Wool omnibus
"Welcome to the silo... Thousands of them have lived underground. They've lived there so long, there are only legends about people living anywhere else. Such a life requires rules. Strict rules. There are things that must not be discussed. Like going outside. Never mention you might like going outside. Or you'll get what you wish for"--Page 2 of cover.
Stats for nerds
2recommend
6mentions
5people
2012–2025years
33% recommend67% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- Wool (Silo series)
https://www.amazon.com/Wool-Omnibus-Kindle-Motion-Silo-ebook...
- I read a lot of mediocre stuff this year, but two are worth mentioning.
Wool - by Hugh Howey. He self-published Wool and now has a deal to make into into a movie directed by Ridley Scott. In that, it's a pivotal work in the self-publishing movement. http://www.amazon.com/Wool-Omnibus-Edition-ebook/dp/B0071XO8...
Blood Song - Anthony Ryan. Best epic fantasy I've read since Martin's Song of Fire and Ice. http://anthonystuff.wordpress.com/books/
- I used to be enamored with computers, fascinated at the magic. Now I use my skills to help elderly neighbors, non-profits, co-ops, and other ~public services. I see more clearly the layers upon layers on which computers are built, and I think back to Hugh Howey's Wool omnibus; put too much stock in these complicated things we make and when the next collapse occurs it'll be worse because we'll have eroded much of the skills, practices, values and culture that got humanity to this point in the first place. I'm not even pushing hard for my child to learn to read and write on an urgent timeline; sure, that "basic" technology is important, but more important is secure attachment with family and friends, and ability to be both creative and discerning. We're a story-driven species, and increasingly I narrow my computer use to serve this.
Even though videogames are largely about story, I finally quit (again- my post history might show I've quit before) weeks ago, deleting all my online game accounts (even Steam! Before a few months ago I never imagined I would do such a thing) and giving away my Steam Deck. No regerts at all- I feel unburdened, as I always do when it's time to let go of another grappling hook. I'm in my 40s btw, and it's been a long road of decluttering, mentally and physically.
My point is, computers are just a tool, a very complex tool that few if any of us can make in our workshop anymore (I'm thinking mostly of people with less than, say, double what they need for subsistence, and I'm no fan of systems that allow for massive wealth accumulation by a few individuals- a few of them may well have the knowledge, skills, abilities, and control of resources to make a modern computer in their workshop, depending on to what degree we consider others' labor to be owned), and I don't see them as necessary to a meaningful life.
I am digging into one of the BSDs, to get further away from gaming (it's an addiction for me, so I'm reducing triggers), because I like using old hardware (embodied energy, Reduce/Reuse/"Recycle"), and because I'm curious- I'm not out of my own intermittent depression, and I make time to tinker with computers only when I choose to. Rehabilitating the land to sustain us is far more important and engaging, including reading, observing, exploring, wondering, and a lot of communication (local politics, in a constructive way, towards participatory democracy).
good luck!
- Sadly the technology for these scams is also very useful for legitimate new self-published authors. How much gatekeeping do we really want? I would think the review system would weed out the junk.
So here is a recent example of modern publishing:
I've been reading things on r/hfy.. which I don't think anyone would argue is high quality literature, but the stories are fun and the premiss of the entire genre works as background structure. One of the better stories is "Nature of Predators" by SpacePaladin15.
https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/u19xpa/the_nature_of_p...
Ok, so the author wants to publish on Amazon, no big deal these days, here it is:
https://www.amazon.com/Nature-Predators-Book-One/dp/B0CQ5QNW...
(I would argue that the reddit experience is actually better, because there are reader comments after each chapter. Where did the cover art come from? I don't know..)
What about the passive income? Well he's making $6K a month on Patreon. Maybe not passive since he's working on the sequel..
Well, how about an audiobook? Well patreon.com/Adastra650 has made it into an excellent audiobook on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLm8OjwhOz-FZG_M_A1u9d...
Some of the voices are AI generated, but they are not bad.. it has me curious what software is used. The thumbnails are also AI.
All significant books require a page on TV Tropes: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/TheNatureO...
Naturally the story has grown out of HFY, has its own subreddit for fans and fanfiction:
https://www.reddit.com/r/NatureofPredators/
Naturally there is a NSFW version:
https://www.reddit.com/r/NatureOfPredatorsNSFW/
The Silo series (or Wool Omnibus) had similar beginnings:
- My 11 year old son did not want me to get him a story book. Instead he wanted a programming book, so we bought "Hello Python" by Anthony Briggs from a bookstore. The Amazon reviews for it ended up not so good, so we'll see how it goes: http://www.amazon.com/Hello-Python-Anthony-S-Briggs/dp/19351...
Anyway, I've recently read (my Kindle list):
Also I've been watching videos more than reading recently:* Curious Myths of the Middles Ages by S. Baring-Gould * American Gods by Neil Gaiman * Instrumentalities of the Night series by Glen Cook * The Dragon Never Sleeps by Glen Cook * Many HP Lovecraft stories which I hadn't already read (I bought HP Lovecraft Complete Fiction) * Grimm's Fairy Tales * Cookery and Dining in Imperial Rome by Apicius * Takeshi Kovacs series by Richard K. Morgan * A Fire in the Sun (Budayeen series) by George Alec Effinger * Wool Omnibus by Hugh Howey * Hunted (Iron Druid Chronicles) by Kevin Hearne * Catspaw by Joan D. Vinge* Peaky Blinders * Top Gear * Skins * Grimm (where everyone in Portland lives in restored craftsman style homes and uses devices from Apple) * The Grand Budapest Hotel * Constantine * Moby Dick (Patrick Stewart version) - The Silo Saga, by Hugh Howey. Originally self-published and released as short Kindle "Singles", the first section of the series is collected in "Wool". The Omnibus collects the first five singles, and is $6 on Amazon[1]... but if you want to test it out, the first single he released is still available for free in the Kindle store. It ranks among the best zero dollars I spent all year.
Behind that, I really enjoyed "White Noise" by Don Delillo, though I did have some problems with characterization (basically, all the characters were the author), and Democracy Incorporated: Managed Democracy and the Specter of Inverted Totalitarianism
http://www.amazon.com/Wool-Part-One-Hugh-Howey-ebook/dp/B005...
[2] http://www.amazon.com/Wool-Omnibus-Silo-Saga-ebook/dp/B0071X...
