World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie Wars

[unimatrix7]

I'm a huge fan of post-apocalyptic fiction, and zombies in particular, so this book was a must-read for me. I read it the first time about a year ago, and was very impressed.

It basically takes place in the aftermath of a global zombie apocalypse and stars the author, Max Brooks, travelling the globe and talking to survivors of 'World War Z' about their experiences. The book takes the form of a series of interviews (which, to be honest, are basically just monologues) arranged chronologically from patient zero in China, the spread of the 'disease' to Africa and the Americas via the black market organ trade, the gradual spread across Europe and the United States, the 'Great Panic' when the military spectacularly failed to contain the threat and all hell broke lose, and so on right through to its conclusion.

It's horrifying, but not in the usual way. It takes itself quite seriously and outlays a course of events in a fashion that might be believable if you can accept the absurdity of the premise.

It's a great read, and highly recommend it to everyone. Also, there's a film version in the works for a 2010 release, which should prove interesting.

[John Clark]

One of my mates keeps recommending it to me

Haven't managed to track it down yet, but it sounds interesting

[Stone_Cold_Sisko]

Yeah this is a pretty phenomenal book, that covers the zombie invasion from dozens of different angles, each one good enough to be its own story/novel.

[Reverend]

John Clark wrote:

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One of my mates keeps recommending it to me

Haven't managed to track it down yet, but it sounds interesting

Amazon is usually a good place to look.

[Harry Palmer]

I found Day by Day Armageddon to be a much better read.

[TheBrew]

FYI, the author, Max Brooks, is the son of Mel Brooks.

[Gotham Central]

unimatrix7 wrote:

---

I'm a huge fan of post-apocalyptic fiction, and zombies in particular, so this book was a must-read for me. I read it the first time about a year ago, and was very impressed.

It basically takes place in the aftermath of a global zombie apocalypse and stars the author, Max Brooks, travelling the globe and talking to survivors of 'World War Z' about their experiences. The book takes the form of a series of interviews (which, to be honest, are basically just monologues) arranged chronologically from patient zero in China, the spread of the 'disease' to Africa and the Americas via the black market organ trade, the gradual spread across Europe and the United States, the 'Great Panic' when the military spectacularly failed to contain the threat and all hell broke lose, and so on right through to its conclusion.

It's horrifying, but not in the usual way. It takes itself quite seriously and outlays a course of events in a fashion that might be believable if you can accept the absurdity of the premise.

It's a great read, and highly recommend it to everyone. Also, there's a film version in the works for a 2010 release, which should prove interesting.

While the book does take itself pretty seriously, it is something of a parody/satire of the Bush Years (both politically and culturally). Be sure to look for all of the "cameos" by famous people that are described by their appearance and behaviour but are never named directly. BTW, the black man who was elected president of the USA during the turmoil was not Obama (though there is some presecience in the fact that during a period of crisis, the American people turned to a calm black man to be President).

[Chaos Descending]

I did enjoy this book, but frankly I think the people who hyped it endlessly to me made me have such impossibly high expectations that I actually enjoyed it less than I would have had I just discovered it on my own.

[clint g]

He also made a quasi-prequal (or would it be considered a companion guide?) of sorts called the Zombie Survival guide which outlines all the tactics and equipment one would need to survive the outbreak

[fennrysha]

I've read the Survival Guide and it was great. I have World War Z and it's the next book I'm going to read.

[JNG]

Loved it. The business with the Chinese submarines is a real standout.

[Ruaidhri]

Fun book. I mentioned in the What Are You Reading Now thread that I think the style and structure make the book better. A straight narrative would not have been as effectively compelling as the series of interviews, and it gives us more perspective, too.

[Shurik]

I'm reading The Survival Guide now, World War Z is next on my list ...

[Allyn Gibson]

clint g wrote:

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He also made a quasi-prequal (or would it be considered a companion guide?) of sorts called the Zombie Survival guide which outlines all the tactics and equipment one would need to survive the outbreak

There's also a graphic novel from Avatar Press, which I'm not sure is out yet, that explores some of the historical zombie outbreaks (like, in ancient Rome) that are alluded to in World War Z.

[The Squire of Gothos]

A mate of mine had the survival guide (I still eye up buildings with stairs as possible places to hide) but extracts have not convinced me that WWZ would be enjoyable. Brooks just seems to take the fun out of it all with the drawn out explanation of how the zombies came about and how they ended up over running civilisation.

For me, part of the fun is that our heroes in most of these types of shows/films simply wake up and find the zombies everywhere. Much like a force of nature, they're simply there for us to recoil in horror at. Going into the wheres and whys just takes away from that for me.