Rise of the Wanderers by Elliott Morreau: A good book… but not for everybody

Spoiler-free Plot

Rise of the Wanderers is the first book by author Elliot Morreau for his series, The Wanderland Chronicles, which is set in a fictional world where technology has been lost and society is slowly trying to recover it. This is a land in perennial ice due to climate change, and now there is an organization that controls everything, called the Authority Government, that wants to take down the last shred of hope in society, a group called the Wanderers.

In this context, a protagonist called Ruby “the Ruthless” works for the government, which is why she has been tasked with taking down the final Wanderer, John Bergensen, so she can get her children’s freedom.

There’s only one problem: John is her ex-husband and the father of her children. And things begin to get interesting.

My take on Rise of the Wanderers

I would like to preface this review by saying that Rise of the Wanderers is not for everybody. Author Elliott Morreau has no qualms about showing graphic violence and getting very detailed with a lot of other things, so if you are the kind of reader that has no interest in that kind of stuff, then this book is not going to be for you. Read content triggers at the end of the review.

Leaving that aside, Rise of the Wanderers is certainly an interesting read. The idea of a world in a constant state of winter is interesting because of everything that entails and the context, with an oppressive government, is always going to be appealing for readers, no matter the era. In fact, this series has a bit of dystopia to it, albeit mixing other genres in the process.

One of the things that I found the most appealing about the story is how it combines a lot of different genres into one without feeling forced. One of the beautiful things about Literature is combining all the different elements that make a story and doing so with gusto and with a natural flow, which is something that Morreau does here in spades.

Ruby is a good main character. She has a solid backstory, her motivation is clear, and, most of all, she has a conflict. This is very important because a lot of protagonists in action stories have a strong motivation but they rarely have hesitations on whether that is what they really want. A person doesn’t go through life with unwavering determination; there are moments for doubts and Ruby has them in spades, adding to the drama of the story.

Mind you, I do feel that the world-building of the story and the supporting cast was a bit lacking, which is why I didn’t give this book a higher note. This is something that needs to be highlighted as well.

The rest of the supporting cast can often feel sidelined, which is a shame because it keeps the book from reaching the level it deserved. This is something worth taking into account because the story progressed and the focus is of course mainly on Ruby, but there are other players in the plot that deserved to be developed a lot more.

The world was very interesting as a premise, but it felt underdeveloped at times. I think this is mainly due to the fact that Morreau is still testing the waters with this being the first book of the series, but I hope that is something that is going to be improved upon in the coming releases.

However, I have to say that the general conflict of the story is wonderful, the main characters are very compelling, the premise is solid, the drama feels very real and justified, and, above all else, it left me wanting more. I wanted to know more about this world, about its context, and its characters, which is evidence that this is a writer that knew what he was doing.

Content trigger:

This book contains content that might not be recommendable for readers below 18 years old. Contains abuse, graphic violence, pedophilia, and sexual assault.

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