Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

The Wheel of Nuldoid

by Russ Woody (Goodreads Author), Norman Felchle (Illustrator)

3.96 of 5 stars 3.96 · rating details · 26 ratings · 9 reviews

The much-anticipated first book by veteran television writer/producer Russ Woody. Inspired by The Hobbit and The Wizard of Oz, The Wheel of Nuldoid is a dark tongue-in-cheek look at the very center of our world, where a society of short, quarrelsome creatures live and operate the machinery that rotates the earth. It's the story of three unsuspecting humans-sixth grade teac...more

Paperback, 381 pages

Published January 28th 2009 by Pointless Ink (first published January 13th 2009)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore

San Francisco Bay Area Fiction

86th out of 149 books — 103 voters

My Bucket List

12th out of 57 books — 7 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 174)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Feb 28, 2010 Issendai rated it 1 of 5 stars

Cliched characterization, cliched dialogue, cliched imagery, and an aggressive tell-don't-show policy crushed the life out of this story. It's regrettable, because there's something there--the author is a decent writer, better than the average self-published author--but the book needs strong, sharp editing that it didn't get.

For example, one of the main characters is a teacher who wants to be good and engaging, but rules and regulations have ground him down into one of the boring teachers he hat...more Cliched characterization, cliched dialogue, cliched imagery, and an aggressive tell-don't-show policy crushed the life out of this story. It's regrettable, because there's something there--the author is a decent writer, better than the average self-published author--but the book needs strong, sharp editing that it didn't get.

For example, one of the main characters is a teacher who wants to be good and engaging, but rules and regulations have ground him down into one of the boring teachers he hated so much when he was a boy. That's interesting! But do we get to see him teaching a class? ...No. Do we get to see his frustration at not being allowed to teach the way he knows his students need him to teach? ...No. We get to see him sitting around his house with his cat while the narration drones on about his history for several paragraphs. Even when he gets up and starts doing things, the narration gets in the way. The dialogue is clogged with it, the action sequences are padded with it. Every time something looks like it might happen, the narrator yanks on your sleeve and tells you what to think and why. Often the narrator is so busy telling you what to think that the action itself passes by in the background, and the narrator has to fill you in after the fact.

So as you might have guessed, I'm focusing on the writing skills because the story... wasn't there. After four chapters, nothing had happened. Sure, there was an earthquake, but it didn't seem to matter. None of the characters seemed much bothered by it, even the two strange little creatures with Yooper accents who watched part of their city collapse. Nor did I like any of the characters; they were all frustrated, bored, annoyed, and annoying, mostly patterned on worn old types with little or nothing to give them individuality. I stopped reading after the fourth chapter because the characters and I were becoming too much of a oneness, frustrated, bored, and annoyed.

And yet, the rest of the book _sounds_ interesting. Things happen, people die. I'd like to be able to read it. I just can't. Perhaps someday the author will go back and rewrite it, yanking out the cliches and the excess narration. When that happens, I might return and try it again. Until then, I'm going to have to advise that people give this one a miss.(less)

2 likes · like · see review

Jun 04, 2010 Jeanne rated it 4 of 5 stars

I quite enjoyed my trip to Nuldoid. Russ Woody has a most intriguing imagination with a good dose of sentimentalism thrown in. The story reminded me in parts of Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl series and I could definitely see other stories about Nuldoid come from Woody. I liked the way he didn't talk down to a YA audience and used some pretty big words. It's good to introduce YA's to vocabulary, especially when the Nuldoid-speak is such a grammatical mess! But by the end of the book I could practica...more

like · see review

Apr 02, 2011 Grace rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Pretty much everyone

Recommended to Grace by: the author :P

Shelves: fantasy-or-syfy, best-beloved-books

Rated: 4.5 of 5 stars
Rating: PG
Genre: YA, fantasy, Yellow Light

What must it be like to be Russ Woody? To have this whole world printed in your mind?

Told with humor that will alternatively have you gaping and laughing so hard you cry, Woody delivers a clever story of the world slowly stopping on it's axis. (Which, vaguely, reminds me of the movie Core, but I digress.) His world is incredibly creative and you never know what to expect, especially when it comes to it's inhabitants. I loved how he h...more Rated: 4.5 of 5 stars
Rating: PG
Genre: YA, fantasy, Yellow Light

What must it be like to be Russ Woody? To have this whole world printed in your mind?

Told with humor that will alternatively have you gaping and laughing so hard you cry, Woody delivers a clever story of the world slowly stopping on it's axis. (Which, vaguely, reminds me of the movie Core, but I digress.) His world is incredibly creative and you never know what to expect, especially when it comes to it's inhabitants. I loved how he had other visitors to Nuldoid that you'd recognize. (Save the Jesus one.) Check it out: http://nuldoid.com/9101.html. You know, I really thought I'd seen it all when it came to stories vaguely like this, but I was wrong.

His writing style was comic, a little bit satire, and filled with great description. The plot was simple enough to follow, but with one or two twists regarding who was good and bad that weren't expected and kept your attention captured. (The ending, by the way, was superb.) The pacing was a bit off at some points, I think, but that's just me. The characters didn't blend together, save the creatures at some points, and it was a well put together cast of characters.

Would I recommend this to someone? Yes. It's clean, with no language, unless you count the cursing that the creatures do in their language. Their cursing, and way of speaking, is quite humorous, so I had no problem with it. I just thought I'd throw that out, because it is cursing, even if made up. There is also tiny, but perfectly G rated romance as well.

As a warning (and this may be considered a spoiler), however Woody may say otherwise, there is a religion that the creatures of Nuldoid follow that's rather cultish, actually, and once some of the characters go to talk to the people who take the souls of the Nuldoids to ask for someone back. While Woody says it isn't reincarnation, it was almost exactly like it, unless I'm misunderstanding reincarnation. All was handled lightly and I didn't get the feeling that he was poking at any particular religion, but Woody did treat death lightly. (Quote, "It's just death.") Also, as another warning, there is a third sex in Nuldoid (yes, you read that right). I wasn't sure what to make of that, since it wasn't exactly needed, per se, but it was there. I have my own suspicions about his introducing a third sex, but I won't expound on that topic (or my suspicions) any further.

Still, this is definitely a book you'll want to reread, and I plan on doing so. This was a job well done, Woody! Kudos!(less)

like · see review

Mar 28, 2009 Robin marked it as to-read

So,
I ran into Russ on Shelfari and decided to download the Kindle sample - what a charming beginning!! I definitely think this is "one to watch". I'm going to get a copy right away.

1 like · like · see review

Apr 12, 2009 Katie Schwartz rated it 5 of 5 stars

257 pages into it, I'm almost done. It's BRILLIANT. Russ is a flawless writer. I could eat his words all day long. Even better, they're fat free.

2 likes · like · see review

Jan 26, 2013 Angel M. Huerta rated it 5 of 5 stars

An AMAZNG book!!! It definitely takes you to another world, all inside our own. The writer does a fantastic job describing the universe the book is set and makes you feel for the characters. I loved the book and definitely put it in my collection as one of the best stories Ive ever read.

like · see review

Aug 29, 2010 Isabel Trafficante rated it 5 of 5 stars

i LOOOOOOOVVVVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE this book! i met th author and im curretnly awaiting his next creation!!!!

like · see review

Mar 11, 2009 Russ Woody rated it 5 of 5 stars · (Review from the author)

Well, come on, I wrote it, so, yeah, five stars.

8 likes · like · see review

Nov 03, 2010 Steve marked it as to-read

First chapter was pretty funny but for some reason I wasn't in the mood. Will revisit sometime in future.

like · see review

May 09, 2013 Erin marked it as to-read

May 02, 2013 Amadeus marked it as to-read

Apr 27, 2013 Carol marked it as to-read

Apr 08, 2013 Kelly marked it as to-read

Jan 27, 2013 Rita Scamander marked it as to-read

Jan 19, 2013 Vivian Zaas rated it 5 of 5 stars

Jan 15, 2013 Jessica marked it as to-read

Dec 07, 2012 Jo marked it as to-read

Dec 06, 2012 Marisol Rodriguez marked it as to-read

Nov 26, 2012 Elizabeth(The Book Whisperer) marked it as to-read

Oct 12, 2012 Sarah is currently reading it

Sep 08, 2012 Crystal Sylvester murphy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Aug 29, 2012 Heather rated it 3 of 5 stars

Aug 05, 2012 alison marked it as to-read

Jul 28, 2012 Joshua rated it 2 of 5 stars

Jul 07, 2012 Mercy marked it as to-read

Jun 13, 2012 Hannah marked it as to-read

Jun 20, 2012 Bob rated it 4 of 5 stars

Mar 19, 2012 Rosemary marked it as to-read

Mar 17, 2012 Bridgette marked it as to-read

Sep 25, 2011 Sam Lonberg marked it as to-read

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (1)

Genres

Fantasy

6 users

See top shelves...

About Russ Woody

Hold on. Why does it ask for my "Date of Death"?

I've been a television writer/producer for about 25 years. Have been lucky enough to work on some great shows (Murphy Brown, Cybill, Mad About You, Becker, The Drew Carey Show, St. Elsewhere, Hill Street Blues)... and plenty of less-than-great shows. I also have an Emmy and a Golden Globe.

A couple of years ago I decided to write a book. Its called T...more

More about Russ Woody...

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About The Wheel of Nuldoid

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

title link	preview: The Wheel of Nuldoid
avg rating	preview: The Wheel of Nuldoid Goodreads rating: 3.96 (26 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6305202-the-wheel-of-nuldoid?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1263158314l/6305202.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6305202-the-wheel-of-nuldoid?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Wheel of Nuldoid by Russ Woody[/url]

The Wheel of Nuldoid

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topicDiscuss This Book

combineOther Editions (1)

Genres

About Russ Woody

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About The Wheel of Nuldoid

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (1)