Jon Lymon reviews Wool by Hugh Howey

I’m writing dystopia, so feel the need to read dystopia. And this one cropped up as recommended.

It’s been made into a TV series called Silo, I believe. Or the books were adapted from a film. Can’t work it out. Doesn't matter. It was the number one drama in the history of Apple TV, apparently. That’s always something that gives a book extra credibility. If someone liked it enough to invest however much it takes to make a TV series, and then loads of people decided to watch it, well, it’s got to have something going for it, right?

Err… not for me.

It was a grim read.

I know that’s dystopia for you, and I that I should expect bleak, not a laugh a minute. And I should have known that a story set in an underground silo was not going to be full of the joys of summer.

I know all that, but I found it hard to picture an underground world that just kept going down down down, level after level after level, accessed by a spiral staircase. With so many people living underground, and digging machines down there? How? What? Eh?

The story also sucks whatever life's left in the concept of cleaning right out of its dust-ridden lungs. Cleaning has always been a chore, but in Wool it’s a real killer. And I’m not saying any more here.

Truth is, I didn’t enjoy this enough to want to see the TV series or read the next instalment in the book series. But this being a best seller, and given the number of 5-star reviews it’s attracted, my ho-hum attitude towards this puts me in a minority, I guess. But I am surprised so many people like it. Some of you may like spending time undergrounf with Jahns, Marnes and co. But I found the experience unrewarding and somewhat baffling.