The Walking Dead: Typhoon review – TWD heads to China

Wesley Chu’s novel The Walking Dead: Typhoon takes place in a location previously untouched by The Walking Dead: China. With such an interesting setting never before seen in The Walking Dead universe, is it worth reading?

Be it comics, shows, or novels, The Walking Dead has almost solely focused on the people living through the apocalypse in the United States. While there are passing mentions here or there about what happened in other countries, we never get much perspective on what life is like for the survivors around the world.

The Walking Dead: Typhoon gives us one of our first looks at how people on another continent deal with the zombie apocalypse – in this case, China.

The story is shaped through the perspective of three main survivors: Chen “Zhu” Wenzhu, a factory worker who grew up as a farmer; Elena Anderson, Zhu’s American girlfriend who was studying in China when the apocalypse broke out; and Ying Hengyen, a military veteran with a strong belief on how things should be run during the apocalypse.

While it would be so easy to focus on the action sequences involved with a story about zombies, Chu manages to brilliantly weave in the type of character development that made The Walking Dead such a hit in the first place.

Each character holds their own motivations throughout the narrative, be it Elena’s desire to see her family in America again one day or Hengyen’s struggle to keep his people alive while dealing with troublesome higher-ups. I found Zhu’s story particularly intriguing, as he was forced to grapple with the increasingly immoral tasks assigned to him in an attempt to stop the “typhoon” of walkers marching towards the Beacon of Light.

Since I started watching The Walking Dead, I’ve always been interested in the stories and development of some of the more ancillary characters. Even with the main story focusing on the three aforementioned protagonists, characters with smaller roles still feel like real people and less like simple plot devices. Chu manages to provide ample background for a lot of them, and at times these smaller characters steal the show.

In particular, Zhu and Elena’s friend Bo’s willingness to sacrifice and do the right thing for his friends no matter the cost stuck out to me. Zhu’s childhood friend Meili also stands out by the book’s end due to her strong leadership capabilities in the face of chaos.

This is The Walking Dead, of course, so there were certainly some heartbreaking moments to go alongside the intense action and character interactions. The Walking Dead universe has always been a brutal one, and Typhoon is no different.

In this world, people are forced to do and see unspeakable things that haunt them for a long time. The struggle with PTSD and guilt that we are seeing now in season 10 of the show is just as present in Typhoon, and it is handled carefully but in a way that feels realistic. The book touches on the concept of the “greater good” taking priority, even at the expense of others; how far are people willing to go to ensure the survival of their community?

A small aspect of the novel that I loved was the way Chu incorporates the Chinese language in a way that feels natural, even for an English reader. Whether it is little terms of endearment like Bo calling Zhu xiǎodì  – little brother – or referring to walkers as jiāngshī, it is a nice reminder that this story is taking place in another society with a culture different to that of America.

Typhoon is absolutely worth reading if you are a fan of The Walking Dead. It has all the action, heartbreak, romance, and horror you could want from a novel set in this universe. Chu understands what is at the core of The Walking Dead, and I hope he is given the chance to explore more locations not covered by the show and comics in the future.

Did you enjoy The Walking Dead: Typhoon? Do you plan on checking it out after reading this review? Let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment or tweeting us @labrosse_joe and @UndeadWalkingFS!