Ties to First Shift in Wool - spoiler alert!

[JenW]

So I just finished re-reading Wool 1 & 2. So great to read again knowing what's actually going to happen! I love picking up on details I missed before b/c I was too consumed with trying to figure out where it all was going.

So here's what I discovered - don't know if it's coincidence or not or if it does somehow tie together. I've never done the spoiler tag so hopefully it will come out right.

Spoiler Alert

Beginning of chapter 9 in Wool 2: Juliette is just finishing reworking the generator and goes into the control room with Marck. She asks the "second shift foreman", (Shirley) how it's going. Now, my take the first time I read this was a regular shift, like we would think in normal life - so she's coming on for someone else - working her 8 hour shift. Which could very well be the case. But I can't help but find it interesting and wonder whether there's another meaning for second shift…more towards the shifts that the workers do in Silo 1. I haven't figured out how that would play out exactly though in the other silos since as far as I understand it, the only "cryo shifts" happen in Silo 1. Hmmmmm......

Also, going back a chapter in Wool 2, to chapter 8 when Jahns is "poisoned", do you think this poison is just water that contains the unstitching nanites? The way Hugh describes how she feels in the bathroom seems to hint that she is coming "undone". Also, at the end of the chapter Marnes realizes that Jahns was drinking from his canteen so he assumes the poison was meant for him. Now we know that Bernard hates Marnes, but I don't think the poison was meant for Marnes at all. When Jahns and Marnes leave IT from their first stop on the way down, and Bernard asks if he can top off their canteens, there's a distinct sentence that shows Bernard very aware of how Marnes and Jahns have an "intimate" exchange as they each take the other's canteens. I think Bernard knew that Jahns was drinking from the canteen Marnes was carrying and was devious to note this and purposefully poison Marnes' canteen knowing full well that Jahns was going to drink from that one. It doesn't make sense to me that Bernard would want to take out Marnes. He has to control the "virus" and Jahns is to him more of a threat. She's going against his wishes to hire Juliette. He knows that Juliette spells trouble for him and the way he wants to run the silo. So anyway, my 2 cents and thoughts.

[charla.arabie]

Good Stuff

I don't know about the 2nd shift reference in Chapter 9. I just think it is a regular shift, but the only one who truly knows any of these things is Hugh.

I agree with you wholeheartedly about Bernard knowing that Jahns will drink the water from Marnes' canteen. I think he wanted to take her out for all the reasons that you stated plus protocol puts him into the position of mayor, thus solidifying his power within the silo. I liked the fact that you thought of the nanites being in the water. I didn't even think of that, but it is extremely plausible that he would know of their existence and use them in this way.

Very good observations indeed! Thanks for giving me new insight.

[ThomasCardin]

the truth will kill you

I never thought backwards to realize that Jahns was poisoned with unstitchers, good catch. What I understood from an earlier chapter when Bernard makes the observation that they are sharing the same canteen was that he wanted them both dead, it was just fortuitous for him that Marnes could not survive without Jahns.

This also backs up my firm belief that unstitchers are very short lived, and that they are actively used upon cleaners.

[charla.arabie]

Deep! I realize I missed so much while reading and not really looking deep into the story.

[JenW]

Can't wait to keep re-reading to see what else is uncovered upon a deeper look! I'm just loving reading something that invokes so much thoughtfulness. It's been awhile since I've read something that's really made me think deep about things. I still need to read Hugh's other works! So happy to have discovered him and his books!

[Rockinruby]

Excellent, Jen! I think Shirley's is a regular shift, as there were other mentions of Juliette and crew coming and going on regular shifts.

SPOILER

As for the canteen, I suspect Bernard wanted Jahns dead, and it was clear that he noted their use of the canteens. However, I think he would have been happy with killing either Jahns or Marnes. Either death would send a message, and would possibly incapacitate the other. He understood that it was a no-lose prospect, I think.

It struck me as very odd when Jahns came out of the bathroom and Marnes looked down and saw blood and realized something was wrong - that all of this should be attributable to poison didn't seem right. What poison do you drink that makes you bleed out on the floor? Maybe such a thing exists, but it seemed strange to me. The idea of nanites being responsible would make it far more sensible to me. I wish Hugh would weigh in on this one.

[charla.arabie]

Can't wait to keep re-reading to see what else is uncovered upon a deeper look! I'm just loving reading something that invokes so much thoughtfulness. It's been awhile since I've read something that's really made me think deep about things. I still need to read Hugh's other works! So happy to have discovered him and his books!

I liked Half Way Home as a second best to Wool.

[Carol L.]

Excellent! I love the term "unstitchers." I haven't gone back after reading First Shift and re-examined the first couple Wools, but now I really want to. One thought I had while reading the above comments is that:

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Perhaps Bernard didn't really know for sure that they were only drinking from the other's canteen. As mentioned, he really didn't have need to get rid of Marnes, but the mayor he did. Maybe he had both canteens spiked with the little buggers but they were programmed to only affect the mayor just as they were programmed to only work on the Senator in First Shift. Then again, maybe it was just poison.

[JenW]

Carol - I like it. I hadn't thought about the programming of the nanites specifically for a certain person. Definitely could have been that.

[Ryan]

I liked Half Way Home as a second best to Wool.

+1

This came up in one of the "what do I read now that I've read all of Hugh's books" threads, but Dark Eden is a pretty good read and not entirely dissimilar to HWH