How would she know about decontamination procedures more suited to nuclear war? What string of coincidences would lead her to the secret server level in Silo 17 so quickly? And the whole underwater dive sequence just didn’t ring true… In the earlier stories, key characters died when they made a mistake Juliette just kept fluking out. There a few instances which stretched credulity, particularly involving Jules. I prefer the detailed descriptions they feel more real than the action scenes. I’ve read a couple reviews which complain about the time spent describing the setting, demanding more action sequences. The stories also conjure up excellent images of the environment and surroundings of the Silo. It was enough to keep me moving from one story to another until I had read them all. (Unintentional fabric reference, but fitting.) Not exactly cliffhangers – there is a sense of resolution – but exposing some new layer of the mystery.

Howey also has a talent of ending his stories well, but with loose threads still remaining. Perhaps it’s a symptom of a shorter attention span from information overload, or maybe I’ve just gotten lazier, but I’ve got no interest in ploughing through a twelve-volume series before reaching a conclusion. It’s enough to get drawn into Holston’s character – to become invested in his story – but not so long that you lose interest. The first entry, WOOL, is only about 60 pages in length. In Howey’s shorter stories, the payback on these mysteries comes quickly. Why is there no elevator between levels, only stairs? Why isn’t the hearing protection kept outside the generator room? Why did Thurman outlaw cryo research after supporting it to such an extent? The Silo is full of mysteries, which are often voiced by the characters.

Hugh Howey, the author of WOOL is skilled at creating compelling ideas and presenting them well. More (spoiler-ridden) commentary and discussion follows the jump… By the next day, I had read through all of them and picked up First Shift – Legacy, which is set in the same fictional future. Within a couple hours of reading WOOL, I picked up the WOOL Omnibus, which collects the first five WOOL stories. Never mention you might like going outside. There are things that must not be discussed. They’ve lived there so long, there are only legends about people living anywhere else. Thousands of them have lived underground. Humanity clings to survival in the Silo, a subterranean city extending hundreds of storeys beneath the surface. The story of WOOL takes place on a post-apocalyptic Earth. On a whim, I picked up a short story last Friday for the e-reader.

Wool omnibus series