"Wool" series by Hugh Howey...

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<Aristocrat╭ರ_•́>
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I just started reading these after reading Simas's article. This shit is quality.
Just bought it on kindle.

Thanks bros


smedly talked about this as well in ps beta so I guess a small thanks to the Smedster too.
 

Pemulis

Not Woke
<Bronze Donator>
3,257
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Just read through the Wool Omnibus in just a couple of days and really enjoyed it - definitely a new take on the post-apocalypse. For $5.99, it's a steal. I'd recommend it for triple the price. Downloaded Shift a few days ago but saving it for vacation in two weeks.
 

Agraza

Registered Hutt
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I finished. There are some oddities that pop up occasionally like...
flies and birds and worms and fish and cats and dogs. Randomly these animals pop up as if they're normal, but in the scenario they're in I don't think they are, especially the flies. I'm hardly some kind of doomsday expert, but they're living in a controlled habitat on meager resources. How much animal life is necessary for food producing ecosystems?
 

velk

Trakanon Raider
2,512
1,094
I finished. There are some oddities that pop up occasionally like...
flies and birds and worms and fish and cats and dogs. Randomly these animals pop up as if they're normal, but in the scenario they're in I don't think they are, especially the flies. I'm hardly some kind of doomsday expert, but they're living in a controlled habitat on meager resources. How much animal life is necessary for food producing ecosystems?
Fruit flies are incredibly tenacious, it's entirely reasonable to suspect that some of their fresh food when they first moved in had eggs on it, after which they'll never get rid of the things, given they are growing their own fruit and veg. The worms are important part of the plant ecosystem, fish are food, and the cats and dogs are pets. Seems plausible.
 
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The last book, Dust, has been out for about a month. Anyone still reading/discussing the series? Thought it was a good conclusion, maybe a little short.

A few thoughts:

What happened to the other silos that beat the destruction mechanisms? Originally it was one that totally unhooked themselves from Silo 1 and apparently started reaching out to the others..not much explanation there. It was also starting to be hard to believe that Thurman wouldn't have killed Donald or put him on ice immediately. Leaving him in a little jail cell with food and water where you knew he was going to eventually get out and continue causing all kinds of hell was probably a stretch for a guy smart enough to cook up WOOL. Also not sure what point the storyline with the religious fanatics and one of Jimmy's little kids served. Kind of random.
 

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Goonsquad Officer
5,606
13,426
Yea shift 1 is kind of dull. you have a purposely dull story featuring troy, and a...normal non silo world featuring donald. shift 2 and three are half about troy, half about a porter in 2, and in 3 half about how SOLO got in his situation, which is pretty sweet.

shift spoilers i guess:

I finished. There are some oddities that pop up occasionally like...flies and birds and worms and fish and cats and dogs. Randomly these animals pop up as if they're normal, but in the scenario they're in I don't think they are, especially the flies. I'm hardly some kind of doomsday expert, but they're living in a controlled habitat on meager resources. How much animal life is necessary for food producing ecosystems?

The original inhabitants thought they were going to a democratic national convention ultra barbeque, when it was time to fill up the silo's they each brought their pets in. that was my take on it. though the psycologists may have decided that a small iota of pets would lead to comfort? no idea.


Dust spoilers:

What happened to the other silos that beat the destruction mechanisms? Originally it was one that totally unhooked themselves from Silo 1 and apparently started reaching out to the others..not much explanation there. It was also starting to be hard to believe that Thurman wouldn't have killed Donald or put him on ice immediately. Leaving him in a little jail cell with food and water where you knew he was going to eventually get out and continue causing all kinds of hell was probably a stretch for a guy smart enough to cook up WOOL. Also not sure what point the storyline with the religious fanatics and one of Jimmy's little kids served. Kind of random.

My take on the 'reach out' was that it was nerdy girl's lie. she said they were reaching out while SHE was hacking each one and claiming she couldn't figure it out. she was all "i dunno daddy, they have magic powers i guess". i think he didn't put donald on ice out of spite. that would have filled him with good nanos which would have saved his life. or he needed him around to lean on him for investigations. The point of the kids was to hammer home the life giving nature of the dead silo. so you had to confront the fact that twins were so common there. the point of the religious....i guess was to drive home 'its hard to be mayor' they had to make a faction that wouldn't listen to reason or reflect upon the hard realities of jule's trip so...insert zelots. some of the fan written stories feature the 'free silos'. not that they're cannon i guess

I loved wool series. one of my favorate ebook series to date.
 

Gilgamel

A Man Chooses....
2,869
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Anyone read the new omnibus, Sand? Different world entirely, still quality shit though. I'm almost done with it and it's been one of those "zomg where has the time gone" couple of hour things. Really interesting premise.
 

Intrinsic

Person of Whiteness
<Gold Donor>
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Anyone read the new omnibus, Sand? Different world entirely, still quality shit though. I'm almost done with it and it's been one of those "zomg where has the time gone" couple of hour things. Really interesting premise.
I'm about halfway through Sand, bought it one night at 1am after finishing WoR and didn't have access to RR to see what others recommended. I have really enjoyed it and am looking forward to reading the Wool omnibus. Unfortunately I stopped reading it when my Kindle was lost (stolen) and picked up The Martian on my Nexus 7... and then Amazon delivered my copy of House of Leaves, anyways, I need to get back through Sand.

tl;dr - Sand++
 

spronk

FPS noob
22,478
25,385
Ridley Scott is turning Wool into a movie set for release next year
Ridley Scott to begin casting for the film adaptation of 'Wool' in 2014. | Scified.com

I think it'll make for a fantastic movie, especially under Ridley Scott. I'm more uneven on the books, I think its a fantastic premise, setting, idea, etc but the story just got worse as I read more. I am happy for the author though, dude put out a $1 short story ebook 3 years ago and now has a strong following and a movie being made, that's pretty goddamn Murica.
 

Gilgamel

A Man Chooses....
2,869
52
I'm about halfway through Sand, bought it one night at 1am after finishing WoR and didn't have access to RR to see what others recommended. I have really enjoyed it and am looking forward to reading the Wool omnibus. Unfortunately I stopped reading it when my Kindle was lost (stolen) and picked up The Martian on my Nexus 7... and then Amazon delivered my copy of House of Leaves, anyways, I need to get back through Sand.

tl;dr - Sand++
I plowed through The Martian after you mentioned it here. That needs to be a damn movie. It would be amazing.

As to Sand, after finishing it I was a little underwhelmed. Felt like it should have been 30% longer. Still not bad.
 

Rime

<Donor>
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Picked up the Wool omnibus. Finished it in a day. First two were amazing, last three were good.
 

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Goonsquad Officer
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I read sand recently. I really enjoyed it, very interesting setting. he gave cool visuals on very unusual things which i liked (the diving mostly).I felt it should have been longer too, but I imagine he wrapped it up so that he wouldn't be anchored to it for more than he wanted to. I think he kind of felt like he had to finish wool to work on other things that interested him, so this time he just put a nice close on it.


I wanted a larger reveal about where all the sand came from beyond just "utopia jerks digging a big hole". i was convinced they were going to end up being dead nanobots or something haha. kind of a post-grey-goo apocalypse world. or i thought maybe the world was some kind of extra dimensional dumping ground, or any other far fetched theory.
 

iannis

Musty Nester
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He should be winning Hugo/nebulae. Really a cut above. None of them are even mediocre, he bottoms out at good.

He doesn't pull those punches. Seems like it would be tempting to.

I rate the entire series 5/5 well intentioned megalomaniac and 3/3 well intentioned, ignorant anarchists.
 

Khane

Got something right about marriage
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13,298
Picked this up for the kindle based on this thread. This is the first non technical book (series) I've started to read in probably 15 years. Thanks for the recommendation all.
 

Khane

Got something right about marriage
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It's a shame Philip Seymour Hoffman is no longer with us. I feel like he'd make an excellent Bernard if this gets made into a movie.
 

Khane

Got something right about marriage
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Quick question. I'm almost done with the Wool omnibus. From what I understand the Shift omnibus is up next, then Dust, then the Sand omnibus? Is that the correct order?
 

spronk

FPS noob
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25,385
yes its wool then shift then dust. Sand has nothing to do with the silo series, while its also a similar apoc-scenario story it takes place in a different, unrelated setting

I'd also honestly not read them all back to back, while they are all pretty short and can each be done in a night or two, its probably good to intermix in some non fiction or something different so you get some time to think about what you read
 

iannis

Musty Nester
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His Molly Fyde series is not close to the same level. I jumped into it on the strength of that Wool series. It's not that it's bad. It's not really -bad-. Its just not very good. It seems to be a space opera for tweens. Tween girls.

Which coming out of Wool/Shift/Dust... THATS FUCKING WEIRD.
 

Khane

Got something right about marriage
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Just finished Shift. Was a very satisfying backstory to the events in Wool. Starting Dust tonight probably, looking forward to seeing how it all ends.