Wool Omnibus (Silo, #1) in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

Aug 25, 2014 Erin rated it it was amazing

Shelves: post-apocalypse-dystopia

A very few thoughts on this very long, but worthwhile, read:

1. Chapter 1 - genius.
2. Title? awesome
3. Well written characters, easily distinguishable which is not easy in such a long book.
4. I tore through the book and generally couldn't wait to see what happened next.
5. Will I move on with the series? Not sure. I'll need some time away to decide. ...more

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Jun 17, 2013 Kerry rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, scifi, audible, dystopia, post-apocalyptic

I've been having a bad run with science fiction lately, and it occurred to me that I like reading the premises of science fiction novels better than the actual books, most times, as the books are never (rarely) executed as cleverly as I anticipate them to be.

Then the other day I was reading the Wikipedia entry on Kilgore Trout and was reminded (because surely I knew this already) that this was the genius of Trout: Vonnegut could come up with as many interesting concepts for science fiction stori I've been having a bad run with science fiction lately, and it occurred to me that I like reading the premises of science fiction novels better than the actual books, most times, as the books are never (rarely) executed as cleverly as I anticipate them to be.

Then the other day I was reading the Wikipedia entry on Kilgore Trout and was reminded (because surely I knew this already) that this was the genius of Trout: Vonnegut could come up with as many interesting concepts for science fiction stories as he liked, without having to actually write the things.

So it is with Wool. In Wool, a post-apocalyptic society lives in a silo underground, and has for "hundreds of years." The opening scene describes the worn treads on the steel stairs that run through the silo. It was a great image and it made me excited for the rest of the book . . . but then that was it! If you've got a self-contained society, and the only resources you have are what you can mine directly underneath the silo, wouldn't everything be worn? Re-used? Wouldn't there be a near-obsession about using things until they absolutely couldn't be used again? Wouldn't paper be insanely valuable? Wouldn't new items be rare?

In Dune, you FELT the scarcity of water. Herbert makes you not just understand, but really viscerally feel and KNOW how valuable it is. When it's tossed on the ground to waste, you flinch. In the Dark Tower series, you cringe every time Roland has to use a precious bullet. You wonder every time someone manages to have a scrap of paper. Yet you never get that sense from this book. It just sort of feels like regular old society, with regular old boring names (like Cheryl, and Lucas, and Bernard -- also, are all these people white? Why does everyone have a moustache?) and some slightly different rules and taboos. Oh and apparently there's religion too, though it's only mentioned when it's needed as a motivation.

I had so many questions about a closed society that lives underground. Where does their trash go? Where does their shit go? They're mining oil I guess -- since they make PLASTIC like it's no big deal (really??) -- so where does the smoke from using it go? What color are these people? There's a limit on procreation -- wouldn't there be a maximum age as well? Where does their clean air come from? These are all questions which seem fascinating to me, but they apparently are not to Mr. Howey, as he declined to address them at all.

His novel did raise more questions for me, though. Why is there only one staircase in the entire place? Why aren't there any technological advances, with all those nerds working in IT all the time? How are they able to make firearms in ONE DAY that apparently work fine (and they never made firearms before, supposedly) and why the hell would they make RIFLES if all battles were going to be fought in close quarters? How on earth could you have a revolution appear out of nothing, with no simmering resentments building, just, poof? Does it ever really happen that way? I don't think so. Is there really just a Mayor and . . . that's it? No council of advisers? Really? And is groundwater really still going to be at that elevation, after all those years of people tapping into it?

So . . . yes. It was really boring, and didn't talk about any of the stuff that I had thought of in my head even before I started listening. Also, the characters we meet are mostly supposed to be the smartest people in the place, but they are conveniently stupid when the plot needs it. They don't think of possibilities that seem really fucking obvious to me. At least let these things OCCUR to the characters, and then have them dismiss them for some reason, you know? When you leave things unsaid, but I think of them, it ruins my suspension of disbelief and frustrates me. I don't like being three steps ahead of everyone. I almost always felt that when somebody didn't think of something, it wasn't because it naturally wouldn't occur to them, it was because it was convenient to the plot.

Anyway, there's my review. I'm going to go read the synopses of the books of the rest of the series on Wikipedia now, since I know I'll enjoy that a lot better than slogging through the actual novels.

Oh, I almost forgot! The narration (by Amanda Sayle -- there does exist another edition with a different narrator) was pretty terrible. I listened at 1.5x the whole time, which is something I have never done before. She spoke too slowly, and almost all of the people had absurd cartoon character voices. It was ridiculous. ...more

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Nov 05, 2017 Ann rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: short-story, scifi

I don't know what I want to say about this.

It took three sections to really get going. I found out later that it was originally short stories, which confirms what I suspected. For the novelization, these could have been edited and shortened to get to the point.

The back cover said this was Jules' story, but this was only half of it. It ends in such a way as to foreshadow a sequel, which always annoys me. It also annoys me when an author treats almost being burned alive like it's equivalent to a r ...more

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Jul 31, 2015 Cindy rated it liked it

Shelves: science-fiction, series, dystopia, 2015

This was such an interesting idea, and I liked the characters. But the story dragged on much too long. I think it could have been cut from 1/3-1/4 and it would have been much better.

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Jun 08, 2013 Emily rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: doom-porn

Wow, not sure what to say that wouldnt spoil things... needless to say this book was really good. i kept getting goose bumps and just when you thought you knew what was going on Howey would drop another bomb in your lap with a writer's smirk as if to say "whaddya gonna do about it?" well mr. howey i will continue reading you jerk...
really good, great writing, well paced, excellent reveals. i look forward to more from this man
...more

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Feb 16, 2014 Donna rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, twisted-sisters

Future dystopia (is there any other kind) where humans have taken shelter in a silo due to the pollution of earth's environment. The "Pact" holds it all together until someone discovers the truth. Slow start, but the last 200 pages flew by. ...more

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