Wool by Hugh HoweyMy rating: 8 of 10 stars
Pages : 576
Year : 2012
Genre : Post Apocalpytic \ Dystopia
Series : Wool 1/3
What a long book. It felt longer than it is.
I've read the first two parts , when they were released online, more than 10 years ago. Much more.
Then I forgot about it - or did I?
Then the TV Series came out and I remember reading it and enjoying and asking myself, why didn't I continued? Well, I was poor and had no money. There was no paperbook and I don't read eBooks (I read this because it was around 40 pages and I was at worked.
First of all, I read this after the TV Series so my vision of the characters was the same. First of all, there are some changes hat were a bit odd, first of all Robert Sims, who the heck is he?
Bernard motives are quite different, well , not different but mysterious in the series. In the books he says all the time. George Wilkins is quite inexistent in the novel (there are some references but quite sporadic). The TV Series focus a lot on Julliete & Holston , on the book there isn't any kind of it. there is some connection but it's quite over part 100 pages. Sims is quite insistent and he isn't part of Judiciary. Walker is a man in the novels, here they genderswap. Also the all relation between Lukas & Juliette
There are some stuff that don't exist in the book (in the first one at least - Flamekeepers, the Syndrome.
First of all, bear in mind that all the TV Series are basically first 227 pages of the novel. The remaining are probably 2 season (or part of it).
So, after talking so much, what's this book about?
We've got this people living in Silos, and Silos is what you expect from our normal silos but now imagine 10 or 20 times as the biggest one where 10,000 people can live all together. They live, unaware there is a world outside, well, they know there is a world outside but it's diseased and everyone that is sent out dies within minutes. So, what do we have here is a several stories all connected (you can read as one big story). The first part, we start accompanying a sheriff of the silo as he voluntarily wants to go outside. It's a dead sentence but he wants to follow his wife. He thinks people in the top are keeping them in the blind and not telling everything. The second part we've got a quite interesting introduction of Juliette the main character of the novel per se plus the deputy of the sheriff & mayor as they travel from top to bottom to grab Juliette which is going to be next Sheriff at the recommendation of the previous one. You get glimpses of power struggle between the Mayor and Bernard from IT.
The third part is the story of Juliette and a bit of mystery as she is trying to investigate why the Mayor and deputy died(killed themselves) plus discovering what the previous sheriff was on.
The biggest part is the fourth part (the one that is not part of the TVseries) , so some SPOILERS AHEAD
This part deals with Juliette now outside, not cleaning, but went into another desert Silo. You get more of Bernard & Lukas (which is shadowing Bernard) and getting to know the history of Silo and the reason behind all the mystery. And I Thought it was good. I didn't enjoy that much of civil war, kind of bland , boring and I bet the vast majority of TV Series 2 Season will be focus on this, although here was a bit overshadow by Lukas and Juliette and Solo.
I enjoy it, but my complain was that the pacing was a bit on the slow pace. Again the all fightning and other characters were there to what?
Enfin... I will read the 2 and 3 novel without any doubt. I think the second will be the sequel whilst the third will be a prequel of some sorts and that interest me.
Now, one question remains and it comes to this... They try to give free rein in some silos and they went dark and kill themselves, civil wars and so on. Other silos that kept silence and hush stuff prosper... so , is it okay to limit freedom for the greater good or freedom is top priority even if in the end we end up killing one another? Is a good question this book presides and no matter your answer, it's not the correct one. Because there isn't one. It's like politics, Left Leaning or Right Leaning? Which is better? Communism or Fascism or Democracy or any other form of government. All have some good points, some more than others, and have weak points. It's quite interesting debate. You may lean to one or the other and that's okay I guess, but in the end which one is perfect? Is there any form of government that is perfect? Cool questions..
Well overall, the book is good and very interesting. My main problem was the all length. I am going to provide some spoilers, but if you watch the movie
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