Oink Pen's Pages: Review of Wool

Wool: Part One by Hugh Howey

Cost: $0 electronically Where: Amazon

I recently read Wool: Part One at the suggestion of Oink Well in preparation for our joint book effort. My quick and dirty review is as follows.

Loved:

I loved the concept. It was an original plot for the easily clichéd post-apocalyptical genre. The entire story was full of suspense and kept me wondering what was going on and rooting for the protagonist. I also LOVED the ending. I cannot say more without major spoilers and so I won’t. Part one is free, so I’m not giving anything more than that away.

Liked:

I liked the world Howey created. Every bit of new information created more questions I wanted answered. That’s a sign of great writing. I was invested in the characters and their conflict but was not lost in this entire new world Howey created.

Loathed:

I didn’t really loathe anything. I will admit that it took me a bit to get into the story, but once I did, I was all in. I don’t know if the slowness is due to my own sleep deprived state (thanks Oinkling!) making stuff up or actual dragging at the start. But, if you give it a shot and it’s dragging at the start? I promise it won’t for long. It’ll grab you and haul you along on a ride.

Sidebars:

My brain always takes sidebars. My brain is also a logistical machine. If I’m reading something and one bit of logical minutiae doesn’t fit? It angers me and I frequently dislike a story based on that alone. 

Howey’s main character described pig’s milk being used in a drink and it being pinkish. I then spent 2 days wondering about pig’s milk. I like goat’s milk. I like cow’s milk. I also like camel’s milk as well as most of the non-milk milks like almond milk. But I’ve never had pig’s milk. So I then I wondered what it’s like. Pig is a magical animal where we consume everything from the squeak to the tail, so Howey’s choice of it as his go-to animal was perfect given the limitations of the environment of his Wool series.

Overall:

I really liked it and can see why people wished for more and how it has become a big hit. He always keeps one guessing and the plot moving along. When the end happens, I wanted more. That’s a good sign.

Raiting:

So, how does rating work? I have a 1-5 oink scale. 1 (@) being a wild bore and 5 (@@@@@) means it curled my tail!

***Everyone gets at least one oink for effort because writing and publishing takes a lot of effort.

Wool: Part One gets a 5 Oink rating @@@@@ AKA five snouts up! It grabbed me and pulled me along. I cared about the people and wanted more at the end. The structure was good. Also, it was active not passively written. The world Howey created was complete without any info dump, and his tenses weren’t mixed up!

 

Bay to Ocean 2014

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Oink Well is found abandoned in a bag of swag

Jilly and Marie take a selfie.

 

Well and Pen embrace their new names.

 

Well and Author Jack Downs

Well and David Wilson

Well and Pen found some sidewalk art.

 

Austin Camacho, Marie and Oink Well.

Well and Angela Render, Blogger Extraordinaire

 

Well and Marie take a picture with author Donna Andrews.

Pen is behind the camera.

 

 

Well, Pen and friends build a Pig-a-mid.

 



Omg! They are going to have BBQ Pig for dinner.

 

 

Ahh. Relaxing at the hotel with a pig sized slice of Smith Island Cake.

 

 

And good time was had by all.

 



The Inspiration behind Permanent Oink

In February of 2014, the Oinktastic writing pair of Marie Davies and Jilly Mosier attended the Bay to Ocean Writers Conference in Wye Mills Maryland. The organizers of the conference in a stroke of genius and pure fun making came up with idea of a Social Media Scavenger Hunt. One of the items was to photograph your swag. In that collection of goodies Marie and Jilly found two pink, stress relief pigs and they needed names. The chain of thought seemed logical: Ink Well became Oink Well. And everyone knows an Oink Well is no good without an Oink Pen. Oink Well and Oink Pen were born. The Pigs became the mascots of the time at event, appearing in most of the pictures and tasks of the Scavenger Hunt.

Back at the hotel room, while dining on pig barbeque and Smith Island Cake, Oink Well and Oink Pen became the Inspiration for the duo’s blog title, Permanent Oink. There is more behind the name than just two pig shaped stress balls. First, the inky/oinky nature of their new endeavor.  And second, the where and how of Marie and Jilly met.  Both know that know that no matter how svelte they are there will always be an oink in their past, especially when presented with such delectable things as pig BBQ and Smith Island cake. (Yum!)  And so Permanent Oink.

What you will find here at Permanent Oink?

o   The escapades of Well and Pen as they share Jilly and Marie’s writing journey.

o   Jilly’s book reviews, and ponderings in Oink Pen’s Pages.

o   Marie’s thoughts on the writing life, literary beauty and whatever pops into her pretty head in Oink Well Weighs-in.

o   About Marie and Jilly’s quest to healthier and happier writers.

o   Excerpts of their adventures in writing.

 

Please join Permanent Oink on their journey by becoming Pigpals. Follow our blog Permanent Oink and on Twitter @permanetoink.