Wayward

Wayward is Chuck Wendig’s follow-up to his 2019 hit Wanderers. Oh, what a difference three years make! The first book was scary but still mostly science fiction then. We hadn’t yet experienced the fear of a pandemic. We have that history to provide context to Mr. Wendig’s post-pandemic world three years later. While our world may not be as drastically different as his, we still better understand the loss of businesses and people that pandemics cause. Add to that base knowledge three more years of GOP hatred and lies, and Ed Creel’s power-mad narcissism is much more realistic and sickening to behold. This time, Mr. Wendig discusses artificial intelligence and its inherent dangers, adopting the adage that if something is too good show more to be true, then chances are it is. I enjoyed Wayward as much as Wanderers and appreciate that while they are a duology, they are two very different stories. This latest is a lot of “now what” questions regarding the world and everyone’s place. There is also quite a bit of reflection on what humanity’s responsibility is in this new world, which I enjoyed. It all feels very pertinent to our world as we continue to battle COVID, nationalism, and climate change. Many readers shy away from big books, but this series deserves attention. Mr. Wendig hits all the right notes in his world, which should have been much more fictional than it ends up being. show less

Book Two?! This is the second book in a duology?! I’m such a Chuck Wendig fan … how did I miss the first book? Fortunately, I never felt like I was missing anything as relationships and circumstances felt well explained through the course of the book.

The story: Five years ago, many ordinary Americans fell victim to a strange affliction that caused them walk, zombie-like, to a destination that only they seemed to know. Others followed them, to protect them. They became known as ‘shepherds.’

The secret destination was Ouray, Colorado and this town in the middle of the mountains would become one of the last bastions of civilization as the sleepwalking epidemic was only the first incident in what would be the end of the familiar show more world and the start of something new and very different.

Those gathered in Ouray – sleepwalkers, shepherds, and survivors alike – struggle to understand their new situation and form new relationships with the strangers around them. Trust in one another is something to be earned, but there may not be time for this as Ouray is not the only civilization oasis. Other locations and other individuals are gathering, including some with nothing but the acquisition of power in mind.

There may be an answer to what has happened, but it will mean a dangerous journey and there are no guarantees they’ll find what they’re looking for.

This is an absolute epic. Stephen King did it with The Stand, and Justin Cronin did it with The Passage. Now Chuck Wendig has done it with The Wanderers (and this, the follow-up, Wayward) … an apocalyptic, man-made (sort of) epidemic that vastly changes the landscape of the civilized world. And, just as I enjoyed King’s and Cronin’s works, I really liked Wendig’s bleak future.

For me, one of the hallmarks of Wendig’s writing is his absolute viciousness. He pulls no punches and aims for the jugular. And that’s his heroes. And by that standard, this book was just slightly subdued, with only his villain, the self-proclaimed new President of the United States, Ed Creel, striking out cruelly and viscously.

The book offers a really nice balance of character and story. I believe you need to be invested in what happens and that usually starts with the characters and there’s a core group here, although even among this small group a few rise up and the ultimate confrontation will center around them.

This is a powerful book and I’m really eager now to read the first book in the duology.

Looking for a good book? Wayward, by Chuck Wendig, is an apocalyptic epic by one of the best, raw, sci-fi authors out there today. show less

So Wayward is the 2nd book of a duology rooted around an artificial intelligence named Black Swan that causes an apocalyptic event wiping out most of civilization in what it believes is the way to save the earth from the destruction caused by humans.
Some of the books really got into a lot of emotional baggage that I ended up skimming through but for the most part it was quite an emotional ride. I loved the chapters told from Gumballs point of view and the chapters written by a mystery person who ties up a loose end in the story at the conclusion. The characters continued to be wonderfully developed and you really form an emotional tie with some of them. (I'm looking at you Rockgod) Plus, being a life long resident of Lake Charles, show more Louisiana, I was absolutely delighted to find our characters stopping for a bit in my city!
Overall a fantastic book with a fantastic yet bittersweet ending. Definitely worth the read. show less

Wayward by Chuck Wendig is a highly recommended post-apocalypse sequel to his 2019's pandemic novel, Wanderers. Events in Wayward start in 2025.

In the Wanderers the "white mask" fungus devastated the world's population. The shepherds Benji, Marcy, and Shana helped the sleepwalkers cross the country to Ouray, CO, where the AI known as Black Swan kept them safe. Now the sleepwalkers are awake and the fungus threat mitigated, so the focus is on how people are living in this new reality. Now it is 2025 survivors Benji Ray, Shana Stewart, who is pregnant, Sheriff Marcy Reyes, and pastor Matthew Bird are in Ouray working on rebuilding society while the Black Swan threatens it. At the same time, Ed Creel, has assumed the presidency and lives show more in a bunker in Kansas where he is planning to raise an army to take over what is left of the world.

This novel takes a traditional format of a quest by a chosen few heroes who, in this case, are setting out to save the world. While this common plot formula makes some of the novel predictable, the world building is terrific and imaginative. The characters are realistically depicted and wonderfully portrayed. Along with the world building and character development, one of the best aspects of the novel is the glimmer of hope that the characters have in an impossible, challenging situation.

At 800+ pages, there is some fortitude required to undertake the novel. The good news is that the plot and writing is interesting enough to keep you reading. Alternating between the point-of-view of several different characters, the chapters keep the narrative moving while providing context. The political satire ever present in the novel does becomes a bit much and the whole plot element involving Creel could have been reduced without harming the elements that are good in Wayward.

It would really behoove readers to read Wanderers first. Alas, I didn't and although a background was provided in the narrative, it really felt like it would have been so much better had I read Wanderers first and then Wayward.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Random House Worlds via NetGalley. show less

I personally liked Wanderers better. But only slightly. Wayward really dialed down the subtlety of exploring the human existence, specifically the American human existence, while wearing the illusion of sci-fi. Kudos, Mr Wendig.

I personally liked Wanderers better. But only slightly. Wayward really dialed down the subtlety of exploring the human existence, specifically the American human existence, while wearing the illusion of sci-fi. Kudos, Mr Wendig.

"We have been made family by White Mask because everybody lost everybody. They all lost their mothers, their fathers, their sisters and uncles and husbands and kids. If you’re alive, you are alone but for the kin of despair and destruction. We are not a nation anymore . There is no America. There is only this one big family: a family of death, a family of disease, a family of survivors . We can love one another or we can eat one another. Same as any family."

Can I just start with, I think Chuck Wendig is one of the few authors I'm willing to dive into an 800 page book for.

Just like with Wanderers this is a story with many characters, locations, and switching POVs. There's also the epistolary style throughout with quotes and snippets show more from fictional journals from within the same story.

This book really gets us set in the post apocalyptic world and the beginning of rebuilding. The nomadic lifestyle, the violence, the lack of humanity in some.

But it's not just some take about surviving in the post apocalypse. It's a survival tale against the AI that succeeded in decimating the human race - the black swan. And Black Swan has only grown more powerful.

I will probably give 5 stars to anything Chuck Wendig ever writes and this is no exception.

Thank you netgalley and random house ballantine for giving me an advanced review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. show less