The Story
The Wayward Journey written by Nathan Hale Jefferson takes place in a world where the economy has been slowing down and inflation growing. The main character, John, takes a job requiring lots of travel to help support his family. While on one of these trips a huge natural disaster happens stranding him away from his family. The story chronicles his trials in getting back to his family.
Normally I love books on taking a journey. That’s the backbone of pretty much every fantasy novel. Just look at the lord of the rings, it was one very long walk. For some reason though I’m tired of survival novels with the character trying to make it back home. To me it just seems too unrealistic to cross the country or world alive in a massive disaster. The odds are too far stacked against you in those situations. My preference for survival/ prepper fiction is bug in, neighborhood novels.
This story surprisingly had some good villains. One was a real piece of work that you will hate. I was pissed he didn’t get killed in this first book. He was so slimy and evil I couldn’t stand him. I felt that the characters could have been given more depth. I don’t know very much about the characters except what they did during the story. I had a hard time relating to the characters.
I liked some of the story that took place at Johns neighborhood. I think it shows what would happen in an undirected community. One bad apple managed to do a lot of bad things. Choosing a better neighborhood I think is the solution to this. On the road John met some cops who he figured out where really bad guys based on their tattoos. This point really got to me. Tattoos do not make you a bad guy. I’ve seen this in other books and it’s ridiculous. Some of the best people I know, myself included, all have them.
This novel had a few bits of survival info sprinkled in. It seemed natural when they were included. Other novels pound you with info and lack story. I’m now to a point where I want a god story about surviving and not another manual. Another thing I liked was the natural disaster that was used. It is very likely and the author thought about some good complications. I feel it added an interesting element to trying to get home. Also since I live in Tennessee and would be affected It really hit home.
Final Thought’s
This book had some elements I really liked. When I got to the disaster happening I was shocked and it really made me think. The characters spoke realistically and were all unique. I just wanted more character exploration. At first I didn’t think I would read a sequel but after mulling it over I will. The first novel ended with the journey being over. The focus of the novel should be fixing the community. Hopefully the author will focus more on the characters and delve into some back-story on why they think/ act the way they do.
I’ve been thinking about getting this book since I heard the author interviewed on TSP a few months back, but life got in the way. I will *definitely* put this on my “to read list” and pick it up.