Howey is so humble about his writing, I thought his enormous success was just a matter of good timing. But it’s not. His prose is exceptional, his characters richly portrayed and his plots well crafted. His books belong beside Ray Bradbury’s Farenheit 451, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and George Orwell’s 1984.
Here are three of my favorite quotes from Wool, his breakout novel.
One –
Reflections of the mayor of the dystopian world:
And as time marched on, carrying her world faster than her feet could catch up, Mayor Jahns knew that it would soon leave her completely behind. And her fear, unspoken but daily felt, was that this world of theirs probably wouldn’t stagger very far along without her.
Two –
Two old friends sizing one another up as they travel for days up a long spiral staircase:
She and Marnes seemed to be SPIRALING around one another testing the memory of old attractions; probing the tenderness of ancient scars, looking for some soft spot that remained among brittle and broken bodies, across wrinkled and dried-paper skin, and within hearts callused by law and politics.
Three –
I read and re-read this line many times, because it had been highlighted by many readers and because it struck both my heart and my head. The Silo is where they all live.
The point of the silo was for the people to keep the machines running, when Jahns had always, her entire long life, seen it the other way around.
Who is Hugh Howey?
When I hear his name I think of two things:
- a great writer. His prose is mesmerizing, and
- an e-publishing pioneer. His selling stats rocked the publishing world and it has never been the same.
Wikipedia says:
Hugh Howey is, “… known best for the science fiction series Silo, part of which he published independently …He began the series in 2011, initially writing Wool as a stand-alone short story… he decided to publish through Amazon.com’s Kindle Direct Publishing system, because of the freedom of self-publishing …”
Writer’s Digest:
At first, Hugh Howey’s decision to walk away from a small press contract and self-publish didn’t seem all that remarkable. After assuming complete control of his work, he kept his day job and began writing and releasing e-books (as well as some print books) in his off hours, happy to be simply sharing his stories with whatever readers might find them. But when one of those books, Wool, unexpectedly took off, everything changed. Howey found himself at the top of e-book bestseller lists—and at the forefront of a new age of publishing.
—by Rachel Randall, managing editor
for Writer’s Digest Books
I’ve just started reading Hugh Howey and I’m looking forward to many great hours reading his books.
How about you? Do you like science fiction? Indie Publishing? Any thoughts you’d like to share?
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