Wool – Omnibus Edition by Hugh Howey is a smart apocalyptic mystery/science fiction about a society that has lived in missile silos for 100’s of years waiting out the devastation of the land due to nuclear war. This is a smart look at society and government in a fresh new way. Where the book really shines is the mystery aspect, it breaks down giving you piece by piece, if will give the reader a clue but you won’t understand the significance of the clue until later. This is a reread for me and I appreciate the mystery even more now as I see all the clues for what they are. The characters are plenty and the narrative allows you to follow 10 characters as they each add a piece to the mystery. The setup for this story is so good, it gave me chills, it is a like a plot out of the movie psycho with a science fiction twist. The narrative and overall story is really great it sets a path of telling you no character is safe and keeps that throughout the book. The narrative does have some waves of being slow, but still manages to keep your interest throughout. This story is bleak with moments of hope which dry everything. I do like that at the end it kind of ask you, the reader, what would you do? how would you base society? The lies and secrets didn’t work, or do you need some secrets to suppress from the people the way you govern? I found these questions fascinating and the possibilities. Wool the Omnibus editions collects all 5 the original Wool books as they were released online by Hugh Howey. The story of Howey published these novels and became an international bestseller is just as fascinating as the narrative of Wool, which is briefly discussed in the foreword and afterword.

The Plot Summary: Halston the Sheriff of the Silo has just turned in his gun and badge, He’s ready to clean. The act of cleaning is to go out in the apocalyptic wasteland of the Silo and clean the camera sensors on the outside, no one has ever came back from a clean, but all have cleaned despite their disregard for doing it. Halston’s wife cleaned 3 years ago and he’s ready to see what made her do it. Halston has a theory that his wife was working on that there is noting to fear the world is all good. Halston goes out of the Silo and can’t believe the sites, they lied to us he says as he dutifully cleans the lens so the whole Silo can see. He looks for shelter and his whole world changes they lied again and Halston can never come back. This description is vague and really trying hard not to spoil, this summary only covers the first of five novellas that add up to the whole story of Wool, there’s a lot more to discover.

What I Liked: The opening scenes really set the pace for the story, the intrigue, the hard truth, and trust nothing. I liked that I felt no character was safe something that was established early. The overall story arch was amazing. The questions the novels ask had a lasting impression on me. I liked that I could enjoy all the twist and turns, even on a second read. There was so many twists in the story I forgot one or two. I like that all the clues are there for the reader and if you are sharp you can figure it out before the characters in the story. I like the society aspect of the book which reminded me of Asimov’s Foundation series. I liked a majority of Wool’s vast characters. I liked how much of a weasel the bad guy is and how he gets exactly what he deserves.

What I Disliked: The Pacing at parts was bad, there was a couple of scenes that felt like filler or that Howey was stalling to create his lead character. We did not get to see how the resistance was over, or a flashback of how the bad guy got what he deserved.

Recommendation: This book is great, good science fiction that reflects the world and choice we make day to day. The big flaw in the book is the pacing at times. The overall story keeps your interest even when it’s slow, because I had to know what happened next. My rating for Wool did not change on my reread I saw a couple more clues of the big reveal , only i knew what I was looking for. I rated Wool Omnibus by Hugh Howey 4 out of 5 stars.