Book Review:
The Wanderers
by Meg Howrey
Publish Date 14 March 2017

I'm writing this review and trying to be generous, but I just can't think of anything generous to say.. I hated this book. To be honest I only read to 54%. I finally had to just stop. Nothing happens! The whole book is about how people feel, but they aren't really doing anything.. Three retired astronauts are selected to go to Mars (now that would have been something happening) but before they go, they must spend 17 months in a simulated Mars expedition. They and all their friends and family must pretend like this is the real mission so that they can be judged psychologically. Only, they've all been to space and know how to answer all the questions and how to act to be considered fit.. so there's a lot on censoring actions and words while they are in a pretend spaceship. Their family members are also experts at pretending to be the perfect astronaut families. I just got so bored.. nothing was real. Meg tried to give everyone a little secret personality..Meeps is kind of a bitch pretending to be the perfect supporting daughter, Madoka is the perfect wife who has absolutely no relationship with anyone except her robot (you read that right), and Dimitri is this 16 year old who actively seeks older men for statutory rape and hates his father. I just couldn't.. 1 star

I heard The Wanderers described as a cross between The Martian and Station Eleven, and I can see why, as it combines space exploration sci-fi with multiple narrative perspectives. The novel is centred around a future training programme for a Mars mission. 'Training programme' doesn't do justice to the in depth VR enhanced regime the three astronauts, Helen, Sergei and Yoshi undergo.

I found the science bits surprisingly interesting, and the characters different and quirky enough to keep me equally engaged in each of their narratives. There is also the right amount of ambiguity and intrigue to keep the plot moving, though I was a little frustrated by the unanswered/underdeveloped plot strands. I'm not sure I would re-read The Wanderers, or recommend it as unreservedly as I have done with Station Eleven, but I think it's a book which will appeal to a broad range of readers.

Brave(Reads)'s review located @ Goodreads, link below.

I received an advanced copy of this novel from the publisher via Netgalley for an honest review.

This is one of those novels that I just could not finish. It says something when the novel I am reading literally puts me to sleep absolutely every time I pick it up! It's just so unfortunate because this novel sounded really good and it was advertised for people who loved Peter Weir's The Martian! This was a very wrong demographic to aim for. The Martian, for starters, is actually on Mars and about Mars and is an action/adventure/thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat. This novel is none of those.

The idea of this novel sounded interesting, essentially testing people psychologically BEFORE sending them to Mars...but this wasn't that interesting. These people aren't that deep and don't have some crazy, weird shit happen to them. It felt like reading a boring school book about a psych experiment that led to no real findings. This novel also reminded me of a really AWFUL Syfy movie I watched, but I cannot remember the name for the life of me. The movie was about putting 4 astronauts in a time capsule 'spaceship' underground for one year to test how they would manage (again, the same concept, test before we send to space) except someone breaks into their time capsule thing before the year is up and so they leave early to find that the world is now dark and either the moon crashed into the Earth or the moon exploded and moon dust is on the Earth....but it's never fully explained, everyone is killed to be eaten and it makes no sense at all. I wanted those two hours of my life back. That is how I felt reading this novel. Maybe this is a good sort of psychological novel to look at, but it's not even a psychological thriller, it is very distinctly NOT thrilling. Just a sad situation because I was very excited about this novel and even more excited when I was given an advanced copy. Not so much my cup of tea.

I really wanted to love this book. When the publishers compared it to The Martian and Station Eleven, my hopes were high. Sadly, this is nothing like the two. It's very character driven, and honestly not much happens. It took me almost 2 months to read it. Not a page-turner like the other two.

I requested The Wanderers by Meg Howrey because I love reading pretty much anything about space. While I was expecting a novel about traveling to Mars, I found something unique and unexpected in this novel: the three astronauts at the center of the story, chosen for their unique skill sets and their supposed compatibility, remain on Earth but in an unearthly simulation, isolated from their loved ones for seventeen months, caught up in an experiment that tests them intellectually, physically, and emotionally. Thoroughly enjoyable.

Beautiful cover and interesting synopsis; however, this one fell flat for me. I was really looking forward to reading this one, and glad I did-it just lacked a lot of...well everything. I mean that there really wasn't any plot or action to really even write a full review on it.
Also, the way the main characters talked -was like in the third person at times, and was a little awkward to read.
Overall, cool concept and idea-just not enough plot/action to fulfill that idea.


I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest opinion. My thanks to Meg Howrey and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam for the opportunity.

I enjoyed the character driven story line of this book. It was enjoyable up until the last 10-15 pages of the book. I was looking forward to some sort of closure for 'most' of the characters. I was left wondering what happened? How did things end up with Meeps and Helen? Will Dimitri find happiness? Will Toshi and Madoka find joy in their marriage?

Title and Author: The Wanderers by Meg Howrey

Publication Date: March 14th, 2017

Genre: Science Fiction

How I got it: Thanks to Netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam for providing me an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Review

The Wanderers takes place in a very near future. Prime Space -- sort of like Elon Musk's SpaceX -- chooses Helen (U.S.), Yoshi (Japan), and Sergei (Russia) to be the first astronauts on Mars. Prime Space believes these three engineers and space exploration veterans have the perfect personalities to pull off this long and potentially fraught trip.

But before the trio can go to Mars, they must undergo a 17-month simulation, a simulation that feels so real that as the months drag on and on, the astronauts -- and the reader -- begin to question whether it really is a simulation.

What makes The Wanderers different from other space exploration novels is that the entire novel occurs during the simulation. Prime Space needs to make sure that their chosen three can make it to Mars, so they scrutinize their every move during the all too real simulation, fabricating dilemmas at every turn and watching their reactions and analyzing their emotional states. To prove that they're perfect for the job, Helen, Yoshi, and Sergei perform the 'perfect astronaut.' Veterans at this performance, they know exactly the right reactions to have, how to train their facial expressions, and what to say and when to say it. But as months pass in the simulation and the astronauts live exactly as they would in space, reality begins to break down -- both their performed realities and their physical reality. It's a deeply introspective novel.

"Prime is very deep," Yoshi says. "I have begun to wonder how deep. Everything seems to have been arranged to work with great precision upon our emotions, to cause us to investigate ourselves and root out that which might obstruct our mission."

The novel switches perspectives between the three astronauts and their closest family members. Helen, the oldest crew member in her late fifties, lost her husband a few years earlier, and Mireille, her adult actress daughter who can never be her mother, struggles with another parental abandonment as her mother leaves to train for the mission. Yoshi, the youngest member of the crew, must leave his wife Madoka for the mission. While they seemingly have the perfect relationship, Madoka performs the roll of wife and successful business woman without any real sense of living, and Yoshi, ever the romantic, lives in metaphor so much that he fails to understand the physical reality of love. Sergei is undergoing a divorce while his teenaged son Dimitri tries to hide his sexuality, ashamed of being attracted to men and in need of an accepting, present father. While Sergei was my favorite character, there were no characters I didn't want to read more about.

The Wanderers isn't a novel about space travel; it's a novel about the inner workings of the people driven to space, the affects of space travel on their families, and how long space flights can affect perceptions of the past, present, and future. It's a deeply interior novel, not driven by plot but rather by the subtle opening up of the characters as their many layers to ward off public perception are slowly peeled away to reveal something much more vulnerable and much more human.

I fear the blurb's analogy to Station Eleven and The Martian is slightly misleading, for it's only superficially similar to Station Eleven (in that it appeals to all audiences versus only within the SF community), and while I only watched The Martian and didn't read it, the only relation I see there is that they're both about space travel. The approach is entirely different.

I highly recommend reading The Wanderers. It's my first by the author, and I definitely plan to read more by her.

Rating: 4/5

[Review appeared on Goodreads 02/07/2017]

[Review appeared on my blog 03/21/2017]

[Review appeared on Amazon 03/22/2017]

The Wanderers by Meg Howrey

What kind of interactions would we expect from human beings who are set inside a simulation of a journey to Mars for seventeen months? I feel like that is the question that Meg Howrey wanted to answer. Unfortunately I’m not sure if much of anything actually happened in this novel to answer that question. The three characters set inside the simulation, Helen, Yoshi and Sergei, are the obvious focus of the story, but the lives of Yoshi’s wife, Helen’s daughter and Sergei’s son are also part of the rotating narrative with Luke, one of the people monitoring the simulation also having a narrative in the story. Honestly, I was just waiting for something to happen. The entire novel I was waiting for some event to happen to propel the story along and that never happened. This book is full of the tedious thoughts of all the characters, whether it’s deciding to don a certain persona around a new group of people, which guy to hook up with or staying sane on a space ship. Was this look into the mind of the different characters at least intriguing? Yes, at first, especially when the astronauts were originally put in simulation. But over time it just became boring because the characters became predictable. And again there was nothing happening throughout the story that actually moved the plot along. It was simply day after day until the end of the simulation.

This novel has an original concept and at one point I thought it was heading in an exciting direction but the more I read of this book, the more I realized it was simply going to be more of the same thing. This book needed a spark. It needed some thriving moment because without it The Wanderers became “just another day in the thoughts of this character.” I was rooting for this novel but I’m finding myself really disappointed.

I feel like the comparisons to Station Eleven and The Martian truly put this book at a disadvantage, because whether or not it's actually attempting to be like either, it falls short of both. The story is neither technically challenging nor fast paced enough to equal The Martian, and the philosophical musing are all a bit too disjointed to reach the height of poetic beauty of Station Eleven.

The story follows three astronauts who are given the choice to be the first humans to travel to Mars. In addition to the rigorous physical and mental training each must also choose to leave behind their family and their life on earth, both for the year long pre-launch simulation and then for the actual trip to Mars. The plot focuses primarily on this choice, on how they each prepare for this departure, and their process of suppressing or cloaking their normal human longings and emotions, so that they are seen as fit for space flight. It's a fascinating and novel (if incredibly cynical) view of space travel that I really appreciated, and had the plot followed them on their actual trip to Mars maybe I would've been more captivated, but in the end the philosophical meandering lost my interest and the stakes always felt low, even at the far reaches of space.]

I'm not sure what I expected from this book, but it wasn't what I got. This is just my perspective - I'm sure others will find this one of the best books they've ever read - but to me, it was rather slow and boring. The writing was good, however, and it was an ok book. Just lacked the wow factor for me.

The Wanderers was pitched to me for fans of The Martian and Station Eleven. The former is one of my all-time favorite books. Even though I was in the minority about my disregard for the latter novel, my love for Andy Weir's novel was more than enough to want me to read Meg Howrey's novel. I put this out there as a warning. This is not The Martian. It is more like Emily St. John Mandel's novel than anything close to Weir's. Yet, I enjoyed it much more than I did Station Eleven.

There is a danger when comparing a new novel to one that was such a runaway success and one that was a critical darling, but The Wanderers manages to sidestep that danger by throwing in a few unanswered questions that shakes up the entire experiment. In fact, some readers will be downright angry that these questions remain unanswered. That Ms. Howrey chooses not to provide answers is telling and forces readers to change their approach to the novel. It is a brave statement for a storyteller, especially when your novel is being compared to one that is anything but nuanced or introspective. However, it works well within the pages of The Wanderers as it forces you to focus on the esoteric rather than on the adventure itself.

Mars will always appeal as the next great frontier for exploration, and even a fake mission to Mars is fascinating. There is plenty of science to legitimize the experiment. I have no idea whether the science holds up to scrutiny, but within the novel, everything seems acceptable. The experiment is so successful at times that it even blurs the lines of reality and fiction for readers. The astronauts feel real sensations - the tug of gravity and its release upon leaving Earth's atmosphere, the frigid temperatures on Mars, the fear of watching the radiation recorders creep into danger levels - and so do the readers. It is an extraordinary thing, especially since it is all fake.
I wanted an action-adventure, and I got literary fiction. I wanted excitement, and I got philosophy. Strangely, I am okay with that. I am not the type of reader who will underline profound passages or even take notes. I read to escape, and there was just enough action to make me okay with the copious amounts of introspection within The Wanderers. I can appreciate the development and growth each of the astronauts achieve on their "journey" and will take away some ideas upon which I need to reflect. I finish the novel satisfied with the story, with my response, and with its lasting impact.

Very scientifically technical. Psychological. Multiple points of view. A twist that leaves the reader, where?

A book that feels unique, not easily categorized. A feeling of incompleteness when I finished it. Coming back down to earth has its price, I suppose.

Unfortunately this book was a miss for me. I had high expectations for it when I read that it was being compared to Station Eleven and The Martian which are two of my favorite novels. The Wanderers doesn't bear any resemblance to Station Eleven and the only slight similarity between it and The Martian is that both books are centered around the planet Mars. First of all, the book lacked characters that I cared about. If I had to chose one of the astronauts whose family I was interested in it would be Sergei. He was the only one with a family I actually looked forward to hearing about. The plotline about his two sons. primarily the older son was very touching and I really enjoyed his letter at the end addressing his sons lifestyle and showing that he was a good father who loved his boys. The other two astronauts lacked personality and I just didn't care about them or their families. Second, I kept waiting for something to happen the entire book. I genuinely thought there would be a great big reveal and was sadly let down. The hint of possible major plot twist led me to believe that this story could turn into a thrilling "how could they do that?" situation. The author could have done so much with that plotline had it turned out that way. I read until the end and can honestly say I wish I hadn't. I always hate to leave "bad" reviews because I know someone out there will love this book. Plus I can't even imagine how much work goes into writing a novel and I hate the idea of being negative against someone's life work and their art. Books are like art in that they are subjective. Each reader goes into a story with their own history and beliefs and that is why some books sit differently with others. I wish this author lots of success because like I said, even though I didn't enjoy this I am sure many people will enjoy reading The Wanderers.

Meg Howrey is a well established author who has also written "The Cranes Dance" and "Blind Sight." This book is about three astronauts who are in a 17 month simulation isolated from the rest of humanity. They are training in a simulation for a future trip to Mars.
Overall I rated this book three stars out of five. This book was well written. The characters in this book are extremely well developed as well as all the relationships between them and their family. Although I did like Helen she did get on my nerves a bit due to her perfectionist personality. This was a story of human relationships and how far ambition will take a human into accomplishing one's dreams. Following the thread between real and unreal was a bit ambiguous at times and made the book difficult to follow. But this was such a deeply written story that seemed all too real because of how well the author developed her characters and their relationships.
I would like to thank Netgalley, Meg Howrey, and Penguin Group for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Having read and loved both Station Eleven and The Martian, the claim in the blurb that it was a combination of these two was beyond compelling. But, no offense to whoever wrote that blurb, that claim is so far off the mark that it would be easy to get frustrated part way in and dismiss this book entirely. That would be a mistake.
The whole premise of the book is that this is a training exercise meant to simulate a mission to Mars. The astronauts who are participating are aware that it is a simulation. While they truly experience the psychological strains of people who have been isolated from their families, friends, the day to day minutiae of their civilian lives, they never fully lose sight of the fact that it’s all a fiction. They are not in Mars. Their lives aren’t really in danger. So we never get the drama that comes along with people struggling to survive, fighting for their lives, wondering if a misstep will cost them everything. So, no. Not like The Martian. Not like Station Eleven. But it stands on its own two feet, at least for the reader who likes to take journeys inside the human heart and mind, to experience the deep introspection of characters, to examine all the weird and delicate and irrational feelings that make us human.
No. This book is not a space adventure. Yes, there is a lot of jargon and talking about the intricacies of engaging in the monumental endeavor that is sending humans to Mars, but this isn’t a thrilling sci fi adventure. It’s a deliberate and methodical examination of what it means to be human, to be a father, a mother, a spouse, a child. To make sacrifices for your dreams, to sacrifice yourself for others. It’s about the masks we construct to make our way through life with greater ease, and how sometimes we get so used to those masks that we forget what lives underneath. This isn’t a book that will make you laugh, or cry, or scream, or sit on the edge of your seat fraught with worry or anticipation. It’s a book that makes you think.
So long as you can let go of the poorly made comparison to The Martian and Station Eleven, I think you’ll really enjoy this book for what it is.

The premise, cover, and marketing led me to read The Wanderers by Meg Howrey. Unfortunately, the book suffers from two things. First because of the number perspectives, it becomes difficult to track the different storylines or to fully vest in any of the characters. Second, this book described as Station Eleven meets The Martian suffers from its own marketing. It is like neither book, and sadly, I end up not the right reader for this book.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2017/03/the-wanderers.html

Reviewed for NetGalley & Penguin First to Read

I have never read another book quite like this one. The Wanderers is well worth the read. After a slow start, I was gripped and engaged. The last thing I expected from a Sci-fi space book was a glimpse into the human soul. Meg Bowery has written an alluring tale full of heart and depth. I never wanted this book to end.