Wool Omnibus Edition (Wool 1 - 5) (Silo series) (English Edition) [Kindle版]

First, the negatives.

Okay, now to the positives. The plot, the characters, the ideas, the writing... All amazing. The author has created something truly great here. I had never read anything by Hugh Howey before, but based solely on this omnibus edition of "Wool", he has been added to my personal top 5 list of sci-fi authors.

This is truly immersive story-telling, with well-developed, complex, believable characters, amazingly descriptive prose, jaw-dropping plot developments, deep concepts, and one kickass storyline. The last book that impressed me so thoroughly was "Hyperion" by Dan Simmons. "Hyperion" had a more mystical quality, wheras "Wool" is somehow more gritty and real. Both are examples of superior science fiction.

I am so happy to have discovered "Wool"... It has revived in me a love of reading that I thought I'd lost. Thank you, Hugh Howey.

I am a long time science fiction reader and have read many wonderful stories that are based on science, technology, engineering and math. A few years ago I purchased a Kindle and it has opened up opportunities for me to read more with less effort and at less expense. I now have over two hundred science fiction books listed in my archives. Four days ago, I purchased the Wool Omnibus Edition by Hugh Howey. I finished it about an hour ago. This is the first review that I have ever been inspired to write about any book.

Some reviewers say that they cannot put a book down, once they get started into it. I have not understood this compulsion until last night, for the first time I had a hard time sleeping. I stopped reading sometime after midnight at a point in the book that left me anxious about the main character and was unwilling to disturb my wife by turning the light on or getting out of bed to pick up where I had left off. It takes a powerful piece of work to make me worry over what I know is fiction.

One small note to other authors that might be reading this review, part of what makes Wool a joy to read is the lack of grammatical and spelling errors of so many of the self published books. It is an extreme annoyance and distraction to me to read sentences in a book that I must stop, and reread substituting words that I think the author meant to understand the idea being communicated. Please take the time, your time or the time of others, to critically review your writing and fix these sentences that act as stumbling blocks for the reader on the journey you want to share with them. I and suspect many other readers would be willing to pay more for a book without grammatical and spelling errors.

I suspect this collection of a continuing story is going to become a classic. For many years now I have read and reread Foundation by Isaac Asimov and Dune by Frank Herbert along with other classics. This omnibus has the same deep commitment to the development of the characters and their feelings as they are caught up in a series of events that shape their future in an uplifting way from darker times. It is not complicated by a large cast of characters, like some series feel is necessary, but the few characters it does have are intertwined with one another and others in their society in a common journey through their lives.

I would highly recommend this to others, because I am sure that I will be rereading this story again and again.

I read over a hundred books a year. All genres. I don't give a 5 rating lightly. For me a 4 can be something great. A 5 is something that is great and stays with me long after I read it. This will stay with me. I was there with the characters and in that silo from the first few pages. I could feel every emotion, frustration, and even the physical sensation of being dizzy and tired from the trips through the silo. The story kept building and I wanted to know everything and couldn't put it down. Truly superior writing and storytelling. I can honestly say it was one of the best things I've ever read and makes what I thought were some pretty good books seem terrible now. . .I'm talking to you Hunger Games. I look forward to the day when this has its own movie too because it surely deserves it.

I became interested in Wool from reading Hugh Howey's posts on Kindleboards and vicariously enjoying his incredible success with the series. I launched into the first book with gusto. Howey's prose is clear, smooth and evocative. Anyone worried that Wool is less than professional in writing or presentation needn't be. I've read plenty of traditionally published books that aren't as well written or formatted.

The first book presents us with a world in which the last survivors of some kind of holocaust live in a 134-floor silo, protected from a natural environment that has become wildly toxic. The concept is great and Howey makes the most of it, providing a number of twists that regularly notch up the suspense.

Howey's main strength, though, is in his ability to create well-rounded characters whom we care about deeply and immediately. In this regard, I think he's actually better than some of the s-f giants of the past, such as (because someone else made the comparison) Isaac Asimov, whose work I positively devoured in my youth but whose characters were rarely more than two-dimensional cutouts moved around to serve the plot. (And if there is anything more cringe-worthy than a "classic" s-f writer's attempt at flirtatious dialogue, I don't know what it would be, unless it's listening to an elementary school orchestra. But I digress.) Howey writes real people who would be at home in any "literary" novel, which is a particularly high achievement in the s-f world.

So, why just four stars, aside from the fact that I'm a tough grader?

SPOILERS AHEAD

Some things about the concept I just didn't buy. I'll take a few "givens" in s-f, of course, but ultimately s-f requires a willing suspension of disbelief that I never quite achieved with Wool.

For instance, the physical action hinges on the central stairwell that characters must travel...laboriously. I'm sorry, but I didn't buy that there were no elevators. I get that electrical power is limited, and I get that the overlords (my corny term, not Howey's!) don't really want people socializing and communicating, but...no 134-floor structure is going to function without elevators. You need a freight elevator. NEED it. Absolutely no one would design and build a 134-floor silo without an elevator for moving heavy stuff.

And there will always be executives who demand an elevator. The aged mayor having to hike down 130 floors, and back up again? Nope, didn't buy it. The evil, powerful guy would have had a secret elevator. There would have been an elevator for emergencies, if only a crude people-mover that people stand on. The mechanics would have worked up something for themselves, maybe disguising it as something else.

The cleaning bothered me, too. Keeping the lenses clean really isn't that big a deal. There would be a way to remove them from inside to clean them, or send someone out briefly and bring them back in, or something. Again, I get the sociological imperative of the cleaning ritual/punishment, but I didn't entirely buy it as a method anyone would come up with to keep a populace in check.

So, these are pretty big pills that I just didn't swallow. Still, I gave them to Howey as the price of admission to his world. There were a couple of other problems, though.

MORE SPOILERS

I really had a problem with the poisoning. Poison is slipped into someone's canteen (an important person), and there is virtually no investigation into the incident. The poisoning could only happen in one place, and a limited number of people had access to the canteen at this time. This crime wouldn't have kept a real-world cop busy for a full day, but Howey's sheriff doesn't, apparently, launch even the most basic inquiry.

I can understand if Howey didn't want to sidetrack his story with a murder investigation, but I felt that he really gave it short shrift.

The main problem I had with Wool, though, came with the last two books, when the pacing ground to a snail's pace.

Jack London wrote a killer short story called "To Build a Fire," detailing a man's effort to build a fire in the wilderness to keep away wolves. What works brilliantly in a short story gets really tiresome in a novel. With Wool 4 and 5, the minutia began gathering underfoot until this exciting read became a slog. I'll admit, I started speed-reading. Normally I like to savor a book, and Howey's writing is worth savoring, but Wool 5 in particular became tedious, as did the back-and-forth between our main character's story and the story of a secondary character who was far less fascinating.

So, ultimately, I have to give the Wool Omnibus a four-star rating for a great start and a less stellar finish.

I have every confidence that Hugh Howey will continue to make a name for himself and look forward to his future works!

I enjoyed reading the Wool Omnibus books. The characters were interesting and it kept me guessing all the time, which I love! The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was the author's propensity for long drawn out descriptions of settings and/or characters' actions. All I need to know, for instance, is that the character put her knife away, after some fumbling. Don't need a detailed joint by joint movement of the knife into the sheath. These common digressions into painful detail slowed the book noticeably. After a while, I could sense one coming and would skim it. The plot line and characters more than make up for this and keep Wool an all but engrossing read.