Wool, by Hugh Howey

In a silo in the middle of a wasteland, hundreds of people go about their day.  They work, they eat, they raise children; they do everything but ask, “Why are we in this silo? What’s outside?”  Because those questions are forbidden.  Anyone who asks is sent outside to do two things: clean the camera sensors that give the people in the silo their only view of the bleak outside world, and die of exposure to the toxic environment.  But now the silo’s sheriff, who has sent his share of residents out to clean, is asking to be sent outside, to follow the lead of his wife who went to clean just three years ago, hoping that she knew something more than he did about what awaits them in the outside world.

This book starts off with a gut-punching first chapter and then delves into the politics and subterfuge of the residents of this lonely silo.  It is a fascinating story about love and hope and the ability of people to adapt to any situation they find themselves in.  I enjoyed the book for its fantastic plot and its delightful protagonists, who find out more about the answers to the forbidden questions as the book goes on.  This is the first in a three-book series, followed by Shift and Dust, and is a great story for anyone who is interested in dystopian or post-apocalyptic futures.
 
--Alison McCarty, Callahan Branch Library

Find Wool in the Nassau County Public Library System catalog.

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