Wool

By: Hugh Howey

Narrated by: Amanda Sayle

Length: 17 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's Summary

In a ruined and toxic landscape, a community exists in a giant silo underground, hundreds of stories deep. There, men and women live in a society full of regulations they believe are meant to protect them. Sheriff Holston, who has unwaveringly upheld the silo’s rules for years, unexpectedly breaks the greatest taboo of all: He asks to go outside.

His fateful decision unleashes a drastic series of events. An unlikely candidate is appointed to replace him: Juliette, a mechanic with no training in law, whose special knack is fixing machines. Now Juliette is about to be entrusted with fixing her silo, and she will soon learn just how badly her world is broken. The silo is about to confront what its history has only hinted about and its inhabitants have never dared to whisper. Uprising.

©2012 Hugh Howey (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Excellent story, ridiculous narration

I am always happy to find a new series of books to keep me busy for all of the driving and walking I do, and this kept me interested throughout the entire story. I love the author's vision of an underground society, and the trip to the down-deep by the mayor and deputy, while a slower part of the book, was a great way to describe the makeup of the silo in a more dynamic way than just a narrative description which would have taken too long. The plot twists were well timed, the characters interesting and there was just enough left out to make you want to continue with the next book "Shift" which I will be reading next.

Unfortunately, the narration for many of the character voices was horrendous. I read about narration problems in the reviews, but when I listened to the sample (in both versions of this book) I thought "well that isn't so bad".... of course, because there is no dialogue in any of the samples. Good thinking, Audible, I wouldn't want potential buyers of the book to hear the cringeworthy voice of Bernard, which is a cross between Paul Lynde and Edward G Robinson, or the Minnie Mouse voice of half the female characters. For other males she makes the same mistake as many other female narrators doing male voices... she tries to sound like a man rather than just using a lower version of her normal speaking voice. The result, for characters like Lucas and Holsten, is the voice of a man who has just been punched in the stomach. It is a shame because it takes away from what would otherwise be a very enjoyable and interesting book.

101 of 106 people found this review helpful

I NEED A SHADOW

I CAN'T READ THAT FOR 12 HOURS
I like the whole concept of this story and I like what happens in the story. I do wish this had been 12 hours instead of 17+, for it really dragged the last five hours. The whole thing was written in a slow, taking for ever manner. It was not overly descriptive, nor was there flowery language, I think we just spent too much time in the minds of the characters, contemplating simple things. Though I am impatient, I was okay (not thrilled) with this, but toward the end it started to ware on me. I am a sucker for books about populations stuck in enclosed environments, generations ships, islands, or even Room by Donoghue.

LATERAL DIGS ARE FORBIDDEN
The whole book is a mystery and the mystery is compelling enough, that you want to listen. I am even going to break a long habit of mine of not continuing a series I can't give five stars too. The next series tells how the silos came about and then there is a third book in the series. A lot in the book is predictable but some things are not and the main mystery keeps you listening.

NOTHINGS PERMANENT
The narrator is not great, nor is she terrible. When she does voices, they do sound cartoonish or like anime. I have notice this same book is out with a different narrator, you may want check out the reviews on her. I also notice that book two is a different narrator then either of the two versions of one. Her male voices sound like a little girl trying to sound grown up. It was not enough to detract from the story for me and she did not read it slow, it was slow written.

32 of 34 people found this review helpful

An apocalyptic tale done right.

With the Earth in a state of ruin, mankind has retreated to living underground where a dystopian society has evolved to ensure continued existence. The inhabitants of the underground silo know that their self contained ecosystem is a fragile balance so they must dole out harsh consequences to anyone who disobeys the rules. These people have lived underground for generations and know nothing of how they got there or why the outside world is so inhospitable; however, they do know that crimes are punished by being sent outside through the single airlock at the top of the silo. The world outside is so toxic that even their best protective suits offer only offer a couple of minutes of life, yet everyone sentenced to die this way is asked to perform a vital service to the rest of the silo before they perish - a cleaning of the external sensors. Would you do such a favor for those who sentenced you to die?

Being sent out of the airlock is known as a "Cleaning" and it has become a weird combination of mourning and celebration for the silo. Leading up to a Cleaning the entire silo is abuzz with discussions about whether or not the person will actually clean the sensors. Amazingly, as far back as everyone can remember, all individuals so punished have indeed cleaned the sensors before walking off and dying. These deaths are witnessed by everyone watching through view screens that provide a much improved image due to the newly cleaned sensors. Why does everyone clean? Even those who swear ahead of time that their sentence is unjust and vow not to clean do indeed wind up cleaning when they get outside. Why is that? 

This mystery, and many others, are what makes this tale of the apocalypse so intriguing and Hugh Howey does a masterful job of slowly peeling back the onion and revealing this bizarre society in which the main characters live. The various rules of the silo, along with the mechanisms that make the society work, are slowly revealed along the way and each step adds another piece to an oddly compelling puzzle. Originally self-published on Amazon as a 5 part serial publication this omnibus edition is all 5 stories together in a single novel and certainly worth listening to. If you enjoy this book then you can continue on with the rest of the series and find out how the world became the way it is and why the rules are the way they are.

The narration is done by Amanda Sayle and she does an decent job bringing this unique story to life. Be warned that some of her voices can be annoying, surprising they are female character voices, but they are lesser characters so I was able to get past that and enjoy her reading overall. This book left me very intrigued and eager to move onto the second book, Shift.

8 of 8 people found this review helpful

Post-apocalyptic life in a silo

Wool presents an intriguing slant on the post-apocalyptic theme. The story opens with humanity confined to an underground silo consisting of about 150 levels, but without any sort of elevator or escalator, just stairs. Outside the silo is a barren, poisonous landscape. Technologically, society is late 20th century with modern medicine (although nothing special) and limited computer capabilities. The silo is completely self-sufficient with religious beliefs consistent with the silo as a heavenly creation. Banishment from the silo with eventual death by toxic gases is their form of capital punishment. We follow several characters that slowly unravel inconsistencies in this setup with the realization that there are things beyond the silo and history left unspoken.

The author provides some interesting organizational parallels to the society that add to the believability of this world. For example, the levels of the silo are divided into three sections (upper, middle, and lower) that parallel socioeconomic and political status: the upper is political and administrative with IT dominating; the middle section is largely a middle class of professionals, while the bottom sections are relegated to manual and grunt labor. Much effort, subterfuge, and ruthlessness goes into maintaining order until one lone woman manages to undermine the delicate balance.

The major detraction is the slow pace of the entire story with important revelations reserved for late in the tale. At the same, the author slowly kills off early characters that appeared as major players and only gradually introduces the participants around for the denouement. Finally, the narration is suboptimal with a poor rendition of voices and an extreme slow pace of delivery that only adds to the snail's pace.

60 of 67 people found this review helpful

So these people are trapped in a silo

in a future apocalypse where the outside air is toxic. It's cramped, everyone is sorted into jobs just like all other novels of this sort. After reading how this book is supposed to be great, I still stayed away after reading 1 or 2 negative reviews until it was on sale. I usually don't love books like this, but found this to be well-written and after the first 20 minutes, I was hooked. The first few characters are just interesting enough to make you want to know why they've made their choices and see what comes next.

I didn't care for one of the character voices from the female narrator, but it wasn't bad enough for me to return or to distract too much from the story. Check the sample to ensure you won't be bothered by this. Since I purchased this on sale, feel like I got a steal.

21 of 23 people found this review helpful

Tedious and Painful

Not only does this story go on and on and on with very little taking place, Amanda Sayle's attempt to do 'voices' for the characters is far below the quality I have come to expect with Audible. I know, I was warned by other reviewers. That is why I didn't return the book, because I didn't heed the warning so feel I am responsible for the choice I made.

But one of the most important male characters as well as another male character sound just like the Wicked Witch of the West when she says "...I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too." Her normal narration voice is quite good but she should not be allowed to do men's voices. Add to that the extremely poorly written characters, the painfully slow moving plot, and the predictable outcome and I don't understand why anyone would subject themselves to the rest of the series.

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

Most Okay-est Post-Apocalyptic Story I've Read

I've been bingeing on post-apocalyptic stories lately, and this one rates in the middle. The silo premise works, and it mostly held my interest. I also love the fact that the IT department is the antagonist because a touch of realism never hurts :) But, there is nothing new here. Frankly, there is nothing to move you, shock you, or leave you in awe. It’s a good story; nothing more. I agree with the other comments that the narrator should not do male voices. You can try to overlook it, but in truth you never warm up to some of the good-guys because their voices are so dang annoying. All-in-all, I enjoyed the book, but glad I got this version on sale.

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

Strong Material Outweighs Awful Narration

Very well written, dystopian future story. The narrator nearly ruins it though. When she is reading in her own voice she is fine, but her character voices are nasal & cartoonish. Very glad that the remainder of the series has a different narrator. If you think you can stand the annoying voices, give it a go. If not, get the print edition.

39 of 44 people found this review helpful

Open Mic night for Narrators

Any additional comments?

I am not a perfectionist when it comes to the narration, but I could not sit through this performance. The narrator sounds like Glinda the good witch of the north after an ambien overdose in her best voice. Things get rediculous when the other male characters come into the story. Seriously I have heard more reasonable voices on Sponge Bob cartoons. It ruined the story for me. Skip the audio and just read this one.

114 of 133 people found this review helpful

Lives up to the Hype!

For all that I love speculative fiction, I'm not normally a big fan of dystopian tales because I found many to be too preachy, way too depressing, or just plain silly. But there has been SOOO much buzz about Wool - self published novellas go viral and young author is suddenly famous with a film deal maybe coming - that I just had to give it a try. I am really glad I did.This dystopian adventure sidesteps the overly moralistic tone of many, totally avoids the teenage angst and clumsy romance of some recent dystopias, and although sometimes sad and definitely often dark, the book presents a fairly hopeful view of humanity in the end. There is probably not quite enough in-depth science to satisfy the hard core hard science fans, but there is enough working detail to help the listener really visualize the unusual settings and suspend disbelief to become engrossed in the plot. And, the science fiction lover in me found a lot to like.

The book is not perfect, Howey provides more description of the appearance of places than of his characters, the writing is a bit choppy at times, and I was left really wishing I understood better how the world actually got to the "wool times". However, you can hear the writing become smoother and more fluid as the book goes on; physical appearance of the characters is limited, but motivations, behavior, relationships, and personality are well fleshed out and these people ring true; the lack of complete explanation of the evolution to "wool-times" means that there isn't much dull info-dumping going on and there are plenty of surprises left for the sequels :)

In addition to some great characters and very interesting settings, the plot is fabulous. Twisty-turny throughout to the point that it difficult to say much more about the plot than the summary does without committing a "spoiler sin". So I will just say that some of the twists you may see coming, but there were a couple that totally surprised me. Like most dystopian adventures, some of the surprises are shocking and horrific, but a couple of them are just really cool.

Amanda Sayle is OK as the narrator. Her voice in the narrative sections is good, but I found her character voices mostly off-putting and a little distracting.

Wool ends perfectly for a book in a series. It comes to a satisfying conclusion and wraps up most of the immediate plot lines. But it leaves the door wide open for further adventures and left me determined to be first in line to download the next book as soon as Audible brings it to us. Wool is strong enough on good characters and interesting plot to find fans across the genre lines, but most science fiction buffs are sure to enjoy it.

61 of 77 people found this review helpful