Wool Omnibus (Silo, #1) in The Alternative Worlds

Apr 09, 2013 Ryandake rated it did not like it

Shelves: stuff-i-couldn-t-finish

so this is not the sort of thing i usually gravitate toward--i don't like dystopian novels, am leery of self-pubbed stuff. i like stuff an actual editor has gotten pencil marks all over, because yes, professionals do that shit for a reason, especially for first-time authors. it's cause editors have skills, they have expertise sharpened over years about what works and what doesn't, they know how to fix a flawed book, and best of all, they know the difference between a good first draft and a finis ...more

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Nov 16, 2012 Martini rated it it was amazing

Shelves: female-protagonists, science-fiction, ebook, english, series-complete-finished

Wool took me by surprise. It caught my eye as a nominee in the Goodreads Choice Awards 2012 because it had such a peculiar title that I definitely had to find out more about it – clever trick! I downloaded the sample which contained the complete “Wool 1” and was hooked.

Instead of writing an ordinary review, which might contain too many spoilers, I’ve decided to do something different. I have to admit, I am one of those people who are used to yelling at books when reading exciting passages, so he ...more

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Apr 12, 2013 Nicky rated it it was ok

Shelves: speculative-fiction, post-apocalyptic, dystopia

I know I was reviewing each section separately, but I decided I wasn't going to finish this. All in all, it wasn't keeping my attention as much as I would've liked -- Juliette is a great character, but otherwise, meh, and the plot wasn't so original or well put together that I couldn't spend my time poking holes in it, even to the extent I read it. Combine that with learning what the end is from a helpful reading group member and I was severely sceptical... It isn't bad, and with an editor the w ...more

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Aug 29, 2012 Tam Linsey rated it it was amazing

Shelves: keeper-shelf

WOOL is an unhesitating 5 star read. Hugh has set up a world which is completely believable where a man-made disaster ruined the earth, forcing humanity to move into massive underground silos. The setting in WOOL is so well described, I can smell the grease in the mechanical rooms, and hear the whir of the servers in IT without even being aware I am sitting in my own home. Climbing up and down those silo stairs, my legs and lungs burned with sympathy (now if only I'd been able to put the book do ...more

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Mar 12, 2013 Daniel Roy rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: sf, taw-bookclub

One day a self-published book will come along and convince me that self-publication can produce works that are as good as traditional publishing. Unfortunately, Wool is not that book.

The first part of the story, which was written as a standalone novella, showed some promise. It was a good, self-contained SF story with a certain golden age SF quality to it, a unique setting, and an intriguing mystery. As successful as this self-published story was, though, I'm not sure its setting warranted to be One day a self-published book will come along and convince me that self-publication can produce works that are as good as traditional publishing. Unfortunately, Wool is not that book.

The first part of the story, which was written as a standalone novella, showed some promise. It was a good, self-contained SF story with a certain golden age SF quality to it, a unique setting, and an intriguing mystery. As successful as this self-published story was, though, I'm not sure its setting warranted to be expanded into a series. The more we learn about Wool's world, the less it makes sense. The world loses its sense of depth, and the cracks in the logic start to appear. How does this society maintain taboos? Who are the priests who allegedly fabricate this fantasy? Why is there a need to lie about anything? Who are the other occupants of the silo besides IT and Mechanical? (view spoiler) The more the story progresses, the greater the questions become.

The story itself rambled and flagged in parts. Large segments of the action seemed to happen to pad the story until the predetermined outcome took place. (view spoiler) Scenes are drawn out in pointless details, such as characters trying to fix a piece of machinery or thinking back on events we have already witnessed.

The writing is workmanlike. It's not terrible, and it's certainly competent, but it never shows signs of texture, nuance, or subtext. Characters speak their mind; they never evade or lie. They speak like modern Americans despite having lived underground for centuries. The aspect that drove me nuts the most is the level of environmental detail in dialogues. If one character is eating during an exchange, we get to read about each bite, how he picked up a piece of this or that, how it was too hot or too cold. It made me dread eating dialogue sequences.

Maybe I'm being too cynical of self-publishing. I'm sure there must be great material out there that's self-published, and I don't mean to knock them all. That being said, I see the above problems as a consequence of the lack of a strong editorial role in self-publishing. Editors of self-published works are on the writer's payroll, and so ultimately defer to their judgment. But what's needed for a stellar novel is for an editor to be tough enough to rein in the writer, and force them to rework something they'd rather not touch. It's the same phenomenon in movies: Star Wars and The Matrix were produced with studios breathing down the directors' necks and forcing them to tweak and improve, whereas The Phantom Menace and the Matrix sequels had no one telling them what needed to be scrapped.

If Wool had fallen in the hands of a competent editor at a respectable publisher, it's possible Mr. Howey would have been told to start again and fix the dramatic structure of his novel. He might have been encouraged to tighten his prose and work on his dialogues. The novel that would have come out of this process would surely have featured the same strong characters and the intriguing post-apocalyptic setting, but it would surely be a leaner, more engaging novel.

I'm being harsh with this book because I really liked the beginning of it, and was sad to see it unravel (no pun intended) as pages went by. I liked Juliette a lot, for instance. She's a strong, capable woman, which is refreshing to see. I liked the mystery behind the cleanings. But I can't shake the feeling that Wool lies somewhere between first draft and finished novel. ...more

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Jan 22, 2013 Suz rated it it was ok

Shelves: book-club, life-is-too-short, dystopian, post-apocalyptic, kindle

I'm a dystopian junkie. I love closed systems. I love it when an author uses my favorite sub-genre to say something.

Unfortunately, Howey didn't seem to have much to say. Or rather, he said too much.

This book is a series of short stories, collected into one mini-omnibus edition. The future is bleak, we (general "we", the US, I guess), have done something to the world, and now isolated populations have to live underground. This is what happens with one of those societies. Law and order and all of ...more

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Apr 26, 2013 Tatjana rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction-science-fiction, fiction-dystopian

This was the first book I read after graduating 2 weeks ago.
Oh yes, I had it sitting next to my bed, but I knew my semester would be destroyed if I picked it up.

I loved it. I loved the alternative take on dystopia, I loved the characters, I loved the way Howey ratchets up the tension for 175 pages until you want to pull your hair out.

At the end of the book there is a Q&A. Howey writes about how being an unknown author is like playing guitar in the subway.
Well, I'm glad I was on the platform whe ...more

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