This is the story of mankind clawing for survival, of mankind on the edge. The world outside has grown unkind, the view of it limited, talk of it forbidden. But there are always those who hope, who dream. These are the dangerous people, the residents who infect others with their optimism. Their punishment is simple. They are allowed to go outside.*** What the press is saying: ***Boing Boing’s … ***
Boing Boing’s Official Review: “This story is terrific. I was completely immersed, watching Howey slowly paint a picture of a society gone wrong through the eyes and discovery of some truly compelling characters.”
Wired.com’s Official GeekDad Review: “Howey is among a growing list of authors who are making successful careers of publishing without the assistance of agents and traditional publishing houses. The traditional argument has been that if a book couldn’t find a publisher it probably wasn’t worth reading. However, just as iTunes changed how consumers found music and the way in which bands made their bread, ebook readers, and in particular the Kindle, are changing the ways in which authors find their readers and make a living. All of this means the old assumptions about indie books no longer hold true, and readers need to be prepared to adjust their expectations accordingly. The Wool Omnibus is a great book and deserves recognition as a full fledged contribution to the science fiction genre.”
WOOL went from a self-published short story to a blockbuster New York Times bestseller in 2012 (New York Times, October 2012). The work has been translated into over 40 languages, and was picked up by Ridley Scott and 20th Century Fox for a feature film adaptation.
Note from the author: This Omnibus Edition collects the five Wool books into a single volume. It is for those who arrived late to the party and who wish to save a dollar or two while picking up the same stories in a single package.
The first Wool story was released as a standalone short in July of 2011. Due to reviewer demand, the rest of the story was released over the next six months. My thanks go out to those reviewers who clamored for more. Without you, none of this would exist. Your demand created this as much as I did.
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Do yourself a favor and read them all.
Awesome beginning to a great trilogy. Post-apocalyptic remnant of human society is isolated in a vast missile silo—but the men in IT know something that the rest do not…
I just stopped reading
Warning: The first 3 books in the Wool series are short (short story and novella length) but they grip you so fiercely you will not care. I read book one (54 pages) got angry when I finished it (because I wanted to know what happened. Don’t leave me hanging, man) I instantly bought book 2. Finished book 2 got angry again because I wanted MORE! At that point I bought the rest of the books in the series so that I could seamlessly go through them.
Howey has a way of weaving a story drip by drip slowly seducing the reader with every page to read just one more page saving the best for last. Howey’s last line or paragraph leaves the reader wanting to know more over and over again.
I have not read every book in a series consecutively since LOTR in 6th grade and Harry Potter. I will usually read book 1 then a couple months later book two in any series I am interested in. This was not so for the Wool series I tore through it in weeks.
I will read every single book Howey writes. His style of writing. The world he has built in the WOOL series is just my “thing.” I have purchased and started Shift which is the continuum of the Wool series.
I’m thinking of starting an online petition for the Wool TV series. I can’t believe no one has picked it up yet.
Alternative fiction, post apocalyptic …. great read
My first e-book and I was in love with the world.
Self-publishing still gets a bad rap. Sometimes it’s justified: with a lower barrier to entry, platforms like Kindle Direct Publishing allow anyone to publish anything, even if it’s a stream-of-consciousness first draft riddled with typos. But there are plenty of brilliant, professional “indie” authors out there. And Hugh Howey is one of them.
Wool: Omnibus Edition is a collection of his first five novellas in the Wool series. The stories are set in a post-apocalyptic future in which the earth’s air has become toxic and the last survivors are forced to live underground in an immense silo with over 130 levels. How the world came to ruin is lost to history. But people know that talking about going outside is punished by being forced to go outside: troublemakers are sentenced to use wool pads to clean the lenses of the silo’s exterior cameras before succumbing to the noxious atmosphere.
There’s as much mystery as science fiction in the first few novellas. Aside from the big question—what caused the apocalypse?—Howey builds his world piece by piece in an investigative format that takes the reader along on a hunt for the truth. Why do people condemned to die still fulfill the ritual of cleaning the cameras? What caused the dimly remembered uprisings in the silo? Who’s keeping all these secrets? Are they right to do so? And why isn’t there a freaking elevator? There are murders to solve too, and while the action is slow-paced at first, Howey turns out to be as ruthless with his characters as George R. R. Martin.
All this—plus heaps of strong writing—would be enough to make me like Wool on its own. But the Omnibus Edition also features beautiful illustrations, many of which are animated. (Even the cover on Amazon has motion to it.) At first, I found the kinetic bits distracting, but I came to enjoy them as the stories developed.
None of this is to say Wool is perfect. I thought the third novella spent too much time rehashing a mystery that had already been solved in the first. And now and then Howey’s descriptions get a touch granular for my tastes. But I’ve never read a flawless “traditionally” published book either, and Wool is better than most.
Because good writing is good writing, no matter who puts it out.
(For more reviews like this one, see http://www.nickwisseman.com)
I didn’t expect the twist at the end! A heart wrenching, sitting on the edge of your seat book. Would highly recommend
The world building in this novel rivals 1984. Amazing. Just Amazing. It’s been two years since I’ve read this book (2017), and I still think about it when trying to choose my next.
The book wraps up nicely in its own respect, but leaves the reader wondering how we got here; what happens next. Luckily, the reader isn’t left in the dark. The two other books in the series Shift and Dust reveal the source and resolve to the mystery of what happened to the world.
If you love Dystopian books based in an post-apocalyptic world, this is it.
Hugh Howey is my favorite author. I’ve read this book in all it’s various forms, multiple times. Will post a review soon. Five stars from me!
The seeds of the future are living in cages in this fabulous book by a fellow indie author! I truly enjoyed Hugh’s vision of a future of man’s making.
A very unique story. Well written. Read the entire series.
Loved it!!!!!!!
Fantastic writing, mesmerizing world-building. If you’re a fan of YA dystopian literature, this book is definitely for you.
The premis totally blew my mind!
I have neither the time nor the energy to write a thorough review for this book, so I’ll keep this brief. I loved it. Great characters, excellent world-building, but the thing that really kept me going was the mystery. I wanted to know more about what was going on and what the characters would do once they had that information. The ending felt a little…I don’t know, almost anticlimactic? Like it was kind of telling rather than showing what I would have considered to be the Main Events of the climax/ending. But I can see how that added to the mystery and suspense right until the last minute. So I don’t know, it worked but for me, but on some level it also didn’t. Still a great book though. I can’t wait to read the rest of the series.
“Wool,” the first book in the Silo trilogy, hooked me on the imagination and writing of author Hugh Howey. As we gallop closer every year to environmental catastrophe with our planet, I absolutely believed his initial premise of a few remaining survivors from some unnamed disaster who lived in underground silos. And from there, he grabbed me and held me throughout the book. A strong female protagonist only added to my enjoyment of this great work of speculative fiction. I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the trilogy.
A sensational series! Hugh Howey is the bomb.
Highly recommended for dystopian science fiction lovers. Do yourself a favor and get started.
Fascinating dystopian novel with very original ideas.
This is one of the best book series I’ve ever read. I wish he would continue with the story of these people after the last book ended; there are so many directions he could go with it.