Review: Wanderers by Chuck Wendig

For Shana, life on a small farm in Pennsylvania is a study in routine, with each day fixed in its mundane patterns. However, one morning in June, Shana’s little sister Nessie isn’t in bed – she’s outside, in her pajamas, walking determinedly down the street. Despite her best efforts, Shana cannot wake or stop her sister. In fact, Nessie is soon joined by more walkers, and when the local police attempt to halt their progression, one of the afflicted literally explodes.

As the flock of walkers slowly continues to grow, and with the horrific consequences if restrained, the local police and paramedics decide to step in. The CDC, unsure of what will happen to the ever-growing flock, decides to follow the group; hoping to be able to perform tests and understand the strange force controlling the wanderers.

Apart from mystifying scientists and doctors, the flock piques the interest of a few other groups – from white supremacists to religious fanatics, everyone seems to have an explanation for the seemingly mystical movement of this group of people. As if this phenomenon wasn’t enough, a deadly new fungal pathogen has been discovered, with a high mortality rate and exceptional speed of infection. While the White Mask disease spreads, with no apparent cure, connections begin to be drawn between the outbreak, and the presence of the walkers. This ignites pre-existing tensions, which, together with mass infections, turns the world on its head.

Traditionally, larger tomes (and especially of the science fiction and fantasy genres) tend to set out their plot – at least partly – in the introductory pages, and spend the rest of the time zooming in on the story – padding it with great quantities of detail and peppered with guest characters and tricks that make it seem as though the narrative is rocketing along at a happy pace. However, such stories become…. Boring. Stagnant. Predictable. Not so with Chuck Wendig, who has offered a mammoth book that features a unique manner of constant evolution, while simultaneously providing greater detail as it progresses. This double-feature approach makes Wanderers exciting, unpredictable, and the home of multiple clever connections that strengthen an already brilliant plotline. To read Wanderers feels like watching a series – smartly connected segments on the same timeline that make the plot flexible, mobile, and entertaining.

Chuck Wendig has really penned an epic book, of epic literal and fictional proportions. Through the slow but steady merging of multiple smaller plots into a fantastic and, frankly, almost genius grand theatre of the meeting point of science and science fiction.

This careful and delicate blurring between hard core science – from epidemiology and physics, to the borderless imaginings of science fiction make for a believable, thought-stoking adventure that’s a ride from the first page. If clever writing and a brilliant plot aren’t enough to win you over and convince you to delve into this 782-page delight, then let it be the myriad content. From topics such as religion, science, politics, ethics, biotech, romance, pop culture, fanaticism, futurism, and some good ol’ apocalyptic dystopia – this book literally has something for everyone.

Allow me to remind you that – perhaps apart from its weight – there is nothing to fault in this book. That’s a rare statement for a reviewer to make, I assure you. As such, I’d advise you read Wanderers now, both to satisfy that ever-present literary itch experienced by seekers of stories, and to get into the world before it hits the screen of some flashy Netflix series – because this book is destined for greatness, and you don’t want to miss its ascent.

Wanderers by Chuck Wendig is published by Solaris, an imprint of Rebellion Publishing, and is available in South Africa by Jonathan Ball Publishers