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Wool Omnibus (Silo #1)

by Hugh Howey (Goodreads Author)

4.24 · Rating details · 121,818 Ratings · 11,803 Reviews

This Omnibus Edition collects the five Wool books into a single volume. It is for those who arrived late to the party and who wish to save a dollar or two while picking up the same stories in a single package.

The first Wool story was released as a standalone short in July of 2011. Due to reviewer demand, the rest of the story was released over the next six months. My thank ...more

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Kindle Edition, 509 pages

Published January 25th 2012 by Broad Reach Publishing

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May 11, 2012 Cass rated it really liked it

Shelves: dystopian-utopian, books-i-own-ebook, 2012

There are two stupid things about this book, neither have to do with the writing. The writing is good, the story is original, I highly recommend this book.

Let's address the stupid things.
The name is stupid. It is like a garage band was after a clever name. There are no sheep in this book, there is no wool in this book. There is one tiny insignificant piece where a character is knitting but she isn't even using wool, she knits with cotton. Given the subtitles are all knitting related (unravel, There are two stupid things about this book, neither have to do with the writing. The writing is good, the story is original, I highly recommend this book.

Let's address the stupid things.
The name is stupid. It is like a garage band was after a clever name. There are no sheep in this book, there is no wool in this book. There is one tiny insignificant piece where a character is knitting but she isn't even using wool, she knits with cotton. Given the subtitles are all knitting related (unravel, cast off etc) I think the book should have been called "knitting" and then the book would have never sold a single copy.

I shall rename the book for the author SILO. Hereafter I shall refer to the book as such... Because it is a much better name that will actually appeal to the target market.

The second stupid thing about SILO (okay WOOL but my name is better) is that it is serialised into individual books. The author asks at the end of this omnibus if the reader would rate and review each book separately. As far as books/stories/novellas go only WOOL1 and WOOL 3 really stand alone. The others are just parts in a novel. They are also all the size of novellas not novels, making this omnibus edition about the size of a book. Here is my advice to the author. Just sell the omnibus edition, ebook users can read a sample anyway, the $6 price tag is very reasonable for the whole book. In fact because I didn't realise it was a series of novellas I bought the first part plus the omnibus which was silly of me. Perhaps good for the authors pocket but it doesn't endear me toward him.

None of that has anything to do with the novel. The novel was original and highly interesting. Finally a novel that I don't think I could flippantly surmise in a paragraph or two.

Usually I do like to give a summary of the novel but I won't in this review as I think there are lots of refreshing little things about the novel that are enjoyable to discover while reading, plus a few good places where you can say "oh wow I didn't see that coming".

WOOL is a good little dystopian novel. The type that leaves you thinking about it for days. The type that creeps back into your mind months after you have read it. It has a fairly original concept that kept me thinking. I thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend it to all lovers of dystopian fiction.

Despite complaining about the way it has been serialised I am hoping the author has lots more little stories about this world coming.

ETA: Before you comment. This review has been around for almost two years, and it has spawned a wonderful bunch of friendly people who laugh and joke in the comment section - many (most?) of whom completely disagree with me. Please read the comments (even the first page or two). You don't want to be that douche who thinks he is the first person in 500 comments to think to inform me that wool was used for cleaning, or that is was a metaphor. I disagree with the importance of either as a reason for naming the book WOOL, and if you read even a few of my comments you will find lots of reasoning. Enjoy the community, but don't be the dude that makes us snogger (yes, so crazy is this littler community that we even coined our own word!!). ...more

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Mar 12, 2012 Nataliya rated it liked it

Shelves: dystopia-postapocalyptic

This is the review for the entire Wool pentalogy (my new favorite word, btw). Wool introduces us to a postapocalyptic world where survivors of whatever disaster that made the outside uninhabitable huddle underground in a giant "silo" that houses hundreds of people. As we can predict, the disaster was man-made (*). (view spoiler)

(*) "You Maniacs! You blew it up! Ah, damn you! God damn

(*) "You Maniacs! You blew it up! Ah, damn you! God damn you all to hell!" - courtesy of "Planet of the Apes" (I give credit when it's due!)

Left - what a silo looks like, in case you are agriculturally challenged, like me. Right - apparently people already live in the underground missile silos. No shit.

Even speaking about the outside has become taboo, and breaking this taboo results in exile to the toxic outside, where - for reasons unknown to most - the condemned take time to clean the silo "windows" before their death, and the survivors inside can enjoy the toxic views for a few more years. For a long time, the Silo has been functioning like a well-oiled machine until we witness a confrontation between a strong-willed young woman who is not afraid to dig through the secrets of this shelter/prison and an equally strong-willed official who for reasons of his own prefers a status quo. The question stands - what is preferable: safety and security or truth and potential devastation? And the answer to that one is not that easy.

This story began as a standalone novella and was subsequently expanded into 4 more volumes (with more potentially to follow, but seems that this particular story arc is complete). The first part has a bleak and haunted, almost vintage sci-fi feel to it. The sequels are more action-packed and touch upon this world's politics (which do not detract from the story). All together they make a fun and enjoyable read. The plot remains tight throughout and all the storylines are compelling. The end may be a bit rushed, but it is still satisfying.

The characters are well-developed and multidimensional. Due to originally unplanned expansion of the story, the protagonist Juliette does not take center stage until the third part, but she quickly and effortlessly becomes the natural center of the story. She is an awesome heroine - rational, practical, level-headed, strong-willed, courageous, tough, and outspoken. She is good with machinery and kicks ass. She is a good friend. In short, she is cool, and I want to be her BFF now.

The story is well-written and a page-turner. Worth giving it a shot. 4.6 stars - rounding up to 5 with clear conscience.

Edit September 2013: 3.5 stars - a skim-through a year later showed me its flaws, or maybe I became more critical. Who knows? ...more

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Mar 23, 2013 Carol. rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: dystopia fans, revolutionaries, thoughtful fantasists

Shelves: my-library, sci-fi, apocalypse, female-lead, dystopia

Forget Wool. This should have been called Forge.
description

Writing that's a power-punch to the gut. Direct, slow build of heat, singeing as it suddenly roars into flame. A world that feels solid, heavy, hard-edged, soldered with characters that are heated and molded into something new. This isn't knitting a scarf so much as forging a steel chain.

I absolutely love the character of Juliette, determined, essentially elemental, a person that rocks my character world. I love how all her metaphors are mechanical ...more

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Apr 30, 2013 Maciek rated it it was ok

Shelves: speculative-fiction, science-fiction, reviewed, read-in-2013

I don't get the hype.

If you'd judge a book by its rating on Goodreads and Amazon, you should consider Wool to be a science fiction miracle - the vast majority of Goodreaders gave it 5 stars, and on Amazon it currently holds an astonishing 3,740 five star reviews - with new ones appearing every day. Wool seems to be a prodigious child of a next Asimov or Heinlein, destined to last for decades and inspire generations of readers and writers.

What's even more interesting is that Wool began its life ...more

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Øystein That being said though, now that I have read your review more thoroughly, it seems we disagree on almost everything else about the book as well. It's That being said though, now that I have read your review more thoroughly, it seems we disagree on almost everything else about the book as well. It's almost as if we've read completely different books! xD

To start, I think you misunderstood the point about having humans do the cleaning. You are certainly correct that they could create machines to do the task, but that would defeat the point. The cleanings are an almost ritualistic punishment especially created for people that express a desire to learn more about the outside world. Sure, the punishment is used for other crimes as well, but the saying they have in the silo "you get what you wish for" (I started reading the book again after my first comment here xD) shows you that the main purpose is to punish those that want to know more.

As far as our discussion of the lenses concerns, I found this on Hugh Howeys own blog. I think this is somewhere in between both of our interpretations of the design of the cameras, but probably leaning a bit more to my heavily protected construction (in my opinion). And even so, if the cameras were more flimsy, I don't really think it would have affected the story much at all. Sure, someone would probably have destroyed a few, but I figure they would just send the next cleaner with a replacement. Hell, that might even have made for a slightly better story. And, as I said before, I don't can't really see having cameras destroyed on occasion would mean much for the story as a whole.

Now, about the first part and character building. (view spoiler). Holston seems like a believable person to me. And, given his part, that's enough. The first part, to my mind, is mostly about setting the scene and then some small amount of worldbuilding, which I think is done fairly well. Now, I can't judge the way the book was released initially, as I only read the omnibus, but I don't think the it was meant to stop after the first part. Everything fits too well together for that, especially after reading the sequels (but also in the first book alone).
As for the rest of the characters in the book (at least those central to the story), they mostly feel real as well, and are fleshed out more as we go along.

Your point about science is also strange to me. I've already discussed what I think about the cleaning, so I won't do that here. To my mind, the way the silo is constructed, and the way everything works together seems fairly well thought out. There is no deep dive into how everything works, and that may be the reason for why you say it's treated wit a light brush. But the story is placed in a near future, and the technology used to create the silo and the equipment used inside seems to be believable even by today's standards (although insanely expensive at such a large scale). I would be curious to hear what you found unreasonable, but I guess its been a while since you read the book :p

Anyways, now that I got that whole thing off my chest, I would suggest you try reading the book again while keeping some of the things mentioned in this thread in mind :D

EDIT: Just read through this again, and i realised I may have come off as condecending towards the end. That was not intended. And it became a lot longer than I thought as well xD ...more
updated Apr 19, 2017 10:00AM

Maciek Øystein. I never received any notification about your comment and have totally missed it!

I can agree with the point that you made - that cleaning of Øystein. I never received any notification about your comment and have totally missed it!

I can agree with the point that you made - that cleaning of the lens is a ritualistic punishment designed to eliminate those who wish to know more and learn about the outside world - but I would argue that the lens needs to be cleaned anyway, since it still gets dirty. What if this society reaches a point where people are genuinely happy to not know anything about the outside world, and therefore there's no one to clean the lens? Does everything blow up to smithereens? I would offer a counter argument by saying that cleaning of the lens is a process designed to specifically require "criminals" and which is impossible to operate without punishment. What kind of society would depend on a process which requires a death penalty to keep it going? Basically, someone has to die so that everyone else can live because no one thought of a cleaning mechanism which does not require what essentially is a human sacrifice.

Thank you for the link to the artwork! I do think that having a camera destroyed would impact the story greatly - if I remember correctly, the cleaning/replacing a camera would be a one way process: the cleaners' suits were unable to withstand the outside world and decayed very quickly, making it impossible for the cleaner to return. I might be mistaken regarding this, of course, since it's been 4 years, but I genuinely would like to not be - I like the idea of a society unable to think of screen wipers unable to produce durable suits. ;)

To be perfectly fair I really don't remember much of this book four years later - I just remember being disappointed and feeling let down. The fact that I don't remember details from the novel means that it made little impression on me - of course this is only my impression of the book, and I'm very glad that you liked it and found it enjoyable.

Hey, don't worry! I'm always happy to discuss things and I'm only sorry that I can't discuss this text at depth - I don't think I'll ever re-read it. I appreciate your comments and interest in challenging my review and my points! Thanks and take care. :) ...more
Aug 15, 2017 02:50PM

Mar 06, 2017 Michael Finocchiaro rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, sci-fi, novels, young-adult

Admittedly, this is not my genre, but someone on GR strongly suggested it (who?) and I just finished it. Wool is the first volume of a trilogy (apparently, the 2nd volume is a prequel and the 3rd is the sequel to the first.) The plot is interesting, dystopian future with humans living inside because we destroyed the environment outside (you listening Mr Pruitt?). The character development is a bit thin, folks are pretty much black and white (although one gets the impression that all the characte ...more

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Oct 25, 2013 Crystal Starr Light rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, horror, book-club, so-boring-it-s-boring, it-s-not-you-it-s-me, editor-wanted

Bullet Review:

Good story, but OMG, did we REALLY need 500 pages to tell it?! So much of the "story" is just Juliette spending chapters getting into and out of clothes and airlocks, it was about ready to drive me nuts. Could be a superb story minus about 200 pages.

And because of that, it's doubtful I'll pursue the rest of the series. There's a good internet saying for this:

tl;dr

Too long; didn't read

Sums up how I feel pretty well.

Full Review:

It is some unspecified time in the future; people live i ...more

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May 15, 2012 Trudi rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, series, apocalyptic-types, dystopia, science-fiction, kick-ass-heroines, on-my-kobo, 2012

Outstanding!

WOOL began its life as a self-published short novella in July of 2011. That's hard to believe. I feel like I've been hearing about this thing for ages and ages.

So I'm late to the party, but not that late. Due to excited reader response over WOOL 1, author Hugh Howey quickly released the next four parts in the series. Then came along this Omnibus which collects Parts 1-5. There is now a 2013 edition with a great new cover that features a blurb by none other than Justin Cronin, author ...more

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Apr 19, 2013 Gary rated it it was ok

Shelves: kindle, atl-pocalypse, science-fiction, dystopia

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I'm not one to expound too much on low ratings, but I feel compelled to do so, here, given the high praise heaped on this book by other reviewers.

That said, this will be spoilerific, so if you want out, now would be the time to bail. Seriously. I'm going to spoil the hell out of this.

Disclaimer: I have absolutely nothing against indie publishers (authors who choose to self-publish). This review has nothing to do with that.

First, the things I liked about the book.

The author is actually very good ...more

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Jun 18, 2013 Arah-Lynda rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommended to Arah-Lynda by: Arah-Leah Hay

Shelves: top, i-said

Hugh Howey paints a world, or what is left of one post apocalypse, with an eye for detail that is easily visualized; one that you can descend into and inhabit.

This is epic storytelling, told with a taut hand on the tiller, controlling the pace and direction, allowing the reader to uncover truths together with the many, care worthy, relatable characters that populate this place. I blinked a couple of times and found myself entrenched in this world. And it all seems so effortless, the narrative fl ...more

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Dec 31, 2013 Dan Schwent rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2014, lendable

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. When the old sheriff of the Silo dies, Juliette, a Mechanic, is thrust into the role and quickly finds herself in over her head after asking the wrong questions. What will she discover when she's cast out of the Silo into the toxic world beyond and left for dead?

Yeah, that's not a great summary but there's a lot I don't want to spoil.

Since I've become more and more interested in the idea of Kindle publishing as of late, I decided to check out Wool, one of the juggernauts of self-publishing. Whil When the old sheriff of the Silo dies, Juliette, a Mechanic, is thrust into the role and quickly finds herself in over her head after asking the wrong questions. What will she discover when she's cast out of the Silo into the toxic world beyond and left for dead?

Yeah, that's not a great summary but there's a lot I don't want to spoil.

Since I've become more and more interested in the idea of Kindle publishing as of late, I decided to check out Wool, one of the juggernauts of self-publishing. While I heard the title (and thought it was stupid), I went in cold and was pleasantly surprised.

Wool takes place in a dystopian future where what's left of humanity lives in a Silo underground, levels upon levels of apartments, farms, mines, machinery, a self contained community. People who commit certain offenses are sent out to Clean, to clear the grit off the sensors providing the residents a view of the outside, before dying in the nuclear wasteland.

Juliette, the protagonist of parts 2-5, is a fantastic character. Her logical mind, honed from years of repairing ancient machines, quickly has her asking all sorts of questions about the history of the Silo and the possibility of life beyond. Her relationship with Lukas was believable and not at all sappy.

The book reminds me of old school science fiction, exploring ideas about control, conformity, and manipulation. When Juliette and company figure out what's been going on for two hundred years, the manure hits the windmill.

The writing was understated but still good. It's several notches above what you'd expect in a self-published book and probably a notch or two above some Big Six publishing house efforts lately. Is it deserving of the massive hype it gets? Probably not but it's still really good. I think the "little guy done good" aspect of Howey's success gives it a little more punch in some people's eyes.

A few minor things bugged me, most related to pace and how readily some of the people revolted. Also, I wouldn't have minded a little more of Silo 17 in the epilogue. Still, it has some strong scenes in it. Juliette running out of air was a pretty powerful scene and will stick with me for a long time.

Wool should appeal to old school science fiction fans and dystopia fans alike. 4.5 out of 5 stars. ...more

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Aug 21, 2014 Kemper rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi, apocalypse-now, dystopia, vast-conspiracy, 2014

A bunch of people live in an underground community and those who break the rules are cruelly expelled to their doom? Reality TV producers have to be kicking themselves for not coming up with this idea themselves.

At an undetermined time in the future, the people of the Silo have lived for generations with only a few dusty camera views to show them the world above ground. After the sheriff steps down from his post in rather dramatic fashion, the mayor and a deputy determine that a mechanic named J A bunch of people live in an underground community and those who break the rules are cruelly expelled to their doom? Reality TV producers have to be kicking themselves for not coming up with this idea themselves.

At an undetermined time in the future, the people of the Silo have lived for generations with only a few dusty camera views to show them the world above ground. After the sheriff steps down from his post in rather dramatic fashion, the mayor and a deputy determine that a mechanic named Juliette is the best candidate to replace him, but her appointment results in a series of events that threaten to expose long kept secrets and tear the Silo apart.

Hugh Howey is one of the biggest success stories in self-publishing, and I understand why after the early chapters do an exceptional job of introducing us to this world. The stairwell is a vertical highway connecting the complex, and journeying from top to bottom is no easy task. Having two characters make the trek in the early part of the book was a great way of giving us a tour of the Silo that established not only how it works logistically, but how it functions as a society. Juliette started out as a very strong character against this vivid background, and Howe sets her up perfectly as the hero to carry the story.

Unfortunately, he seemed to have some problems with what to do after that, and I was slightly let down at where the plot went from there. I can’t say much about that without giving the book away though. (view spoiler)[

I was disappointed that Juliette wasn’t given more to do in the sheriff’s role and as a character overall. In fact, while Bernard made for a great villain with his infuriating arrogance, he was so ahead of Juliette at every turn that it made her disappointingly passive. While she takes plenty of actions during the course of the story, none of them really accomplish anything.

Juliette doesn’t uncover the conspiracy; her friend in IT finds the data that clues her into what’s going on although she does figure out the bit about the suits being deliberately made badly. Before she can really do anything as sheriff she’s almost instantly demoted and sent out to clean and only survives that because her friends swapped the faulty parts of the suit. That kicks off the whole rebellion, but Juliette has no part of it. At the other Silo she spends most of her time trying to get a pump working and almost dies doing so, but again, that doesn’t resolve anything in this story. Finally, in the end, she again almost dies because she accidently tries to save the life of the villain of the story, and we learn that Bernard wasn’t bested because of anything she did, rather it was all done by other people.

Part of this is disconnection is because of the structure of the plot. Sending Juliette out of the Silo automatically cuts her out of the action that takes place for the rest of the story. Her dangers mainly come from her environment, not because of anything connected to the plot although an argument could be made that Howey was trying to put in some kind of theme about her overcoming the elements since she almost dies by earth and air (Surviving the toxins and asphyxiation after being sent out to clean.), water and then fire.

One of her Big Damn Hero moments is supposed to be her rushing up the stairs of the second Silo when she’s completely exhausted because she’s desperate to get back into radio contact with her friends, but what exactly was that going to accomplish even if she had gotten back in touch of them? Essentially the character's major achievement is that she suffers and endures so that she can continue to suffer and endure.

So I found it very disappointing that we had a good character that I wanted to root for as the lead in the story, but she felt removed from the action with little actual impact on the plot. It’s kind of sad that Howey built up such a great sci-fi setting and then pushed the best character away from it to have her explore something similar but decayed and mostly empty.

I was also wishing that the story would have been more than a vast conspiracy storyline. The idea that all the silos were part of some centuries old evil master plan was OK, but I think it would have been far more interesting if the situation in the Silo was the result of internal conflicts that had built up over the decades. Juliette and Bernard at war with each other in the Silo is a story I’m more interested in than just another plot about unspeakable secrets kept from a society. (hide spoiler)]

Overall, Howey created a well written sci-fi tale with an intriguing setting that I was very interested in, but unfortunately, I found the plot and actions taken by the characters far less compelling. I don’t regret reading this, but I probably won’t be checking out the follow-up books to it.
...more

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Nov 26, 2013 Lyn rated it liked it

Wool, by Hugh Howey is reminiscent of Robert Silverberg’s Time of the Great Freeze or Philip K. Dick's The Penultimate Truth with a population living underground following a climate-changing catastrophe.

The Wool Omnibus is actually a collection of five novellas connecting the action, a serialization of an ongoing storyline. The setting reminds me of the Zion population in the Wachowski Matrix films, an isolated, encased and quarantined populace. I found the narration mainly good, sometimes very ...more

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Apr 25, 2013 Veronica Belmont rated it it was amazing

Shelves: sword-and-laser

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 ...more

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Nov 12, 2015 Ahmad Sharabiani rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, scince, 21th-century, apocalypse

Wool Omnibus (Silo #1), Hugh Howey
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: دوم ژانویه سال 2017 میلادی
عنوان: پشم (سراب)؛ نویسنده: هیو هاوی؛ مترجم: آیدا کشوری؛ ویراستار: نیما کهندانی؛ تهران، آذرباد، 1393، در 684 ص؛ از سه گانه سیلو کتاب اول؛ شابک دوره: 9786006225531؛ شابک کتاب اول: 9786006225548؛

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Feb 01, 2016 Matthew rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, library, post-apocalyptic-dystopian, 2016

This book is an excellent and unique take on a post-apocalyptic earth. Recently, literature has been saturated with post-apocalyptic stories and sometimes it is hard to find something that is fresh . . . something that doesn't feel like it has already been done before. Everything about this book was suspenseful and interesting - no boredom of rehashed ideas/concepts/storylines for me.

Another cool thing about it is the book is divided into little novellas which kind of refresh the story every 50 ...more

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Nov 09, 2015 Dem rated it it was ok

Recommended to Dem by: Book club read

Shelves: bookclub-reads, science-fiction

I enjoy Post apocalyptic Stories every now and again and as this book had been getting rave reviews I had to give it a go.

The idea is really interesting, "This is the story of mankind clawing for survival, of mankind on the edge. The world outside has grown unkind, the view of it limited, talk of it forbidden. But there are always those who hope, who dream. These are the dangerous people, the residents who infect others with their optimism. Their punishment is simple. They are given the very th ...more

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Apr 16, 2012 Kaila rated it really liked it

Shelves: science-fiction, dystopia

This is going to end up being one of those books I force on all my friends, insisting that they read it immediately. I loved it and can't wait for more.

Please see my full reviews of the stories:

Wool 1
Wool 2: Proper Gauge
Wool 3: Casting Off
Wool 4: The Unraveling
Wool 5: The Stranded

Now go read this! You won't regret it!

Update May 13, 2012:

Hugh Howey has announced over on his blog that his self-published book Wool has been acquired by Fox! I couldn't be happier for him, and I am so excited for the ...more

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Jun 22, 2012 Damali rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: dystopian-pa-zombies, submerged-buried

Wool tells the story of a group of people living in an underground bunker with over 100 floors. Just talking about what's on the outside, or a desire for any change in their situation is considered treason, and may cause them to be sent for Cleaning. Cleaning is when the condemned person cleans the windows so the people can get a clearer view of the world outside. This series has Twilight Zone written all over it, and I'd be surprised if it doesn't end in a Twllight Zone-type fashion.

Wool One, 4 ...more

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Apr 13, 2017 Evelina | AvalinahsBooks rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: fans of Clifford Simak

Recommended to Evelina | AvalinahsBooks by: Efka

Shelves: favorites, fiction, society-tbr, dark-tbr, dystopia-tbr, end-of-the-world-tbr, books-of-2017

So. How does one start a review for a book as big as this one..?

Wool feels like the best book I've had in my hands this year. I know it's only April. But I don't feel like I'll read another one like it soon. Books like this you only come across every so often.

All I can think it reminds me of is Way Station by Clifford D. Simak, although that one was more sci-fi, and this one's more dystopian. But the scope, the ideas, the implementation... That's what feels close.

In case you haven't read t ...more

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Oct 01, 2012 Forrest rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Before I read this, I . . . er . . . siloed myself off from other reviews. Now that I'm finished, I'm glad I did. The sense of claustrophobia and restrained liberty was complete, as a result. But I'm a middle class American living a life of relative freedom when compared to most of the world today, and definitely when compared to the world of Wool. There were times, many times, when I had to remind myself to breathe! This is the amazing thing about the book - the way it captures you and slyly le Before I read this, I . . . er . . . siloed myself off from other reviews. Now that I'm finished, I'm glad I did. The sense of claustrophobia and restrained liberty was complete, as a result. But I'm a middle class American living a life of relative freedom when compared to most of the world today, and definitely when compared to the world of Wool. There were times, many times, when I had to remind myself to breathe! This is the amazing thing about the book - the way it captures you and slyly leads you from plot point to plot point without you knowing you are being shepherded along by the author. It's much like . . . well, like living in a dystopian world where you don't know anything about what is beyond your immediate reach, while someone, someone else does. Someone who you might know. Or maybe not. How would you know? The plot is really the unveiling of masks, nothing fancy, nothing elaborate. It's a very workman-like plot, and I guessed a few things before they were revealed. But I was along for the ride like a child locked in a car seat with a lollipop. The writing is just that smooth.

But what I really enjoyed were the characters. Jahns, Lukas, Juliette, Bernard. These were maybe not entirely believable all the time (Peter's "conversion" was off-putting, though necessary), but each character was identifiable enough and warm enough that it was fairly easy to willingly suspend my disbelief.

And what can one say about Juliette? She is strong, determined, yet vulnerable. Smart, but prone to mistakes. Her heart is crusted on the outside, but soft in the middle. She is, in a word, "human". I greatly enjoyed getting to know her.

And Lukas was one of the most believable characters I've read in a long time. "Conflicted" is the word that comes to mind when I think of Lukas. He wants to do what's right, but is torn between the logic of duty and the freedom of his heart. I felt like I related to him a great deal, like there is some of Lukas in me. That's the kind of connection I felt while watching him move, tentatively and naively, perhaps, to an emotional space that was simultaneously sad, bold, and endearing.

No, the science isn't perfect, and the deep history behind the whole setup was hackneyed. But Howey uses the setting, the situation, and the players so well that those minor annoyances soon melt into the background.

You've probably noticed that I'm not giving a blow-by-blow on the relevant plot points, that I'm being vague. This is intentional. I want you to be submerged in the silo, as well, so you can discover for yourself something about human nature, the need to control, and the need for freedom. I hope you'll jump into this world and struggle and hem and haw and backtrack and embolden yourself so that you can find your own way out.

You're going to have to trust some people to help you on your way out. You can't do it alone. Be careful who you choose as your friends, but once you've chosen them, trust them . . . and yourself. I wish you luck. Oh, and don't believe everything you see or everything you hear. The world isn't how it seems. But maybe you aren't how you see yourself, either. ...more

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Nov 08, 2013 Rick Riordan rated it it was amazing

The basic premise: mankind has devastated the surface of the world, leaving ruined cities, endless wasteland and a toxic atmosphere. The only survivors live in an underground silo, a closed society with a mayor, a sheriff, and a shadowy IT department that seems to control everything, including the population's understanding of reality outside the silo. Cameras offer a glimpse of the outside world on monitors throughout the silo, letting the inhabitants see the sunrise over the wasteland and all The basic premise: mankind has devastated the surface of the world, leaving ruined cities, endless wasteland and a toxic atmosphere. The only survivors live in an underground silo, a closed society with a mayor, a sheriff, and a shadowy IT department that seems to control everything, including the population's understanding of reality outside the silo. Cameras offer a glimpse of the outside world on monitors throughout the silo, letting the inhabitants see the sunrise over the wasteland and allay some of their claustrophobia, but the cameras often get grimy because of the atmosphere. Hence the silo's ultimate punishment: cleaning. For many crimes, including the forbidden act of simply expressing a desire to go outside, the convicted is put in an airtight suit and sent on a one-way trip to clean the lenses of the cameras. For some reason, the convicted always does the job, no matter how much they protest in advance. Within minutes, however, the suit deteriorates and the convict collapses, becoming another permanent feature of the landscape.

There is much more going on than the IT department lets on, however. When a new sheriff of the silo begins to explore some dangerous secrets uncovered by her predecessor, she makes powerful enemies and stirs up forces that could lead to civil war.

The characters are well-drawn, and even the villains have a sympathetic side. Secrets unfold with just the right pacing, and I had to set my e-reader down several times and say, "Wow," when a major twist was revealed. The structure of the story, told in five interconnected parts, makes WOOL unlike a conventional novel, and gives it extra depth, much like the layers of the silo itself. I loved the feisty heroine Juliette especially, who endures so much tragedy and shows so much courage. And who can't relate to the notion of an IT department being run by nefarious villains who deliberately sabotage the exchange of information? If you're looking for a good post-apocalyptic read, you can't do much better than WOOL. It's targeted at adults, but is completely appropriate for YA readers as well. ...more

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Feb 19, 2015 Michael rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, science-fiction, dystopia, post-apocalyptic

This one grew on me as I went along with successive generations of sheriffs in the silo society coming up against the hidden forces of conspiracy. But my drive to understand the real story behind this post-apocalyptic colony was undermined by the slowness of revelations, their contrived nature, and wooden quality of character portrayals.

I couldn’t suspend disbelief on the lack of communal knowledge about the causes of the apocalypse, why the world outside is so toxic, how the society could make ...more

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Apr 06, 2017 Phils Osophie rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Mein Problem mit Silo ist schlicht und ergreifend, dass es nie Klick gemacht hat. Die erste Hälfte hat sich unglaublich gezogen, und dann konnte auch die spannende zweite Hälfte nicht mehr viel rausreißen. Das Leben im Silo, die Revolution, die Charaktere - alles ist nett und solide, hat mich aber nie richtig packen können. Eigentlich schade, denn diese Reihe hat so viel Potenzial! Mal schauen, ob die Nachfolger da was retten können. Und mal schauen, ob ich die überhaupt lesen werde.

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Dec 31, 2012 Jonathan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: personal-favourites, fantasy-sci-fi-challenge, gritty-reads, dystopian

There are many books that deny the hype and expectations associated with them. To a degree Wool is one of these books in that it is both better and worse than hype would inform you. Regardless it is a brilliant modern dystopian novel, a modern work with style and ideas similar to those seen in Ray Bradbury or George Orwell. When other readers try and argue that The Hunger Games or Divergent are the best modern dystopian novels, Wool is the novel that you point them to for correction.

This novel c
There are many books that deny the hype and expectations associated with them. To a degree Wool is one of these books in that it is both better and worse than hype would inform you. Regardless it is a brilliant modern dystopian novel, a modern work with style and ideas similar to those seen in Ray Bradbury or George Orwell. When other readers try and argue that The Hunger Games or Divergent are the best modern dystopian novels, Wool is the novel that you point them to for correction.

This novel contains five books in one, though all five books are, in actuality, part of the one unfolding story. This story begins with a ritualistic 'cleaning', in which one man is sent from the underground silo to the outside. This outside world is destroyed entirely and the only glimpse of this world allowed from the silo is through one single camera. This camera requires cleaning, therefore certain crimes result in individuals being sentenced to die outside as they clean the camera. From the beginning this novel was excellently written to provide instant descriptive power and the impact of granting a glimpse into the emotions of the main character as he awaited his sentence, reflecting on his life. From this point on the reader is drawn into a plot about lies and truth within the silo, analysing the power struggles within this tightly controlled environment. What is the role of IT in this world? Are the cleanings so necessary? Is the truth more dangerous than the lies? These are questions prompted early on and later answered.

The ultimate power of this novel is in how it is so character driven. As a result the reader can experience a beautifully written (not poetically but structurally or linguistically beautiful) novel that delves into the character's minds to look at the trauma and pain they experience in this gritty post-apocalyptic, dystopian, world. I've not seen this in many books or read a book that so seamlessly integrates description into plot, showing and not telling. At least that is what I felt about the novel.

Finally, since the book stunned me and will probably now haunt me for the next few days, a look at the title. The title 'Wool' is simple and punchy, but at the same time a title that seems irrelevant to the book. A clever title designed to be thought provoking and in some sense, deep. The kind of postmodern title most books adopt these days. Yet I thought of several potential meanings for the title and I will briefly explain them:

1) Wool in connection to the idea of insulation or protection.
2) Wool as a metaphor for knitting, as most of the chapters are connected by knitting related titles.
3) Wool in connection to the idiomatic expression 'to pull the wool over your eyes'. Therefore the sense of being blinded to the truth.
4) Wool in connection to the phrase 'a wolf in sheep's clothing'. Again the deceptive element of wool where someone wearing wool can appear to be soft and caring but really be a true monster.
5) Wool in connection to all the above ideas, as a deceptive and soft insulative material with the capability to be used for multiple purposes (like many of the people and products in the silo). Ultimately while it may seem that wool can be grown and developed it is only dead material taken from the coats of sheep and therefore is a material that ends up cycled, much like the people and materials in the silo. Wool is deceptive and if you look further into it, and question where it came from and what it is, you begin to understand the reality of what wool is.

Wool, is a multifaceted, multi-useful material. And it is the nature of duplicity that features throughout this book. I fully recommend you go and read this, taking into account your own personal reactions and not merely the reactions granted by hype and popularity. ...more

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May 15, 2014 Apatt rated it really liked it

I imagine most struggling self published authors would like to follow the trail blazed by Hugh Howey. He hit the ground running with the novella Wool which is now available as a free e-book. I can highly recommend this without reservation as it is free and very good. It is also very astute marketing as most people who read it are likely to want to know what happen next, even though it is not have a cliffhanger ending as such. I think as a standalone short story (or novella) novella Wool works ve I imagine most struggling self published authors would like to follow the trail blazed by Hugh Howey. He hit the ground running with the novella Wool which is now available as a free e-book. I can highly recommend this without reservation as it is free and very good. It is also very astute marketing as most people who read it are likely to want to know what happen next, even though it is not have a cliffhanger ending as such. I think as a standalone short story (or novella) novella Wool works very well, the surprise at the end is just the sort of thing people love in short stories.

Wool is set (I believe) in the near future, the year in relation to our calendar is not indicated but there is no weird far future tech to speak of and people’s names are the same as the common names today (Peter, Bernard etc.). The post-apocalypse and dystopian subgenre of sf is often mixed up by online list makers but the world of the Silo series is clearly both. After an apocalypse (unexplained in this book), humans live in a dystopian society, sealed in subterranean silos, under the control of a shadowy authoritarian government. The open air in the world outside is poisonous and the world is inhabitable, except inside the silos’ sealed environment.

The world building in this Wool Omnibus is top notch, it seems very vivid and easy to immerse into. The culture inside the silo, the long trips up and down hundreds of levels (by stairs only, no elevators) and the “cleaning” tradition are all very believably depicted. On the whole the book is quite well written, not in term of literary achievement but in the more important term of effective and involving story telling. My only complaint is that after the half way point I felt the pacing sags considerably. There is a substantial section dealing with a rebellion which I find to be less than riveting. Fortunately the narrative moves on to a very good and rousing climax. The author manages to pull yet another rug from under my feet when I thought he has already exhausted his supply of rugs.

Characterization of the main characters is quite good, Howey switches the main protagonist two or three times and eventually settles with Juliette. Who is beautiful, resourceful, intelligent, brave, kind and tough as nails. Not exactly an original archetype but not a Mary Sue either; she has enough personality to be worth rooting for. Unfortunately she puts the other characters in the shade and when she is not in the narrative some steam seems to escape from the story. In fact I find most of the central characters introduced in the second half of the book are not quite as compelling as the previous ones.

Still, I congratulate Hugh Howey for his wonderful success against the odds against self published authors (graphic novels, film rights sold etc.). Hopefully he will inspire many more authors of his caliber and I look forward to reading more from ten series. ...more

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Feb 10, 2017 Stjepan Cobets rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: Science fiction Post-Apocalyptic fans

Shelves: science-fiction

With great pleasure, I read this book. From the first page, I was simply drawn into the world of Silos. This dystopian world is also well presented and I felt as I read it is literally in the Silos with numerous underground levels in which people live for hundreds of years. The writer has evoked the world with such ease and enjoyed in this imaginary world through the book. In a hostile world that has destroyed large war, in the huge Silos live last remnants of civilization. At the top of the Sil ...more

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Jan 29, 2015 Becky rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, dystopias, politicalish, mystery-and-thrillers, apocalyptic-types, reviewed, bad-shit-and-atrocities, ebook_kindle, 2015

It's past my bedtime, and I have to work in the morning, so I'm going to try to bang out this review quickly. Apologies if, like many of my reviews, it's spastic and rambly and generally sucks.

This book, omnibus, whatever has been on my reading radar for a long time. It's been recommended to me vociferously by one of my real-life-friends who, every time I tell her what I'm reading at the moment, responds with "But have you started Wool yet? No? Tell me when you have." But one of the reasons why It's past my bedtime, and I have to work in the morning, so I'm going to try to bang out this review quickly. Apologies if, like many of my reviews, it's spastic and rambly and generally sucks.

This book, omnibus, whatever has been on my reading radar for a long time. It's been recommended to me vociferously by one of my real-life-friends who, every time I tell her what I'm reading at the moment, responds with "But have you started Wool yet? No? Tell me when you have." But one of the reasons why I'd been so reluctant to start it is simply the fact that there are so many parts. There's Wool's 5 novellas, which is a series on its own, if read that way, but then Wool is only book 1 of a larger series, called Silo. That's a little daunting, and I had to be sure of the reading order before I started because otherwise I get all twitchy.

But I can see why friend was so adamant about me reading it. I was hooked almost from the very beginning, and felt the need to know more. I enjoyed the characters, the different story lines, the writing and the pacing and the mystery of it all. And it's rather ambiguous as well - which I liked quite a bit, though I wish that the main antagonist's character had been a little bit more in the gray than the black. I'm reminded of how the doctor from The Girl With All The Gifts was handled. It's the same kind of thing... from the perspectives of our protagonists, the antagonists seem evil and ruthless... but viewed in a big picture kind of a way, they are really the ones who are striving, even if it's in a misguided way, to help humanity survive.

But, it gets a little morally murky there. Things are vague... but the explanation that we're given about the history of how things came to be this way is just... horrifying. There's no other word for it. It's not so much that the silo's ancestors destroyed the world... but the WHY that's so horrifying. The thought makes me literally sick to my stomach. Ugh.

I fully admit that I don't understand the reason for the lies. I think that people, just by nature, are going to want to aspire to more... to stretch their wings (to be all cliche) and leave the nest. We're explorers and by nature we're curious. Was it just to cover up the deed that landed everyone in a silo and to control the people remaining? It seems like the lies would be more troublesome to continue with than the truth would be - and the wasted resources in fabricating the lie that ensures the condemned will clean seems... excessive to me. If the goal is the preservation of life, in a certain way... I think people are more willing to work towards a common goal than be held back by fear. One can only exist in a state of fear for so long before something has to change. Or maybe it's just late and I'm being idealistic again.

There's not a lot of science in this book, and what is there is pretty vague. There's a lot more engineering and mechanical based jargon, which makes sense considering the world they live in and who the main character is. But I couldn't help but think about the real logistics of living in a closed environment like that, especially one that is holding itself in limbo for an unknown future. Not just about the big things like making sure that there's power and food and water and clean air... but resources would by nature be limited. So I think about things like clothes and shoes, right? Sure, I'm betting that they laid in a huge supply of coveralls and boots at the beginning. But these things wear out. And fast when they're worn all the time and actually used. I'd imagine that a porter, who's job is running up and down stairs with messages and packages and rumors would go through a pair of shoes in... I don't know, a month? Two? They're walking on metal grating, which is going to be more abrasive than other types of flooring, so two months would be on the high end. So their supply is going to run out very quickly. They can make more... but rubber, I would think, would be in short supply as well. They drill for oil and refine it to make gas to power generators and such, but are they also making other things from it, like rubber for shoe soles? Is that a Legacy skill? What about fabric? Are they growing cotton? Or is everything wool just because that's the title? What about sanitation? Unless the birth control that is only briefly mentioned at the end also prevents menstruation, there's going to need to be some sort of preparation for that. What about glasses? Nail clippers? Toothbrushes? Toilet paper? They live in a world of metal sunk into the ground... when was the last time anyone had a Tetanus shot?? Mental health care? Medicine? Probably in supply - but what about the skill and knowledge to make more? The supplies to make more? Are there even scientists? Emergency response teams? Firefighters?

This leads me to my next question... If a specialized segment of the silo workforce is lost... how do they recover? For instance - Mechanical is at the very bottom of the silo, and they keep all of the power and machines that keep the silo running, well... running. They work night and day to make sure that these machines will last. So what happens if there's a an accident, like a fire or a flood, or an explosion or something, and they can't get out in time? These people have learned their jobs and skills by shadowing the previous generation and learning on the job. There doesn't seem to be a back-up plan if a segment of the population is lost.

Yet when that happens, the solution is to send farmers down to be mechanics now. Led by someone who seems to have engineering skill, sure... but does that person have ALL of the knowledge necessary to keep an entire silo's machinery working? And the skill to teach others how to do that from scratch? It seems that there's a definite lack of planning in the running of the everyday silo operations - the planning was more geared toward controlling the people to ensure they never want to leave rather than preparing for situations which might leave the silo uninhabitable by accident.

And speaking of farmers, I'm assuming that they are the ones responsible for keeping animals as well. What kind of animals are in the silo? I know of pigs, rabbits, rats, and dogs, and assume that there are sheep (because of the wool), but what else? Only food animals and dogs? No cats? Nothing else? Every single other type of animal on the planet is assumed to be extinct? That's horrifying to me, too. But ok, even if they did plan for preserving animals (and there is no evidence of this in the book) - where would they keep them? What if they weren't keeping LIVE animals, but their DNA or something, because this is presumably the future and we may have that technology... but that brings me back to logistics. How would they have compiled samples of every animal species in secret, and where do they store them, and are there scientists or people with the knowledge to figure out how to Jurassic Park them?

I don't know. Still... if one doesn't think too much about the details, this is a pretty interesting and compelling book. I enjoyed it and I will definitely continue on with the series, because I'm curious and I want to know more.

I'm sure that there's more that I have rattling around in this ol' brain of mine that I should have included in here... but I am tired and it's time for bed. So that is all. ...more

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Mar 06, 2014 Maxine (Booklover Catlady) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: could-not-put-down, books-that-made-me-think, 2014-reading-challenge, books-in-a-series, dystopian-read, library-borrowed-books

Well, I didn't think this would live up to the hype or the reviews, but it simply does. With a slightly slow start I wasn't sure for a while how this would go but from the halfway point onwards I was devouring words like a thirsty person drinks water.

I LOVED Jules, what a heroine and a half, none of this namby pamby female protaganist stuff here, nope, she was gritty, clever, determined, brave and gutsy. She was also darn handy with a set of tools, I am always impressed by that as even an IKEA Well, I didn't think this would live up to the hype or the reviews, but it simply does. With a slightly slow start I wasn't sure for a while how this would go but from the halfway point onwards I was devouring words like a thirsty person drinks water.

I LOVED Jules, what a heroine and a half, none of this namby pamby female protaganist stuff here, nope, she was gritty, clever, determined, brave and gutsy. She was also darn handy with a set of tools, I am always impressed by that as even an IKEA Allen key throws me into much confusion. She is just ever so likeable. I was cheering for her every step of the way.

By the point where I had it confirmed what I thought was going on I knew it was going to get better, and it did. I felt like I was right there in the Silo, seeing and feeling and sharing the experiences of those living in it. This is fiction that to be honest I can almost see as a possible (and very scary) future the way our world is going, it's not as far-fetched as some novels I have read, food for thought.

Some other excellent characters in the book and I can see this being a movie or series very easily, no doubt it will happen. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was at times the long description of events or mechanical happenings/engineering moments took up too many pages, I guess if you were a Mechanical Engineer it would be better, it doesn't take from the book too much but at times I just wanted the descriptives to end and some action to happen, the latter half of the book certainly managed that. Sometimes less is more. It had me a bit glassy eyed in places.

This is the Wool omnibus edition, so all five books in one, which frankly reads like an entire novel, you can't pick the end of or the start of the next book, very seamless writing. I will be reading the next books/omnibus in the series as very keen to see what happens next.

Note: Sadly the follow on books in this series did not do it for me, after a great start I was very let down.

For more of my reviews, book talk, recommendations and more, meet me at:

https://www.facebook.com/BookloverCat... ...more

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Jul 02, 2015 Luffy rated it it was ok

What started as a colorful take on a closeted and dystopian narration with a science fiction bent, ran out of air sooner enough. All the unpredictability which my nourishment craving brain was ready to convert into goodwill, evaporated. The ending turned out to be incomplete, with the promise of more sequels on the way. I don't understand the hype for this book. Conclusion? It's a book not for me, but will find adoption in many a heart. My unfortunate brood is that I saw too much of Tolkien in ...more

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May 03, 2013 Willow rated it it was amazing

Shelves: science-fiction

I loved Wool!

Not that the title is that great. I realize Howey used the word ‘wool’ to symbolize a thick cloud of deception that encompasses his grim and terrifying world, but the word has other meanings like sheep and itchy sweaters that I think detracts from the sharpness of this fantastic story. Don’t be fooled though, this is a wildly imaginative and thoughtful tale. I enjoyed it a lot.

Howey is an excellent writer and has several things going for him. One is his vivid characters and rich di I loved Wool!

Not that the title is that great. I realize Howey used the word ‘wool’ to symbolize a thick cloud of deception that encompasses his grim and terrifying world, but the word has other meanings like sheep and itchy sweaters that I think detracts from the sharpness of this fantastic story. Don’t be fooled though, this is a wildly imaginative and thoughtful tale. I enjoyed it a lot.

Howey is an excellent writer and has several things going for him. One is his vivid characters and rich dialogue. I cared about these people. I didn’t want anything bad to happen to them. So many apocalyptic stories are peopled with douchebags (it drives me crazy!) and that wasn’t the case here. The villain has an agenda and I understood it, even if I didn't agree. And Juliet, Howey’s heroine, is awesome! She’s strong, compassionate, and clever (Howey shows you this too, instead of telling you. Yay!) She also doesn’t lose her focus mooning over some guy. She’s got a job to do and she wants to do it well. I loved it!

Howey’s other gift is his pacing. Wool opens up like an onion, revealing layer upon layer of mystery and treachery, the suspense almost excruciating. Yes the second book has a long passage of world building which probably could have been chopped down, but once that’s over with the story doesn’t slow down. And it’s not endless action either. It’s mystery. I simply had to find out what was beyond the silo.

The next thing I loved about Howey’s writing was his visceral description. I mean, wow! I was there, with Juliet and everything she goes through…sight, sound, touch, and smell. A couple of scenes left me breathless. Another made me want to go wash out my mouth. I don’t think I’ve been so completely pulled into another world in a long time. In fact, I dreamed about this world. If you read this right before you go to bed, I bet you don’t leave. Lol
I’ve read in critical reviews that Howey goes into way too long descriptions about pumps and mechanical devices. But that didn’t bother me. In fact, it just embedded me more in Juliet’s point of view. After all, she’s a mechanic and she would be focused on stuff like that.

There is also some symbolism in Wool that added another dimension. Some of it is obvious, like the title, but others are more subtle. (view spoiler)

Howey originally wrote Wool as a nail-biting short story, and then added onto it. But there were some plot holes and unanswered questions in that story, so Howey spends some time trying to explain things in his subsequent books. I think for the most part he succeeds, but I’m sure there’s something nitpickers will find to pick apart. After all that’s what we Scifi lovers do. Lol

If I was going to knock anything, it would be the ending. I thought it was a little rushed and maybe a bit too convenient, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying this. I highly recommend this exciting scifi story.
...more

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About Hugh Howey

I'm the author of WOOL, a top 5 science fiction book on Amazon. I also wrote the Molly Fyde saga, a tale of a teenager from the 25th century who is repeatedly told that girls can't do certain things -- and then does them anyway.

A theme in my books is the celebration of overcoming odds and of not allowing the cruelty of the universe to change who you are in the process. Most of them are classified ...more

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“He’d only ever seen a gun once, a smaller one on the hip of that old deputy, a gun he’d always figured was more for show. He stuffed a fistful of deadly rounds in his pocket, thinking how each one could end an individual life, and understanding why such things were forbidden. Killing a man should be harder than waving a length of pipe in their direction. It should take long enough for one’s conscience to get in the way.” — 46 likes

“It turned out that some crooked things looked even worse when straightened. Some tangled knots only made sense once unraveled.” — 32 likes

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Trivia About Wool

Quotes from Wool Omnibus