Amazing sequel! This was an amazing read with great writing and perfect plotline, however; it was a long one! At 800 pages I felt at times overwhelmed because there are times the narrative dips and had me distracted and wishing the story would move a bit quicker. Having said this, I still highly recommend this one, especially to everyone who's read the prior installment Wanderers and even if you hadn't this one can still be followed without much confusion. Thank you @netgalley and the publisher for my advanced e-arc, I appreciate the opportunity to read and review this one.

Wayward is the follow up to Chuck Wendig’s novel Wanderers. This time, we are places 5 years ahead after the “White Mask” has decimated almost the entire population. Small groups remain, scattered and fighting to survive this world apocalypse.

This dystopian novel is charged with events not that dissimilar to events happening in our world currently, which amps up the horror and dread feeling throughout the read.

If you’ve read Wanderers, you will recognize the continuation of the socially charged atmosphere, which can evoke feelings within yourself, but if you’re a Wendig fan, you will just expect in this sequel.

There is such strong world building and character building you can’t help but be swept away. There’s even a nod to what happens to animals when the humans have gone away. Quite terrifying a thought and not unlike the tv series “Zoo” from recent past.

Wendig writes much along the lines of Stephen King’s the stand, or like Justin Cronin’s novels of The Passage Trilogy. Needless to say, it will sweep you up and carry you towards the madness in this decimated realm.

Highly recommended for people who love horror, dystopian thrillers, epic journeys, and books that will immerse you in a whole other world while you read.

This is one you shouldn’t miss on release date of Nov. 15, 2022. A strong 4/5 star read.

Thank you immensely to #NetGalley, the publishers and author for sending me an ARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

My full review will be posted on all my blogs and social media sites on release day!

This book is crazy, but in such a good, exciting way. This book was everything I wanted and more. It was so beautifully written and Chuck Wendig is simply a genius.

I loved how even though there are a lot of characters in this book, they are so unique and have their own distinct personalities. I was able to connect to a handful and I loved getting to root for them throughout all of their ups and downs. The story itself is so addicting. I personally love dystopian stories, specifically post-apocalyptic ones, so this was a gem for me. The story is so entertaining and was so well done. It is hard for me to find the right words, but this was a masterpiece.

I will say, though, this book is so long. There are some moments when the story starts slowing down and it's hard to get through, but it's worth it in the end. I would definitely recommend spreading this book out instead of just reading big chunks, as there's so much that goes on.

Yet, everything about this book is still so addictive. The plot, the characters, the twists. I absolutely loved it and definitely recommend it to absolutely everyone.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Ballantine for this free arc in exchange for my honest review.

Chuck Wendig's Wanderers became the book of 2020 thanks to its prescience and incredibly timely, relevant plot. Released in 2019, Wendig forecast an apocalyptic global pandemic set during the 2020 election year, in which a bigoted, racist businessman, Ed Creel, an obvious Trump surrogate, was running for election and drumming up the support of every racist dipshit in the US and using his most ardent white supremacist group-affiliated brownshirts to wreak violence on his behalf. The pandemic was predicted by an artificial intelligence called Black Swan (it turned out that, in real-life, an artificial intelligence named Blue Dot predicted COVID-19, further cementing Wanderers coincidental, and eyebrow-arching prognostications), which utilized nanobots to infect hand-picked Americans -- it's Flock -- to make a journey to the isolated mountain town of Ouray, CO.

Although Wanderers spent much of its page count in pre-apocalypse and apocalypses in-progress, its sequel, Wayward is very must a post-apocalyptic narrative. Set five years after the bulk of Wanderers, the White Mask fungal plague is in retreat (or at least dormant), and the people of Ouray are rebuilding, reinventing, and repurposing the remnants of civilization as best they can (they have solar cars! But, unfortunately, ice is still out of reach...). Much of the world outside the town's borders is a mysterious and dangerous place, though, and Black Swan... well, Black Swan is continuing to learn and grow...and change, presenting the survivors of White Mask with a new, possibly omnipotent, threat.

Like it's predecessor, Wayward is a thick, chunky boy, bigger even than the first one. At times, the narrative momentum does suffer under the strain of its gluttonous page count, and there are segments of the book that could have been cut without harming, and potentially improving, the overall shape of the story. We're introduced to new characters, a few of whom exist solely to serve as narrative threads for our returning characters, like Benji Ray, Shana and her sister, and Pastor Matthew Bird. One of these newbies, a former wildlife specialist who has retreated from humanity and has lived in the forests skirting Ouray lo these last five years, never really feels like a vital, fully fleshed out piece of the story and exists mostly as window dressing to get other folks from Point A to Point B.

Certain story elements, too, feel too much like pop culture mash-ups and on the nose odes to the works that inspired its creation. We get nods to Terminator 2 (one character infected with nanocytes is able to turn their hand into a blade a la the T-1000), some riffs that feel almost Stranger Things-esque, parallels to The Stand and Swan Song, and, naturally, some meta, almost-fourth wall-breaking commentary about 2020, the Year of White Mask, but also, sadly, the year COVID-19 got into full swing, along with about a dozen other real-life high-profile catastrophes. One character commiserates that she "[wished] the year 2020 never happened," and... yeah. I'm pretty sure we've all been there with that particular wish, but it rests here in a somewhat uncanny valley between the fictional landscape and the very real calamity we've all endured, and which persists still.

Coming in at over 800 pages, blessedly, there's more good than bad to be had in Wayward, even if it does demand a bit more patience and fortitude to scale than Wanderers required. Some of these demands are necessary, though, as Wendig has to essentially rebuild the world and present to us a changed and foreign landscape of life post-White Mask, five years on. America has been destroyed, cities -- some, anyway -- are empty save for the wildlife that has returned to claim the land, and bandits present a persistent threat. It's a hard, rugged world where any sort of ease has been lost. A small cut can lead to an infection that kills or demands amputation, there's no more Internet, and leaving the safety of the mountains opens the door to being robbed and murdered for what few paltry possessions one might have. It's a return to a Wild West sort of living, and Wendig takes us an epic, almost nation-wide tour of it, with a pacing that's very measured as Benji and Shana journey across all that's left of the US as they chart a path to the CDC, where Black Swan was created...or perhaps born. And, of course, much like Trump, Ed Creel is still out there, stirring up as much white resentment as he can capitalize upon in the wastelands, because hate never really dies, and he's as mad with power as he's ever been.

It's rare for a sequel to be better than its predecessor, and just as rare for it to be even as good as. Wayward isn't better than Wanderers, and it occasionally lapses into at least one familiar problem with sequels where more is mistaken for better. It's also not as good as Wanderers was, but it is still pretty damn good in its own right. There are some great and dreadful ideas at its core, particularly its explorations on religion, its anxieties over the unchecked growth of artificial intelligence, the tenuousness of community and relationships, and the ease with which cults of personality can form and wreak havoc. Wendig, too, is as good as he ever was at creating some truly dark, tense, and intense, moments, putting both his characters and his readers through the wringer, and drawing up some awfully, gut-lurching, horrific moments. To the good, too, is the realization that, on the bright side, Wayward will at least not feel like so much of a sad but true time capsule of Americana circa 2016-2020, and perhaps my appreciation for it will grow as more distance is put between us and current events. Wendig leaves open a door for a third trip to Ouray, but, honestly, it's one I hope that stays closed, if only because these characters deserve a break. Looking at the state of the world around us, I think we do too.

Not just a worthy follow up to WANDERERS but an absolutely essential one if you care about that book and its characters. Wendig expands on the sci-fi concepts introduced in the first volume and makes his world feel stranger and more alien. But then his characters remain so grounded and human that the entire story feels plausible, like it's happening now, for better or worse, in a timeline just askew from our own. WANDERERS & WAYWARD are truly defining genre stories of our time. If Wendig turns this into a trilogy, I'll be first in line.

This book happens to surpass its previous partner with exceeding mystery and intrigue. Wendig writes an excellent piece that continues to build this world with just enough action to keep you attached to the last page.

I received this digital ARC free from Del Rey Books via NetGalley. I loved Wanderers and couldn’t wait for this sequel. Wayward by Chuck Wendig takes place five years later in Ouray, Colorado with the awake Flock and their Shepard’s. Shana and Benji see the Flock is acting strange and feel Black Swan needs to be restrained and they need to find answers. Chuck Wendig’s writing is once again superb, and you will not be disappointed.

I’m always in for a book by Chuck Wendig. Wayward is a nice mixture of realism, thrill, and supernatural elements.

I received a free digital ARC from Del Rey Books via NetGalley for this sequel to Wanderers. Five years later we’re back in Ouray, Colorado with the awake Flock and the Shepard’s. Sister’s Shana & Nessie, Scientist Benji, Pastor Matthew Bird, Marcy, and Rock God Pete Corley all return. In Ouray the Flock is acting strange and insular. Now Shana and Benji see Black Swan needs to be reigned in and they are on their way to find the answer. Traveling outside Ouray they see a dystopian wasteland of scavengers in some places and the miraculous way people continue to find sustainable strides forward in others. Getting where they need to go is no easy feat.

Wendig’s books in this series are epically long, and I love an epic where the characters become my friends and I walk alongside them in their trials. This book made my jaw drop, I cried, and I laughed out loud. What more can you ask for? I admit I didn’t feel wholly convinced by the ending and felt that was part of a weak thread in the story. However, this was completely worth my time; I’m appreciative of Wendig’s pop culture references and socio-political stance. Nice job sir.

One of my favorite authors is back and he has brought a phenomenal story. Which knocked me off my feet.
I loved Wanderers book 1. I can not tell you how exciting it is to see him release a new novel!
This is a highly anticipated release this year for myself and I'll talk about it for months to come.

Wayward by Chuck Wendig is incredible in every possible.
I enjoyed delving into these characters lives and being back with Shana, Benji and Marcy.
There are so many other amazing characters to love.
Each one was so unique and wonderfully developed.
Let me say... Wayward was so worth the wait!
I love a good apocalypse story, but there's something about this guys writing that is completely and utterly addictive.
As soon as I opened it, Wendig pulled me into his story. Into this crazy world of his.
This world he created was great. I was hooked and and couldn't stop.
Everything about this book is perfection! An epic journey for sure.
An impressive, thought-provoking, utterly gripping, engaging and a total electrifying novel!
Chuck Wendig has created another beautifully, intense and chilling world with Wanderers .

“I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

Random House, Ballantine & Del Rey,
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!
I will post my review to my blog, platforms, BookBub, B&N, Kobo and Waterstone closer to pub date.

5 stars

This is an amazing sequel. I really took my time reading this one, it was so enjoyable I didn’t want it to end. Chuck Wendig is just phenomenal at writing a world and characters that you become a part of. 100% recommend with the caveat that you need to read the first book before diving into this one.

I don't even know where to begin. But here goes, I LOVED Wanderers, the first book to this sequel, and I was so excited to get this book, Wayward, the sequel. Chuck Wendig is a genius! His way of writing, his wit, his focus, his descriptive characters, from Ed Creel to Gumdrop to Benji.....are all masterfully created and so clearly real, to me!
I read this very long book in a matter of days because I could not put it down. When I was in class, working, I couldn't wait to get home to read more! I laughed out loud, I gasped out loud, I flinched, if possible, loudly. I won't go into the details of the story, just know that this book is a commitment and a very worth it read. There's a pandemic, an AI program, lost souls, corrupt politicians (hmmmm, sound familiar??) and many more things that are truly happening in our world today. I was in awe reading his acknowledgements at the end....that alone was worth the price of the E ticket, as we used to say at Disney! Thank you so much to Mr. Wendig for his incredible story, and to Netgalley and Del Ray, an imprint of Random House Publishing for the ARC.
FYI.....Stephen King, watch out, here comes Chuck!!!!