Wayward Son (2019)

Wayward Son is the fourth young adult novel written by Rainbow Rowell, published in 2019. The story follows Simon Snow and his friends a year and a half after the end of the first book of the trilogy, Carry On. It explores their young adult lives and how they navigate them now that Simon destroyed the biggest threat to the World of Mages, the universe's British sect of magic. The group finds themselves in the United States under the guise of visiting their friend, Agatha, in California, but the story takes the characters on a road trip filled with cryptids, self-discovery, and a new friend. The story is narrated by multiple characters.

The novel is the second book in the Simon Snow trilogy, which is a spinoff of the novel Fangirl.

Plot

Wayward Son opens about a year and a half after Simon Snow's final showdown with the humdrum and shows that a lot has changed since he fell from grace as the "Chosen One".

The story is narrated by multiple characters, including Simon, Baz, Agatha and Penny. There are interludes from new characters as well, including Shepard.

Wayward Son begins with Penelope wanting a change of scene. She suggests that they go to the United States for a holiday to visit Agatha, who now lives in California. Agatha tells them not to since she will be out of town at a NowNext retreat for members and guests. (It is unknown at this time, but NowNext is also known as NextBlood, a vampire cult.) It is also in an attempt to bring Simon out of his shell, as he has become obviously depressed. The group leaves for the United States after their final exams. Penny breaks up with her boyfriend as soon as they arrive in Chicago, which leaves her undecided and without a plan. The group looks to Penny for guidance, so everyone believes it is a bad idea to be in America now that she has no real will to continue on. Nonetheless, they continue on their way to California.

On their way through the Midwest and towards California, they stop at a renaissance faire in Nebraska. While there, they kill a handful of vampires reigning terror on innocent people. After killing these vampires very publicly, they escape. During their time in the faire, they broke several magick laws; Penny constantly is convinced that she will be severely punished by her mother, who is now the Headmistress at Watford School of Magicks. After a few hours of driving, Simon notices a car following them. They drive until their car breaks down; they find themselves in a Quiet Zone, or a place where there is no magic due to the lack of "Normals" (non-magical people) in the area. The car following them pulls over as well, and the man that gets out introduces himself as Shepard; Baz notices him because Shepard gave him an American spell that helped them defeat the vampires. Simon, Baz, and Penny do not take too kindly to Shepard until he saves them from American cryptids that rule over the quiet zones. They get away in Shepard's truck and find a motel. There is a recurring theme of Simon, Baz, and Penny trying to erase Shepard's memories and leaving him behind and Shepard catching up to save them from American cryptids. They eventually allow Shepard to join their group and they forge on together.

After a distressing voice message from Agatha, the group is more determined to find her. Because of Shepard's connections, they are able to find some answers from a water spirit in the Hoover Dam named Blue. To find out more about the NowNext, or NextBlood (a group of self-made vampires), she tells them to go towards The Katherine, a hotel in Las Vegas. They follow her directions and find that they have walked right into a vampire haven. Baz goes undercover to dig up more information and is quickly intercepted by a vampire named Lamb. The plan was to get as much information as possible, but it turns into a test to determine if Baz is one of the NowNext. He does not collect all the information he needs that night because of it, but they meet again and Lamb tells Baz everything he knows. While trying to obtain this information, Baz has to show his way of living as it is not typical for a normal vampire's and is nothing like NowNext. They go back to the Katherine, where the group joins Baz. After some harsh conversation, Lamb, whom the group learns is the vampire Governor of the US, leads them to the NextBlood so they can rescue Agatha.

By the time they reach the lab where they work, Shepard is asleep and Penny and Simon learn that they are in a Quiet Zone. Chaos ensues and Baz learns that Lamb has a duty to hand over mages to the NextBlood to keep the peace. Instead of peace, Simon, Baz, and Penny are ready to fight. They are able to defeat the NowNext vampires using magic, Baz killing the leader, due to the Burning Man festival. They escape and head back to San Diego. They spend a few days there and, in that time, Penny learns that a demon cursed Shepard while Simon tries to break up with Baz. The story ends with Penny alerting the group that there is an emergency back at home and they have to leave right away.

Main characters

Simon Snow

Simon Snow is the protagonist of this story. He still has the red dragon wings and devil tail he gave himself in Carry On and is described as laying on the couch all day, drinking ciders, watching day-time television, and eating. He has since dropped out of university and stopped visiting his therapist. Penny and Baz collectively care for Simon, but because of his loss of magic, their constant use of it starts making him grumpy and distant. However, as the story progresses, he comes out of his shell and tries to save the day again. Regardless of his growth, his tether to Baz, his boyfriend, starts to unwind.