Wanderers

A Novel

By: Chuck Wendig

Narrated by: Dominic Hoffman, Xe Sands

Length: 32 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

A decadent rock star. A deeply religious radio host. A disgraced scientist. And a teenage girl who may be the world’s last hope. From the mind of Chuck Wendig comes "a magnum opus...a story about survival that’s not just about you and me, but all of us, together" (Kirkus Reviews starred review).

Nominated for the Bram Stoker Award

Named one of the Best Books of the Year by:

• The Washington Post
• NPR
• The Dallas Morning News
• Kirkus Reviews
• Publishers Weekly
• Library Journal
• Polygon

Shana wakes up one morning to discover her little sister in the grip of a strange malady. She appears to be sleepwalking. She cannot talk and cannot be woken up. And she is heading with inexorable determination to a destination that only she knows. But Shana and her sister are not alone. Soon, they are joined by a flock of sleepwalkers from across America, on the same mysterious journey. And like Shana, there are other "shepherds" who follow the flock to protect their friends and family on the long dark road ahead.

For as the sleepwalking phenomenon awakens terror and violence in America, the real danger may not be the epidemic but the fear of it. With society collapsing all around them - and an ultraviolent militia threatening to exterminate them - the fate of the sleepwalkers depends on unraveling the mystery behind the epidemic. The terrifying secret will either tear the nation apart - or bring the survivors together to remake a shattered world.

In development for TV by Glen Mazzara, executive producer of The Walking Dead

Look for the sequel in 2022

Praise for Wanderers

"This career-defining epic deserves its inevitable comparisons to Stephen King’s The Stand." (Publishers Weekly starred review)

"A suspenseful, twisty, satisfying, surprising, thought-provoking epic." (Harlan Coben, number one New York Times best-selling author of Run Away)

"A true tour de force." (Erin Morgenstern, New York Times best-selling author of The Night Circus)

"A masterpiece with prose as sharp and heartbreaking as Station Eleven." (Peng Shepherd, author of The Book of M)

"A magnum opus.... It reminded me of Stephen King’s The Stand - but dare I say, this story is even better." (James Rollins, number one New York Times best-selling author of Crucible)

"An inventive, fierce, uncompromising, stay-up-way-past-bedtime masterwork." (Paul Tremblay, author of A Head Full of Ghosts and The Cabin at the End of the World)

"An American epic for these times." (Charles Soule, author of The Oracle Year)

©2019 Chuck Wendig (P)2019 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Wanderers is amazing - huge, current, both broad and intensely personal, blending the contemplative apocalypse of Station Eleven with the compulsive readability of the best thrillers." (Django Wexler, author of the Shadow Campaigns series)

"Chuck Wendig’s latest, Wanderers, is a magnum opus of both storytelling and prose, epic in scope, yet told with an intimacy that hooked me from the first page. It reminded me of a technological version of Stephen King’s The Stand - but dare I say, this is even better: a postapocalyptic horror story that bares the best and worst of humanity in all its rawest forms. Don’t miss this tour de force. It left me awed." (James Rollins, number-one New York Times best-selling author of Crucible)

"With Wanderers, Chuck Wendig levels up - and when you consider the high level he was already writing at, that's saying something." (John Scalzi, New York Times best-selling author of The Consuming Fire)

WOW

WOW, WOW, WOW, WOW! No words. Review requires seven unique words...…..

Uneven but still worth a listen.

I use the word “uneven” to describe both the writing and the narration. The story is a little over-written, by which I mean there is too much internal philosophizing on the part of the characters. It feels like the author has substituted moving rapidly from one character’s POV to another’s for true pacing of the story. Having said that, there are some great characters here, and I especially enjoy it when a male author manages to write fully formed women characters,, as that’s pretty rare. The women in this story demonstrate plenty of agency, if sometimes with mysterious motives.

When I say the narration is uneven, I mean there is a huge difference between the quality of the two narrators. Xe Sands does an excellent job of creating different voices for each character, and of making them sound like real people. When I first heard her speak, I thought “wow, unusual” and I wasn’t sure I was going to like it. Reader, I fell in love with it.

Contrast this with Hoffman, who nearly ruined the listening experience for me. His Irish and British accents are execrable and very inconsistent from one instance to the next. His dialogue is very unnatural-sounding, and indeed his pacing and delivery sound like someone reading a language they don’t actually speak. Weird pauses and strange inflection had me scoffing and even cursing aloud. Not a way to enjoy a book.

Overall I did enjoy the story. I read many post apocalyptic novels and this was one of the good ones. I see people comparing this to The Stand, which is my all-time favorite, but Wanderers has an even more original “hook,” which I daresay makes more sense from a biological and epidemiological perspective. It’s also a pretty astute commentary on the current political and social environment. I just wish they’d chosen two great narrators, instead of one 5-star narrator and one 2-star.

Engaging and thought provoking

It reminded me a lot of Stephen King's "The Stand" but with a more sci fi twist rather than a horror one, and I loved it. So many rich characters with different view points of the end of the world. You won't regret checking this out.

VERY GOOD

nearly done, thinking about going around again. very good book. 5 words left. incrediblygoodbookomgijustdiscovereditcountswordsbycountingspacessoicangoonandonabouthowgoodthiszombiebookis.

itsverygoodsogoaheadandgetitiwantmycommutetolastlongersothaticankeeplisteningtojustonemorechapter.

Not Great.....Not Terrible

Wanderers is a decent story, not great but not terrible. It doesn’t compare to books like The Stand or Swan Song but few novels do. I think it is a couple hundred pages to long. 32 plus hours is ALOT. The story kind of spins and spins heading towards the ending. The author could’ve cut a couple of hours off of the total time by stopping with all of the political BS. His political views get very tiresome and have no impact on the story whatsoever. If Wendig would leave out his exhausting Political views the story would be much more enjoyable. As the book progressed it became very redundant and pointless.

The narrators (one man, one women) were outstanding. Possibly two of the best that I have listens to over the last couple of years. They really kept my attention and we’re probably a big reason why I kept listening.

If you like post apocalyptic type novels there are several I would suggest before Wanderers. If you have already read or listened to the biggies and have a lot of free time and don’t mind pointless PC garbage give it a try.

Amazing the first AND second times!

Wanderers has a rural-town-America feel at the start, but the oddities, the dangers, and the frequent shifting of what the sleepwalking sickness means kept me intrigued and hungry for answers. And of course, the plot twist in the final chapter is jaw-dropping. Loved it!

Wow

One of the best books I’ve listened to in years. Never slowed down and never got boring.

Sci-fi pandemic apocalypse!? Yes please.

Great story, cool genre. A bit too real at times but that's probably what makes the story great.

Brutally Dark and Fully Engaging

This book was a workout, and I mean that in the best way. Very dark, which I suppose comes with the territory of the apocalyptic. It felt as though Chuck was working out his anxieties about the worst of human nature and current events, taking what's happening in the world to horrible extremes. An engaging story throughout. I could liken it to several other fictional works, but not without major spoilers. Read this when you are in a decent psychological place.

A post apocalyptic story that focuses on society rather than guns or peepers

I like the genre a lot but am always putting down the stories that are all about the weapons, the heroic militia types that rationalize getting and keeping theirs. To hell with all those suckers who didn’t build a bunker. This story is nuanced, sometimes a bit overly dramatic, but weaves a complicated story with multiple characters with some rich science fiction blurring into real science today.