Hugh Howey

Wool

The first book in the acclaimed, New York Times best-selling trilogy, Wool is the story of a community living in an underground silo completely unaware of the fate of the outside world. When the silo's sheriff asks to leave the silo, a series of events unravels the very fabric of their fragile lives. In a world where all commodities are precious and running out, truth and hope may be the most rare...and the most needed.

Zachary Roberts

And Juliette was so used to rebuilding devices thought beyond repair that she felt if she concentrated enough, or performed the correct series of tasks in the right order, she should be able to bring the deceased back, be able to re-create their wasted forms. But she knew that wasn't the case.

In a future toxic landscape, a community that lives in an underground silo is rocked by the desire of Sheriff Holston, who has upheld the group's rules for years, to go outside, setting in motion events that kindle the fire of revolution.

Jillian Roberts

"None of us asked to be where we are," she reminded him coolly. 

This gave Lukas pause, thinking of where she was, what she'd been through to get there.

"What we control," Juliette said, "is our actions once fate puts us there."

Great storyline and very well written. 100% better than the tv series.

Jennifer Palmer

I think this is the first time i’ve watched something and THEN read the book. The fact that the TV series was SO good that i needed to know what happened is testament to this book. LOVED this book. It’s different but the same as the TV series. The TV series is more expansive, but the book is still so much fun to read. 

It does have some slow parts in the books, but thanks to the short chapters, you move through these pretty quickly. And they maybe slow due to me kind of knowing what happens, rather than the story.

Excited now i’ve read this one to move onto the next…………after a little break. 

Highly recommend this book, especially if you’ve seen the series. 

Aims

4.25 ✨

I think this is the first time i’ve watched something and THEN read the book. The fact that the TV series was SO good that i needed to know what happened is testament to this book. LOVED this book. It’s different but the same as the TV series. The TV series is more expansive, but the book is still so much fun to read. 

It does have some slow parts in the books, but thanks to the short chapters, you move through these pretty quickly. And they maybe slow due to me kind of knowing what happens, rather than the story.

Excited now i’ve read this one to move onto the next…………after a little break. 

Highly recommend this book, especially if you’ve seen the series. 

Unnecessarily long, but what a GREAT book!!!!  

౨ৎ | “he was a good man, but he had a broken heart. that’ll take even the best of them down.”

i liked the intial pace of the book but then it just sort of started dragging. the mix of characters while good, was also very distracting. 

i understand the author initially had “part 1 holston” written as a small novella, but had such a huge impact he felt obligated to flush out the next four small parts in eight months. when i feel he should have taken time to do it. 

also feel like a romance in this type of book is not needed but we move. 

overall i really enjoyed the feel to the book and i loved the intial aspect. but it sort of just fell flat for me around the 70% mark. i might pick up the next book, i might not. who knows.

౨ৎ | “he was a good man, but he had a broken heart. that’ll take even the best of them down.”

—  ★ 3/5

i liked the intial pace of the book but then it just sort of started dragging. the mix of characters while good, was also very distracting. 

i understand the author initially had “part 1 holston” written as a small novella, but had such a huge impact he felt obligated to flush out the next four small parts in eight months. when i feel he should have taken time to do it. 

also feel like a romance in this type of book is not needed but we move. 

overall i really enjoyed the feel to the book and i loved the intial aspect. but it sort of just fell flat for me around the 70% mark. i might pick up the next book, i might not. who knows.

The premise of this really intrigued me. In a post-apocalyptic world, a group of people, now generations into this way of life, live in a “silo” — this multi level underground city they’re not allowed to leave. The higher ups in the government are hiding some secret about the outside world and silencing anyone who threatens to reveal it.

What I liked about this was the stakes. I truly understood what everyone was fighting for. There were likable enough characters, and even the people I didn’t enjoy were compelling in their own rights. The POVs switch every chapter, which kept the pace steady for majority of this book.

However, the introduction of new characters got somewhat confusing at certain points, and I had to take a second to remind myself who is who. Around the 60% mark, I started to feel the pace slow down and wish it had kept the pace from the beginning of the book.

If you’ve ever ready the ‘city of ember’ books as a child, it’s like that mixed with ‘the 100’ but for adults. I will be continuing the series; though I feel as if the first book could be a standalone. This makes me think that we’re moving away from this group of survivors and onto a whole new group in this dystopian world with the next book. I’m really intrigued by the world and what happened to get them to this point.

Nik ✨

The premise of this really intrigued me. In a post-apocalyptic world, a group of people, now generations into this way of life, live in a “silo” — this multi level underground city they’re not allowed to leave. The higher ups in the government are hiding some secret about the outside world and silencing anyone who threatens to reveal it.

What I liked about this was the stakes. I truly understood what everyone was fighting for. There were likable enough characters, and even the people I didn’t enjoy were compelling in their own rights. The POVs switch every chapter, which kept the pace steady for majority of this book.

However, the introduction of new characters got somewhat confusing at certain points, and I had to take a second to remind myself who is who. Around the 60% mark, I started to feel the pace slow down and wish it had kept the pace from the beginning of the book.

If you’ve ever ready the ‘city of ember’ books as a child, it’s like that mixed with ‘the 100’ but for adults. I will be continuing the series; though I feel as if the first book could be a standalone. This makes me think that we’re moving away from this group of survivors and onto a whole new group in this dystopian world with the next book. I’m really intrigued by the world and what happened to get them to this point.

'The next Hunger Games' The Sunday Times 'Well written, tense, and immensely satisfying, Wool will be considered a classic for many years in the future.' WIRED 'Thrilling, thought-provoking and memorable ... one of dystopian fiction's masterpieces alongside the likes of 1984 and Brave New World.' Daily Express 'Howey's Wool is an epic feat of imagination. You will live in this world.' Justin Cronin 'Wool is frightening, fascinating, and addictive. In one word, terrific.' Kathy Reichs In a ruined and hostile landscape, in a future few have been unlucky enough to survive, a community exists in a giant underground silo. Inside, men and women live an enclosed life full of rules and regulations, of secrets and lies. To live, you must follow the rules. But some don't. These are the dangerous ones; these are the people who dare to hope and dream, and who infect others with their optimism. Their punishment is simple and deadly. They are allowed outside. Jules is one of these people. She may well be the last.

Marie

I read this book after I watched the TV adaption, which covers only the first half of the book. While I enjoyed reading it and learning about the story beyond what is portrayed in the TV show, I have to say that the TV show improved this in every possible way. Literally all the characters have much more depth in the TV show, and they even added a lot of plot points that just make this world way more intriguing. 

It's still an enjoyable read, and I love this type of dystopian fiction. I'll continue by reading the two other books in the series to find out how the story progresses.

Eric Smith

The concept was interesting enough, but this book is SO LONG for no reason. I don't feel the story was nearly expansive enough to take up this much time.

Gripping and tense. Bought because of the TV show but far superior to that

Josh Dawson

Will Dawson

Nora 

Brilliant. Thrilling, he really knows how to end a chapter - one cliff hanger to another. I couldn't put it down, what a satisfying ending! Can't wait to get to next in the series.

edith w.

I would have enjoyed this book a lot more if it hadn't been for the 450 pages filled with banal and unnecessary description ("she pressed the button, then she looked at the wires, then she found a wrench, it was rusty, then she fixed the wires, then she walked down the corridor" etc. etc.). I skim-read most of the last two-thirds of the book, just to see what happened, and I don't think I missed much. 

The story was sound and frightening, and that's what I want in my dystopia, but its delivery was too shoddy. It's telling that I spent more of my time wondering exactly how much distance there was between each level that brought about such achey legs on the climb (every other page) than I did wondering about anything else. I shall wiki the rest of the trilogy to see what happens and to close the loop. No one has the time for that many stairs.

James Eaton

I keep giving books 5 stars, but the keep being great. 

I had started this book 3-4 times over the years but always put it down for another time. With the new year, I have been grabbing some of my backlog for the 52 books that I plan on reading and I knew I needed to visit the Silo and see this story unfolded. 

I will probably return for the other 2 at some point this year (or when I can).

Peter Misak

The Wool Omnibus begins promisingly, but with every new novella writing somehow gets slower and more convoluted. Also, their length increases, which is of course not necessarily a bad thing.

More is not always better, however, and although there are times when I could not put the book away, I mostly could not help myself but constantly doubt the behaviour of the characters and the whole silo "society" as there are many things that I can't imagine would happen in a normal population.

There are a lot of characters in the books and we see a lot of them die, but I somehow could not really grow attached to any of them, with a small exception of Juliette perhaps.

With that being said, if you're interested in dystopian books based on conspiracy theories, I would recommend to read Wool, and perhaps the other books in the series. It is a solid book, but it certainly has it flaws and I find it quite a bit overrated. Also, check what Philip K. Dick has to offer, e.g. in The Penultimate Truth, which shares some similarities with Wool.

Yulande Lindsay

4 1/2 stars to be precise. The best kind of dystopian fiction, complex, dark but with a smidgen of hope.

Hooman Askari

What a novel. Full of suspense, keeping me at the edge of my seat the whole time. It was my first experience with Hugh Howey and already have started the second book in the series. 

Marie 🕊

This took me an eternity but I’m glad I read it. I can also see why it’s a drag for some people to get through. There’s definitely some flat moments after the 3rd story that make me wish it were shorter. 🥲

Hiddeninthelostlibrary

WOOL - I libro
Fantascienza

🤷Questo romanzo è il primo di tre libri, chiamati la Trilogia del Silo e posso affermare, con assoluta certezza, che mi abbia convinto soltanto a metà. 

1️⃣. Come ti sentiresti se dovessi vivere in un gigantesco silo sotterraneo a causa dell’aria tossica esterna, controllato da rigide regole, compreso il controllo delle nascite?

2️⃣. Come ti sentiresti se la Vista sul mondo esterno dipendesse dalla morte di un tuo concittadino?

3️⃣. Cosa faresti se scoprissi un terribile segreto che potrebbe portare alla rovina della tua società? 

👍🏻~Note positive 

- I primi capitoli sono molto scorrevoli e mi tenevano incollata alle pagine, soprattutto perché incuriosita dall’organizzazione di questo tipo di società. 
Posso dire lo stesso degli ultimi capitoli. Superata ,quindi, la fase intermedia ritorna ad essere interessante. 

🙅~Note negative 

- Ad un certo punto comincia ad essere un po’ lento e sembra abbia già svelato tutto. Ma come è possibile, mi sono chiesta, dato che si tratta di una trilogia? 

- Alcune vicende non sono riuscita a spiegarmele... Ho avuto l’impressione che l’autore adattasse i fatti a suo piacimento ogni volta, e che se ne uscisse con delle soluzioni del tutto inverosimili nello sviluppo della storia. 

Questo, secondo me, è il punto debole più forte che un libro possa avere e mi disturba molto nella lettura. 

~In conclusione. 
Per quanto la trama abbia degli ottimi presupposti e sembri intrigante a livello teorico, a livello pratico risulta un po’ debole. 

Lo consiglio?
Ni

Hope Lenzen

It started off a bit slow and didn't really give me a character I wanted to root for but about halfway through it got interesting and I was hooked until the end

Ken Gagne

I thought Wool dragged a bit in the fifth section, after the sense of discovery was gone — but overall, it was a very enjoyable read that left me eager to read the sequels.

Les Reynolds

I've read quite a few books in the last year, and this is by far my favourite. Some post-apocalyptic books have an interesting premise, but never seem to live up to the ideas presented in the first few chapters. Wool opens with an interesting premise, and just keeps throwing curveballs at you the whole way through. And it is very well written, especially the way he describes beautiful and interesting details, that then turn out to be important elements to the survival of a character later on. There were times I was absolutely glued to the page, but it also felt like I was reading quality literature. The pace slows a bit in the middle, but the beginning and end make it well worth hanging with. Highly recommended!

Wool

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