I have just finished reading a new science fiction
book, and in view of how much I actually enjoyed it I thought I would provide a
review of the book. This book is Wool (Omnibus collection) by Hugh Howey.
For starters, I am not particularly an SF fan. For
sure, I have read my share of SF books over the years, mostly the really well
known stuff like Asimov’s books, Dune etc., but it was never a genre that
really appealed to me. Clearly there are exceptions, and so when I read
Hyperion for the first time I was totally blown away. Simmons, in creating that
series of books, really achieved a masterpiece. As much as I have enjoyed all
of Simmons’ books over the years, it also remains true that his more recent
stuff has left me wanting, which is sort why I ended up reading this one.
Having exhausted all the works of my favourite authors I have been struggling
to find something new that I really like. I have recently gone through a number
of lesser known authors, but nothing has really caught on. But, checking on
Amazon, a reader’s comment did make a comparison between Wool and Hyperion, and
so I thought I would give Howey a chance.
Well, we shall see how the next set of books pan out,
but this first collection (Wool Omnibus is a collection of 5 shorter works) is
certainly getting close to the same league as did Hyperion. Granted, Wool is far
from as ambitious as Hyperion and the subsequent sequels were. The worlds
Simmons created were vast and complex, and I think it takes a particularly
accomplished author to achieve that level of detail and complexity. In Wool,
the world we are looking at is limited to a silo of 134 (or is it 144?) levels.
We are cast in a relatively confined space, something that no doubt Stephen
King could have excelled at creating. King does like to keep his action very
confined, perhaps even more so than Howey if we look at works like The Shining
or Gerald’s Game. Seriously, who can write a huge book where most of the action
takes place in one room with a girl handcuffed to bed and make it in to
something you simply can’t put down? Perhaps something like Under the Dome (and
I don’t mean the TV series that is heading way of track!) is more in line when
it comes to the size of the space.
What I particularly liked with Wool is the actual
quality of Howey’s writing. Far too often I become frustrated by generally poor
writing by many authors, even though the story may be particularly good (and no
doubt some readers out there are now scrutinizing my writing in order to put
this back in my face!) In order to not upset anybody, I will not provide
examples of what I consider poor writing but let’s just say that I hated The Da
Vinci Code, and I will have to be really desperate to pick up another Dan Brown
book. Howey writes very well, and I particularly like how he creates his
characters. You quickly take a liking to them (or not), and so you are swept
away with the story living the events as they unfold in the pages. Two authors
I have already cited, King and Simmons, are exceptionally good at creating
characters as well, and I think this is one thing that will always draw me into
a book. Looking at SF books of the past, you can’t really say that was one of
Asimov’s strong points, and although Herbert was more accomplished in this
aspect I never found his characters as spellbinding as those created by King
and Simmons.
There will always be readers who must point out
certain things that don’t add up in a book. This is not something I do, as I
usually let myself go fully when I read. I don’t question things, which is also
why I always enjoyed fantasy stories and can lose myself with pleasure in the
pages of The Imajica as an example. No doubt if Wool is scrutinized you will
point out things that simply don’t work or add up, but I honestly enjoyed it
too much to care.
Certainly there is room for improvement in Howey’s
writing, and as enthusiastic I am about it, there remains clearly room for
more depth to certain aspects. That said, it has been a long time since I came
across a book by a young author that I felt had as much potential. For sake of
comparison ( and also to throw out there another name that could be worth
checking out) I absolutely loved Daemon, the first book by Daniel Suarez.
Unfortunately, his follow-up work has been of a lesser quality, and I get the
impression that he was snapped up by a publisher who is now pressuring him to
come out with new stuff. The ideas are good, and come with much potential, but
the writing and the story telling lets him down. I hope Howey will not go down
that path.
