Book Review: Wool by Hugh Howey
September 29, 2014 9 Comments
Wool: What it is about
From the publishers: “For suspense-filled, post-apocalyptic thrillers, Wool is more than a self-published eBook phenomenon―it’s the new standard in classic science fiction.
In a ruined and toxic future, a community exists in a giant silo underground, hundreds of stories deep. There, men and women live in a society full of regulations they believe are meant to protect them. Sheriff Holston, who has unwaveringly upheld the silo’s rules for years, unexpectedly breaks the greatest taboo of all: He asks to go outside.
His fateful decision unleashes a drastic series of events. An unlikely candidate is appointed to replace him: Juliette, a mechanic with no training in law, whose special knack is fixing machines. Now Juliette is about to be entrusted with fixing her silo, and she will soon learn just how badly her world is broken. The silo is about to confront what its history has only hinted about and its inhabitants have never dared to whisper. Uprising.”
Wool: What I thought
For me, this was a whole new dystopian world: a silo under the ground. And a deep one at that. Special couriers travel the stairs to deliver packages and letters all day through. But most people only use a few levels from where they live, and so, sub-societies are formed of those living near the top, the middle, or the bottom of the silo.
I love the ideas in this book. The details of the silo weren’t totally convincing to me: there was running water and electricity, and apparently the silo was so airtight, that the poisonous gases from outside never entered it. It did not disturb me too much. After a slow beginning, the story started to speed up and I was turning pages to see what would happen next rather than worry about believability.
The beginning was not only slow for me but also frustrating. In each of the first two chapters, a main character is introduced who is thereafter no longer important in the book. Only from the third chapter onwards did the main character actually stay in the rest of the story. I never like it when I get to know and love a character and then have to shift focus to another character.
For fans of dystopia, this is a great and suspenseful novel. I have already got the sequel, Shift, and I’m really curious to see how the story will continue.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars (good)
Number of pages: 528
First published: 2013
I got this: bought it
Genre: science fiction, dystopia