The Wool Series by Hugh Howey

The Wool Series is comprised of eight novellas (the first one of which is called Wool) that all take place in a post-apocalyptic USA where a small contingent of survivors are holed up in something resembling a missile silo. Hugh Howey self-published this series through Amazon’s Kindle Direct publishing system starting in 2011. Book 8 was published in January 2013. All the novellas are available in various permutations (singly and in omnibus editions) as Amazon Kindle downloads, and volumes 1-5 are now available in print from Simon & Schuster. Howey made news when he struck his print deal with Simon & Schuster (which occurred after these books were already Kindle bestsellers) because he retained the e-book rights. I wanted to try the series in part because I’ve been enjoying the post-apocalyptic genre, but mostly because I was interested in seeing whether a self-published book was any good. I’m skeptical because they seem like such wild cards – some have lots of spelling and grammatical errors, not to mention derivative plots. I prefer to read books that have been professionally edited – is that such a bad thing?*

I have only read the first three volumes (Wool, Proper Gauge, and Casting Off -- as a knitter I love these allusions but these books are definitely NOT about knitting). So far the plot and setting seem a little like “the survivors of the vampire apocalypse go to District 13” but I have a feeling that greater complexity is right around the corner. At least I hope so; right now these feel a bit formulaic to me, but perhaps that’s a function of reading three in a row, rather than spacing them out as you would if you were caught up. Howey is a good (if workmanlike) writer (and there are no typos); the characters are likable (except those that are supposed to be hate-able) and there is no shortage of strong women characters. That said, why am I not rushing out to read volumes 4-8? I’m not sure. Maybe I just need a break from post-apocalyptic dread?**

I noticed on Amazon that at least four authors have self-published e-books that are set in Howey’s world. From what I can tell, two of the authors have Howey’s blessing, as evidenced by quotes from Howey in the product description. So he’s authorizing fan fiction; that’s interesting.

(Book 12, 2013)

*I know that commercial publishers release bad books all the time, and that many good books never get published.  Nevertheless I don't want to waste my limited reading time on something that absolutely no one has vetted, as is the case with some self-published e-books.

**I promise not to write about this genre any more for a while.