Book Review: Wanderers by Chuck Wendig

Wanderers by Chuck Wendig

Hardcover, 800 pages

Published July 2019 by Del Rey Books

It is clear when you dead-lift this massive hardcover for the first time that Wendig was trying to write a book that would feel like McCammon's Swan Song or King's The Stand. He admits as much in the acknowledgements so the comparisons are unavoidable. It is unfortunate in my opinion because I enjoyed this book and experience but it was anchored to a big of unrealistic expectations. There are very few books that I think should be 800 pages. Those two classics are in rare territory. I personally am not a huge fan of the massive epic 20-pound books. I feel most stories don't need to be bloated to that kind of length. So I admit to that bias right at the front.

As much as I liked this novel it didn't quite feel as epic as those other novels. Wanderers while an end of the world novel has a very tight character-based focus. The president and world leaders are not ignored but they are not characters. They are mentioned but smartly Wendig keeps that story off-screen to focus on the characters. At the center of the novel is a cast of characters who are connected to a group of people who mysteriously begin to sleep walk. They can't be stopped, or harmed. Their walk appears to supernatural and nothing can stop them.

The POV shifts mostly between Shana whose sister is a walker, and Benji who is a former CDC scientist recruited by AI Black Swan that is using advanced predictive technology to respond to the situation. There is also Pete an aging rock star, Matthew a right religious radio talk show pastor, and few others.

The narrative and structure in the first half will have you wondering why anyone would compare to the Stand. The Sleepwalkers present a mystery that is very different more in common with say the Leftovers than Swan Song. Without spoiling the mystery the answers come about 400 pages into the book. I couldn't help feeling that would have made a great cliffhanger/ reveal to end a part one of two. I really enjoyed this book but I couldn't help feeling that there were two separate books here. If we as readers got to the reveal and had to wait a year for the conclusion it could have provided suspense and discussion.

As it stands Wanderers is a great read. The characters are engaging and well written. The mystery fills the first half with questions that are answered with well-woven science fiction and horror elements. It combines all the things that make a Wendig book worth reading, realistic character dynamics, well-researched science and executed structure. So before I get into spoilers let just say that if you are up for a 800 epic this one is a very worth reading.

The Stand holds up today but it is very much a product of the time when it was written. Wanderers is a very modern work of speculative messaging. Some of the best moments of Wendig reflecting his dark mirror on America are found in subtle chapter intros that are fictional tweets, tumblr posts or quotes from cable news anchors. Inside the narrative, Wendig never sacrifices the story to message but it is there for the savvy reader. If you don't want a message with your end of the world story relax because you can just ride with it fine.

SPOILERS:

The comparisons to the Stand are fair mostly in the second half of the novel. It is revealed that the long journey the sleepwalkers are taking is ending up in Colorado where they will ride out the plague killing off the human race. That said the first half is very different, and the source of the plague is quite modern and different. The source of the plague is a twist inside of twist. Black Swan the super computer AI is revealing to be saving a small number of the human race by turning them into Sleepwalkers using Nano-tech. Towards the end, it is revealed that he also unleashed the plague and the novel is revealed to be Cli-fi. I liked these twists and thought it gave a very modern feel to the book.