Review: "Wool: Omnibus Edition" by Hugh Howey (2012)

The Silo Series, by which it is referred to in totality, is a popular sci-fi book partly because it's a quality work of art, but also because of the mythology surrounding its publication. Originally only the first book (simply titled Wool) was meant to stand alone. Hugh Howey self-published the story, having previously decided to do so because of the increased artistic freedom, and let it ride.

Driven by the  story's popularity he wrote more entries, starting with Wool: Proper Gauge, which expands upon the grim events of Wool and follows a new set of characters met only briefly in the previous foray. In less than two months he had written the next three entries, Casting Off, The Unraveling, and The Stranded respectively, and completed the core story of the Silo series. This isn't even covering the alleged seven-figure publishing rights payday Howey turned down to maintain online publishing rights while the series was sent to print by Simon & Schuster. He has since expanded upon the universe but I won't be discussing those works in this review.

When Hugh Howey first sat down to write what would become Wool, at the time intended to be a single short story chronicling the final days of a Silo sheriff as he tries to come to terms with the loss of his wife 3 years previous, I don't think he dreamed it would be as successful as it has become. I think when Hugh sat down and poured his guts onto the page he wasn't trying to create the premier example of what self-published artists can achieve, I think he was just trying to perfect his art.

The first story is exquisitely paced, richly developed and horribly entertaining. It sinks you into a vivid world full of strange rules and customs that still feels so much like home. The Silo dwellers live, breath, love, and work together in a unique environment but still are tested by the toils that come with being human. The connection with the tired, waning Sheriff is easy to make and the summation of his actions hits surprisingly hard given the brief time we're given to get to know him.

Unfortunately that's where things get dicey. After this wonderful opening, Proper Gauge fills the much needed purpose of broadening our understanding of this strange world where people live underground in an immense Silo, not dissimilar to something like a Vault from the Fallout series,  escaping the desolate, arid, toxic outside. So feared is it that discussion even tangentially related to the outside is reserved for quiet moments with one's spouse, and only then with trepidation.

What makes Proper Gauge dicey from a quality standpoint is its pacing. While Wool had the benefit of Howey surely poring over every small detail for a very long time, its successor expands almost too much. There's a lot of exposition, is what I'm trying to get at, and a lot of it could've been easily inserted later in the series. Some of it could have even been excised entirely, if I'm being honest, but not much.

That's part of what makes the series so appealing: Even when the story drags and it begins to feel like a slog, Howey's ability as a writer more than makes up for it. Make no mistake, these first two books in particular could have done with another editing pass, but they're endearing in that way. Just as Hugh was mastering his craft (then having published only his Bern Saga and a short story titled The Plagiarist) we learn to love these characters he chisels out of literary marble. They aren't perfect, they make mistakes just like all good characters do, but they come across as uniquely relatable each and every one.

Casting Off, better paced than Proper Gauge, fulfills another sorely needed function: character development. From Casting Off onward the series follows Juliette, a mechanic from the lowest levels of the silo who is hired as the aforementioned Sheriff's replacement due to her help with a murder investigation years prior. Named for the titular character in Shakespeare's tragedy, Juliette shirks melodrama as a down-to-brass-tacks type. Make no mistake, Juliette does not see herself as a leader and when we first meet her she surely isn't. She likes fixing things and helping people but wastes no time trying her hand at emotional repair.

Howey really hits his stride somewhere in the middle of Casting Off, but you don't notice until The Unraveling. Having gotten through the slog of exposition, all of it starts paying off almost immediately. The final two stories in the omnibus are perhaps the most novel-esque of the bunch, even ignoring their length and structure. Here is the work of a craftsman at their best, enjoyable with the whole or even by themselves. Honestly you could probably skip book 2 and 3 and be no worse for wear. Much of what's introduced in those books can be picked up on in the later entries. Still, if you're partial to lengthy character development and world building, they're tomes you'll likely want to read.

Reading the Wool: Omnibus Edition is a lot like watching a writer perfect their craft. The process is even mirrored, in some ways, in Juliette's arc. In the beginning she's skilled but hampered by a somewhat callous affectation, and by the end she's the master of her domain (in more ways than one). Hugh Howey used this series as a way to sharpen his skills and it ended up launching his career. We should all be so skilled and lucky.

I give Wool: Omnibus Edition by Hugh Howey 3 Jakes out of 5 Possible Jakes. I highly recommend reading this, but the slog that comprises books two and three (though useful and necessary) is too much to ignore. That coupled with the need for another editing pass on the earlier stories drags it down.