A review: Wanderers by Chuck Wendig

Wanderers by Chuck Wendig

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


If you told me I would read an 800-page novel and want more, I would wonder how it would work. And yet, here I am wanting more from Wanderers. This novel is a pandemic/apocalyptic story written before the current pandemic that made me shudder at times with its accuracy of the way people respond to things in a modern pandemic society.

Wanderers starts in rural Pennsylvania where a young girl starts walking from her home without shoes and not responding to anyone around her. Others quickly join her on this journey. Quickly, the unaffected characters realize stopping these wanderers is not an option. They cannot interfere with the journey or disastrous consequences arise. As the flock increases in size, the nation becomes uncomfortable with these walkers and their keepers, the family and friends that can’t leave their loved ones to wander alone. The CDC and other government agencies become involved in trying to figure out what is going on. Others believe the walkers are a threat to the planet and attempt to interfere with the journey. This becomes confounded when another, more sinister illness arises that threatens the very existence of humankind.

Wanderers is told from the perspective of various characters over the course of around a year. Each story is dynamic and engaging. Some of the characters, I hated and dreaded interacting with as a reader, while others I worried about as danger approached them. I was struck with the similarities I see in the current pandemic, and this made the novel even more engrossing and disturbing.
I recommend this book if you are a fan of pandemic, apocalyptic novels (ie. The Stand, Station Eleven, etc.). In August, the sequel to this is coming out as well. It will be called Wayward.




View all my reviews