First published back in July of 2011, US author Hugh Howey’s first instalment into his impressive dystopian saga ‘Silo’ was entitled ‘Wool 1: Holston’. Indeed, from the small acorn of a self-published ebook that was released through Amazon, Howey’s post-apocalyptic novelette ‘Wool’ has since grown into a worldwide success, with numerous sequels following on, the film rights snapped up by Ridley Scott and a publishing contract with Simon and Schuster.
DLS Synopsis:
Ever since his wife’s death three years ago, the Silo’s Sheriff Holston had been through a spectrum of emotions; from hope, to dread, to bitter denial of what Allison had believed, and what no doubt brought upon her misguided death. Now, three years since she was sent out from the protective shelter of the subterranean silo and into the toxic world outside, Holston found himself preparing for the very same fate. He had been provided with the wool cloth he was to use in order for him to clean the four camera lenses on the exterior of the vast concrete silo. A cleaning process that could only ever be undertaken by those who were cast out from the silo and sent to their fate in the toxic world beyond the projected veil of the inner wall screens.
As Holston prepared himself for his departure from the safe haven he had lived his entire life within, his mind wondered back to three years back when his wife had undergone the very same ritual. She had discovered something in the deleted files from before the uprising which had ultimately changed her perspective on life. And it seemed that it was from this uncovering of a hidden past that instigated her determined desire to be away from the silo. To walk out of the airlock, and into the toxic world outside, where her cleaning suit and oxygen tank will provide her with enough time to perform her cleaning duty on the silo’s camera lenses. And then it would all be over. A final walk that Holston himself was about to embark upon...
DLS Review:
Book One of the ‘Wool’ series is very much like an introductory prelude to a wider and more involved story. And indeed it is. Even though the story itself is self-contained, and was originally written as a standalone tale, it nevertheless itches to expand into a much larger picture. A much more involved post-apocalyptic story waiting beyond the airlock doors of this first book.
The plot behind this first instalment is tense and troubling, with a quiet depression that passes over every part of the tale. Holston is a man barraged by emotions. A swirling mass of emotional turmoil that hasn’t allowed him to continue with his life since his wife left the silo to die in the toxic atmosphere outside. And this first story follows this one man, as he decides to follow the footsteps of his wife on the third anniversary of her death.
The depressingly dystopian post-apocalyptic setting is one that feels akin to the likes of ‘Nineteen-Eighty-Four’ (1949), ‘Brave New World’ (1932), ‘On The Beach’ (1957), ‘Under The Dome’ (2009), ‘The Road’ (2006) and ‘Pure’ (2012). And although very brief, Howey still manages to encapsulate a powerful and breathtakingly emotive sense of hope and despair, enwrapped in an intriguing woollen blanket that, even at this very early stage, is incredibly addictive reading.
The novel runs for a total of 48 pages.
© DLS Reviews
Other ‘Silo’ instalments:
- ‘Wool 1: Holston’ (2011)
- ‘Wool 2: Proper Gauge’ (2011)
- ‘Wool 3: Casting Off’ (2011)
- ‘Wool 4: The Unravelling’ (2011)
- ‘Wool 5: The Stranded’ (2012)
