Wanderers (Wanderers, 1) Hardcover – 11 July 2019

Chuck Wendig has long been on my radar ever since I stumbled across his Terribleminds blogsite. This is an entertaining repository of off-the-wall writing commentary, forums, insights and general observations on life. So, I was already familiar with his witty and engaging style. I’ve downloaded a host of his writing advice books (well worth a read if you’re a writer btw,) read ‘Zeroes’ and, most recently, listened to the first of his Miriam Black series - Blackbirds on audio.In his newsletter he’d flagged up that he was working on a monster book and gradually built up the expectation of its release over a long period of time.When I finally received it in hard back form it certainly lived up to its reputation as a weighty tome. 780 pages long. So, had Wendig strayed into the realms of bloated pretensions of epic post-apocalyptic fiction? Well, I clearly had high hopes.A book this size is likely to contain a lot of threads and in this respect I was’t disappointed: a growing mass of zombie-like wanderers, a backdrop of environmental catastrophe, a pandemic disease called White Mask, right wing extremism taking over politics, and a sinister/ambivalent AI entity. These are all woven - or should I say tangled - together during the first half of the book.The danger with this level of complexity is that the reader needs to invest in the characters and vibe of the story early to sustain them through an unfamiliarity with the characters and world created. Fortunately, Wendig doesn’t disappoint in this respect. Each character is uniquely crafted with their own individual quirks to make them memorable and make you want to understand them better.Take Shana, or example. Her sister is the first of the wanderers. You identify straight away with the protectiveness she feels toward her sister (Nessie,) the alienation from her father and the bitterness she exudes regarding her mother walking out on the family when they were young. It would be very easy for the author to default to trope and present her as a typical resentful, rebellious teenager, but Shana has an atypical maturity that endears the reader through a series of interactions and encounters. Couple this with a passion for photography (something that Wendig himself is fanatical about) and you have a main protagonist you want to root for.Benji, the other main character is a doctor, sacked from the CDC - an organisation that deals with disease outbreaks and threats to public health on a large scale. He’s a refreshing change from your typical Child/Clancy/Ludlum super resilient alpha male. His skills do not revolve around dealing death, but he is a thinker, empathic and fiercely determined. In true Stephen King style he navigates through some extreme situations in a stumbling David vs Goliath manner. Speaking of King, it is certainly apt to make comparisons with ‘The Stand’ and Robert McCammmon’s ‘Swan Song.’In addition to these two, there are some other major players: Pete Corley, a rock star past his prime harbouring secrets about his sexuality and looking for one final firework burst before his career ends up in the sand. There’s Matthew, a preacher - a man with a good heart but misguided. His drug-addicted wife and rebellious son no longer connect with him, but he has his faith and his mission instead. Unlike King, who often takes religious types and swings them off into unhinged psycho territory, Matthew feels great unease as he is drawn into the election campaign of an ultra-right presidential campaign headed by a man called Creel. Unease turns to great misgiving as he comes to realise one of Creel’s greatest supporters, Ozark Stover, is preparing for a revolution using his growing militia and arsenal. The wanderers become the focus of this reactionary hatred and Matthew the preacher is conscripted to vocalise the vitriol wrapped up in religious language.The other character I enjoyed was Marcy, an ex-police officer, forced to retire early due to a severe head injury sustained during a vicious assault during the line of duty. This injury curiously allows her to detect the Wanderers as angels from afar and hear what their thought-chatter is saying. She’s the sort of character you expect to be disposed of quickly but, let’s say, she keeps bouncing back. One of Wendig’s pluckiest creations.The mystery of the plot continues. We can’t decide whether Black Swan, the AI entity that has predicted the advent of the Wanderers and the outbreak of the pandemic disease (White Mask), is altogether wholesome and having humanity’s best interests in mind. In addition, it isn’t revealed until much later why the Wanderers seem able to continue walking in their semi-comatose state without the need for food, sleep or other sustenance. Also: why do they literally explode in a shower of splintered bone and shredded flesh if they are forcibly diverted from their course?Wendig continues the revelations and, just when you think you know where it’s going, he introduces another surprise.It took me a long time to read Wanderers, but perseverance with the storyline paid off, especially when it came to the ending. This was masterfully crafted and, dare I say it, left the way open to a possible sequel?Wendig’s story certainly pits you through the emotional wrangle. There’s hopes realised and destroyed, love whose life expectancy is placed on the clock from the word go, drama, grief, intrigue and white-knuckle thrills. Overall, Wendig has spun a unique insight into the human condition. Erin Morganield described Wanderers as a tour de force, and I couldn’t agree more.Get yourself a copy now.

Once again I was hooked in by the superb hardback cover.So many before it have had me forking out, only to leave me frustratedand disappointed by the lacklustre innards of the written pages inside.But not this one!At nigh on 800 pages it has to be good to keep you going.And it certainly is that!The story is a unique one alright:We are captivated as Shana follows her sister across America, at the headof many other sleepwalking wanderers - going where, one asks?Worried family members follow in their wake and are labelled 'Shepherds'.So together they, and us, the readers, are marching onwards as societybegins to crumble around them.Before you begin this journey you must prepare to suspend disbelief atwhat awaits you, towards journeys end - it's all a bit sci-fi, a touch of theold 'Twilight Zone' about it.The characters are well drawn, and you kinda duck and weave alongsidethe goodies and the pretty evil guy, with forthright language hardly sparedat various steps along the way.Yes, I enjoyed this unique journey.And that lovely cover, thank goodness, was done appropriate justice.

I saw this a doing the rounds around the time of release and, being a fan of both 'The Stand' and 'Swan Song' knew that, at some point in time, I'd have to crack open this 800 page beast and walk with the Sleepwalker Flock. It took me a while, but I'm glad I finally did. Shame on me for putting it off for a year or so rather than just diving straight in.Wanderers is an epic tale of the end of the world and the dark depths humanity will sink to when that eventuality comes to pass. Set in America, a country where guns are plentiful, the end of the world was always going to be a violent one when paranoia and illness came for mankind. And violent it was. If you want a slow-burn tale of mankind's fall and hopeful salvation, Wanderers is the book for you.It starts off with a single sleepwalker. and slowly, but surely, builds to a whole flock of seemingly unharmable men and women sleepwalking their way across America to a destination only they know. Nothing can wake them, attempts to restrain them ends fatally ... and incredibly messily. The only thing to do is to walk with them and try to care for them as best as possible.As with anything that is totally unexplainable, there are two sides to the argument. One being to investigate and aid, the other being to destroy for the fear of what this new phenomenon might represent. Chuck Wendig does a wonderful job of getting into the mindset of people on both sides of that coin and a variety of people that sit in-between. I wasn't sure what I would be in for as, in all fairness, people sleepwalking across America isn't the sort of thing you'd think could be strung along for the best part of a thousand pages, but I was bitterly disappointed that ended when it did. It was one of those books that was just so enjoyable that it could have continued forever and I'd have not complained.The characters focussed on mainly are Doctor Benjamin Ray, a black doctor walking his way with the flock through a hostile America. Shana Stewart, an angsty teenager and sister of the original sleepwalker. Pete Corley, an in-the-closet rock star on a journey of self-discovery. And Matthew Bird, a simple pastor who is practically weaponised to stir up the wasp nest that is America on the brink of pure terror at the sleepwalker phenomenon. All in all, it gives an excellent cast of diverse characters from various backgrounds that meshes into one heck of a compelling narrative.My slight flaws with this were character-based and, although I feel Chuck did an excellent job with creating a bad guy you can't help but hate more than Joffrey from Game of Thrones, I do feel his main antagonist had somewhat of an over-the-top villain feel to him in places. I also felt the motivations of Shana's father were ... pretty lacking. He felt like more of a non-entity than anything. That being said, it wasn't a negative that detracted enough to alter my score or inhibit my enjoyment at all.When reading this I thought 'this has the characters, the depth of story, the constant need to know more ... essentially it has everything to make a wonderful TV show and, after a quick google search it looks like it has been optioned for a show. So I look forward to seeing that and can only hope the screen adaptation does the novel justice.