Wool – Book Review

Author : Hugh Howey
Genre : Science Fiction / Dystopian
Year : 2011
Publisher : Self-published (later Simon & Schuster)
Rating : ★★★★☆ (4/5)

Worth a Second Read After the Show

This is my second time reading Wool. I picked it up again after finishing season 3 of Silo on Apple TV. After spending three seasons inside that silo, I wanted to go back and see how the original story actually played out.

If you've watched the show, you already know the world. People living deep underground, a blurry view of the outside on a screen, and the one thing you should never say out loud, that you want to go out. The book starts with Sheriff Holston saying exactly that, and it doesn't slow down much after that.

Reading it after the show, the differences really stood out. In the book, Mayor Jahns and Deputy Marnes walk all the way down to Mechanical to recruit Juliette as sheriff, and that trip down the stairs is a big part of the early story. In the show, Holston already knows Juliette and picks her himself. George Wilkins is only a part of Juliette's past in the book, but the show turns his death into a murder mystery that drives most of season 1. The hard drive everyone keeps chasing in the show is not in the book at all. Neither is Sims, the head of Judicial security. In the book, Bernard and IT are pretty much the whole threat, and Bernard himself is a much more straightforward villain than the Bernard we see on screen.

The biggest difference is the pace. The book gets Juliette outside and on her way to another silo much sooner. The show takes its time, building up the world and the conspiracy for a whole season before it gets there.

Usually I'm on the side of the book, but honestly I think most of these changes are positive ones. The George mystery, the hard drive and Sims add a layer of suspense that keeps you on the edge, and that's exactly what a TV season needs. The book is leaner and still very tense, and Hugh Howey does a great job making you feel how small and closed that world is. Even knowing all the twists, I didn't want to put it down.

Overall, a solid read. If you've only watched the show, read the book, you'll enjoy seeing where it all started.