“People were like machines. They broke down. They rattled. They could burn you or maim you if you weren't careful. Her job was not only to figure out why this happened and who was to blame, but also to listen for the signs of it coming. Being sheriff, like being a mechanic, was as much the fine art of preventive maintenance as it was the cleaning up after a breakdown.”
― Hugh Howey, Wool Omnibus
While I was in Argentina last year, I discovered fan fiction. This came about in two ways. One of my students was writing a novel and was doing so through nanowrimo.org/. She tried to explain fan fiction to me, but I didn't quite get the scope of it. I thought of it more as a hobby than something bigger. At the same time, I was also investigating ways of getting literature cheaply, and as I have lamented often, have discovered that getting good literature cheaply is another thing altogether. Anyway and anyhow, I got "The Silo Archipelago" by Michael Bunker from amazon.com for practically nothing. When I was doing some research in preparation for writing my blog entry for it, I came to realize how big fan fiction can be.
Hugh Howey writes about the fan fiction he has written and its place in the history of literature. I get it, and I understand why "Wool" has spawned so much of it, not withstanding amazon.com's role in fostering it. I finished the book last night, but it took several days to read it, and ever since I had started it, the world of the Silos has been a part of me. I find myself daydreaming about Jules and her life in the Silo. I picture the main stairwell, which is a haunting image for its seemingly unending length.
If you are one of the few people who have not read this book yet, here is the gist: post-apocalyptic world where a society of people still exist in a 144-story silo under ground. The strata of the Silo not only are defined by location, but also occupation. Engineers, doctors, farmers, law enforcement, etc., all wear different colored jumpsuits so that they are distinguishable on site, and their differences and physical separation breeds stereotyping and prejudice.
I don't want to give anything away, because it is the unfolding of what lies behind this seemingly untroubled world that is the joy of the reading. Even having read Bunker's short work first, I didn't know enough to spoil it for me.
As opposed to other post-apocalyptic works, where those left behind are faced with the shock, grief, and the need to survive, Howey's books are based on a sophisticated society surviving long after the original devastation. That and the lies and secrets behind the everyday lives of the people in the Silo make this a fresh story. The hope behind how everyone behaves makes this not the heart-wrenching realization of unavoidable death and despair of some of my other post-apocalyptic reads.
I see that "Wool: Omnibus Edition" is currently a part of Kindle:Unlimited, but I don't know how long that will last. I made He-who-caters-to-my-every-whim download it. He has read Part 1 already, but couldn't remember it. I also put the next two books in the series, "Shift" and "Dust", on my wish list. And then I downloaded a series of fan fiction extending the Silo Saga by Ann Christy and Daniel Gage. I'm not sure what I am getting myself into, and I'm sure I will tire of the saga sometime, but right now I can't deny the images of the Silo that keep me yearning for more of the story.
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