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A review by thisdadreads
Wayward by Chuck Wendig
4.0
As any reader of Star Wars books knows, the diversity and range of authors is as vast as the galaxy itself. Author of the Star Wars Aftermath trilogy, Chuck Wendig, published his novel Wanderers back in 2019. That book was freakishly prophetic in that it revolved around a global pandemic amidst great political turmoil in the United States. In short, Wanderers followed a mysterious flock who was making a trek across the country. Seemingly indestructible, this group was followed by shepherds, family members of the flock who wouldn’t leave the sides of their loved ones. As the country dealt with the catastrophic White Mask pandemic, the leaders of the United States took advantage of the flock for their own political gains. An unlikely group of shepherds banded together to protect the flock as they try to figure out just what exactly is going on.
Wanderer’s sequel, Wayward, continues the story and takes things to even more disturbing places (let’s hope Wendig’s not as successful in predicting actual world events this time around!). Before I go much further I think it’s important to note that reading Wanderers before Wayward is basically a requirement as these two stories tie directly into one another.
Wayward centers on Benji, a scientist struggling through grief to lead the residents of a mountain town in Colorado; Marcy, a former police officer who only wants everyone to get along; and Shana, the teenage girl who became the first shepherd—who finds the responsibilities of young adulthood almost too much to bear. A vile man who wormed his way to the presidency, Ed Creel, becomes even more powerful as the world crawls its way out of the White Mask pandemic. Ever present is Black Swan, the freaky A.I. being who’s nanobytes have kept the flock alive but as it evolves into an emotional being, risks the freedoms our heroes have worked so hard to fight for. Amidst a changed country, Benji and Shana go on another journey across the country with a mission to take down Black Swan and save their loved ones and quite possibly the world.
Wendig succeeds in telling a gripping and often horrifying tale about America figuring out how to be a country in a post-pandemic world. His main characters Benji and Shana are ones that I grew to really love and Wendig definitely puts them through the ringer in Wayward. This is one of those books where the unraveling of a mystery is most of the fun, but Wendig does a great job of drawing readers into the emotions of the lead characters and had me cheering them on the entire time. Wendig’s prose, while clear, well written and oftentimes humorous, can sometimes get a tad verbose for my taste (both Wayward and Wanderers are almost 800 pages each). There are a number of side characters and storylines that I wouldn’t say are completely unnecessary, but I found myself wanting to get back to the main story beats often. As a note, Wayward is solidly for adults only and includes language and depictions of violence. It’s not grotesque, but if it was a film it’d be R rated.
Ultimately, Wayward is a book I simply couldn’t put down for its combination of science fiction, dystopian fiction, fantasy, mystery, and thriller elements. I hear that the TV rights have been sold to these books, so we might be seeing these characters on screen in the near future too! I give Wayward by Chuck Wendig
Wanderer’s sequel, Wayward, continues the story and takes things to even more disturbing places (let’s hope Wendig’s not as successful in predicting actual world events this time around!). Before I go much further I think it’s important to note that reading Wanderers before Wayward is basically a requirement as these two stories tie directly into one another.
Wayward centers on Benji, a scientist struggling through grief to lead the residents of a mountain town in Colorado; Marcy, a former police officer who only wants everyone to get along; and Shana, the teenage girl who became the first shepherd—who finds the responsibilities of young adulthood almost too much to bear. A vile man who wormed his way to the presidency, Ed Creel, becomes even more powerful as the world crawls its way out of the White Mask pandemic. Ever present is Black Swan, the freaky A.I. being who’s nanobytes have kept the flock alive but as it evolves into an emotional being, risks the freedoms our heroes have worked so hard to fight for. Amidst a changed country, Benji and Shana go on another journey across the country with a mission to take down Black Swan and save their loved ones and quite possibly the world.
Wendig succeeds in telling a gripping and often horrifying tale about America figuring out how to be a country in a post-pandemic world. His main characters Benji and Shana are ones that I grew to really love and Wendig definitely puts them through the ringer in Wayward. This is one of those books where the unraveling of a mystery is most of the fun, but Wendig does a great job of drawing readers into the emotions of the lead characters and had me cheering them on the entire time. Wendig’s prose, while clear, well written and oftentimes humorous, can sometimes get a tad verbose for my taste (both Wayward and Wanderers are almost 800 pages each). There are a number of side characters and storylines that I wouldn’t say are completely unnecessary, but I found myself wanting to get back to the main story beats often. As a note, Wayward is solidly for adults only and includes language and depictions of violence. It’s not grotesque, but if it was a film it’d be R rated.
Ultimately, Wayward is a book I simply couldn’t put down for its combination of science fiction, dystopian fiction, fantasy, mystery, and thriller elements. I hear that the TV rights have been sold to these books, so we might be seeing these characters on screen in the near future too! I give Wayward by Chuck Wendig