part dragged a bit and so my interest waned a bit. I wish I could give it 4.5 stars rather than just four.

Decent start to the series. I will continue reading to see where the story takes me.

Some books take a while to dig into. The first few chapters set up the story, introduce you to the main characters and build a framework for the tale to come.

Wool sets up the story too, but in a heartbreaking and gripping way that has you consuming the book as quickly as possible, if only to learn the answer to: “that's not really about to happen, is it?”

There are moments in Wool when I wondered if maybe the book was too dark. I mourned for characters and didn't know how they would possibly get themselves out of the messes they (or others) had gotten them into. I won't say it worked out for everyone, but there is enough hopefulness and light in the book to brighten the darkest depths of this silo.

Wool is not a long read (even shorter when you can't put it down and read it over two nights) but it is one that will stick with you.

I picked this up on a bit of a whim, thanks to Amazon's Kindle deals. In short, the story takes place in a post-apocalyptic future where everyone lives in underground silos. The majority of the inhabitants don't know what happened to get everyone in the silos, nor how many others there may be (in fact most people don't even know there are others).

The story is told through multiple perspectives, of a variety of characters. In the world of the silos, all is not what it seems, and information is the most powerful commodity.

Hugh Howey tells a compelling, though quite dark, story of the future. Trust me, don't pick this book up of you are expecting a triumphal conclusion, full of butterflies and flowers.

However, if you are interested in some well written, post-apocalyptic science fiction, you could do a lot worse. I quite enjoyed Wool.

Good dystopian SF.

Really liked it overall. Really solid sci-fi and a steal at $5 for the kindle edition.

Fascinating and definitely worth reading.

I would not like to review this book without talking a bit about the context in which it comes to exist, coming as it does at the forefront of a possible shift in what we consider to be the business of publishing, both for that reason alone and because it's important to understand how it's structured. If you are only interested in a review of the content contained in it, you will probably want to skip to the last paragraphs.

Within the last few years, self-publishing your work as a writer has become possible without the expense of a vanity press; in the much more recent past, the possibility has begun to emerge that it might shed its stigma as well. Wool is among the first titles entirely self-published in ebook form to achieve widespread recognition as a product of quality. Its author, Hugh Howey, has been fairly transparent about the process, which has provided an interesting opportunity to view what can be an opaque process. Howey commented earlier that his book has been on multiple ebook stores in the past, but it is currently exclusive to Amazon and the Kindle. He's not averse to tinkering and has said it may end up elsewhere again as he experiments to see what works out best for an author. He's also recently signed an agreement with a traditional publisher – Simon and Schuster, I think – and while I don't love the idea that a book can only gain legitimacy if a publisher deems it worthy, it's good for Howey and I'm glad for him.

First, let me dismiss a misgiving you may have: Wool does not suffer in the editing department as a function of its DIY roots. Howey has been clear from the outset that he considers good editing critical in a venture like this, and has not skimped. He says, and I agree, that poor writing, grammar, and spelling errors are a real threat to self-published ebooks.

Lastly, a note about the structure. This first volume, according to its standalone ebook listing, weighs in at about 56 pages and is titled “Holston.” It's a stretch to even call it a novella; it's closer to a short story, albeit one with several chapters. I'm reading in the omnibus format that collects all five of the Wool ebooks; that one comes out to about 550 pages. Technically, the series is called the Silo series, and there have been a few ebooks published after; these five together seem to be demarcated as “Wool.” I debated whether to review the omnibus as one volume or five and eventually decided to go with five. Although the first volume is shorter than most, the full length of Wool averages to about 110 pages per volume, a reasonable length for a novella, and since the first one is so short, some or all of the others are presumably above that average. I also wouldn't like to imagine that length is a necessary component of status as a “book”; some very well-regarded classics are quite short – Hemingway, Kafka, and so on. I also might decide to stop reading partway through if I don't feel the quality is consistent. I would certainly regard the Great Book of Amber as a collection of ten discrete books.

On to the content. I liked this quite a bit. It concerns Holston, a sheriff and a member of a future society living inside a silo. No one is permitted outside, which is an uninhabitable wasteland for unknown reasons stretching back generations, visible on monitors by way of cameras outside. Life inside the silo is carefully rationed, down to who is permitted to have children. Once in a while, someone will commit the gravest possible offense: they will express a desire to go outside. The punishment is swift: they get their wish.

This was a really effective story and I suggest it for anyone.

I'd been hearing about Wool for months, and when I saw that this story was available for free, I downloaded with great expectations. Largely, they were met. I was expecting a longer story, but that's not Howey's fault.

I confess to some trepidation early on - there are some infelicitous
turns of phrase, some pretty clumsy language in general. But it picks up as time goes on. The story poses a core question, and it's not really adequately answered; there's a bit of hand-waving, but not really enough to leave me satisfied. The ending, the other element that's built up, is not entirely unexpected, but it's handled nicely nonetheless. I may well pick up the next in the series, to see whether language or narrative was the fluke.

All in all, nice story, and certainly worth a free read. I'd say it's a 3.5. I rounded down because I was disappointed with the handling of that central question.

Short review: Well worth reading. A short story that later became a series of novellas and then was edited into a full length book. This is a post-apocalyptic novel. This 58 pages short story just introduces the ideas of the story.

My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/wool-books-1-3-by-hugh-howey

I'm not a trendsetter, and I could be wrong, but I strongly believe Wool is the next big thing in books.

Don't take my word for it? Ask the 5000 other Goodreads' reviewers who have praised this series, many since its infancy as a self-published stand-alone story. Wool will be big, but how big are we talking? We're talking multi-million dollar franchise, with films staring the likes of Charlize Theron, Viggo Mortensen, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Morgan Freeman (or at least those are a few I had in mind). Big as The Hunger Games? Probably not. Wool is a more mature series and that will hinder its success some, plus it lacks much of the seemingly necessary romance other popular series have.

So how was the Wool Omnibus, the first five stories of the saga? Good. Really good. The first story is quite an attention-getter. Of the entire collection, this was the one I will likely never forget. It's fast paced and intriguing. It left me with a sick feeling in my stomach, but I wanted more. And I got more, which was good, because the other stories really built this world up. No, I personally didn't feel any of them matched what that first story did, but they certainly added to it and created a thrilling, action-packed story.

Since I've already made the comparison, let me express my view that Wool is a better-written, more mature version of The Hunger Games. The premise is much more original and interesting, but the basic idea of one woman rising up against an impossible situation in a post-apocalyptic world where the masses are being lied to and on the brink of revolt is the same. Wool has that similar pace and style of The Hunger Games and I highly recommend it to fans of that series. That being said, those who didn't like that series may still wish to give Wool a try. It's different enough that it may draw you in. And though Juliette is not perfect, she is certainly more stable and intelligent than the portrayal of Katniss.

I expected something a little more, perhaps a little different from Wool, and because of this I was slightly disappointed. Though it goes a little deeper than HG (I mean figuratively since it goes much deeper in a literal sense), Wool is largely an action story. Once I realized this, I was cool with it and enjoyed the rest of the ride, but I really wish it would've taken its time, unraveled a little slower and allowed rumination of this dark, deep world.

I teetered on giving Wool five stars. For an action story, it was quite brilliant. What didn't work for me was the pacing. I would venture to guess this has something to do with the way Howey crafted this work, starting with a short story that I don't believe he intended to do anything further with. The first “book” is really the only one where the pacing worked for me. The second story slows way down, which could have been successful had it set the tone for the rest of the collection, but it's constantly up and down from then on out: fast and slow, characters pondering for pages, characters making rash decisions in a single sentence with no insight as to why. I could say more on this, but it would be difficult to discuss issues such as shifting loyalties and the like without being overly spoilerific.

So, yes, I enjoyed Wool. More than likely I enjoyed it before you. And that makes me a leader. A trendsetter. The wave the future. I'm one of the cool kids now, but I promise if you hurry and read this book, I'll let you join the club.

Packs a powerful punch for such a short story!

very good book. good world building, with a great mystery hook