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SFF Author: Hugh Howey

(1975- )
Hugh Howey spent 8 years working as a yacht captain. When he was pulled away from the sea by the love of his life, he turned to his childhood dream of becoming an author. His Molly Fyde series has won praise from reviewers, and now his Wool series has become a #1 bestseller, with Random House publishing in the UK and Ridley Scott and Steve Zaillian securing the film rights. He lives in Jupiter, Florida with his wife Amber and their dog Bella. Learn more at Hugh Howey’s website.

The Plagiarist: PKD would have written this story

The Plagiarist by Hugh Howey

The Plagiarist is a science fiction novella written by Hugh Howey, who recently became famous for his self-published WOOL series. The plagiarist of the title is Adam Griffey, a college professor who uses newly discovered technology at his university to visit virtual worlds where he seeks out brilliant authors, memorizes their works, and brings them back to our world. Everyone knows the works are plagiarized, but since the author doesn’t live in our world, it doesn’t count, and our protagonist gets the credit for discovering the talent and,

Wool: An elaborate knitting metaphor

Wool by Hugh Howey

Editor’s Note: When first published, Wool was an omnibus of edition including 5 “books.” Now, Wool is considered the first novel in Hugh Howey’s SILO series. The other two books are Shift (also at first considered an omnibus) and Dust which we’ve since reviewed.

Wool is the omnibus edition of Hugh Howey’s WOOL series. The first book in the series, Wool,

Ruth Arnell, Bill Capossere, Ray McKenzie and Marion Deeds | Hugh Howey | SFF Reviews | 9 comments |

Shift: A prequel and companion to Wool

Shift by Hugh Howey

Editor’s Note: Shift is an omnibus containing three separate stories that together are considered the second book in Hugh Howey’s SILO series after Wool (which originally had 5 parts): “First Shift,” “Second Shift,” and “Third Shift.” When Ruth reviewed Shift, “Third Shift” had not yet been published. Kat mentions “Third Shift” in her review below.

Shift is the second book in the SILO series by Hugh Howey,

Ruth Arnell and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Hugh Howey | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Dust: Immaculate plotting

Dust by Hugh Howey

I know I’ve retired from reviewing, but since I reviewed the first two volumes in the SILO trilogy (Wool and Shift) and there isn’t a review for this third one, I thought I would do a little guest review here for my friends at FanLit because nothing sucks more than the first two books in a trilogy being great and then the third one going right off the rails and exploding in a burst of unresolved plot lines and out of character behavior.

Ruth Arnell and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Hugh Howey | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

I, Zombie: Revolting and highly recommended

I, Zombie by Hugh Howey

Imagine a zombie. An image springs instantly to mind. A rotting corpse, shuffling along, arms held out clumsily, grunting and groaning as it makes its way inexorably forward. Now imagine you, yourself, your ego, inside that zombie. You are that zombie, your consciousness trapped inside a brain that no longer has control over your body, your life, your insatiable hunger. You watch yourself feast on the flesh of those who are no longer survivors of the plague that has infested New York City, revolted by the feel and taste of human waste in your mouth as you gorge yourself on intestines and flesh.

The Walk up Nameless Ridge: Engrossing short story

The Walk up Nameless Ridge by Hugh Howey

The Walk up Nameless Ridge is a short story (18 pages, 39 minutes on audio) written by indie writer Hugh Howey of recent WOOL fame. You can order it for less than $2 at Audible or purchase it for 99c as a Kindle Single and then add the professional narration (Jonathan Davis!!!) for 99c more.

The story is about a mountain climber who hopes to be the first person to summit the famous 60,000 foot peak on the planet Eno,

Sand: A tender novel

Sand by Hugh Howey

Hugh Howey has a gift for creating elaborate dystopian worlds that readers love to visit despite the fact that they’d never want to actually live there. In Sand, his unfortunate characters abide in a desert world that is gradually being buried by sand which constantly blows in from the east. Over the years its relentless intrusion has overcome so many towns that new generations keep building on top of the ruins of their predecessors. Nobody knows where the sand comes from or why.

Machine Learning: Thoughtful and thought-provoking stories

Machine Learning by Hugh Howey

Odds are good that you’ve heard of Hugh Howey — whether you’ve read one of his novels or short stories, or even if you’re just aware of the runaway success of his SILO trilogy, which began with Wool. Machine Learning (2017) is the first collection of his short stories (and one novelette), most of which were published elsewhere in various times and places, and it’s an excellent display of his range,

SHORTS: Yap, Howey, Livingston, Sullivan, Smith, Tarr

There is so much free or inexpensive short fiction available on the internet these days. Here are a few stories we read this week that we wanted you to know about. We’ll put our favorites at the top.

The Oiran’s Song” by Isabel Yap (2015, free at Uncanny Magazine)

“The Oiran’s Song” is the tale of a young man who is sold into service with a traveling group of Japanese soldiers; this is a better fate than what befell his younger brother. It’s also the tale of a young woman who entertains soldiers through various methods,

SHORTS: Howey, Yeh, Bolander, Ford, Sullivan, Smith

There is so much free or inexpensive short fiction available on the internet these days. Here are a few stories we’ve recently read that we wanted you to know about.

“Peace in Amber” by Hugh Howey (2014, $1.99 Kindle, $3.95 Audible)

“Peace in Amber” is Hugh Howey’s tribute to Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five, a surrealistic novel in which Vonnegut explores his personal memories of the bombing of Dresden. Like Slaughterhouse-Five, “Peace in Amber” is also a personal reflection: Hugh Howey’s experiences on September 11,

A People’s Future of the United States: Speculative Fiction from 25 Extraordinary Writers

A People’s Future of the United States: Speculative Fiction from 25 Extraordinary Writers edited by Victor LaValle & John Joseph Adams

In reaction to the Donald Trump’s election as president of the United States as well as to the rhetoric spewed by his far-right supporters such as Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Laura Ingraham, Victor LaValle & John Joseph Adams wrote to a diverse set of speculative fiction authors with this charge: “We are seeking stories that explore new forms of freedom, love, and justice: narratives that release us from the chokehold of the history and mythology of the past… and writing that gives us new futures to believe in.”

The “mythology” they refer to is the history we learned in school which taught us about all the great white men who accomplished all the significant events in American history.

Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Ashok K. Banker, Catherynne M. Valente, Charles Yu, Charlie Jane Anders, Daniel José Older, G. Willow Wilson, Hugh Howey, Justina Ireland, Malka Older, Maria Dahvana Headley, N.K. Jemisin, Sam J. Miller, Seanan McGuire, Tobias Buckell, Victor Lavalle | Audio, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |

Hugh Howey: It’s the end of the world as we know it

Today we welcome Hugh Howey, author of the WOOL books, recent favorites of mine. If you haven’t read them, you really must! Unless, that is, the world ends tomorrow… And if it doesn’t, we’ll send one commenter the Kindle version of the WOOL omnibus or a book from our stacks.

It starts with an earthquake, birds and snakes, an aeroplane — Lenny Bruce is not afraid.

So begins R.E.M.’s classic hit about the end of the world.

Ruth Arnell | Hugh Howey | Thoughtful Thursday | 10 comments |

Next SFF Author: Meg Howrey

Previous SFF Author: Morgan Howell

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Thanks for the kind words, Marion! Coming as they are from a professional writer, they are much appreciated!
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Wonderful review, Sandy.
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this sounds like a fun one