Review: Wool by Hugh Howey

Wool by Hugh Howey is an epic story of life, love and survival at all odds and one of the most-talked about and anticipated books of the year. It will be published on 3rd December and would definitely make an excellent Christmas gift. Below is a review from our youngest staff member, Angus.

I approached Wool (a five-part omnibus by the US bookseller Hugh Howey) with the appropriate amount of skepticism. The norm for the sci-fi genre is an over-imagined, barely believable world with a variety of half-baked characters who get so excited about their futuristic gadgetry that they forget their one true purpose - to enthrall, excite and challenge me. The setting and plot get too caught up in the unbelievable and the end result is a confounding mess of (literally) astronomical proportions. 

Fortunately for readers, writers and booksellers everywhere, Wool fails each and every one of the criteria mentioned above, providing a beautifully worked array of characters in a believable yet wonderfully creative world, intertwined throughout with innate, challenging questions that feed the conspiracy theorist in all of us - do we know the truth, or is the truth merely what we are made to believe? 

Sometimes, is it better not to know at all?

The story begins with the initial novella, originally intended to stand alone. It has a dark-edged, bleak, almost vintage sci-fi feel to it and one becomes immediately enveloped by the protagonist and his tortured quest for the truth. The story unfolds through flashbacks, as we follow Holston's journey and unearth the circumstances that lead to the dreadfully inevitable conclusion - we desperately hope that it is not so, however as the dark politics of Howey's world come to light we see there is no way out other than that which Holston chooses for himself. Howey does a splendid job of establishing the setting, manufacturing it in such a way that the true implications of the ensuing events can manifest themselves  in our minds - he gives us a taste of what is to come and sows the seeds of doubt...he gives us the hints that everything is definitely not the way we perceive it to be.

After the initial novella, Howey focuses the story on the ordeal of Juliette (the Silo's new sheriff)  - a capable young woman from a mechanical background who dedicates herself to the discovery and exposure of the truth around the origins of the Silo (the huge, underground community to which humanity is now confined), its history and the circumstances that led to the entire human race being 'trapped' inside this giant, self-contained, functioning community. Only problem is... to leave the Silo means certain death and the punishment for any untempered curiosity and/or dissidence is just this - to be forced to leave. Juliette attempts to deconstruct the taboos that exist within their society and begins to reach a dangerous conclusion - they have been living a lie, a state of affairs manufactured to keep terrible secrets from festering into full-blown rebellion. Her odyssey unfolds with increasing tension, taking the Silo and its inhabitants on a trip through unrest, discovery and eventual rebellion. The moral quandaries subsequently raised are catalysts for heated book club discussion and Wool is ideal fodder for anyone looking to further blend the lines between truth, reality, right and wrong.

It is a mark of Howey's skill that he has been able to write Wool in such a way that the characters, plot and ideas drive the story along. Too often I see science fiction start promisingly, but quickly descend into mayhem as the over-described technology competes with a bizarre completely poorly realised world for your attention. Howey uses the science-fiction genre as a means to an ends, to present important ideas and valid observations. One gets the feeling that Wool set within our contemporary, mundane society would achieve much the same purpose as that which is already achieved.

Another of Howey's strengths is solely in his characters. While the story initially unfolds through the eyes of the previously mentioned Juliette, Howey introduces other characters that are wonderfully distinct, yet familiar in their desires. They love, create, and have the innate claustrophobia of the current living conditions hardwired into their being - they all share a sense that something is not quite right and long to explore beyond the strangling confines what is essentially an underground skyscraper. The storytelling is based on complex, multi-dimensional characters placed in situations that both challenge and excite, instead of world-building or laser guns. 

It's always a great feeling when you finish a book, series or (in this case) omnibus, feeling completely satisfied. Howey has a remarkable skill which he exercises with extreme effectiveness throughout Wool - he leaves you curious, rather than unfulfilled. He paces the book perfectly, ups the ante at every opportunity, maintains suspense, invests your emotions into the action and (this is how good he is) even manages to get you sympathising with the damn protagonist! 

The Silo is a dangerous place to be. It is a delicate society supported by a tangled web of secrets, deception, power and above all, the quest for survival. It is a representation of humanity with a rollicking great storyline to boot, the kind of book that raises your blood pressure with plenty of well-written action sequences and leaves you dreaming long after the final page has turned.

Thank you Mr Howey, thank you so very much.

- Angus

Review: The Onion's Great Escape

Sara Fanelli is a UK based artist born in Florence. Her work hangs in the Tate Gallery and she illustrates for The New Yorker and has won countless international awards for her stunning picture books.

Her wonderful new book The Onion’s Great Escape is part activity book, part picture book and has been dubbed as “Basic Philosophy for Kids”. It’s really too much a design masterpiece to
be called just an activity book.

There are two stories running alongside each other, the onions and your own.

Children have to to help the onion escape from the hot frying pan by responding to and filling in each of the questions that appear on each page. Then you peel back the next layer of the onion and move on to the next question.

By the end of the book you have a gorgeous 3D mini flip book that becomes completely detached from the original book and the child ends up with a collection of thoughts and ideas to keep forever.

The onion’s adventure is not one to be missed either. An onion was an interesting choice to focus an adventure story on but an onion does have many layers and the idea of peeling and layers does go hand in hand.

The book poses questions about time, memory, what makes you happy etc but there are also questions like if a chicken eats a worm and you eat the chicken, have you eaten the worm?

There’s lot of space to respond too, either by drawing pictures or writing. It’s a wonderful way to spark creativity for any age and you even end up with an extra book at the end.

Great for both and boys and girls to tackle during the holidays and also the grown-ups as
well. I think it’s suitable for ages 8 to 108!

Reviewed by Barbara on ABC 702 Sydney

Review: The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

Rachel Joyce is an award winning English playwright and this is her first novel. Six years ago Rachel wrote The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry as a play for BBC Radio 4 and it won an award for the best radio play. The play was written with her father, who had cancer at the time, in mind.

Rachel had wanted to write a book for many years and was persuaded by her colleagues to write “Harold’s” story as a novel. In a recent interview with The Guardian, Rachel said "looking back, doing the book was about trying to keep my dad alive.”  She wanted to write a story that didn’t quite fit the rules and make the implausible, plausible … and she succeeded. Rachel wrote the novel during the six-month Writing A Novel course run by The Faber Academy in London, also attended by SJ Watson, author of Before I Go To Sleep.

Harold has retired and lives with his wife Maureen in a southern English town. Maureen’s a bit of a shrew and criticises him all the time and poor Harold wears it without a murmur.

He then receives a letter from a work colleague he hasn’t seen for 30 years. She writes that she is in a hospice and wants to thank him for his friendship many years before and to say goodbye.

Harold immediately writes to her and sets out to post the letter. He contemplates at the post box and decides to move on to the post office. When he reaches the post office he makes the amazing decision to just deliver it in person. The problem is that he lives in southern England and the hospice is in the north of the country 627 miles away!

And so his pilgrimage begins. Sounds implausible I know but the people he meets along the way, even the television crews makes this a quirky story with many surprising dimensions. I’ve had readers who didn’t want it to end as they loved it so much.

Erica Wagner from The Times said “From the moment I met Harold Fry I didn’t want to leave him. It’s impossible to put down”.

Faber Academy in Sydney at Allen and Unwin have lots of upcoming writing courses, have a look at their website for more details. You could be the next Rachel Joyce or SJ Watson!

The Faber Academy at Allen and Unwin