Wool by Hugh Howey

I stumbled across this strange tale on Amazon a few months ago.  Though I’ve never considered myself a “sci-fi” fan, I’ve always enjoyed well-told tales.  So, I thought I’d give this short story with the strange name “Wool” a shot.  What did I have to lose?

Apparently a lot!  That is, if I hadn’t decided to read it.  I honestly think that Wool will undoubtably be one of those books that become a science fiction classic.  Not only is the story excellent, it’s one of those rare self-published books that aren’t full of spelling and grammatical errors, which I find hugely distracting.

“Wool is an ongoing series of science fiction novels by novelist Hugh Howey. Howey began the series in 2011, initially as a stand-alone short story. Released through his own self-publishing efforts, Wool rapidly began to develop a passionate following of fans eager for the next chapter in the saga and as of April 8th, 2012 rates #1 in Amazon.com‘s Kindle Science Fiction & Fantasy Anthologies and High Tech^[1]. The series now consists of six novellas:

• Wool (Jul 30, 2011)
• Wool 2 – Proper Gauge (Nov 30, 2011)
• Wool 3 – Casting off (Dec 11, 2011)
• Wool 4 – The Unraveling (Dec 26, 2011)
• Wool 5 – The Stranded (Jan 25, 2012)
• Wool 6 – First shift (Apr 14, 2012)

The series was also released as “Wool Omibus” which includes all 6 novellas in the series.

The story of Wool takes place on a post-apocalyptic Earth. Humanity clings to survival in the Silo, a subterranean city extending hundreds of stories beneath the surface. There is one paramount law within the Silo: never say you want to go outside, for if you do, you will get your wish.  To go outside is a death wish; anyone who has left the silo has never returned.

It all started one hundred and fifty years ago when there was an uprising.  The survivors now live their lives in the silos and have only heard stories passed down through generations about life outside, where the sky is rumored to be blue, not gray; the grass is rumored to be green, not brown. The only way to see the outside is through cameras that have been placed all around the exterior of the silo over a hundred years ago.  The cameras project real-time images onto screens inside and are very much valued by the silo citizens. The world they show is one of destruction and despair – brown, dusty, ruined, colorless and lifeless but everyone wants to see just the same.

The trouble with the cameras comes with the air outside which toxic and filthy that over the course of several months, the lenses become dirtier and dirtier until the view is completely obscured.  Someone has to clean the lenses for the good of everyone.  But who will do it?

After losing his wife Allison to cleaning three years before, Sheriff Holston has uttered the fateful phase “I want to go outside” thus “volunteering” to leave the safety of the silo and go outside to clean the lenses.  Since Allison died, Holston has been tormented with the unanswered question:  Why motivates the condemned to follow through with the cleaning?  Why don’t they just run away or refuse to clean the lenses?  What makes them want to help the very people who sent them to their death?

Hugh C. Howey spent 8 years working as a yacht captain. When he was pulled away from the sea by the love of his life, he turned to his childhood dream of becoming an author. His Molly Fyde series has won praise from reviewers, and now his Wool series has become a #1 bestseller, with Random House publishing in the UK and Ridley Scott and Steve Zaillian securing the film rights. He lives in Jupiter, Florida with his wife Amber and their dog Bella.

2012, USA, Broad Reach Publishing ISBN 1469984202, Pub date 25 January 2012, paperback and ebook, 548 pages.  Kindle Edition, 1st Edition, 70 pages.

 

 

 

The Academie by Amy Joy

The Academie – Amy Joy

Remember that dream you had about suddenly finding yourself back in high school? All the tests you have to take that you didn’t get a chance to study for, not knowing where any of your classes are or any of your classmates? Welcome to The Academie, your nightmare has become your reality. In a near-future world, all people under the age of 23 are required by law to enter The Academie – A prison-like facility that claims to educate the nation’s youth and turn them into responsible, compliant, upstanding citizens. This change makes high schools (and their teachers) obsolete. Universities and their professors are quickly following, their students forced into The Academie. Allie Thompson was a happy sophomore in college when she found herself back in her old high school, living in a dorm room with a girl she didn’t know (and who apparently didn’t like her), in classes far below her level and knowing that she was stuck there for the next three years. She had seen the change her younger brother had gone through a year before when he entered, going from a normal high school student to an unfeeling, seemingly brainwashed model Academie student.

Slowly, she begins to see the cracks in The Academie walls and tries to share her bizarre experiences with her new circle of friends, her brother and her boyfriend, who all slowly admit similar observations. Suddenly, her life turned upside down as the horrifying truth revealed. The truth of what The Academie really is and what its plans for their future.

Learn more about the Academie Series and author Amy Joy at: The Academie Series

This Perfect Day by Ira Levin

This Perfect Day – Ira Levin

   Christ, Marx, Wood and Wei

Led us to this perfect day.

      Marx, Wei, Wood and Christ,

   All but Wei were sacrificed.

       Wood, Wei, Christ and Marx,

              Gave us lovely schools and parks.

      Wei, Christ, Marx and Wood,

                                                          Made us humble, made us good.

This amazing book starts off with this eerie chant, which is taught to very young children in school.  The story is set in a seemingly perfect global society whose genesis is fuzzy.  The story is a strong character-driven one, a glimpse into the future of what could be if the government could “create” Utopia.  Uniformity is the defining feature; there is only one language and all ethnic groups have been eugenically merged into one race called “The Family”

The world is run by a super computer called UniComp, or Uni.  Uni is a metaphor for God (or a god-like being) and controls everything, perfectly.  Uni is the one who knows you best.  Uni knows what job you will be good at, if you’ll be married, if you’ll have children, how long you will live, where you will live, what you’ll eat, drink, do, think.  Uni takes care of everyone and everything.  Since Uni is father, the Members are all brothers and sisters and refer to one another in that way.  No decision is left up to you, no worries, no concerns.  And if you do question anything, you’ll soon forget your concerns as you will be given an extra “treatment” (which, unknown to the Members is some sort of transdermal injection that is a mix of tranquilizers, birth control, hormones, etc) and you will become satisfied and compliant immediately.  Every member on the planet is controlled by a combination of “treatments”, advisors, self-reporting or reporting of other Members and a silver bracelet every Member must wear and scan periodically throughout the day, so that Uni knows where you are at all times.  You eat at scheduled times (totalcakes and cokes, everyday, every meal).  You sleep when you’re told, watch TV when you’re told – in short, not a second of your day is left up to you.  If you display any deviant behavior, like going for a walk, another Member will report you, not out of malice, but concern and you will be drugged back into compliance.

Except ….. there are some Members who are immune to the “treatments”.  Their minds are not deadened.  These people are called “The Incurables” and are a source of mystery and fear by Members.  They live somewhere “over there” and are thought to be miserable creatures, animals almost.  It is told that they murder, steal, get sick, die, starve, etc.  They are portrayed in such a horrible way so that no-one will become too curious about them or their lifestyle (I feel a little North Korea vs The Rest of The World here).  But sometimes, these incurables live among The Family and slowly plot against Uni as is evidenced by the “Fight Uni” graffiti found sprinkled throughout the public places.

I found this book incredibly fascinating.  I know a few people to whom the idea of the government taking care of EVERYTHING sounds wonderful.  No worries!  No need for money because everything is given to you!  No issue of having to make a decision or choose, it’s already been done!  While that may sound nice, most haven’t thought of the consequences of such a world.  Everything must be balanced, where there is good, there must be bad, otherwise the good loses its meaning.  When all decisions are made for someone, without their input, that someone has lost all freedom.  Freedom to think, choose, plan.  And in the case of Uni and The Family, you have no choice at all.  When/where you’ll sleep, when/where you’ll play, when/what you’ll eat, when you’ll watch TV, when and if you will be allowed take part in any creative activities (art, music, writing, photography, etc), when you’ll have sex (once a week according to Uni).  If you’re permitted to have children, you’ll only be able to choose on of four names for a girl (Anna, Mary, Peace and Yin) or from four boys names (Bob, Jesus, Karl or Li).  Instead of a surname, Members are distinguished by a “nameber”, a neologism from “name” and “number”.

This book left me feeling a bit unnerved but well entertained.  This Perfect Day will definitely be one of those books I’d recommend to anyone who enjoys sci-fi, techno-thrillers, adventure, post-apocalyptic worlds and suspense.  Don’t let the sci-fi definition scare you off, this is not about aliens and intergalactic wars.  The characters are people living in a future society, an alternative history that might result from a combination of Marxism and a single World Government and possibly serving as a warning to anyone who would push for this type of society.  While promoting equality, plenty for all, peace and well-being, all socialistic/communistic societies have a nearly invisible, sometimes secret group who practice meritocracy.  This secret group enjoys luxuries far beyond what most of the common people could ever imagine.  In This Perfect Day, that group is called the programmers and you’ll have to read the book to find out where they fit in!

This Perfect Day is a heroic science fiction novel of a technocratic false-utopia.  Written by author Ira Levin and published by Open Road Media partnered with Pegasus Books.

Review for “The Last Free Cat” by Jon Blake

The Last Free Cat by Jon Blake.  Published by    Albert Whitman   & Company

The Last Free cat is one of those books that once you start, you can’t put it down.  The story begins with a mother and  her teen daughter, Jade, arguing over a cat that Jade found in their back yard.  Seems innocent enough, right?  After all, how many parents around the world have at one time argued with their child over adding a pet to the family?  But this is where the “normal” part of the story ends and the book dives head-first into a bizarre world where cats are no longer a cute & cuddly house pet, but instead are desired by many but only owned by the very wealthy or are feared as vectors of the deadly cat-flu.  Because Jade and her mom are not wealthy, they are suddenly targets of everyone:  the government who regulates cat ownership and their neighbors and friends who are terrified of contracting cat-flu.  Suddenly, mom and daughter find themselves in hiding in their own home.  They know that one wrong move and their house will be invaded by Comprot, short for “Community Protection”.  Because, you see, in Jades world, owning a cat is very, very expensive.  And illegal, you can count on 10 years in prison for owning a non-registered cat.  And no-one questions this, it’s just the way it is.  The government has convinced its people that an unregistered cat will be diseased and give anyone who is near one the deadly cat-flu.   And if you, like Jade,  come across a cat with no collar and decide to keep it, your life suddenly becomes very, very difficult.

Your story might go something like this:  First, you meet a new friend, a homeless  kid named Kris that you don’t particularly like, but your mom seems to like him, so the next thing you know, he has a key to your house.  “For emergencies” you mom tells you.  You also have a a new cat, whom you name Feela and you have to trust that Kris is not going to turn you in.  And even more annoying, Feela seems to be totally at ease with Kris when it took you weeks of hard work just to get her to sit on your lap.  Then an unexpected tragedy hit and the next place you find yourself is on the run.  With a cat….and Kris.

There are tons of unexpected situations in this book, which made me enjoy it even more.   The ending was good, it tied things up without being too neat and perfect, maybe even leaving room for a sequel.  The characters in the book all have their own distinct personalities without sounding fake or “too much”.  And as you start on the journey with this little group, you’ll start to notice that while it seems like everything is normal, something feels a little “off”.  First the strange cat law.  Then the odd types of transportation, some of it familiar, some of it definitely not.  And gadgets that are far from what we’re used to but can imagine being commonplace in the future.

The author makes it work.  He really works hard at creating believable dialogue between Jane and Kris and then, later, Amelie and Raff.  He writes  in plenty of breathless adventurous, that aren’t too far-fetched to believe, these kids are pretty resourceful.  And they are determined to do what they feel is right, even if it means they work outside of the law enforcement who are on their tail for the second half of the book.

I think this is a story about a post-apocalyptic, dystopian future, one I hope I never have to live in.  It’s about breaking rules when someone (or something) needs help, no matter what sacrifice you have to make,  It’s about being rebellious to get what you think is right.  It’s about discovering the truth for yourself, rather than having the government tell you what you should be doing/thinking/living, etc.  About how, if you have enough people who are strong in their beliefs and willing to carry them out, that good things can happen.

This book falls into the Young Adult category.  As a discerning parent, I would be comfortable recommending it to children ages 11 and up.  I have two sons who are young teens and they liked it very much and asked me to find more books by this author.

To find more of this outstanding author’s work, check out Jon Blake on Goodreads.  To find more exciting books published by Albert Whitman & Company, follow this link.