Wanderers – Chuck Wendig
100-Word (or Less) Synopsis: Around the time a mysterious virus spreads around the world, a group of seemingly unconnected individuals fall into a catatonic trance and walk towards an undetermined location.
Expectation: “The Stand” meets “The Walking Dead.”
Reality: A mostly solid end-of-the world story that is a tad too long to provide maximum impact.
Recommended For: People that want to see how on-the-nose some of Wendig’s observations about life during a pandemic ending up being.
Why I Read It: The premise hooked me. (Note: I read this in the fall of 2019 and probably wouldn’t seek it out today given our collective experiences during COVID-19).
My Take:
“What if Earth is the body, humans are the fever and (spoiler redacted) is the cure?”
A little more than halfway through “Wanderers,” one of our heroes makes that observation and it is a moment of clarity in a muddled, often meandering epic.
This is a tale for our times — full of cautionary examples and on the nose commentary about politics, religion and climate change — which gives it a sense of real-world paranoia that other apocalyptic stories lack.
It’s like no other end of the world story I’ve read — a mix of organic material and technology providing equal threats to our survival — and that’s what kept me hooked. But at the end, I felt let down, especially after investing so much time in this world.
My main gripe is that it severely lacked character development, which made it difficult to connect with many of the half dozen or so key players. It also took some right turns that were downright confusing, and don’t get me started on the head scratching ending.
If you like the genre, you’ll find some truly original and entertaining parts. For everyone else, it’s a commitment that falls short given the length.
Post-script: As noted above, I finished this novel roughly three months before we all found ourselves in similar circumstances to the main characters in the “Wanderers.” While I had general indifference towards the novel upon finishing it, I thought about it a lot over the past year.
Some of the situations that Wending describes are almost preternatural. The debate over the virus’ origins, the religious and political fanaticism, the rush to find an effective treatment, and the general sense of helplessness the “shepherds” felt, eerily mirrored some of our experiences with COVID-19.
Does it change my opinion overall? Maybe a bit. Wendig does have plans for a sequel, and while I didn’t enjoy the more science fiction elements, I would be open to checking it out — especially if it clocks at about half the length of the original.
Rating (story): 3/5 stars
Rating (narration): 3/5
Formats: Audiobook (library loan)
Dates read: November 17 - 28, 2019
Multi-tasking: Good to go. I did a lot of driving and gym time while listening.
