Reddit reviews Wool
We found 53 Reddit comments about Wool. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Wool
Reddit reviews WoolWe found 53 Reddit comments about Wool. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Wool by Hugh Howey. I was not a huge dystopian fan ... but this booked sucked me in and now I am looking for others.
Wool by Hugh Howey and the entire Silo series.
http://www.amazon.com/Wool-Hugh-Howey/dp/1476733953
This book was alright but I highly recommend Wool by Hugh Howey instead. Its an post-apocalyptic story that takes place in a encapsulated society with some pretty bad ass females, including the main character! (Think Audrey Ramirez from Disney's Atlantis) Its a really quick and engrossing read.
This is "Wool" by Hugh Howey.
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https://www.amazon.com/Wool-Hugh-Howey/dp/1476733953
Openings are hard as shit to do in sci-fi/fantasy. You have to basically lecture on the world without it sounding like you're lecturing them on the world: excuse me while I grab my smoke and mirrors. I'm not going to do line edits because it's view only. Instead you get my wall of text that I'm compiling on scifi/fantasy openings as I read more and more piles of it, when I should be reading something like literature (Idk, is that what the cool kids are doing?).
It's view only so my line edits will probably be limited, but I'll start with your opening two sentences.
>The café of 'Morl's Best Cuppa' was odd, green and uncomfortable to look at. It's rough exterior stood out against the trimmed vein of grey that was the rest of the city-block, like a bulb of gum beaten flat under step, ruining an otherwise pristine side-walk
Protag is looking at a building. I'm not as experienced in third person style narratives, but I'll do my best. If I was writing this in first person I'd be extremely leery of writing a description of the building for the begging portion. I do think you have an interesting world set out. There are genuinely funny moments, but it's packaged in a way that makes me want to put it down. I'd say this is due to an incomplete opening. You have characters and setting, but you don't have a problem for these characters to overcome (plot).I'm going to copy paste parts of a post that I did on sci-fi/fantasy openings that I made earlier, with significant modifications/additions (but the core idea is the same). If this is frowned upon, I'll stop. Disclaimer, I'm not saying that you should do any of these things that I suggest. This is merely my own opinions on ways to get over the initial hump that sci/fi fantasy stories face. These are some good resources/books that I've found.
In essence a good opening has three things
This is kind of vague and bullshitty so I'll use some examples.
The openings in fantasty/sci-fi books are notoriously terrible. For instance, Red Rising, an otherwise half decent thriller book has the shittiest opening that I've read in a published work. But that didn't stop him from selling books out the wazoo and getting good blurbs ("Ender, Catniss, and now Darrow"), because he knows how to write a page turner later on (I'd still recommend it even though the opening is questionable, if you enjoy cheap dystopian thrills). But damn, did the opening want to make me throw the book against the wall. It's not that he doesn't do the three things that an opening should do, it's that he switches voices within it and had several narration snaps when it's clearly HIM speaking and not the main character. I'd also say that Patrick Rothfuss' opening is extremely shitty (and he says so himself), as he takes 50 pages before anything substantial happens. Thus he went back and added a prologue so the reader would feel some sort of plot in the story. Prologues are effective in scifi/fantasy for quickly introducing a problem, if your world takes awhile to build. For instance -- Harry Potter also did this to an extent, since it had the scene with his parents dying. Some openings, like the one that I'm about to discuss, have a really solid hook and immediately grab the reader. Am I saying that you should write a prologue? No , I haven't really read enough of your story to figure that out. I'm just offering a few nuggets of advice that I've seen authors use to get over the initial hump of creating the world.
I think a solid example of a good opening in a sci-fi story, that I've read recently, is the story Wool (here's a link, use the look inside function). The hook is one of the better ones I've read, something along the lines of "Holston climbed his stairs to his death." Is it a cheap trick? Yes. Do I really care, and does it add tension to an otherwise monotonous climb up the stairs? You betcha! He explains certain elements of the silo as he gets to the different actions, e.g. "I put my hand on the guardrail, worn down one flake at a time by centuries of use." He doesn't just come out and say "HEY THE SILO IS OLD LEMME TELL YOU ABOUT MY CHILDHOOD IN THE SILO AND THEN GET TO THE PLOT DAMMNIT". In your case we see some characters mostly annoyed, bored, or not really doing much. Sure the setting is engaging, but the characters, in my opinion, aren't. The pro of an exposition opening is that you can fit a lot of information into a relatively small amount of space. The con is that it's hard to present in a way that doesn't create a POV snap, a boring tell instead of show description, and it's hard to create a problem if you're trying to be an omnipotent narrator. Dune does it, but it hasn't set a trend because it's hard as shit to do. Pride and Prejudice does it, but Jane Austen is incredibly good at writing in different tones. I'll stick to my nice comfortable first person narrative right now. I'm not a good mechanical writer, or a good writer at all yet, but I'm working on it. I do worldbuilding half decently (though I'm put to shame by the people on /r/worldbuilding)
Another solid opening is "Mistborn;" (here's a link) a fantastic example of a dialogue driven opening. I'd say that if a dialogue opening is done right, its exponentially more interesting than an exposition opening. The problem is making the characters feel natural. I spent quite some time on my opening hammering out the robotic narration style, but I still had to go back and write a prologue because I didn't introduce the main problem of the story properly. I problem that I had is that my characters seem to stick their fingers up their butts and don't do anything. Basically a dialogue opening is harder to do, but it's well worth the effort if you can pull it off. Dialogue is also a good way to squeeze information out of your world. Want to have an explanation about scientist, well slap a scientist in there and have your protag ask some questions about it. Don't have random flashbacks in the very begging. Think about a movie that had someone fixing breakfast, and every time they did something relatively minor there was a flashback. E.g. poured some orange juice. That reminds me of my mentor who trained me in how to write a good sci-fi opening. Going to eat some Coco puffs, like me mum used to. But me mum beat me so I angrily ate the coco puffs.
The best fantasy opening that I've ever read is Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch. I'd recommend taking a peek at it here. He casually just strolls in, quickly establishes two characters, a problem, and a setting in half a page. It's brilliant. I can't say I've read the rest of it though, but it's on my list of things to read. The only complaints that I've heard about Lies (aside from the usually fantasy grumbling about tropes), is that the heist narrative is too lowly for such a talented writer. I think that's a pretty good sign that hes doing shit right.
In the words of Brian Sanderson "writing is all smoke and mirrors." In fantasy/sci-fi you have to set up scenes that are more or less infodumping segments that feel natural to the reader. E.g. travelling from town to town, "oh theres a ghost thing over there"
"that's not a ghost its your mum!" laughter ensues
On the bright side, it seems like you've done some good world building, so writing the segments shouldn't be too hard. I highly recommend watching Brandon Sanderson's lectures on the youtube channel "Write about dragons." Start with the first lectures he does, because they cover a lot of mistakes that people make.
Also read this article on common mistakes that editors see (link) . Watching and reading just a little bit will help you from falling into a ton of pitfalls, like I did with my first story. I spent far too long on too little words, that were absolute rubbish. Now I've been able to get at least a consistent word count down every week, with mixed reviews (some chapters are better than others.) Basically, write consistently and read often. Potential and inspiration are bullshit. Hammer out some words, get it torn apart on this sub-reddit, pick up the pieces and repeat. Make sure to give back often, this place is awesome. I think one of my better experiences was posting a basically infodumpy chapter, and had some pretty positive reviews (aside from some pseudoscience that I quickly cut, and leapt back into the warm embrace of space opera).
If you get past the opening hump, this article, is a fantastic way to plan how your plot is going to unfold over the course of a novel, in a concise fashion. I wish I'd found this resource sooner, cause my planning would've been much better. (I tend to discovery write, with minimal planning.)
I had a lot of fun reading Dark Matter by Blake Crouch, like I did when reading The Martian and Ready Player One. I genuinely didn't know where the story was going to go or how it was going to end with this one.
Also, Andy Weir has a new one coming out on November 14th called Artemis
Wool by Hugh Howey or anything else by Hugh Howey. I've been eyeing Sand for quite awhile.
The Wool Series by Hugh Howey
I guess I'll be the one to mention how reminiscent this is of Wool
Makes me a bit itchy with premonition
Okay, weirdest thing, I was looking up "Ready player one" on amazon, to see if it worth buying, and I think I found a book about The Woolie hole.
Wool by Hugh Howey. You can download part 1 of the book free to see if it's right for you.
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North.
I am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes.
Wool by Hugh Howey and its prequel, Shift. Really, really good.
Wool by Hugh Howey
The list was too long to fit into a self-post, here is the continuation.
Prolific Authors: (5+ Books)
Science Fiction with apocalyptic elements:
That was my first thought as well.
Amazon link for the curious.
In a ruined and toxic future, 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.
Wool by Hugh Howey. The majority of the story takes place underground.
It's not the same as Lost in terms of character development but the overall strange vibe while you're trying to work out a mystery is covered pretty well in Wool.
You must read this and the two sequels immediately!
Definitely check out Wool.
Here is the mobile version of your link
I enjoyed the Wool series by Hugh Howey.
Hugh Howey's Silo Trilogy (Wool, Shift, & Dust)
Anything written by this man
The Stolen Child by Keith Donohue
Fiiiinally it's the weekend!! I've been looking for something new to read that's fun, and I think this fits the bill perfectly :) Thanks for the contest, you're awesome!
I've heard great things about this book - WOOL. I want to read it, increasingly badly. And someone nominated it for the October reading book, which many people including me supported, so it's more than likely at some point RAoA will read it, together.
Also books are goods for being smart and stuff.
If you like Fallout, you will probably like "Wool", "Shift" and "Dust" by Hugh Howey. It's a post-apocalyptic series set inside a giant underground silo.
Wool. It's about a dystopian future where all of humanity lives in 50 different silos creating their own, similar societies. ees very good
I'd recommend Wool, by Hugh Howey.
I'm about to start Wool by Hugh Howey as several friends have recommended it. It's a long one but could be a good summer read (and is very post-apocalyptic like several of our other selections).
Wool, by Hugh Howey.
"The story of Wool takes place on a post-apocalyptic Earth. Humanity clings to survival in the Silos, subterranean cities extending over one hundred stories beneath the surface."
A review. More info.
Maybe the Silo trilogy would work? It's technically sci-fi I suppose, but it's really about the characters. 'Wool' is the first book.
You should read Wool I can't even describe how awesome this book is. Over 7,000 people have reviewed it and most of them loved it like I did. Everything by Hugh Howey that I've read I've loved. I'd like this book which is also a dytopia type book which is what Wool is. Thanks for the contest.
The Wool series by Hugh Howey. Ebook of the 1st part is free, so you can see if it's something you like.
The Red Rising series by Pierce Brown.
Both these series are excellent, and will keep you up at night. Both these series have been optioned for films, and are in development.
Not a specific recommendation, but see if your local library has access to the Overdrive app which will allow you to read ebooks from them for free.
Wool by Hugh Howey is a sci-fi-ish book you might like. Quick and easy read with a compelling plot.
Wool by Hugh Howey
Description from Goodreads:
"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."
I know I've read plenty which fit this description, but I'm going to say Wool, as I read that quite recently and it popped into my head as soon as I saw the title. I desperately need to get the followup novel, Shift.
I recently read the Wool Omnibus, (silo series 1) and it has several whoa moments that I would liken to a twilight zone episode.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1476733953/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1417205262&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SY200_QL40
Third!
Please read Wool. I didnt see anyone else mention the author, Hugh Howey.
I was a little confused when i started reading this too. If you use kindle, make sure you get the Wool Omnibus not the individual pieces. There are also two sequels, Shift and Dust.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1476733953/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1524573306&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=hugh+howey+silo+series&dpPl=1&dpID=61bOJkwcVCL&ref=plSrch
Not exactly sure what you mean with Dystopian/Futuristic... Dystopian in the sense of 1984 or Brave New World? As in organic transition to near-future dystopia?
If you mean postapocalyptic, I am just going to quote myself...
Post-Apocalyptic I recommend two things:
>A Canticle For Leibowitz Brilliant novel consisting of slightly linked chapters from shortly after collapse up to new civilisational heights. Don't read the sequel, it's a bad Western.
>Wool by Hugh Howey. Really gripping, believeable world-building and decent characters. Sequels are ok, but if you can stand not getting proper conclusions stop after Wool :)
>EDIT: Aaaah, I forgot one of the most important ones - The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Depressing, low-key, believeable. The prose is stunning. If you read anything read this.
Futuristic is pretty broad, I guess you mean SciFi? Alastair Reynolds is always a good recommendation - it's kind of plausible Science Fiction on a big scale. He is pretty good at characterization, keeps the plot in sight and there are still epic space battles. Good starting point is Revelation Space.
Zone One is my favorite Zombie Novel. It actually has some character development. I found this on my public library's Overdrive ebook collection.
Tooth and Nail was also a fun read.
Krinberry mentioned Wool below, that was also pretty engaging.
Wool by Hugh Howey, Peopling living in underground silos/vaults you follow a character as she tries to unravel the truth of the silos.
http://www.amazon.com/Wool-Hugh-Howey/dp/1476733953/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1451311249&sr=8-1&keywords=Wool
The Wool series by Hugh Howey. It's about humans living in a silo underground after a nuclear apokalypse. If you are convicted of a crime like murder, you get send out to clean the cameras that connect the silo with the outside world. It's a death sentence since the poisonous air eats through the protective suit in just a few minutes. But there's a terrible secret surrounding the "cleanings"...
I appreciate your honesty and self awareness. You haven't said you want to be on 'the list'. You haven't said you're trying to escape the 9 to 5. You have said you want to write another book that you feel is good enough to publish, and then interact with its readership. That's reason enough to do it.
Take a look at this guy's author page on amazon. Hugh Howey. I read the first book he self published: http://www.amazon.com/Wool-Hugh-Howey/dp/1476733953/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1459201376&sr=8-1&keywords=wool+silo
I learned of him through a Wall Street Journal article on self publishing, so he is an exceptional case study, but Amazon seems to generate what you're looking for for more than just the big names.
Some of us write for a living. Some of us just have to write.
This place reminds me of the book Wool.
https://www.amazon.com/Wool-Hugh-Howey/dp/1476733953/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1538246136&sr=8-2&keywords=wool+science+fiction
No problem! Also, I was mistaken: It’s technically called the Silo Trilogy with the first book called “Wool”. The three books are
Wool https://www.amazon.com/dp/1476733953/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_hO0DAb555Q9GC
Shift (Silo Trilogy) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0544839641/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_4P0DAbB8T1NB3
Dust (Silo Trilogy) (Volume 3) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0544838262/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_yQ0DAbM9HWYV8
http://www.amazon.com/The-Atlantis-Gene-Thriller-Mystery/dp/1940026016/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1393907627&sr=1-2
http://www.amazon.com/Wool-Hugh-Howey/dp/1476733953/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1393907704&sr=1-8
http://www.amazon.com/Dune-Frank-Herbert/dp/0441172717/ref=sr_1_1_title_1_mas?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1393907764&sr=1-1&keywords=Dune
http://www.amazon.com/Saga-Vol-Brian-K-Vaughan/dp/1607066017/ref=sr_1_1_title_1_pap?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1393907812&sr=1-1&keywords=Saga
http://www.amazon.com/Enders-Game-Ender-Wiggins-Quartet/dp/0765378485/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1393907865&sr=1-2
That's takes care of the science fiction. This list has medieval fantasy books: http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/869.Medieval_Fantasy_Books
Christmas in April!
Book
Thanks for the contest!
My initial thoughts:
Religion: An Insider's view of Mormon's Origins by Grant Palmer
Fiction: The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
2nd Fiction Choice: Wool by Hugh Howey
I'll read whatever I'm interested at the moment. More often than not, space operas such as the Vorkosigan Saga or popcorn novels such as Ready Player One.
If you are into sci-fi, I would highly recommend the Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold. You're going to need this chronological order or books when buying, and a lot of them are contained in various omnibuses. The Expanse by James S.A. Corey is another phenomenal read and is an equally amazing Sy-Fy Network show. I'd recommend reading the books first then watching the show.
If maybe you like dystopian futures, I'd highly recommend the Silo Series by Hugh Howey or The Girl With All The Gifts by M. R. Carey.
Loosed Upon The World - The Saga Anthology of Climate Fiction - Great collection of mid-collapse or post-collapse short stories from good authors. Edited by John Joseph Adams, who also was involved in editing the 3-pack compilations of "The End is Nigh", "The End is Now", and "The End has Come". My favorite story series in those books is Spores by Seanan McGuire, which focuses on a GMO fungus that eats the world.
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Another editor of those 3-pack compilations was Hugh Howey, a great author that wrote the "Silo Series" - A post apocalyptic series based on the only survivors of a nanobot "grey goo" attack that wipes out the human race.