Wool isn’t a young adult or even a new adult book but I felt like sharing my review on this blog anyway. Whilst not falling under the genre of YA fiction, I still think this series could be read and enjoyed by young adults or adults of any age.

Title: Wool Omnibus (#1-5)
Author: Hugh Howey
Genre: Science Fiction; Dystopia;  Post Apocalyptic
Publisher: Century (an imprint of Random House)
Publication Date: January 2013
Pages: 448
Rating: 4.5 stars

Synopsis (from goodreads):
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.

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 given the very thing they profess to want: They are allowed outside.

My Review:

Whilst these books are available as individual ebooks, I’m so glad I had a copy of the five so as soon as I finished each one I could start the next one immediately.

From the few pages of Book 1, I was drawn into the world of Silo living when the mere expression of unhappiness with living in the Silo is the same as signing your own death sentence.

There’s so much drama and suspense throughout these books – Howey isn’t afraid to kill main characters whenever he feels necessary. But whenever new ones are introduced it feels natural and not just as a replacement for a former character. The titles of each of the books being knitting terms was not lost on me.

During some of the books it did feel a little like I was playing catch up – the reasons for the decisions reached at the start of the book not being revealed until the final pages (like in book 1) – but at the same time the with the fast paced nature of the books I never felt lost. There is always something happening.

I found the second book (Proper Gauge) a little on the dull side (especially considering how exciting Holston was) but it did give vital information about the daily living and structure in the Silo as well as the hold the IT had on the Silo.

There’s a little bit of everything in this omnibus – politics; society; a slight love story; treachery – and so much more. The many different narrators add to the complexity of silo living and made it that much more suspenseful – knowing that anyone could die at any moment regardless of whether they were a “main” character or not.

I enjoyed these first five instalments in the Wool series and will definitely be tracking down book 6 as soon as I can.

Thanks to The Reading Room and Random House for the review copy

Purchase the novel from:

Amazon / Book Depository