Hugh Howey

All posts tagged Hugh Howey

Dust by Hugh Howey

Posted by tjhapney on December 8, 2013
Posted in: Science Fiction. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

dustDescription/Book Blurb:

WOOL introduced the silo and its inhabitants.

SHIFT told the story of their making.

DUST will chronicle their undoing.

Welcome to the underground.

 

Review:  4 of 5 Stars

I have really enjoyed the Wool series and I have now read Dust twice.  I originally read it fresh off the pre-order, but then life got in the way and I didn’t review it right away.  So I thought it would only be fair to re-read a few passages or so to get back the feel of it, which ended up with me re-reading the entire book.  I did enjoy the book and I still think Juliette is a great character though she does get incredibly lucky pretty regularly considering the odds she is up against, etc.  I’m not saying nothing bad ever happens to her.  Lots of bad things happen to Juliette.  In fact, sometimes it seems that there is someone following her around with a bag of ‘bad things about to happen’.  Nevertheless, in the overall scheme of things she comes out of it pretty well.

There didn’t seem to be as much tension to this story and I wasn’t as thoroughly engaged even the first time around.  It was still a good story, but it just didn’t grip me the way the original story did when I read it in the omnibus.  I think part of that is due to this being kind of a wrap-up of the story.  An example might be that I love a good mystery thriller; however, when everything has been revealed sometimes I feel a little let down not because it wasn’t a good story, but because the adventure and mystery are over.   It’s kind of like that slump after an adrenaline high.  I got the same feeling at the end of the book Perfume by Patrick Suskind.  The tension held in the dark, drab, conspiracy controlled world of the silo is hard to keep alive when you move on.  Since I do not have any suggestions on how to make the story itself better or end it differently, I definitely see the predicament of trying to wrap it all up.  I don’t know if there was a better way to end it or if a different way would have been better.  This ending seems to be what might be the best we could hope for were we stuck in one of these silos and trying to save the lives of our friends and families.

So in the end Dust is 4 out of 5 stars for me.  I really liked it and enjoyed the read, but it wasn’t quite as powerful for me as the original.  Just because you don’t love the final book of a series as much as you did the previous ones does not mean it isn’t a good book or series.  It’s just that some portions of the story were more powerful than others or at least that’s my opinion.  Overall, it was a good read both times.  I am very excited to see what Ridley Scott does with the movie version as he is one of my favorite directors and I feel he might bring the correct degree of ‘dark’ to the movie.  Keeping my fingers crossed and waiting to see what happens.

 

 

Half Way Home by Hugh Howey

Posted by tjhapney on June 21, 2013
Posted in: Science Fiction. Tagged: , , , , . 2 Comments

HalfwayDescription:  Five hundred of us were sent to colonize this planet. Only fifty or so survived.

We woke up fifteen years too early, we had only half our training, and they expected us to not only survive … they expected us to conquer this place.

The problem is: it isn’t safe here.

We aren’t even safe from each other.

Review 4 of 5 Stars

I read the Wool series a while back, loved it and thought I’d try Half Way Home. I enjoy Hugh Howey’s storytelling and I enjoyed this story. As the description says tons of people die and the story begins.  You could start a colony with worse conditions, but it might be a much shorter story. I found it to be a pretty good tale with some classic science fiction elements guaranteed to make things go awry thrown in. Good enough for a 3.5 to 4 stars, but since they don’t make 3.5 star buttons when you post other places I settled on a 4 since it was really a pretty good read.

Porter, Tarsi and Kelvin are solid characters and things move along at a decent clip once it gets going. I enjoy a story that can be both introspective and still have enough action to keep it from getting boring and that was managed pretty well. The group that bands together to survive their misfortune and their adventures as they explore their new home, as well as the planet itself were all pretty interesting. This is also a story about human nature and how we relate to one another.

I don’t want to give spoilers, but there were some things that seemed out of place towards the end. Though some of the elements were throughout the story where they weren’t distracting and seemed natural, those same elements were brought more to the forefront at the end almost so much as to overshadow what seemed to be other important things going on in the story. It just felt a little like look at me I have a point to make when perhaps it could have been done more subtly. Of course, that’s just my opinion, but as a reader I don’t like to be preached at and some of the ending verged on that. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed the story and would suggest that it’s a pretty good read overall and satisfying colonization sci-fi.

Serial Expectations

Posted by tjhapney on June 11, 2013
Posted in: Random Thoughts. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

I was talking/writing with someone I know today about how we develop expectations about what we see or read, especially when it comes to a series. With a book blog, even though it’s a voluntary labor of love that you have put upon yourself, once you get going you have people contacting you for reviews, blog tours and the like and you end up with things on your schedule (so to speak) to read that you didn’t necessarily search out for yourself. It’s actually cool and I have read some really good books that way. Presently, I’m doing my best to work my way through the commitments I have made, but I bought/pre-ordered Dust by Hugh Howey the other day and I swear I can hear it calling to me as I read the other books on my list.

I loved Wool and cannot wait to read Dust, though perhaps the waiting is good for me because once I have read it and it’s over I’ll have to wait a while to find another book that truly draws me to it. I have a few fairly new authors right now that really draw me in and I can’t wait for them to put out new books.  Hugh Howey is one of them because I was just blown away by the Wool series. Michael R. Hicks is another and the last time I read one of his books from the In Her Name series, I ended up re-reading the whole series and reading the current book again before I could even get around to reviewing it. I’m hoping Dust will be like that too. I also keep an eye out for Christian Cantrell’s stuff because Containment was a good read and Peter Cawdron’s stuff because of the unique perspectives he offers in his books with Monsters being the most recent one I have enjoyed reading. So I’m currently reading a book I was requested to read and it’s really pretty good. The author might even be one I start looking out for, but when I’m standing at the sink washing dishes and such I still find myself wondering what will be there when I open Dust.

I hope the distraction is worth the wait, but the book I’m reading is good enough to not put down as an orphan and I can’t read Dust until it comes out in August so I’ll have to wait. However, I wait with happy expectations of what I will find when I open Dust.

First Shift – Legacy (Part 6 of the Silo Series) (Wool) by Hugh Howey

Posted by tjhapney on May 31, 2013
Posted in: Science Fiction. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

FirstShift_LegacyOriginal review posted Sunday, June 3, 2012

Description: In 2007, the Center for Automation in Nanobiotech (CAN) outlined the hardware and software platform that would one day allow robots smaller than human cells to make medical diagnoses, conduct repairs, and even self-propagate.

In the same year, the CBS network re-aired a program about the effects of propranolol on sufferers of extreme trauma. A simple pill, it had been discovered, could wipe out the memory of any traumatic event.

At almost the same moment in humanity’s broad history, mankind had discovered the means for bringing about its utter downfall. And the ability to forget it ever happened.

Review: 4 of 5 Stars

I recently read the Wool Omnibus which was so good it just blew me away. So I immediately headed back out to purchase the sixth volume in the story. Mr. Howey is very talented and overall I enjoyed the story; however, it wasn’t as gripping as the ones before and some of the plot seemed a little off or perhaps unlikely so I wasn’t drawn into the story as completely as with the previous volumes in the story. I’m not at all saying I didn’t enjoy the read. It was interesting and I very much enjoyed it. Mr. Howey is an excellent writer and has some really interesting ideas. I will most definitely read Wool 7 when it comes out. I’m intrigued and completely sucked into the story, but I think the real story lies in what will happen to the people struggling to survive in the silos and how they can improve their world rather than how they got there. To me, it seems that is where the real human drama is taking place and I think I would have rather seen those in the silos discovering and coming to grips with the truth of how it all happened than to go back and see it played out. Of course, that’s just my opinion and it’s easy to say how you would have like to see things go from the perspective of a reader. Anyway, altogether a good read and a must for anyone who has enjoyed the previous installments in the Wool series. I very much look forward to reading the next installment in the series.

Wool Omnibus (1-5) by Hugh Howey

Posted by tjhapney on May 31, 2013
Posted in: Science Fiction. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

woolOriginal review posted Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Description: This is the story of mankind clawing for survival, of mankind on the edge. The world outside has grown unkind, the view of it limited, talk of it forbidden. But there are always those who hope, who dream. These are the dangerous people, the residents who infect others with their optimism. Their punishment is simple. They are given the very thing they profess to want: They are allowed outside.

Review 5 of 5 Stars

At the suggestion of an author I recently reviewed, I finally got around to reading Wool by Hugh Howey and was greatly pleased with the recommendation.  It seems I benefited from being a little late to the game as the first five stories had been bundled together while I procrastinated. This story is extremely well done from start to finish. I not only enjoyed it, but life pretty much came to a halt as I read it over the Memorial Day holiday. Another good indication of the story’s quality is that I immediately purchased First Shift – Legacy (Part 6 of the Silo Series) within hours of finishing because I’d run out of book and wasn’t ready for the story to end. Wool was so well done. I was truly intrigued by the characters and found myself fully involved especially once Juliette’s struggles began in this controlled and broken world of the silo. She was a great character – independent, intelligent, feisty, compassionate, loyal and willing to overcome any odds to survive against seemingly impossible odds. One of those characters who brings to mind the phrase indomitable will and I truly enjoyed this story from start to finish. Everything about this story was well done from social dynamics to the uncovering of the hidden truths. I can only suggest that you read it and hope that you enjoy the experience as much as I did. I’d give it more than a 5, but that’s as high as the rating scale goes.