This week’s post is a recommendation of a series of science-fiction short stories called Wool, by Hugh Howey. There’s an interesting backstory here. Howey, an Indie author, wrote the first of the Wool stories and offered it on Amazon one year ago. There was such a clamoring for the tale to continue that he wrote more, offering them in small, cheap, cliffhanging chunks, which people gobbled up like literate lemmings, propelling Wool into the top 100 overall in the Kindle store, and more recently into the NYT bestseller list. He eventually sold the first five stories together, the Wool Omnibus, which is what I read. Not surprisingly given the success he’s seen, Howey now has an agent and at least a UK publishing contract. And it’s all for good reason, because Wool is a solid story set in a very interesting world.

If you have no idea what the story is about from the title, you’re not alone. It’s an obscure reference to the central conflict of the plot. In Wool 1, the first short story, Holston, the protagonist, is going out to “clean”. He must leave the safety of the half-buried silo where he and his people live to scrub the cameras (using bits of steel wool) that look out over the bleak, toxic world outside. And he can’t go back in. The community uses cleanings to get rid of people who either break the law, or go “crazy” and want to go outside, a taboo that is even forbidden to speak about. The catch: Holston chooses to go to cleaning, and he’s not crazy. Well, not very crazy. What he finds on the outside is surprising to say the least, and sets up the story to continue from there.

Howey’s strength, IMO, is his simple, clear writing, and intricate world building. I can totally picture the silo in which the characters live, despite it being a very alien world. He doles out information only as necessary, which drew me slowly, but inevitably, into the story. I was fascinated by the psychology of a group of people almost obsessed with the ability to see outside, but unable to even speak about wanting to go outside. The paradox was striking.

I did have a few gripes.**

The different parts of Wool 1-5 focus on multiple characters, which gave a broad view of the different levels of the 100+ floor silo, and the people who, er, people them. I understood that authoring choice, but it threw me off a bit. I found myself growing attached to characters who then were no longer the focus. It reminded me of reading Justin Cronin’s The Passage. I never quite recovered from losing what I thought was the main character about 100 pages into what felt like an 8,000 page novel. (To be fair it was only 800 pages. Too long, in either case.)

My other criticism, which might just be a personal reaction, was that I didn’t find Wool particularly compelling. I could put it down for a week at a time, then come back to it, without yearning for a few minutes of reading time so I could get a bit further. While it was well-written, had a great plot, and fully developed characters, somehow it didn’t = LOVE for me. Still, I recommend the Wool Omnibus without reserve. Do some Wool-gathering of your own, and let me know what you think.

** When I started this series of recommendations, I said I would not critique the books. But I can’t seem to help mentioning the one or two beefs I have with them. I’m sorry, but since this is my blog, I reserve the right to be capricious. If you don’t like it, you can send me out to clean.