Wanderers

Ugh. What a drag.

Wendig tries to follow the steps of Stephen King but fails so miserably. I'm not sure I would have finished it if it wasn't because I got this as part of a gifted book subscription. Nothing happens for the first 500 pages, not even character development and after 800 the author was still unable to write a decent arc for any of the characters. Each one of their stories seems just like stereotypes that have been used a thousand times before (only probably better than here).

This read like it was written with the intention of becoming a film/TV show and it kinda tracks given the fact that it ended on a cliff-hanger that leads to a second book (equally long) which I will not be reading.

I could have done without the racial and homophobic slurs, without the rape scene that did not really add anything to the plot and without the sexism (not just from the nasty characters but also from those that are described as the heroes).

Minor point and probably not the author's fault, but the edition of the book was also dreadful – there were numerous printing errors, and words being combined when it didn't seem like that was the intention of the author.

As a personal note, if you have anything remotely close to trypophobia – don't read this book. It will trigger you.

I think in these pandemic times the idea of apocalyptic plague takes on fresh horror and meaning. That being said, I haven't found what I would call a perfect rendition of this yet. Wanderers does come closer than some in having a believable plague with an interesting exploration in the corresponding collapse in society. The super AI guiding humanity to safety was however a weak point for me in that the required suspension of disbelief was too high - how could humans walk for weeks on end without any sustenance? It just does not work for me. However the story was epic enough to get passed these hurdles and the denouement was satisfying.

It is hard to avoid discussing this book without talking about the elephant in the room that is Stephen King's The Stand. I read The Stand earlier this year and found the quasi-mysticism of the ending very underwhelming. Wanderers treads similar pathways but is more satisfying for taking a slightly more sciencey approach. It is still quite a long way from a perfect plague book for me - the super AI theme felt very forced - but the overall story structure was definitely better than its better known King cousin. These books are similar in many ways but for me Wendig stuck the landing better.

Wanderers by Chuck Wendig is his magnum opus. It is a colossal story that occupies a sliver of literary real estate between dystopian, science fiction, and current events.

“You didn't change anyone's mind about politics by hammering away at them—all that did was drive the nail deeper into the wall of their own certainty.”
― Chuck Wendig, Wanderers

One morning on June 3rd, in the small town of Maker's Bell, Pennsylvania, Shana stood next to her little sister's bed and thought, “Nessie ran away again.” Nessie ran away often, and as Shana was Nessie's older sister and protector, it was Shana's problem. Nessie left the farm in the middle of the night with nothing on but a dress. What Shana did not know at the time, but learns quickly is that Nessie is sleepwalking. Or, as she becomes known later, a walker. Nessie has begun a long walk, and nothing can deter her. Shana is not far behind. As the days pass, the group of walkers grows. The group that stumbles through the countryside is made up of all sorts of people, young or old, they all walk with a single-minded determinedness. The group picks up walkers, and shepherds (people who help take care of their flock of walking friends and family) regularly.

While the walkers walk, the world's opinion is split on what type of creature these walkers are. Are they aliens, science experiments, do they carry disease? Whatever they are, the right-wing side of American politics, Kreel, feels that there is something unholy about them. They should be stopped. Kreel goes to rallies and muckrakes against the sitting president Hunt. How is she is not doing anything? How is she not acting fast enough and putting the children at risk? It would be perverse if it weren't so plausible. All of the political machinations of the American two-party system tear each other apart and turn to civil war in the background of the story. While the walkers are doing their long march across the countryside, the world is wracked by a pandemic. A type of flu that travels quickly from person to person, kills without mercy, and drives people insane.

In the foreground of the story, we have a few intersections of well thought out and interesting characters. The first thing I noticed about Wanderers is that it doesn't feel like there are any protagonists, either that or everyone is a protagonist. No one truly is a hero. All the characters develop and change. Because the narrative is told from many viewpoints, you get a good feel for all the distinct characteristics. They are all dealing with the world crumbling around them, political unrest, and the desperate desire to protect the walkers.

Secondly, the characters are written like people, warts and all. You will like them; you want them to live. Sometimes they won't. You will hate them, and maybe want them to suffer a little bit. There are good guys, especially Benji, Aram, and Pete, but perhaps they aren't always right.
Wendig draws no lines in the sand on who is good and who is evil. There are not amateur black and white characters in Wanderers because in Wendig's world, the world is full of grays. Much like real life. No one thinks of themselves as the villain.

“That is how science and medicine are practiced best, though—we are best when we admit our ignorance up front, and then attempt to fill the darkness of not-knowing with the light of information and knowledge.”
― Chuck Wendig, Wanderers

Also, I tell you this as one reader to another; this author is not kind to his characters in this book. This book is The Stand meets Nevil Shutes On The Beach with some Techno-Thriller Johnny Mnemonic stuff that is impossible to explain without spoilers. Half the time, I had no idea where the hell the story was going. I said, “huh” more times than I could count.

The pacing was a real issue for me, and Wanderers is a massive book. It is a tale that slowly burns. Every chapter is well written, but instead of galloping, the chapters slowly and steadily march you towards the end. At about the 50% mark, the pace starts to quicken, the parts and story begin to collide. It is a symphony of elements that come crashing together in a grand sforzando that left me stunned and unable to read much for a few days.

“I heard that if you complain, it reprograms your brain like a computer virus, and it just makes you more and more unhappy, so I'm going to stay positive because I bet the opposite is true, too.”
― Chuck Wendig, Wanderers

Most importantly of all, there is hope in Wanderers. Hope for humanity, and the characters. I didn't see it through the weeds of most of the book. It was frustrating and tiresome at times. I wanted to be blasted in the face with hope. Please give me something to cling to Wendig. Give me something to grab on to, don't let me be pulled out to sea to drown with these characters. But hopes shining light would stick out now and again. There is hope that most magnificent of human emotions that can lead us through tragedy. Wendig wrote about it; it is here in the muck and mire of pandemic and upheaval. Look for it, chapter to chapter, you will find it among Wendig's words.

I would recommend this as a must-read. I have never encountered a Wendig book that I was not fond of, this included. The reader should be aware of the exciting and interesting, heart busting, soul-crushing time they are in for. Especially with times as they are right now.

Este t??o se merece el Locus, el Nebula, el Hugo, un Oscar, dos Globos de Oro, el Princesa de Asturias y, si me apuras, hasta el Nobel. Ha sabido captar perfectamente lo que ha dado de s?? 2020 (y parte de 2021) antes de que empezara. Conforme lo iba leyendo, me asombraba cada vez m??s que se hubiera publicado en 2019, antes del Covid, del asalto al Capitolio y del auge de las teor??as de la conspiraci??n m??s rocambolescas.

Quiz??, s?? lo hubiera le??do cuando se public??, me habr??a parecido un tanto descabellado y me hubiera gustado menos. Pero al leerlo despu??s de una pandemia real, me asombra la capacidad de Wendig para vislumbrar la reacci??n de la humanidad ante un desaf??o de estas caracter??sticas.

La trama te atrapa desde el principio y los personajes que van apareciendo est??n muy bien construidos. Los giros de guion me han sorprendido y han hecho que me quedara a cuadros en varias ocasiones.

Un libro totalmente recomendable.

This book is thicc. It was a daunting pick up at the library but the cover and synopsis beckoned. I'm so glad I did and took the time to read it. It was extremely excellent. There were chapters and interludes that I was like okay why are we hearing I want to hear about the main characters but the pay off was always worth it. I'm both eager and frightened to look at what else Chuck has written because they might be tomes as large as this one off story.

Wow, this book puts you through the wringer. I actually got it as an ARC way back in like 2018-19 somewhere in there, but the size of it just meant I never really found the time to commit to reading it. I wonder how differently it would have read pre-2020. If everyone had read this, would we have managed our pandemic so badly?

Wanderers is a sprawling story of the end of the world. Multi-faceted perspectives and storylines. Gut-wrenching emotional arcs. Amoral artificial intelligence. Really a book written for me. My reading time these days is often limited to before sleep, and I found myself staying up later and later just to see what happens next. It's a masterclass in plotting and pacing while still containing dozens of viscerally real characters.

That said, trigger warnings EVERYWHERE, particularly around pandemics and violence, so investigate those if you need to before you commit to this tome.

kb. a 60%-áig olvastam rendesen, de ott elgurult a gyógyszerem és már csak az addig belefektetett idő miatt nem adtam föl, viszont öles léptekkel ugráltam át az unalmasabbnál unalmasabb részeket a végéig.
nyilván én voltam a hülye, hogy a nagy világjárvany közepette azt hittem, frankó lesz világjárványos könyvet olvasni, ráadásul az átlagos értékelése meglehetősen magas, mondom, belevágok, most meg fel vagyok bőszülve, hogy erre pazaroltam el heteket az életemből. hadd gratuláljak...

eszméletlen tudálékos wendig stílusa - ha nem lettem volna lusta, marokszám másolhatnám ide az idegesítő dolgokat, mint például, hogy először mindennek a rövidítését használja és utána NAGY KEGYESEN leírja, minek a rövidítése. lehet, hogy ez most marhaságnak tűnik, de amikor az ötödik ilyet olvassa az ember, garantáltan irritálóvá válik.
ez volt az egyik, amitől falra másztam, a másik meg, hogy berakott egy ír származású rocksztárt s próbálta írré tenni, és ilyenek történnek, hogy a fuckingot fackingnek ejti :DDDDDDDDDDDDDDD (az fecking és nem ugyanaz, mint a fucking), a shitet pedig shite-nak :DDDDDDDDDDDDDDD (a shit és a shite sem ugyanazt jelentik, UGYEBÁR). igazán nem került volna sokba rákeresni vagy két twitteres fröcsögés közt megérdeklődni a követőitől, mi újság van ezekkel az ír szavakkal, dehát...
de ez mind hagyján, mert erre még rálapátolt egy outlander első évad finálészerű jelenetet, aminek az olcsósága évek múltával is felpaprikáz, ha épp eszembe jut, és most rá is jöttem, hogy irtózatosan taszít, amikor valaki egy ffi megerőszakolásával akar megdöbbenteni és piros pontokat gyűjteni. mert azon kívül semmi értelme sem volt, de legalább nagy élvezettel ecsetelte az író úr.
a hab a tortán a teljesen kiszámítható megoldás volt, amibe még sikerült belekeverni egy kis pedofil szálat az íze kedvéért. itt csúnyán felröhögtem.

amúgy a karakterek a véget nem érő szóvirágok ellenére is papírmasék, és ugyan nem e/1-ben íródtak, de még így is teljesen egyformának tűntek.
förtelmesen hosszú a felvezetés, nagyon fekete-fehérek a szereplők és elviselhetetlenül sok a vallásos nyűglődés. rettenetesen hiányzik egy alapos szerkesztés, aminek során úgy a könyv felét a kukába lehetne dobni, plusz a vége felé talán nem ismételné magát többször is. de rendesen volt egy rész, ahol egy fejezettel később leírja ugyanazt, csak két-három mondattal rövidebben. BASZOMALÁSSAN!!!

soha többet nem olvasok el semmit csak azért, mert tudni akarom a végét. hát minek tartok dnf polcot, kezicsókolom?!

p.s. a legfontosabbat kifelejtettem! benyögi az ír rocksztár, hogy “gonna go to the wc”, és a következő mondata elé idézőjelen kívül be van szúrva, hogy the water closet. de csak így ennyi, a gyengébbek kedvéért. megőrülök. :D

Maybe not the best book to read in 2020, but I read it on a whim and I'm glad I did it when I did it. It made the book feel like it carried a bit of extra weight, or baggage, or something when I could compare it to what's going on around me. You have a disease sweeping the world. You have a small group (the Flock) immune to the disease, walking like a sleepwalker to an unknown destination and guarded by a group of family and friends (the Shepherds). Then you have society unrest all around them, as fears and hatred become front and center. Things end for America, poorly.

This was a hard book to review. I really wanted to like it, to the point where I caught myself trying to rationalize myself to even just 4 stars “just because”. In the end though, while I liked the journey and the concept, the ending was...really lackluster to me. Not a lot really happens over the course of the book, and while you get some really intimate pictures of the walkers and the shepherds painted for you, it's a lot of window dressing on a tire fire of society commentary. There's some red herrings thrown out for the ultimate cause of the disease, but despite that I still managed to not be surprised at all at where it led.

If you like the idea of end-of-the-world diseases, societal collapse, and all that sci-fi dystopian setting, maybe still give this a try. There's lots to like here. The ending didn't click with me though, but maybe it will for you.

this was literally a 4 star read until the last couple of pages of the book..... the “big reveal” at the end literally RUINED everything for me. i loved the AI. i loved the plague. i loved seeing what's happening to human race through the eyes of so many different people. but religous ideals literally always ruin books for me.... holy shit....

anyways, can't wait to read the next one hehe

This is a long meaty book. In spite of its length, I was never bored and found this to be a propulsive apocalyptic story. If you are politically sensitive, you may have a few quibbles with how characters are drawn and the narrative about why the events were taking place. I was able to overlook this and it didn't bother me. I was expecting a little more at the end, but it did leave me satisfied. It was a solid read overall. I look forward to reading more of this author's books.

I'm giving up at 400 or so pages because I'm bored. I am always wary of long books because ninety nine times out of a hundred they just need drastic editing, and this one does too. A big revelation has just happened, which promises more interesting stuff to come, but I've had enough. If you're flagging a bit and haven't yet got to the surprise, then it might be worth your while pressing on to the half way point, and see if it grabs you. Unfortunately, I think I can now guess the rest of the plot, and I can't summon the enthusiasm to read on and see if I'm right.

The universe (although it claims to be ours) was refreshingly unique in its portrayal of denizens (both biologic and machine) and I was immediately caught up. I found both the Wanderer and human-like cultures to be well-developed and very believable. I had hoped for a more complete resolution by the end of book one, but completely understand why that was not presented – this is an “epic” after all! Kudos to the author for his unique and well-written tale!

NOTE: I received a free review e-copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

In “The Wanderers,” we are swept up in an eerie epidemic of sleepwalking that grips America, where the terror lies not only in the phenomenon itself, but in the societal responses it engenders.

Our journey begins with Shana, whose world turns upside down when her sister falls into an unbreakable sleepwalk, steadily moving towards an unknown goal. This unsettling predicament escalates as countless others join in this silent march, traversing America in a trance-like state.

The introduction of ‘shepherds'—those who take on the role of protectors for their sleepwalking loved ones—imbues the tale with depth and poignant emotional resonance. This stark contrast between compassionate shepherds and violent societal reactions highlights the duality of human responses in the face of fear and uncertainty.

What sets “The Wanderers” apart is the underlying examination of the more destructive nature of fear and the societal collapse it can trigger. The sleepwalking phenomenon becomes a mere backdrop for exploring this profound theme.

Unraveling the mystery behind the epidemic is an edge-of-your-seat experience. The secret, once revealed, has the potential to either drive the nation further into chaos or serve as a rallying point for survivors to rebuild their world, providing a captivating conclusion to the narrative.

“The Wanderers” is a powerful exploration of societal fear and human resilience. Its depth of character, suspenseful plot, and exploration of fear make it a riveting journey worth taking. It's emotional resonance and gripping storytelling ensure that it leaves a lasting imprint on readers long after the final page is turned.