Wool Omnibus, by Hugh C. Howey

It's been a long time since I've read a book that I literally did not want to put down.  Well, the streak is over, thanks to Wool by Hugh Howey. (The edition I read is subtitled Omnibus because it was originally a collection of self-published stories that have been put together.)

Case in point: doing the elliptical for 30 minutes at the gym is usually a half-hour of boredom made bearable only by the selection of music on my mp3 player.  But I forgot my earphones yesterday, so decided to continue reading "Wool" instead.

Normally I have a hard time staying focused on reading material when I'm exercising...but not only did I stay focused, the 30 minutes evaporated in no time!

"Wool" is the kind of book for which you really need to set aside some uninterrupted time...else you'll be staying up way past your bedtime.

So what it's about?

An entire city of people (I don't think Howey ever specifies just how many) lives in an underground silo that reaches some 140 floors down into the earth.

They carry on their lives--schools, jobs, religion, marriage, childbirth, entertainment--in this shelter.  Their only knowledge of the outside world is that breathing its toxic air would destroy them.

Talking about the outside, even speculating about it, is a punishable offense.  The worst offenders are sent to "cleaning"-basically, their death.  (I'll let you find out about that for yourself.)

But when a curious IT tech finds some secret information about the history of the silo, it sets off a chain of events that kick this engrossing tale into high gear really quick.  In fact, the first page had me hooked.

The stairs

With life taking place on so many floors--the "uptop," the "mids" and the "down deep"--the stairway becomes a focal point of the story.  A trek from the top to the bottom could take quite a while, could even require an overnight stay at a halfway point.

I have to admit that I had to wonder, with silo life so perfectly planned and regulated, why whoever designed the silo didn't provide for elevators!

But I think another blogger, Janyaa, expresses her thoughts about the stairs perfectly:

I love how Howey incorporates the stairs into the story. They become a test of will, a graceful arc of hope, or potential for despair. Not only is it the tie that connects the levels together, but it’s also the gravity that keeps them apart. A barrier and a link. The very DNA of the silo’s civilization.

The characters 

While life in the silo--and the speculation about what is really outside it--are fascinating, it's the characters that really make the story.

My favorite is Juliette, who has all the attributes of a good heroine--courage, integrity, and feistiness. Not to mention she's a very talented mechanic, which serves her well in the adventures that befall her.

But more than that, she has a vulnerability that makes her likable and relatable.

More to the story?

(SPOILER ALERT!)
I liked how this book--originally a collection of self-published stories--ends on a note of hope and even joy.
(END SPOILER)

But it's obvious that Howey left some threads hanging loose.  And in a Q and A in the Kindle edition, he implies that there WILL be more to the story.  I can't wait to see if future installments will be as riveting as this one!

My Review of Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro

I picked up Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go at the library; it had been on my to-read list for several weeks,and I finally found a copy, albeit large-print.

The book had gone on my to-read list solely on the strength of a blogger's review I read--I think it was part of Semicolon's Saturday Review of Books.

To that blogger, and I'm not sure who it was, THANK YOU for not spoiling it, because that would be so easy to do with this book. I'm going to try to review this book without revealing too much as well.

Thanks to the non-spoiled review, I went into the book completely ignorant of what it was really about, and I was able to let the story unfold for myself. I also did not know that a movie had been made of it. DON'T Google the movie if you plan on reading the book; it will probably give too much away.

I'll tell you, as the reviewer told me and other readers, that the book is about Kathy, a 31-year-old "carer" (as the British call caregivers)for patients she calls "donors."

Kathy was raised at an apparently exclusive school called Hailsham, where the students are instilled with the knowledge that they are somehow very special and unique.

Having recently re-connected with two of her best friends from Hailsham, Ruth and Tommy, Kathy spends much of the book reminiscing about her time at the school and afterwards, when some of the students are transferred to a place called the Cottages.

One reviewer called Never Let Me Go "a haunting story of friendship and love"...but it's much more than that. It doesn't take us long to begin to realize that there's something very strange about Hailsham.

The truth, when revealed, is shocking indeed. But although this is science fiction, you can see how something like this could be very plausible and even probable in our world's not-too-distant future.

Kathy narrates the story with gentle and un-dramatic prose, but as a reader, I was completely captured.

And even though (minor spoiler here) the indeed could not be a happy one, I was glad I read it. It was ultimately a very moving, fascinating and thought-provoking book.

Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis

As I've mentioned earlier, I'm on a bit of a Connie Willis binge. It all started with To Say Nothing of the Dog, and before you know it, I was hooked on Willis' time-traveling Oxford historians.

I read Blackout, All Clear (read my reviews of those books here), and even a couple of Willis' non-time-travel sci-fi tales--Passage and Lincoln's Dreams.

But I finally found Doomsday Book at my local library, and plunged into one of the most compelling books I've ever read.

Kivrin is a young history student in 2048 Oxford who is determined to go back in time to visit 14th century England. That's despite the misgivings of her mentor and instructor, Mr. Dunworthy, who obviously feels a fatherly affection and concern for the young woman.

The Middle Ages were an extremely dangerous time. So many things could go wrong, from fatal disease to raping and marauding highwaymen. Not to mention messed-up time travel.

The best-laid plans...

But the Oxford time travelers are nothing if not prepared for just about any contingency. Kivrin has been vaccinated against everything, including Bubonic Plague, which isn't even supposed to happen until quite a few years after her visit.

She's also been schooled in every detail of how a young woman was supposed to act and look in 1320, including lessons in horseback riding, spinning wool, and embroidery--and she's even had a chip implanted that will interpret what passed as the English language in those days.

But if everything went smoothly, there would be no story. And believe me, everything does NOT go smoothly.

Problems in the future...

While Kivrin is trying to survive in the Middle Ages, there's a terrible problem in 2048 Oxford--a fast-moving epidemic of a deadly and baffling disease. It ends up striking many of the people that are concerned with getting Kivrin back to the future, including Mr. Dunworthy.

The juxtaposition of the desperate crises in two separate realities makes for some extraordinarily intense and compelling reading.

At the same time, I like Willis' ability to provide lighter moments to offset the drama. She's able to narrate even such a heavy tale in a calm and even matter-of-fact way.

An admirable heroine

I really liked Kivrin. Her courage, compassion and endurance blossoms under the most dreadful circumstances.

Mr. Dunworthy has become a favorite of mine as well, thanks to his very real concern for his historians.

And you've got to love 12-year-old Colin Templer, who provides some of the lighter moments in the book...and who also figures prominently in All Clear.

Religious questions

As a Christian, I had a bit of a problem with Mr. Dunworthy's identifying with God the Father's concern for the mistreatment of his Son. While reading scripture at a church service, he relates his desire to rescue Kivrin from the Middle Ages to God wanting to rescue Jesus from the cruelty he suffered on the cross.

This theme runs through Dunworthy's compulsion to find any way possible to get Kivrin out of her predicament. It's faulty, though--because Christians know that Jesus' death was the heart of the divine plan of redemption. God wouldn't have wanted to rescue him, because his death was the means of the world's salvation.

It's a minor quibble as far as the story goes, though.

And one of the real heroes of the story is the priest in the village where Kivrin ends up. Though poor, illiterate, and unable to preach flowery and eloquent sermons, his tireless compassion and love for his flock mark him as a genuine man of God. Father Roche will touch your heart.

Doomsday Book was ultimately uplifting and hopeful. I have to agree with this assessment from the amazon.com review:

The book, which won Hugo and Nebula Awards, draws upon Willis' understanding of the universalities of human nature to explore the ageless issues of evil, suffering and the indomitable will of the human spirit.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book to those of you who are fascinated with history and time travel, and who don't mind staying up late to read a story that won't let you go.

I'm participating today in Semicolon's Saturday Review of Books! Click on the icon to participate.

Saturday Review of Books: Lightning, by Dean Koontz

Although I'm a huge fan of Dean Koontz, I always have to tag that statement with a little disclaimer.

I've actually had to stop reading some of Koontz' earlier books, thanks to gratuitous sex, profanity, and plots so bizarre as to be either too disturbing for me or on the other end of the scale, almost laughable (and not in a good way.)

However, I have to say that some of his later writings are among the best books I've ever read, combining suspense and sci-fi in highly entertaining fashion, and all from a world view with which I identify.


Lightning is one of those terrrific Dean Koontz books.

Knowing I need a real page-turner when I fly, I picked this up at my local library, and it didn't disappoint.

It all begins on the night of Laura Shane's birth, when a mysterious stranger ties up and detains the drunken doctor that was supposed to deliver her.

This handsome, blonde, blue-eyed stranger continues to make cameo appearances throughout Laura's life--always showing up just in time to prevent catastrophe.

The little girl comes to think of him as her Guardian...and she really needs one when she becomes orphaned and has to live in a home where the authorities turn a blind eye to the fact that the janitor is a pedophile obsessed with Laura.

Laura's childhood difficulties just end up making her a stronger person, though, and she's one of those classic Koontz heroines--beautiful but tough, likable and even admirable.

We're dying to discover who Laura's Guardian is just as much as she is...and when we do find out, it adds an even more intriguing and fascinating element to the story.

Lightning kept me involved, absorbed and entertained from beginning to end.

Although admittedly a fantastical tale, Koontz reins in his sometimes unbelievably crazy imagination just enough to make us believe in it and care about Laura and her Guardian through the very last page.

Click on the icon to participate in Semicolon's Saturday Review of Books!