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4.17 AVERAGE
4.17 AVERAGE
Wonderful classic science fiction, unexpected turns in the plot, great ending.
Read this book. Seriously. It tells the story of a number of characters, all connected, that live in a silo. It is a dystopian future with limited technology. This underground place is full of taboos. No talking of the outside. You get a real feel for the culture and I felt instantly attached to all the characters. The villains are evil but their reasons are understandable. There are so many reveals that every few chapters you will say "what?" and want to talk to someone about this book. If they aren't reading it you will sound weird. After finishing now all I want to do is read more!
This. Book.
Honestly, this book was so good I can hardly write about how good it was. The writing I'm doing to review this book is so embarrassingly inferior. It was like nothing I've ever read before, the writing was superb, and the author knew how to give pieces of information at just the right times to keep you wanting to know more without giving everything away at once.
This book surprised me, not once, but a few times. That's a feat in and of itself. This book floored me. I'm enveloped by it now, and I need to wait a while before I read something else.
Honestly, this book was so good I can hardly write about how good it was. The writing I'm doing to review this book is so embarrassingly inferior. It was like nothing I've ever read before, the writing was superb, and the author knew how to give pieces of information at just the right times to keep you wanting to know more without giving everything away at once.
This book surprised me, not once, but a few times. That's a feat in and of itself. This book floored me. I'm enveloped by it now, and I need to wait a while before I read something else.
While each part can be purchased separately, Wool 1-5 is a serial novel and not a series. Get the omnibus - a great value and then you're not left hanging.
Wool 1:
This is a wonderful short story that made me very glad there are 4 more for me to read.
It's a lot like a Twilight Zone episode, and could stand alone. The world building it tidy and tight. We know enough to get a sense of curiosity and unease, but we're not buried under too many details.
This was such a refreshing change of pace from the end-of-the-world books I've recently read. Not a sprawling epic, and no teen yearning for love amid the ruins of civilization. Just a man and a mystery, and a view.
******
Wool 2:
Part 2 was just as good as part 1. I love this author, because so far he has been able to build worlds and characters efficiently and effectively.
I've been wondering why some authors are so good at that, and others take whole series and hundreds (or thousands) of pages and don't have much to show for it in terms of depth. All I can come up with is that for the successful, the people and places are real. They are fully formed in the author's mind already, so when the details are presented to the reader we also get a sense of completeness. We know there is more there, and likely more to be revealed, without a lot of extra effort.
I found every single page of part 2 interesting, and am looking forward to part 3.
*******
Wool 3:
What a bang of a start and finish. I raced through this installment at breakneck pace.
Same as before - great writing, everything moves along speedily, and you real feel for the characters.
On to part 4!
******
Wool 4:
Another excellent installment. We get a bigger view of the Wool world, and it does not disappoint. We get a lot of answers in this book, and of course more questions. Totally compelling.
******
Wool 5:
A fantastic conclusion to one of the best dystopian novels I've ever read. Tons of tension, and a very satisfying finish.
Overall - This is a near perfect marriage of character, world, and plot-building. Nothing is sacrificed for the other.
I've read a lot of dystopian fiction recently, and in so many cases the main character is unbelievable. Too much luck, too perfect, etc. Somehow Howey manages to keep his characters grounded through multiple insane situations. I never lost the thread of the narrative.
Highly recommended!
Wool 1:
This is a wonderful short story that made me very glad there are 4 more for me to read.
It's a lot like a Twilight Zone episode, and could stand alone. The world building it tidy and tight. We know enough to get a sense of curiosity and unease, but we're not buried under too many details.
This was such a refreshing change of pace from the end-of-the-world books I've recently read. Not a sprawling epic, and no teen yearning for love amid the ruins of civilization. Just a man and a mystery, and a view.
******
Wool 2:
Part 2 was just as good as part 1. I love this author, because so far he has been able to build worlds and characters efficiently and effectively.
I've been wondering why some authors are so good at that, and others take whole series and hundreds (or thousands) of pages and don't have much to show for it in terms of depth. All I can come up with is that for the successful, the people and places are real. They are fully formed in the author's mind already, so when the details are presented to the reader we also get a sense of completeness. We know there is more there, and likely more to be revealed, without a lot of extra effort.
I found every single page of part 2 interesting, and am looking forward to part 3.
*******
Wool 3:
What a bang of a start and finish. I raced through this installment at breakneck pace.
Same as before - great writing, everything moves along speedily, and you real feel for the characters.
On to part 4!
******
Wool 4:
Another excellent installment. We get a bigger view of the Wool world, and it does not disappoint. We get a lot of answers in this book, and of course more questions. Totally compelling.
******
Wool 5:
A fantastic conclusion to one of the best dystopian novels I've ever read. Tons of tension, and a very satisfying finish.
Overall - This is a near perfect marriage of character, world, and plot-building. Nothing is sacrificed for the other.
I've read a lot of dystopian fiction recently, and in so many cases the main character is unbelievable. Too much luck, too perfect, etc. Somehow Howey manages to keep his characters grounded through multiple insane situations. I never lost the thread of the narrative.
Highly recommended!
Great stories and characters. Somehow this book feels like a 50's post-apocalypse novel and a modern SciFi story at the same time. Looking forward to more books by this writer.
I enjoyed it. The short stories at the beginning got me interested in characters ... and then new characters... and then new characters. All a little jarring. Once it settled down and started to explore the world it was "better" (in the sense that there was more of a story to follow) and more interesting.
Wool Omnibus is difficult to review as it's a compendium of five books (or, at least the FIRST five books) of what is sure to be a long series. Taken as a standalone, Wool #1 is an engaging, though not particularly well written short story with an appropriately emotive conclusion. Taken as a whole, the story drags for pretty much Wool #2-4 and it's pretty tough to remain interested enough to keep going.
For readers who are merely curious, like I was, stop at the end of Wool number one.
For readers who are merely curious, like I was, stop at the end of Wool number one.
My "losing interest" point for a book is generally around 250 pages, but this 500+ page whopper kept me sneaking chapters at lunch. The first story of the 5 in this edition is the original and the best constructed, but Howey keeps the story compelling. Or maybe as a nerd, I feel in love with Juliette's Mark Watney-esque problem solving skills.
“Saving my friend is all about saving my friend. What I think will happen, when all those people on that fence see... I think it’ll make them come down on the right side of things, and with that much support, the guns and the fighting are meaningless.”
“Saving my friend is all about saving my friend. What I think will happen, when all those people on that fence see... I think it’ll make them come down on the right side of things, and with that much support, the guns and the fighting are meaningless.”
I enjoyed this post apocolyptic survival type adventure type mystery type thing. There are a few gaps in logic and "it's like this because of reasons" scene setting that I'd normally associate with YA, where the character interactions are more important than the premise. It doesn't detract from the book as a whole, just leaves me feeling like it's a little disjointed in places.
All the same, good book, and I enjoyed the mystery/secrets being revealed to multiple parties simultaneously and independently. It gave believability to character's actions.
All the same, good book, and I enjoyed the mystery/secrets being revealed to multiple parties simultaneously and independently. It gave believability to character's actions.