I’ve read a few books by Chuck Wendig, but I’ve never considered him a get-it-the-day-it-comes-out author. Word of mouth for Wanderers quickly took me from I should check that out to I should check that out now, and I can’t wait for prime shipping. The comparisons between this book, King’s The Stand and McCammon’s Swan Song are inevitable and, to a degree, justified, but this one is a bit smaller.
Don’t get me wrong, it checks all the boxes for sprawling end-of-the-world epic and travels across the US of A but we do not meet quite as many characters over the almost 800 page spread, and as a result we get to know the ones we do meet a bit better.

The main area of complaint I heard prior to reading this book was that it leaned into the current political landscape in a manner that could be considered a little too heavy-handed. It does. But, why does that have to be a negative? Some of the best fiction, movies, television, etc. base their merit on commenting on current events and their effects on main characters and society at large. Taking the current climate and adding a few relatively minor tweaks gives the world of Wanderers a lived-in feel the reader can relate to from page 1.

My only minor complaints, without giving anything away, revolve around parts of the ending being a bit muddled. Namely technological components. That being said, I immensely enjoyed this read, I will be revisiting the story in the not-too-distant future, and given Mr. Wendig’s social media comments, anxiously awaiting more story from the same world.