***Note, this is a secular title.
Can you imagine living hundreds of feet below the earth with your people, having no contact with the outside world?
That’s the premise of WOOL, a five-part series about large group of people who live underground in their home, a SILO. The SILO is huge, several hundred feet beneath the earth and the population makes their living by doing a host of jobs: machinery (to run the electricity in the huge underground home), agriculture, cafeteria worker, etc. These people live without contact with the outside world – they have little knowledge of what lies beyond the great door leading outside.
However, being below ground for decades can cause strife amongst people. Some get depressed, curious about what lies beyond those underground walls. Sensing their fate of death, they volunteer to “clean.” This means they are suited up, sent Outside, and when they’re sent out, they clean the SILO window, giving the people a clear view of the outside. The suit does not hold up under the strife of the outside world – so people are sent to die – both voluntarily, and non-voluntarily. The non-voluntary cleaners are those who create strife in the SILO, firing up the people, giving them all sorts of forbidden ideas that go against the Pact.
One SILO worker, Juliette, who works in the Mechanical department is particularly strong and courageous. Her life takes an interesting twist after a certain man is sent to clean.
This is a sci-fi title (I don’t read many of those). I kept hearing about this book in my writers’ circles so I felt that I should read it. I was NOT disappointed. I LOVED this book! Although the plot mesmerized me, I still felt there were a few things that were not fully explained – like, what happened to make the world unlivable beyond those SILO doors? A couple of the characters talk about this briefly, but, I was still left wondering. Is the entire world unlivable outside of the silo?
So, could you imagine living hundreds of feet below the earth with your people, having no contact with the outside world? How would those living conditions affect your mind?
Loved Wool – it’s a great series. And yes, they just allude to the disaster in Wool – if you want to know the pre-history of the silos, get Third Shift (there’s an omnibus) – it’s a prequel series of novellas that explains how they got there in full detail. I didn’t love it as much as I did Wool, but it’s still great. Dust, which finishes up the series, will be out soon.
Hey, Elizabeth! I’ll be sure to purchase Third Shift and Dust. When I read the SILO series, I’m almost under the impression that the entire earth is uninhabitable with the exception of the underground SILOS. Just a weird and creepy thing to think about! So strange that going outside will kill you (unless you have a durable suit!) I’m so glad that you stopped by and left a comment!