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Wool #3
Casting Off
The silo has appointed a new sheriff. Her name is Juliette, and she comes not from the shadows of deputies, but from the depths of the down deep.
But what does being a mechanic have to do with upholding the law? And how will she be able to concentrate on the silo's future when she is surrounded by the ghosts of its past?
Before she can even settle in, the whirring gears of the silo begin to grind anew. Things aren't right. And the people whose help she most needs are gone.
If Juliette isn't careful, she'll soon be among them.
But what does being a mechanic have to do with upholding the law? And how will she be able to concentrate on the silo's future when she is surrounded by the ghosts of its past?
Before she can even settle in, the whirring gears of the silo begin to grind anew. Things aren't right. And the people whose help she most needs are gone.
If Juliette isn't careful, she'll soon be among them.
122 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 4, 2011
About the author
Hugh Howey
127 books55.8k followersI'm the author of WOOL, a top 5 science fiction book on Amazon. I also wrote the Molly Fyde saga, a tale of a teenager from the 25th century who is repeatedly told that girls can't do certain things -- and then does them anyway.
A theme in my books is the celebration of overcoming odds and of not allowing the cruelty of the universe to change who you are in the process. Most of them are classified as science fiction, since they often take place in the future, but if you love great stories and memorable characters, you'll dig what you find here. I promise.
A theme in my books is the celebration of overcoming odds and of not allowing the cruelty of the universe to change who you are in the process. Most of them are classified as science fiction, since they often take place in the future, but if you love great stories and memorable characters, you'll dig what you find here. I promise.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 512 reviews
April 27, 2012
Amazing, freaking amazing. Now that all that world building is out of the way, the author can focus on the plot. And what a plot it is, there's mystery brewing in the silos, suspicion of a greater force at work causing a line of deaths that constantly keep happening..
Great commendations for Hugh Howey's work, a short, concise, lyrical masterpiece. Even the most mundane parts of everyday life is painted beautifully, placing you right there in the desolate life of being trapped in a silo. Each of these novellas have so far has featured a different protagonist, their internal dialogue ringing true and tying you deep into their character.
A minor warning for those who pick this one up - you'll want to have the rest close at hand because this one ends with a whopping cliffhanger. First thing I did was jump onto Amazon and purchase the next one.
If you're a fan of sci-fi, dystopia, or just excellent self-published works, Wool is definitely for you.
Check out Happy Indulgence for more reviews!
Great commendations for Hugh Howey's work, a short, concise, lyrical masterpiece. Even the most mundane parts of everyday life is painted beautifully, placing you right there in the desolate life of being trapped in a silo. Each of these novellas have so far has featured a different protagonist, their internal dialogue ringing true and tying you deep into their character.
A minor warning for those who pick this one up - you'll want to have the rest close at hand because this one ends with a whopping cliffhanger. First thing I did was jump onto Amazon and purchase the next one.
If you're a fan of sci-fi, dystopia, or just excellent self-published works, Wool is definitely for you.
Check out Happy Indulgence for more reviews!
June 29, 2016
Nothing ever changes. IT guys are evil!
The story just hit its best, can't wait to read the rest.
The story just hit its best, can't wait to read the rest.
March 17, 2023
Tercer relato de la serie y por ahora ha sido el mejor.
Valoración: 7/10
Sinopsis: Hay un nuevo sheriff. Su nombre es Juliette y no proviene de los pisos altos, sino de las profundidades del silo.
Pero ¿cómo va a conseguir un mecánico defender la ley? ¿Cómo podrá concentrarse en el futuro del silo cuando los fantasmas del pasado la persiguen?
Antes incluso de que se haya instalado en su nuevo puesto, los engranajes del silo volverán a girar. Las cosas no van bien. Y las personas a quien más necesita han desaparecido. Si Juliette no tiene cuidado, pronto estará con ellos.
Juliette no tardará en descubrir que arreglar su mundo es la tarea más difícil que haya tenido que afrontar jamás.
Valoración: 7/10
Sinopsis: Hay un nuevo sheriff. Su nombre es Juliette y no proviene de los pisos altos, sino de las profundidades del silo.
Pero ¿cómo va a conseguir un mecánico defender la ley? ¿Cómo podrá concentrarse en el futuro del silo cuando los fantasmas del pasado la persiguen?
Antes incluso de que se haya instalado en su nuevo puesto, los engranajes del silo volverán a girar. Las cosas no van bien. Y las personas a quien más necesita han desaparecido. Si Juliette no tiene cuidado, pronto estará con ellos.
Juliette no tardará en descubrir que arreglar su mundo es la tarea más difícil que haya tenido que afrontar jamás.
June 26, 2012
Wool : The Circle of Life at Warp-Speed.
Wool : Where Knowing is NOT Half the Battle
Wool : Ignorance Really is Bliss
Wool : Proving That You're Never as Smart as You Think You Are
Not only have my questions gone unanswered, but now I have new questions. Thanks Mr. Howey, I appreciate it. I don't even know if that's sarcasm coming out or not.
This series of shorts is one big mind trip. I have no idea how so much is packed into so little space; it's quite crazy. But come ON - is anyone going to catch a break? Ever?!?
Reviewing the Wool episodes is darn near impossible. I probably had the most to say about Wool 1 when I was still new to this brand of madness. Now, I've been around the block a couple of times and it's still not old hat, even if the cycle keeps repeating itself. I just hope that someone figures out how to do something. Don't ask me what something is. I don't even know what needs to be done or if anything can be done. That's the brilliance of what's going on here. Who the hell knows?
Juliette might be my favorite character so far but I also liked Lukas, her new friend who introduced her to the stars.
"One," she told him. She was almost breathless from the newness of the sight. She knew what stars were - they were a part of her vocabulary - but she'd never seen one before.
Unrelated to my review but...Bernard, you're an ahole. DIAF, k thanks.
To anyone who's read up through Wool 3 :
Wool : Where Knowing is NOT Half the Battle
Wool : Ignorance Really is Bliss
Wool : Proving That You're Never as Smart as You Think You Are
Not only have my questions gone unanswered, but now I have new questions. Thanks Mr. Howey, I appreciate it. I don't even know if that's sarcasm coming out or not.
This series of shorts is one big mind trip. I have no idea how so much is packed into so little space; it's quite crazy. But come ON - is anyone going to catch a break? Ever?!?
Reviewing the Wool episodes is darn near impossible. I probably had the most to say about Wool 1 when I was still new to this brand of madness. Now, I've been around the block a couple of times and it's still not old hat, even if the cycle keeps repeating itself. I just hope that someone figures out how to do something. Don't ask me what something is. I don't even know what needs to be done or if anything can be done. That's the brilliance of what's going on here. Who the hell knows?
Juliette might be my favorite character so far but I also liked Lukas, her new friend who introduced her to the stars.
"One," she told him. She was almost breathless from the newness of the sight. She knew what stars were - they were a part of her vocabulary - but she'd never seen one before.
Unrelated to my review but...Bernard, you're an ahole. DIAF, k thanks.
To anyone who's read up through Wool 3 :
January 22, 2013
And the plot thickens in this 3rd book of the Wool Omnibus as Juliette suspects foul play in the latest deaths in the Silo. Things just aren't adding up and IT seems to be at the heart of it.
Fantastic tension and suspense and a pretty amazing revelation at the end. Howey continues with his knitting terminology in the titles. In knitting, "casting off" is where you tie of the loose ends when you've finished your knitting session so that the creation you are working on doesn't unravel. Tantalisingly, the next book is titled "The Unravelling." Very good Howey.
But in this book, the way loose ends are tied off (ie Casting off), is to send them to "Cleaning." Of course all those sent to cleaning are usually quite happy to oblige with scrubbing the cameras after that nice view they get through the helmet's visor. If only a "cleaner" knew about the helmet BEFORE they are sent out. Somebody in the silo is very determined to ensure that never happens.
5 stars
Fantastic tension and suspense and a pretty amazing revelation at the end. Howey continues with his knitting terminology in the titles. In knitting, "casting off" is where you tie of the loose ends when you've finished your knitting session so that the creation you are working on doesn't unravel. Tantalisingly, the next book is titled "The Unravelling." Very good Howey.
But in this book, the way loose ends are tied off (ie Casting off), is to send them to "Cleaning." Of course all those sent to cleaning are usually quite happy to oblige with scrubbing the cameras after that nice view they get through the helmet's visor. If only a "cleaner" knew about the helmet BEFORE they are sent out. Somebody in the silo is very determined to ensure that never happens.
5 stars
March 3, 2012
As the story expands, the world of Wool gets more fleshed out and more fascinating. I love Juliette; it is very nice to see a well-written female character by a male author (it happens way less often than I'd like). The writing is crisp. The atmosphere in the silo is bleak and suffocating, the tension is palpable, and the suspense builds up constantly. The pacing is great, and the action picks up nicely from the previous installment. The tone is quite different from the first novella, the one that sucked me into the series -less of a haunted feel and more of a suspense - but I still enjoyed it immensely. Unlike some other series I have read, it feels that the author has a good vision of where his story is headed and is not in danger of losing control over the story arc.
The ending of this one is great. Immediately moving on to the next installment. I am so glad that I stumbled upon this series!
The ending of this one is great. Immediately moving on to the next installment. I am so glad that I stumbled upon this series!
July 25, 2016
-Revisión de temas conocidos pero con éxito, especialmente en lo formal.-
Género. Ciencia-Ficción.
Lo que nos cuenta. El Sheriff Holston, máximo responsable de la seguridad en el refugio subterráneo en el que viven un par de miles de personas que le respetan y le quieren, decide solicitar la salida al exterior, un acto que es a la vez delito, pena y ejecución, ya que está prohibido hacerlo y fuera del refugio no se puede vivir. Antes de su salida, vamos conociendo lo que pasó un tiempo antes con su esposa, que recorrió ese mismo camino previamente. Primer libro de la serie Espejismo, publicado en un principio por entregas a través de un conocido portal de libros electrónicos con un gran éxito para ser un trabajo autopublicado.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
Género. Ciencia-Ficción.
Lo que nos cuenta. El Sheriff Holston, máximo responsable de la seguridad en el refugio subterráneo en el que viven un par de miles de personas que le respetan y le quieren, decide solicitar la salida al exterior, un acto que es a la vez delito, pena y ejecución, ya que está prohibido hacerlo y fuera del refugio no se puede vivir. Antes de su salida, vamos conociendo lo que pasó un tiempo antes con su esposa, que recorrió ese mismo camino previamente. Primer libro de la serie Espejismo, publicado en un principio por entregas a través de un conocido portal de libros electrónicos con un gran éxito para ser un trabajo autopublicado.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
January 9, 2012
The Wool series keeps getting better and better, with this installment bringing the series into full five star range. Three books in, there is only so much you can say in a review at this point... the people who like the series will continue to like the series and the people who haven't read the series will go check out the reviews for #1/#2. Suffice it to say, this is my favorite book in the series thus far and I eagerly started in on Wool 4 the next day without skipping a beat. In general, I've really been enjoying the world Hugh created... it almost has a LOST type feel to it. I'm look forward to more!
April 15, 2016
How 'Casting Off' went for me.
I am loving this. LOVING!!!!
My biggest issue is that I'm listening to this while walking so therefore I'm doing all the above in public. Plus side to this is that people are actively avoiding my space while I walk so, SCORE!!
Minnie Goode the narrator is just fucking awesome and I can't recommend the audio enough. The voices are totally distinguishable, once I got used to the 'voice acting' it just started getting better and better. She is currently narrating everything I read in my head now. So that's nice. I'm kind of crushing on her to tell the truth!!
I am loving this. LOVING!!!!
My biggest issue is that I'm listening to this while walking so therefore I'm doing all the above in public. Plus side to this is that people are actively avoiding my space while I walk so, SCORE!!
Minnie Goode the narrator is just fucking awesome and I can't recommend the audio enough. The voices are totally distinguishable, once I got used to the 'voice acting' it just started getting better and better. She is currently narrating everything I read in my head now. So that's nice. I'm kind of crushing on her to tell the truth!!
November 25, 2022
Casting Off (Silo trilogy 3) is an outstanding if bittersweet conclusion to a unique and well-written trilogy. The author outlined a brilliant story with complex characters and plot. As the three storylines converge, silo residents are starting to wake up to some unnerving truths, which creates friction and divisions among the occupants.
The Silo trilogy is one reason why I prefer trilogies and/or completed series...no dragging out tired plot tropes are twists to keep tired series going for years.
The Silo trilogy is one reason why I prefer trilogies and/or completed series...no dragging out tired plot tropes are twists to keep tired series going for years.
January 11, 2012
Love it, especially the ending...
Wool is science fiction in the human sense, asking "what if?" a small colony survived for hundreds of years beyond some unimaginable Armageddon, isolated underground in a silo? What rules for life would they need to maintain? What challenges would they face from the past? What new social controls would there be to maintain order and keep people in place? And how would the natural effervescent of mankind rise up against that?
Wool is science fiction in the human sense, asking "what if?" a small colony survived for hundreds of years beyond some unimaginable Armageddon, isolated underground in a silo? What rules for life would they need to maintain? What challenges would they face from the past? What new social controls would there be to maintain order and keep people in place? And how would the natural effervescent of mankind rise up against that?
March 23, 2013
5 Stars
This was probably my favorite book in the series. In this third novel, our real main hero is finally fleshed out. She is an amazing, strong, and smart woman named Juliette. She is a Mechanic / Sheriff / Mechanic ... and more. Her dedication to the workings of the machines of the Silo, and thus the people of the Silo make her a natural star.
I loved how her story quickly spirals into chaos. With it we are given more back story, additional characters, and possibly some romance too. The politics come front and center in this book as does the depth of the control and deception from up top.
=================================================
"And that’s when Juliette realized what she must do. A project to pull the wool back from everyone’s eyes, a favor to the next fool who slipped up or dared to hope aloud. And it would be so easy. She wouldn’t have to build anything herself—they would do all the work for her. All it would take would be some convincing, and she was mighty good at that.
She smiled, a list of parts forming in her head as the broken impeller was removed from the faulty pump. All she would need to fix this problem was a replacement part or two. It was the perfect solution to getting everything in the silo working properly once more."
The series becomes Juliette's story and I was glad for it.
A great addition to the series...I could not wait to read more.
This was probably my favorite book in the series. In this third novel, our real main hero is finally fleshed out. She is an amazing, strong, and smart woman named Juliette. She is a Mechanic / Sheriff / Mechanic ... and more. Her dedication to the workings of the machines of the Silo, and thus the people of the Silo make her a natural star.
I loved how her story quickly spirals into chaos. With it we are given more back story, additional characters, and possibly some romance too. The politics come front and center in this book as does the depth of the control and deception from up top.
=================================================
"And that’s when Juliette realized what she must do. A project to pull the wool back from everyone’s eyes, a favor to the next fool who slipped up or dared to hope aloud. And it would be so easy. She wouldn’t have to build anything herself—they would do all the work for her. All it would take would be some convincing, and she was mighty good at that.
She smiled, a list of parts forming in her head as the broken impeller was removed from the faulty pump. All she would need to fix this problem was a replacement part or two. It was the perfect solution to getting everything in the silo working properly once more."
The series becomes Juliette's story and I was glad for it.
A great addition to the series...I could not wait to read more.
April 20, 2012
As with all other Wools before this, the narrative was engaging, the world building was evocative, and the plotting was deliberate. Nothing felt forced or contrived. Also, as with the previous Wools, the tone of this novella was unique. The language was more direct and deliberate, compared to the Wool 1's haunted feel or Wool 2's more reflective tone.
My only criticism is that I didn't connect with the main character as much as I did in the two previous books. Despite her hard working nature, I found her a little naive and slow to catch onto IT's devious plotting.
Overall, this was a great story and a welcome journey back into the silo. 3.5 to 4 stars for this novella, and highly recommended for sci-fi/post-apocalyptic fiction fans who are not quite yet ready to commit to a long novel.
My only criticism is that I didn't connect with the main character as much as I did in the two previous books. Despite her hard working nature, I found her a little naive and slow to catch onto IT's devious plotting.
Overall, this was a great story and a welcome journey back into the silo. 3.5 to 4 stars for this novella, and highly recommended for sci-fi/post-apocalyptic fiction fans who are not quite yet ready to commit to a long novel.
August 27, 2015
U 3. dijelu ovog distopijskog SF-a ulazi i malo kriminalističke priče. Novoimenovana šerifica Juliette nabrzinu se mora uhodati u posao, a misli da će to najbolje učiniti proučivši što se točno dogodilo njenom prethodniku. I tu stvari postaju zamršene, jedno otkriće vodi drugom i radnja se zahuktava sve do kraja, gdje i ovaj dio, kao i svaki do sada, završi cliffhangerom, zbog čega se jednostavno mora čitati dalje.
Jedina mi je zamjerka mrvicu predetaljni opisi funkcioniranja strojeva u Silosu, bez kojih bih preživjela. :)
Jedina mi je zamjerka mrvicu predetaljni opisi funkcioniranja strojeva u Silosu, bez kojih bih preživjela. :)
October 30, 2020
A sluggish spark that keeps smoldering under an intense weight of emotions, world-building and story. The spark that ever increases in intensity and that refuses to die at climax. Contrarily it flares brilliantly setting up for the next installment.
I was susceptible of starting with yet-another post-apocalyptic story. But this couldn't have been handled better. In fact it is easily one of the good books to remember.
I was susceptible of starting with yet-another post-apocalyptic story. But this couldn't have been handled better. In fact it is easily one of the good books to remember.
March 25, 2018
If someone asked me to describe 'Casting off' or whole series (so far) I would not know where to begin. So that's why I think this quote (from this particular part) can explain it for me:
“It would be like telling someone what sex felt like, or an orgasm. Impossible. But once you felt it yourself, you could then imagine varying degrees of this new sensation.”
In other words, you need to read it yourself. And let's just say... if the story pulls you in, there's no backing out.
“It would be like telling someone what sex felt like, or an orgasm. Impossible. But once you felt it yourself, you could then imagine varying degrees of this new sensation.”
In other words, you need to read it yourself. And let's just say... if the story pulls you in, there's no backing out.
May 10, 2012
This book nailed it. It could (almost) stand alone as a book. The last few lines are enough to make it a classic in my view. Brilliant.
... It still has a stupid name.
... It still has a stupid name.
September 10, 2019
Hugh Howey is one of the elite authors whose work sticks with you for many, many years after the final page. In fact, this is a book that I have read and reread many times, I even have the Wool and Silo series on Audiobook.
With a style that seems to peer into the very hearts and minds of his characters, Hugh Howey is a Master-Storygv CFG fccç FFR tt3w at
With a style that seems to peer into the very hearts and minds of his characters, Hugh Howey is a Master-Storygv CFG fccç FFR tt3w at
January 16, 2018
Getting soooo interesting!!
September 4, 2023
The suspense really picks up in this one. Had to take a breather after every chapter.
January 5, 2013
First off I hate to give bad reviews but this isn’t really a bad book just an OK one. So here goes with no spoilers I promise. I was in the middle of book 3. When I asked myself do these characters ever get any depth before they die? Are the most basic, obvious motivations all the bad guys can muster? Or has the silo somehow bred out any intelligence and suspicion? I can now answer that question. Nope what you read is what you get.
Book 3 was aptly named casting off because that is exactly what I’m doing with book 4 and 5 in the series let alone the prequels because life is too short.
My first issue began with “book” 1, all 50 pages of it were one dimensional characters, which is actually being charitable, 1D is more accurate. They’re even 1D when they think to themselves!
Here are a few quotes. Let’s see if you can figure out what type of profession this person identifies with:
"Something had happened. A great and powerful thing had fallen out of alignment"
"was as much the fine art of preventive maintenance"
"an active dispute was no different than walking into a pump room where something was broke"
"There were always confounding variables---you couldn't adjust one dial without sending something else a-kilter"
"a habit borne of ... previous life among the sludge and grease"
"It was like encountering a rusted bolt that refused to budge"
"had learned to attack them with grease and with fire, with penetrating oil and with brute strength. With enough planning and persistence, they always gave. Eventually."
"This break in the routine was like a timing belt stretching out of shape, a piston developing a knock."
Etc., etc., etc.
If you guess this person identifies with being a mechanic you win. And that was not the only character to have such a singularized view of the world in terms of profession.
But I could almost overlook all that if it wasn’t for the fact that the entire plot was:
1) Many bad yet very similar things keep happening counter to recent historical recollection (see I told you no spoilers :) Could they be related? Nah must be coincidence
2) Person X says and does very blatant challenging bad things. Could he be a bad guy? Nah just a jerk. So me and everyone else will take absolutely no precautions whatsoever nor bother to watch our backs in anyway
3) WOW person X really IS a bad guy! Could he be responsible for all those very bad things that have happened? Nah must be coincidence
Yep 3 books. And then it ends with a totally taped on cliffhanger. You know what don’t care. Even if the rest of the series somehow explains it all away I’m tired of have the wool pulled over my eyes.
Book 3 was aptly named casting off because that is exactly what I’m doing with book 4 and 5 in the series let alone the prequels because life is too short.
My first issue began with “book” 1, all 50 pages of it were one dimensional characters, which is actually being charitable, 1D is more accurate. They’re even 1D when they think to themselves!
Here are a few quotes. Let’s see if you can figure out what type of profession this person identifies with:
"Something had happened. A great and powerful thing had fallen out of alignment"
"was as much the fine art of preventive maintenance"
"an active dispute was no different than walking into a pump room where something was broke"
"There were always confounding variables---you couldn't adjust one dial without sending something else a-kilter"
"a habit borne of ... previous life among the sludge and grease"
"It was like encountering a rusted bolt that refused to budge"
"had learned to attack them with grease and with fire, with penetrating oil and with brute strength. With enough planning and persistence, they always gave. Eventually."
"This break in the routine was like a timing belt stretching out of shape, a piston developing a knock."
Etc., etc., etc.
If you guess this person identifies with being a mechanic you win. And that was not the only character to have such a singularized view of the world in terms of profession.
But I could almost overlook all that if it wasn’t for the fact that the entire plot was:
1) Many bad yet very similar things keep happening counter to recent historical recollection (see I told you no spoilers :) Could they be related? Nah must be coincidence
2) Person X says and does very blatant challenging bad things. Could he be a bad guy? Nah just a jerk. So me and everyone else will take absolutely no precautions whatsoever nor bother to watch our backs in anyway
3) WOW person X really IS a bad guy! Could he be responsible for all those very bad things that have happened? Nah must be coincidence
Yep 3 books. And then it ends with a totally taped on cliffhanger. You know what don’t care. Even if the rest of the series somehow explains it all away I’m tired of have the wool pulled over my eyes.
April 15, 2013
Another WOOL novella, another pastiche of dystopian tropes sprinkled liberally with the hackneyed cliches from generic procedural TV series.
Here's all the plot action in a nutshell:
Juliette takes over as Sheriff.
Juliette sticks her pretty little nose where it doesn't belong.
Juliette meets cute a boy in the cafeteria. And not just any boy: one who conveniently works in IT and just happens to chart stars. Aw, talk about your heavy handed star-crossed lovers' reference.
Juliette gets fired by Obvious Villain and trudges down the stairs back to the down deep.
Juliette sticks her pretty little nose where it doesn't belong.
Juliette is caught by Obvious Villain and trudges up...and up...and up...and up to the up-top. (This isn't a spoiler. It's how the novella begins.)
Shock twist that shocks no one familiar with pop culture tropes ensues.
The End.
The originality of a society contained in an underground silo (albeit one with impossibly long staircases) has worn off, and we are left with "CSI: Silo" as Juliette attempts to unravel -- oooh! another knitting analogy! Dibs! -- what happened to Holston, Jahns and Marnes. Because Obvious Villain obviously never thought that killing the Sheriff, the Deputy, the Mayor, a few redshirts, and possibly another Sheriff - all in a matter of what, two weeks? -- would not be, well, obvious.
Nor has the writing improved. Howey actually writes, "Juliette felt her blood run cold" when she meets Obvious Villain for the first time. There's the usual pages upon pages of introspective close third person POV thought that tells the reader instead of showing them. The tortured metaphors seem to have slowed down, but they've been replaced by the world's most linear and least suspenseful detective story. Juliette has few barriers to her investigation; she just happens to, like, just know all the right people who get her any information and clues she needs. How convenient.
I bought the omnibus, and I rarely DNF because I don't think it's fair to the story. Maybe the next few installments will redeem it. Maybe.
But I now know why this is called WOOL. It's what Howey has pulled over the eyes of the readers who praise this to high heaven. Look, I know self-published books can be dire, and by comparison this at least tries to be literate (tries a bit too hard, in my opinion - high falutin' language and tortured metaphors do not good writing make.)
But you gotta pull the wool off sometime.
Here's all the plot action in a nutshell:
Juliette takes over as Sheriff.
Juliette sticks her pretty little nose where it doesn't belong.
Juliette meets cute a boy in the cafeteria. And not just any boy: one who conveniently works in IT and just happens to chart stars. Aw, talk about your heavy handed star-crossed lovers' reference.
Juliette gets fired by Obvious Villain and trudges down the stairs back to the down deep.
Juliette sticks her pretty little nose where it doesn't belong.
Juliette is caught by Obvious Villain and trudges up...and up...and up...and up to the up-top. (This isn't a spoiler. It's how the novella begins.)
Shock twist that shocks no one familiar with pop culture tropes ensues.
The End.
The originality of a society contained in an underground silo (albeit one with impossibly long staircases) has worn off, and we are left with "CSI: Silo" as Juliette attempts to unravel -- oooh! another knitting analogy! Dibs! -- what happened to Holston, Jahns and Marnes. Because Obvious Villain obviously never thought that killing the Sheriff, the Deputy, the Mayor, a few redshirts, and possibly another Sheriff - all in a matter of what, two weeks? -- would not be, well, obvious.
Nor has the writing improved. Howey actually writes, "Juliette felt her blood run cold" when she meets Obvious Villain for the first time. There's the usual pages upon pages of introspective close third person POV thought that tells the reader instead of showing them. The tortured metaphors seem to have slowed down, but they've been replaced by the world's most linear and least suspenseful detective story. Juliette has few barriers to her investigation; she just happens to, like, just know all the right people who get her any information and clues she needs. How convenient.
I bought the omnibus, and I rarely DNF because I don't think it's fair to the story. Maybe the next few installments will redeem it. Maybe.
But I now know why this is called WOOL. It's what Howey has pulled over the eyes of the readers who praise this to high heaven. Look, I know self-published books can be dire, and by comparison this at least tries to be literate (tries a bit too hard, in my opinion - high falutin' language and tortured metaphors do not good writing make.)
But you gotta pull the wool off sometime.
March 29, 2016
Now this gets back into what I loved about Wool 1. We start off knowing how it is going to end, and just like in the first book, I simply had to know what was going to happen. We learn more about the insidious IT department after a whirlwind investigation that leaves us with another cleaning imminent. The last line has assured that I will be a FAN4LYFE and I can hardly wait to pick up Wool 4 to see what happens. Don't stop after Wool 2 (which I didn't like too much), this one is way better!
Am I the only one that finds the cover for this one totally creepy? The proportions are all off and it looks like the guy is gonna come get me if I look in a mirror in the dark or something.
P.S. I totally didn't get that the titles were knitting references. I fail at being a hipster. :(
Am I the only one that finds the cover for this one totally creepy? The proportions are all off and it looks like the guy is gonna come get me if I look in a mirror in the dark or something.
P.S. I totally didn't get that the titles were knitting references. I fail at being a hipster. :(
June 12, 2015
It becomes obvious in this volume that the distrust I felt for IT in book 2 was warranted. In the sadness and the confusion of moving past the events of book 2, it's clear that something is desperately wrong with the world that these people are living in and who they put their faith in. Juliette is justifiably suspicious after events take place that should not have happened. Rather than be further vague in the efforts of avoiding a spoiler, I will just say this series is proving itself to be more interesting the more I read. I definitely recommend it to lovers of dystopian or post apocalyptic worlds.
January 12, 2012
Love the knitting metaphors in the titles, by the way. In knitting, you really don't know how a project has turned out until you cast off and can hold it up free of the needles.
With each installment of Wool, a character (or two) are cast off, and a character or two are picked up and carried along. It's taking shape, the patterns are flowing. Even though it seems a short distance between a character's introduction and their eventual demise, I feel a pang of grief at their passing. And move on to begin a relationship with the next.
With each installment of Wool, a character (or two) are cast off, and a character or two are picked up and carried along. It's taking shape, the patterns are flowing. Even though it seems a short distance between a character's introduction and their eventual demise, I feel a pang of grief at their passing. And move on to begin a relationship with the next.
January 17, 2013
Wool 3 puts us back in action after somehow slow and more describing Wool 2. Don't get me wrong, it's not like the first one, starts a bit slower as we get to know how Jules handling her new sheriff role but then we are getting back to where Allison and Holsten have been, finding out whats happening.
Wool 1 gave us some answers (at the end) but Wool 3 elaborates it just a bit more to keeps us on our toes... do you wanna see how deep the rabbit-hole goes?
Wool 1 gave us some answers (at the end) but Wool 3 elaborates it just a bit more to keeps us on our toes... do you wanna see how deep the rabbit-hole goes?
April 7, 2012
The Wool Omnibus may end up being one of the classics of science fiction. I started this then left it behind. The end of Wool 3 is beautiful, heartbreaking and amazing.
May 2, 2015
I can't stop reading!
January 4, 2016
The story really picks up in this one, revealing just enough to keep you wanting more. As with the first book, I am left with so many questions. I'm looking forward to the next book!
November 1, 2017
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