[JimCrigler]

Wool Omnibus

You must read this book!

Set in a future in which humanity is condemned to live in a massive, underground silo, memory of life on the surface relegated to childrens' picture books and the video projection of the ruin of a city (Atlanta, it seems) on the top level, the Wool Omibus is a collection of 5 novellas forming a single, continuous story.

The title, it seems, refers to the wool pads used to clean the viewports of the cameras providing the the view of the outside. The city the outside stands in ruins; the atmosphere is choking and toxic; the people who go outside to clean have been banished and will never come back.

The first novella (free for Kindle) concerns the sherriff of the silo, who becomes convinced that the video projection of the ruins and toxic waste outside is an illusion propagated by the rulers, and he decides to go outside to prove it. When he gets there, he sees the vivid colors and beauty predicted by his wife (who preceded him by 2 years), until …

Five stars because that's as high as I can go.

 

[NogDog]

...
The title, it seems, refers to the wool pads used to clean the viewports of the cameras providing the the view of the outside. The city the outside stands in ruins; the atmosphere is choking and toxic; the people who go outside to clean have been banished and will never come back.
...

I took it as a double entendre, also referring to the idea of "pulling the wool over someone's eyes".

I read the first story, liked it well enough, but have not yet felt compelled to read more. (I'm a bit burned out these days on dystopian SF.)

 

[patrickb]

Yup, outstanding book.  3,754 reviews (averaged to a full 5 stars) on Amazon is testament to it.
Just whatever you do, don't read first/second/third shift first.  They're prequels but would ruin a lot of wool if you read them first.

 

[Betsy the Quilter]

I read the Wool Omnibus as part of my January Sci-Fi theme and really liked it.  I enjoyed Wool 1 as a stand alone story but thought it really took off with Wool 3.

Betsy

 

[cagnes]

It's on my tbr pile.... I really need to get to it soon!

 

[Leanne King]

WOOL is awesome. I believe the title is also an acronym, if you think about it (not saying any more, no spoilers!)

 

[Chad Winters]

its on my TBR  I can prove it!!

|
|
|
*

 

[maryjf45]

They're on my kindle, but haven't read them yet.  What does Patrick B mean?

 

[bordercollielady]

I loved this book.. took me awhile to figure out what was going on.. but once I did - it was hard to put down.  I have the two prequels on my TBR list - but I'm really wanting to read the sequels (I hear he has written one of them already).

 

[patrickb]

What does Patrick B mean?

Seriously? It's my name...

 

[Steven Stickler]

What does Patrick B mean?

He means don't read Shift before reading Wool. Shift is the prequel but start with Wool. I totally agree.

(is that what you were asking?)

 

[FranceBarnaby]

I agree that this was an excellent read. The opening scene is great. You can smell and feel the steel steps.

 

[Gertie Kindle]

A fascinating concept. Not my kind of story, but I enjoyed the read. And since Hugh is one of our own, I will definitely be in line to see the movie when it comes out.

 

[KindleGirl]

I already own this omnibus and it looks like I need to move it to the top of my TBR pile!

 

[Ann in Arlington]

I took it as a double entendre, also referring to the idea of "pulling the wool over someone's eyes".

I read the first story, liked it well enough, but have not yet felt compelled to read more. (I'm a bit burned out these days on dystopian SF.)

This is my feeling. The first story had a quite good "O Henry" type twist. . . .but I'm absolutely not a fan of dystopian anything so I have no desire to read any further.

 

[Mike D. aka jmiked]

I downloaded the first one to try out. The summary brought to mind the excellent Fritz Leiber short story published in Galaxy Magazine some years ago: The Moon is Green. I went and downloaded the Leiber story from Gutenberg and reread it. It still makes an impression on me.

Mike

 

[NogDog]

I downloaded the first one to try out. The summary brought to mind the excellent Fritz Leiber short story published in Galaxy Magazine some years ago: The Moon is Green. I went and downloaded the Leiber story from Gutenberg and reread it. It still makes an impression on me.

Mike

It's also free on Amazon: The Moon is Green

 

[Mike D. aka jmiked]

It's also free on Amazon: The Moon is Green

Yup. The one on Amazon is a bit more nicely formatted, but does not appear to have the illustration. No biggie.

Mike

 

[joehempel]

Yeah these books are fantastic!

I did an interview with Hugh Howey on my blog just a couple weeks ago, he's really a fantastic guy!

 

[Betsy the Quilter]

Yes, Hugh's a member here on KindleBoards!

Betsy