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Karma #1
The Sky Used to be Blue
This is an 8,500 word short story based on Hugh Howey's WOOL books, published with his encouragement.
Karma lives in a Silo deep beneath the earth. She isn't sure of much else… only that the wallscreen shows an outside view that is barren and swirling with toxic clouds. Most of the others seem content—except for the ones who jump to their death from the hundred-level spiral staircase. And the ones that are pushed.
After the doctor prescribes a special liquid and tells her to avoid tap water, Karma begins to remember a very different world. Despite the fog in her mind, she is convinced that something came before. Such memories are dangerous to talk about, or even to know.
She must figure out who can be trusted. The doctor… her husband… or no one at all.
Karma lives in a Silo deep beneath the earth. She isn't sure of much else… only that the wallscreen shows an outside view that is barren and swirling with toxic clouds. Most of the others seem content—except for the ones who jump to their death from the hundred-level spiral staircase. And the ones that are pushed.
After the doctor prescribes a special liquid and tells her to avoid tap water, Karma begins to remember a very different world. Despite the fog in her mind, she is convinced that something came before. Such memories are dangerous to talk about, or even to know.
She must figure out who can be trusted. The doctor… her husband… or no one at all.
70 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 23, 2013
83 people are currently reading
1062 people want to read
About the author
Patrice Fitzgerald
40 books66 followersPatrice Fitzgerald is an indie author, publisher, attorney, and intergalactic singer of songs. She has been publishing herself and others since 2011 and is the force behind the BEYOND THE STARS series of space opera anthologies. Patrice is thrilled to introduce Captain Wu and her STARSHIP NAMELESS crew in her most recent trilogy, written with the inimitable Jack Lyster.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews
April 6, 2013
The SHIFT novels by Hugh Howey reveal the fate of Congressman Donald Keene, but what about his wife? What would her life have been once the Silos shut?
In this original novella set within the WOOL universe, Patrice Fitzgerald spins a story of memory both lost and found. If you loved WOOL - and have read at least the first SHIFT novel - you will enjoy "The Sky Used To Be Blue".
I am blown away by the approach Hugh Howey takes to fan fiction. It speaks to his character and (healthy) ego that he's willing to let other writers play in the world he's created. In an interview with Fitzgerald, available at the end of this story, Howey said:
"The world of Wool is ripe for exploration. I won’t be able to scratch the surface. When readers got in touch to ask about fan fiction, I not only gave my blessing, I insisted that they charge for the work. Even if it’s just a dollar. I know what it’s like to struggle as an artist. If I’m now in a position to give someone else a boost, I’m going to. And yeah, I’m sure my lawyer is going to have a fit when he finds out. But I don’t care. I’m a fan of open-source, someone who hates DRM, and someone who thinks we shouldn’t go around suing one another. I’m making enough money."
If I'm ever fortunate enough to meet him, I'm gonna buy that man a beer.
In this original novella set within the WOOL universe, Patrice Fitzgerald spins a story of memory both lost and found. If you loved WOOL - and have read at least the first SHIFT novel - you will enjoy "The Sky Used To Be Blue".
I am blown away by the approach Hugh Howey takes to fan fiction. It speaks to his character and (healthy) ego that he's willing to let other writers play in the world he's created. In an interview with Fitzgerald, available at the end of this story, Howey said:
"The world of Wool is ripe for exploration. I won’t be able to scratch the surface. When readers got in touch to ask about fan fiction, I not only gave my blessing, I insisted that they charge for the work. Even if it’s just a dollar. I know what it’s like to struggle as an artist. If I’m now in a position to give someone else a boost, I’m going to. And yeah, I’m sure my lawyer is going to have a fit when he finds out. But I don’t care. I’m a fan of open-source, someone who hates DRM, and someone who thinks we shouldn’t go around suing one another. I’m making enough money."
If I'm ever fortunate enough to meet him, I'm gonna buy that man a beer.
April 6, 2013
A great fan-fic addition to Hugh Howey's Wool universe. The only way I knew Hugh didn't write it is that all the main characters stayed alive through the whole story. lol! A great read, well developed and gripping for it's short length. Will definitely pick up the next volume!
November 2, 2013
I finished reading The Sky Used to be Blue and found that I was filled with clichés… “like coming come”, “like cool water to a weary soul”, “like finding a long lost friend”…that just happen to all be true. Hugh Howey opened the floodgates and Patrice Fitzgerald took the helm and drove that big ship into the harbor. Furthermore, if I didn’t know better, I’d think that Hugh Howey has legions of ghostwriters on his staff and Fitzgerald is leading the pack.
All this is to say that Fitzgerald can do some mighty fine storytelling, so good and true to Howey’s Wooliverse, I’d nearly think he wrote it himself. I fully enjoyed Howey’s Trilogy but hated when it was over. Fitzgerald remedied that little problem straight up with The Sky Used to be Blue. She took me right back to the suffocating Silos, to people who have forgotten...perhaps willingly and offered answers to some questions that were left unasked. More than that, she brought bitter-sweet heartache to the page with a character I always felt that there was so much story left untold.
I am anticipating further delightful reading in the follow-up stories to come. If I had any negative comment to make it would be that I know these good stories will come to an end as well. I suspect I’m going to enjoy reading every last word too. A must read for any Wool Fan!!!
All this is to say that Fitzgerald can do some mighty fine storytelling, so good and true to Howey’s Wooliverse, I’d nearly think he wrote it himself. I fully enjoyed Howey’s Trilogy but hated when it was over. Fitzgerald remedied that little problem straight up with The Sky Used to be Blue. She took me right back to the suffocating Silos, to people who have forgotten...perhaps willingly and offered answers to some questions that were left unasked. More than that, she brought bitter-sweet heartache to the page with a character I always felt that there was so much story left untold.
I am anticipating further delightful reading in the follow-up stories to come. If I had any negative comment to make it would be that I know these good stories will come to an end as well. I suspect I’m going to enjoy reading every last word too. A must read for any Wool Fan!!!
July 2, 2013
Woolie approved. This is a fairly quick read and I enjoyed it. I feel this is the most daring of Wool fan fiction because she used the already introduced character, Karma. No one else has linked their tales so closely to the original series. I think she did the character justice and at the same time stirred my thoughts on the world of Wool.
April 3, 2013
Best of the Wool fanfics I've read. Perhaps it's because of the satisfying link to an existing character, but this felt the most true to the original world. Looking forward to the next part, although this stands well on its own.
March 29, 2014
It was short and a little confusing. The time frame was a mess, and it was not really explained at all. Even as the start of a bigger series it did not do much to make me excited to keep reading about these characters I never really go to know.....
March 28, 2013
If you enjoyed Wool and Shift, you'll enjoy this. It ties in very well. I do think those books should be read before this fan fiction though. I can't wait for part 2!!
May 22, 2013
I like that Howey is encouraging fan fiction from his Wooliverse. This is a solid addition to Hugh Howey's Silo lore.
Spoiler Alert - read the Shift series before reading this one.
Spoiler Alert - read the Shift series before reading this one.
December 27, 2014
A short novella in the Wool silo universe. Normally such a short novella would have more of a dramatic conclusion. It feels like a prologue.
April 4, 2013
Heartbreaking, but worth it.
April 20, 2013
fan fiction filling in some details in the silo series. Very good.
February 15, 2021
Life has moved underground, but there are well-kept secrets around the finer details of this new life in Patrice Fitzgerald’s The Sky Used to be Blue: A Silo Story.
To read this, and other book reviews, visit my website: http://makinggoodstories.wordpress.com/.
Living in a Silo beneath the earth, Karma’s perception and recollection of the world around her is what she can see on the wallscreen of a barren and toxic wasteland beyond the safety of the Silo. Most of the residents appear to be content with their lives, but there are a few outliers who jump to their deaths – or were pushed. After Karma learns that she’s pregnant, the doctor advises her to avoid the tap water and instead drink a prescribed liquid. Switching liquids begins the process of unearthing of memories vastly different from her current existence. As the fog from her mind lifts and memories resurface, Karma struggles to determine who to trust and how to preserve her memories of what came before the Silo.
An intriguing short story, the premise hits all the major hallmarks of post-apocalyptic dystopian fiction with the characters, situation, and world the brief narrative explores. As the story progresses and the fog lifts from Karma’s mind, there are interspersed chapters that provide a glimpse of what life was like before descending into the Silo, which helped to provide some depth to the basic outline of distrust and governmental regulation that serves as the primary driver of the story’s abbreviated development. As a story that expands upon a character from another work (which I haven’t read but have in the wings for some point) as fanfiction, there are areas where it’s clear that knowledge of the base work might be beneficial for a greater understanding; however, the narrative stands decently on its own with what it explored and piquing interest in the larger universe that this snippet took place within.
Overall, I’d give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars.
To read this, and other book reviews, visit my website: http://makinggoodstories.wordpress.com/.
Living in a Silo beneath the earth, Karma’s perception and recollection of the world around her is what she can see on the wallscreen of a barren and toxic wasteland beyond the safety of the Silo. Most of the residents appear to be content with their lives, but there are a few outliers who jump to their deaths – or were pushed. After Karma learns that she’s pregnant, the doctor advises her to avoid the tap water and instead drink a prescribed liquid. Switching liquids begins the process of unearthing of memories vastly different from her current existence. As the fog from her mind lifts and memories resurface, Karma struggles to determine who to trust and how to preserve her memories of what came before the Silo.
An intriguing short story, the premise hits all the major hallmarks of post-apocalyptic dystopian fiction with the characters, situation, and world the brief narrative explores. As the story progresses and the fog lifts from Karma’s mind, there are interspersed chapters that provide a glimpse of what life was like before descending into the Silo, which helped to provide some depth to the basic outline of distrust and governmental regulation that serves as the primary driver of the story’s abbreviated development. As a story that expands upon a character from another work (which I haven’t read but have in the wings for some point) as fanfiction, there are areas where it’s clear that knowledge of the base work might be beneficial for a greater understanding; however, the narrative stands decently on its own with what it explored and piquing interest in the larger universe that this snippet took place within.
Overall, I’d give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars.
May 3, 2019
Having read and enjoyed Hugh Howey's Wool, Shift and Dust series a couple of years ago, I was thrilled to discover this short but exciting addition to the WOOL universe and it made me want to read more of Patrice Fitzgerald's fiction, starting out with the Karma series that I just bought.
The first Karma story is a very quick read, well-written in an easy-flowing language, that it was a pleasure to read. It tells the story of a young pregnant woman discovering that she remembers a different world, and identity, from before her world in the Silo - and that remembering may be dangerous.
If you liked the WOOL universe, this book is highly recommended.
The first Karma story is a very quick read, well-written in an easy-flowing language, that it was a pleasure to read. It tells the story of a young pregnant woman discovering that she remembers a different world, and identity, from before her world in the Silo - and that remembering may be dangerous.
If you liked the WOOL universe, this book is highly recommended.
May 8, 2019
This is a short fan fiction story based in the Wool universe. I really loved Wool and was interested in reading more about that world. Since this was a novella it didn’t really add a whole lot, but it was still enjoyable to read and I would like to finish this series, but probably not enough to fork out 12 bucks for the next 4 stories.
September 29, 2017
Amazing! This has everything that made me fall in love with the Silo trilogy. I felt like Helen's story was one that needed to be told and this tells it perfectly. Defently going to be reading the rest of the Karma stories.
October 12, 2018
It's been a while since I've read the Wool series and this cute little short story/novella brought the world back to life for me. It's really well written and true to (what I can remember of) the original world.
February 18, 2019
If you like the atmosphere featured in shows like Netflix's Ascension then you will love this book. It is a fast read but makes you want to devour all the others in this series. I look forward to seeing what's next in this post apocalyptic world.
September 24, 2017
A kindleworlds short story from the Hugh Howey Wool world.
Just didn’t work for me. I probably won’t be reading on.
2 stars
Just didn’t work for me. I probably won’t be reading on.
2 stars
July 11, 2018
Awesome extension of Wool and Silo
Very well written and inviting continuation of life in the silos. I have loved all these tales and this was no disappointment.
Very well written and inviting continuation of life in the silos. I have loved all these tales and this was no disappointment.
April 3, 2019
This was a really interesting novella. I didn't know much about it going in, but really enjoyed the story. I have heard of Wool but not read it--I guess I need to change that!
April 17, 2020
Plus, I find out after the fact that you really needed to read the Shift series first, which I have not done. Oh well.
March 13, 2021
A very enjoyable start to a dystopian series. I look forward to the rest of the story.
November 9, 2024
Interesting bit of fan fiction. Fitzgerald actually tackled one of my questions from the original series, and did it in way that lends itself well the Silo canon.
October 15, 2016
I guess this is an example of "fan fiction"--an offshoot of the novel, "Wool", and I have to say that it is very, very good. It tells the story of Helen, a character only briefly included in the Wood Trilogy, and we learn what actually happened to her immediately after people entered the silos. This closes a loop because we learned in the original books what her husband believed happened to her and is bittersweet in that regard. It also tells us about life immediately after the world ended and people ended up in the silos, which is very different from the perspective in the original trilogy, which happens hundreds of years afterwards.
It is written in short chapters, which only advance the story a little bit, but we learn some of the hidden truths about the silos. I thought the short chapters were effective because they represented how the people lived their lives--in the present, few memories, and no knowledge of why they were there.
The book also showed how difficult an adjustment it was for people used to living in the outside world to suddenly find themselves living in a restrictive silo (this book takes place about three months after the end of the world). We didn't really get to see that in the original books either because by that point, all the people were born and lived their entire lives inside.
Again, I thought this was a very good book, and I will definitely read the other installments.
It is written in short chapters, which only advance the story a little bit, but we learn some of the hidden truths about the silos. I thought the short chapters were effective because they represented how the people lived their lives--in the present, few memories, and no knowledge of why they were there.
The book also showed how difficult an adjustment it was for people used to living in the outside world to suddenly find themselves living in a restrictive silo (this book takes place about three months after the end of the world). We didn't really get to see that in the original books either because by that point, all the people were born and lived their entire lives inside.
Again, I thought this was a very good book, and I will definitely read the other installments.
October 20, 2016
Intro that does well in keeping WOOL tone
Fitzgerald's introductory novella does very well in keeping with Howey's original, WOOL. Karma remembers life below the days of silo life and gives us a glimpse of what may have led to the millions living in the down-below. I can't say this story could necessarily stand completely on its own since it is set in another author's world and is reliant on readers being familiar with the original WOOL series (references). Fitzgerald certainly creates a new perspective fans of the Silo Sagas can, and will, appreciate. A solid 4.5 rating because this was very short, but once combined with the other Karma books would easily jump to a 5 in my opinion. Recommended read!
Fitzgerald's introductory novella does very well in keeping with Howey's original, WOOL. Karma remembers life below the days of silo life and gives us a glimpse of what may have led to the millions living in the down-below. I can't say this story could necessarily stand completely on its own since it is set in another author's world and is reliant on readers being familiar with the original WOOL series (references). Fitzgerald certainly creates a new perspective fans of the Silo Sagas can, and will, appreciate. A solid 4.5 rating because this was very short, but once combined with the other Karma books would easily jump to a 5 in my opinion. Recommended read!
February 13, 2014
Set in the universe of Hugh Howey's excellent Wool saga, the Karma series details the events in a parallel silo to those central to the plots of the original source material.
The Sky Used to Be Blue, the first volume, explores the separation of Donald and Helen, as well as Helen's first few months in her claustrophobic world, during which she begins to remember about life before the incident in Atlanta.
It's a different style from Howey, but in amn expanded universe, that it actually far from a hinderance. If you enjoyed the Wool novels, you'll like this one. Movisng on to the rest of the series!
The Sky Used to Be Blue, the first volume, explores the separation of Donald and Helen, as well as Helen's first few months in her claustrophobic world, during which she begins to remember about life before the incident in Atlanta.
It's a different style from Howey, but in amn expanded universe, that it actually far from a hinderance. If you enjoyed the Wool novels, you'll like this one. Movisng on to the rest of the series!
August 11, 2014
I really enjoyed this Kindle Worlds story set in Hugh Howey's Wool. I would suggest having read the entire Wool series before picking up Karma as it correlates with Shift, the 2nd book of the Wool series. I was pulled right into this story and was so entertained I often forgot that this was not originally part of Hugh Howey's world. The characters were believable and I appreciated that even though there isn't a lot you can change with the Wool setting, the author made this feel like their own work. I will definitely be purchasing the Karma omnibus as I really feel like this is a great part of my Wool collection.
August 9, 2014
A great short story based on the Wool series. I really enjoyed seeing this world through the viewpoint of Helen/Karma, she definitely is someone with a story to tell. The wish the story was longer and more detailed. The important parts were there like what Karma was feeling but I really wish I could have gotten that claustrophobic feeling that was so pervasive in Wool. I would have liked to see more of Karma's relationship with her husband Rick. She feels she can't trust him but other than that we don't get a lot of their everyday life together. It would have been interesting to see how far either was willing to go to continue this deception.
May 28, 2013
This is a spin-off of Hugh Howey’s Wool. Patrice did a great job of recreating the Wool universe in her spin off. This reminds of when I first picked up Wool and was sucked into the mystery of how it all began. Patrice did a great job of making Karma come alive and her personalized journey in the Silo. A small complaint is that I wished the story would have continued at a slower pace. It went through 5 years in this short story. It was easy to invest in Karma’s story and I will to continue to follow it.
March 2, 2014
Yet another free short story download.
I am not really the right person to be writing a review for this story. I was not aware of this series or of the one from which it is based(by a different author). Therefore while I was reading this story, I liked it but was pretty much lost as well. In fact, I only knew about the main series because there is an interview with the author at the end of this story. I am sure that if I had read the main series, I would have both understood and liked this story more. I will hang back from continuing this series until I have tried the original.
I am not really the right person to be writing a review for this story. I was not aware of this series or of the one from which it is based(by a different author). Therefore while I was reading this story, I liked it but was pretty much lost as well. In fact, I only knew about the main series because there is an interview with the author at the end of this story. I am sure that if I had read the main series, I would have both understood and liked this story more. I will hang back from continuing this series until I have tried the original.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews