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pilotinspektor_ t1_jd9yyva wrote

Reply to comment by GeneralTonic in I picked up Wool, and couldn’t put it down. by fn0000rd

I've had it on my list of books to read, but everyone's comments here made me pull the trigger and get it. Seems like everyone seriously loves Wool.

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CptNonsense t1_jda0p1i wrote

Wool is about the only thing I read when Kindle ebooks were free. It's a good story. Some people don't like the wrap up because it's a big switch loop back that explains how everything got where it was

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pilotinspektor_ t1_jda2irb wrote

Ah okay thanks for the warning, but your description sounds like something I might be into!

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BitterStatus9 t1_jdba806 wrote

Not everyone. I thought it was bad.

I found the plot riddled with inconsistent nonsensical holes, and found the writing pretty poor, and the characters cartoonish and uncompelling and I stopped reading after like 100 pages. (I also didn't feel like waiting around for volume 2, which other folks told me explained all the nonsense in volume 1.)

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zephyr220 t1_jdd5eyx wrote

Well good thing you didn't read the others. I thought the first was the most interesting - trying to figure out what happened without being told.

Curious what plot holes you found. It's been a while since I've read it but I love picking apart books for inconsistencies. Even when I enjoy the book. Do tell.

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BitterStatus9 t1_jddrj2u wrote

Who knows, you might like the series overall. As for me, I can't remember everything, as I read some of it quickly and then moved on. But off the top of my head, here's what I recall. Some are "holes," some are just weak storytelling, you can interpret as you like.

- The whole massive 100+ level underground city was evidently run entirely by 4 or 5 people. No bureaucracy, no hierarchy beyond the top two people, no economics, no politics (though there is policy). This reminded me of the way TV shows depict government. There's an international diplomatic crisis and it's being solved by the President, their aide, and this one spy (Tom Cruise, Kiefer Sutherland, whomever). Very cartoonish and simplistic.

- The city has the ability to self-sustain, somehow. They extract and refine crude oil, they are producing, water, food, they have an IT division that sounds like it's pretty advance...and they don't have an elevator, or a ramp? (I was told this is explained later, but it made me not really interested in finding out.)

- I am pretty sure the gimmick/big shocker is about the outside being habitable after all, and someone, for some reason using technology to pull the "wool" over the citizens' eyes (I see what he did there). That's not a new narrative construct. That doesn't mean it can't be used, and maybe I am completely wrong. But again, I didn't feel like it was compelling enough to stick around for and find out.

Kudos to Howey for self-promoting and writing his way to success. I think that's good, and inspiring! But when I heard about the TV series being made from it, I thought, "Oh wow, next is the video game: a stair simulator!"

My 2 cents.

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