As you may know, I participate in a project called SFShorts where we write Sci Fi in 140 characters or less. It’s a lot of fun.

A few weeks ago, a new member was added to our team, one Hugh Howey, who is an actual real-life science fiction author, not just a wannabe like me. This was very exciting, but I hadn’t actually read any of his stuff yet. At Elizabeth’s recommendation, I purchased Wool – all five parts – for my Kindle, and on my recent trip, I started reading it.

Wool is a post-apocalypse dystopian novel. Folks live in a subterranean silo, and the rules have to be pretty strict to keep things working smoothly in a completely sealed environment. This gives all sorts of plot opportunities. It is, in short, a gripping book, which I read all the way through and was left wanting more MORE MORE!!!

Hugh is a wonderful story teller. His characters are real people, not flat single-feature personalities, and you truly identify with folks – the good guys and the bad guys – in a way that many authors simply can’t achieve.

I will be buying everything Hugh writes, and pestering him to write more. You should too. This is really great stuff.

By the way, for those looking for good books for kids, I should mention that the language is a little on the salty side in Wool, so use your judgement here. Better yet, read it yourself first, and figure out what your kids can handle.