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What are readers saying about World War Z An Oral History of the Zombie War?
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-11-11 08:09:20.
(Language: English)
  
Another solid book by Max Brooks. Its all in first person accounts. Its not a true narrative so it still lets you put a lot of the pieces together in almost a "Pulp Fiction-esque" sort of way without being achronological. I enjoy war history books (1776, etc), so I am very please to say that much like Brooks' "Zombie ...Survival Guide," his subject is again dealt with relentless authenticity and detail (well, as much authenticity as a Zombie Apocolypse can have). The thought he puts into each scenario and/or detail is uncanny (the weapons, the weather, the battles, soldier psychology, how different continents deal with infestation, etc). Certainly not great literature, but a great read that I tore through in a matter of days. 
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-08-14 11:35:09.
(Language: English)
Do we all know what a "mockumentary" is? You don't need to know when opening Brook's documentary-style novelization of an apocalyptic-war-to-be against the zombie menace, but it might help. This book succeeds where a lot of contemporary zombie horror fails - its genuinely scary. Think about that - it's written as an after-action survivor's account, so you know from the beginning that Humanity survives the "walking plague" - and it is *still* a creepy and compelling read all the way through. One of the ways it succeeds is that Brooks has written his survivors as characters you almost universally feel for. One of the major differences between the original Dead trilogy and newer zombie films, including Land of the Dead, is that the originals always had one or two guys you'd love to have watching your back in a real zombie apocalypse. They were distinctly heroic, even if undeniably flawed. You see a lot of that in the "survivor's accounts" in World War Z - buy this over Land any day
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-07-17 06:22:21.
(Language: English)
A thoughtful, vivid, readable account of what would happen if Zombies invaded. Although it is a silly concept, this is a serious book, and it is worth the read. It seriously freaked me out, and it's been a long time since a book has had such an effect on me. Max Brooks is like the Godfather of zombie lore (so he gets the classic undead details right) but he's also done a lot of thinking about just how a zombie apocolypse would go down in the modern political arena. Israel goes isolationist, 3 Gorges collapes and China has a civil war, Iran and Pakistan nuke each other due to the flow of refugees from India. This book manages to be disturbing both as horror and as political commentary. While Brooks' writing is captivating and draws you into the fast-paced stories. Brooks' characters are really his strength, and the book has a series of short-story vingettes from different POVs. My only complaint is that these were sometimes too short, leaving me wanting more from some stories.
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A Reader posted a review at 2011-06-14 07:26:30.
(Language: English)
This is one of the worst books I have ever read. Gimmicks rarely work, but this one fails miserably. By telling the story from successive "interviewees", Brooks completely abdicates the need to create a coherent narrative. The plot is almost nonexistent. There is absolutely no characterization. Despite the inherent flaws in the format of the book, the gimmick could have still worked, if the "interviews" and the individuals telling them where realistic and compelling, but they are not. Each character feels exactly like the last, a bland and monotonous figure that elicits no connection to the reader. Utter waste of my time. I remember why I don't read best sellers, and why I am always wary of recommendations.
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Jennifer posted a review at 2009-11-16 07:27:36.
(Language: English)
Although WORLD WAR Z is, without a doubt, fiction, it's also so much more than that. You can call it a satire; what you can't call it is a totally made up story that could never happen in the real world. Told in an interview style, WORLD WAR Z is the story of the Zombie War that nearly decimated Earth. From the Great Panic to VA Day, every possible voice is heard from--politicians, soldiers, divers, dissidents, deserters, and the everyday, average Joe who found himself fighting for his life and way of existence in the face of the undead. Max Brooks has a very unique writing style, a very loud "voice" that draws you into his story from page one and never lets go. Although there's never been an actual war against an insurgent tide of undead, there have been plenty of wars and squirmishes throughout history that the author had to draw from. From the Vietnam and Korean wars, from World War I & II and the fight against Hitler, from Desert Storm to the current fight against terrorism in Iraq, Mr. Brooks has managed to pull the best--and worst--from everyone involved and use it in his fictional account. There's no doubt that WORLD WAR Z is an amazing, addictive, wonderful read. It's also emotional, disturbing, and thought-provoking. Although I may not worry, per se, about an upcoming fight against zombies, I do worry about the world that my children, and future grandchildren, will be left to inhabit after I'm gone. In that respect, this story is frightening. It's scary to think that the world, whether it be the mighty democracy of the United States or the iron fist of Russia or China, would not be prepared to defend themselves against a global attack from something outside of their human enemies. Kudos to Mr. Brooks for such a great read. Fiction or satire, pure speculation or hard fact, WORLD WAR Z is one book you don't want to miss.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-08-30 03:12:57.
(Language: English)
This book made me realise how voulnerable we humans as a global civilication really are. We might have machines of war, space travels and a global spanning computer network, but if a crisis like this would occur near me (doesn't have to involve walking dead, could easily be a blackout, flood or tornado aswell) I would give me and my neighbours a week or two before things would start to look grevious. I meen, seriously, I'm totally with Joe Rogan when he asks the audience what they would do if there was a blackout - Take your tools and fix it? Hardly. Sit down, light you lighter and into the black void, stammering utter the words "Way to go, you idiots!"... Thats what really frightens me, that we, we humans, with all our math, space racing, physics, gyms, diets and weaponry still are so god damn vulnerable... I still walk home and thinking of strategys to best protect my home from the brain-eating hordes (Like, "build a bridge here" and "Some fortification there") but I know that when a catastrophy at this scale hits, it wont be easily averted, and what will be the realy horrifying parts are the aftermath, not the thing itself. The book itself was a easy and entertaining read with a good potion of jokings and characters you realy started to care about. Have'nt read Brooks other works, but I most likely will!
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-12-29 01:19:23.
(Language: English)
World War Z was a page-turner from start to finish. An interesting commentary on Generation X (Z) and our place in society. Many of the generations before us had wars to define them (WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam) and in this book, Max Brooks makes our defining war World War Z! I thought the writing got a little lazy towards the end but it was still entertaining nonetheless. One of my favorite passages from page 321, where the interviewer is speaking with Todd Waino, a former Army soldier, reads ..."What were the reactions of the people who you liberated?.......Kind of a mix. The miltary zones, that was pretty low-key. A lot of formal ceremonies, raising and lowering of flags, "I relieve you, sir--I stand relieved," shit like that. There was also a little bit of wienie wagging. You know "we didn't need any rescuing " and all...." I plan to read "The ZOmbie Survival Guide" in the near future and to be on guard for anything else Max Brooks writes in future. I hope the planned movie version doesn't F*ck up the book! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-08-10 07:26:14.
(Language: English)
People who picked up this book based on the tongue-in-cheek humor of Brooks' previous book, The Zombie Survival Guide, will be completely taken aback by this very different, totally engaging volume. Arranged as a series of interviews with survivors, Brooks uses this book to chronicle the outbreak, fighting and resolution of a decade-long war in which humanity fights for survival against a plague of zombies. Part military chronicle, part survival tale and part good old-fashioned horror yarn, this book sucks you right in and entertains at virtually every turn. I hesitate to refer to this as a "novel," as it doesn't really read like one, with a main storyline or even a single climax. Even though there's a chapter entitled "Turning Point," it's hard to say where, exactly, the story hinges. Really, the book is a series of interconnected short stories, each one with its own element to add to the ongoing chronicle. Most of these are quite engaging -- such as the story of a downed pilot in the Louisiana swamp trying to get to safety amongst swarms of the undead, a computer whiz from Japan so enraptured by his online world that he doesn't notice when his entire country begins evacuating around him, the drug manufacturer whose placebo "vaccine" makes problems even worse, and the various political and military figures whose stories show the good and the bad of the war. This really is an incredible read, one of the best zombie books I've ever read. It's not an easy genre to translate to the printed page -- it works better in movies -- but this book nails it. It's smart, genuinely frightening and surprisingly realistic. Highly recommended.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-04-28 04:28:37.
(Language: English)
I couldn't put this one down...finished it in less than a week, which is rather unusual for me. A very entertaining and highly readable "what-if" scenario. There's not a lot of full-blown George Romero-style zombie horror...mostly people telling their personal experiences of trying to deal with life in a world gone crazy. What was it like for the doctors who had to deal with the initial cases, before they really knew what they were up against? What was it like trying to escape from a city that was almost completely overrun by the living dead? How do you fight a pitched battle against an enemy of thousands that feel no fear and no pain? How does humanity ultimately save itself from the brink of destruction and take back the "White Zones"? Pretty compelling stuff. Makes me glad I'm doing all this sword training; when the ammo runs out, the katana is gonna come in pretty handy!
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-04-21 07:49:42.
(Language: English)
A great book by Max Brooks. This is the second time I have read World War Z and i can see myself doing so again in the future. It is told from a very different viewpoint than your normal old zombie horror movie. First of all there is nothing what so ever supernatural about the zombies as they result from a very highly unlikely but well thought out virus transmitted through bodily fluids. Second is the fact that the story is told on a global scale through a series of interviews of "eyewitnesses" that survived the Zombie War. Despite how silly it must sound there are some scary moments as the writer describes some very realistic sounding human reactions to a situation that is really uncompromisable to those of us reading the book. The story telling comes together to reveal a look at a world at first in denial of then on the brink of an never before imagined unbelievable Armageddon while still staying as realistic as possible given the source material. I am also told that there is a movie being developed based on this book and although really am not a fan of horror movies if they adapt this well I will be there.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-12-27 06:56:20.
(Language: English)
A friend of mine had recommended this book to me, and I wouldn't say I am a die hard fan of the zombie story sequence, since they all appear to be of a similar nature from my perspective. However, I looked this book up on Amazon and saw the overwhelming response and high rating. I am merely writing this review to further that momentum because after reading this book it worked it's way into, probably, part of my top ten books I've ever read, and I'm a fairly avid reader. I even made sure to read the reviews that were more negative on here and some of them do bear merit, but where they found disjointed work, I found uniqueness. Their points are dead on, in the sense that this is not a story that flows through the book and has memorable characters throughout. This book holds none of that for the reader, so if that is what you are looking for, I highly recommend you give this a chance and if you don't like the format give up on it. Most zombie related story lines seem to have a very similar theme. Like I am Legend, 28 Days Later, or Resident Evil, the stories all focus on a predominantly single area. About a small group of characters and their single resilience to survive against insurmountable odds. World War Z doesn't really have that. The format of the story is one of the more unique I have come across. It is written in interview format (granted they're all fictional, of course), but that format didn't bother me. Rather it intrigued me! I found it to be a very engrossing book from start to finish in this format. The names of the characters are not memorable, but I do not think they are supposed to be, the world and it's plight are memorable and that's what the reader should focus on. Where those other story lines I referenced above focus on a single group, World War Z is exactly what it's title says, "World". This is one of the first Zombie scenarios I've encountered that was practically a full Global onslaught. Maybe I haven't read enough in the zombie genre, but this is the first I've encountered that tried to cover all the bases. That's where this book becomes fully engrossing, it's interesting to see how different areas of the world fought against the plight. Such as it goes into detail about the Redeker plan that started to turn the tide. I found this absolutely fascinating in concept. I think this bears more similarity to a collection of short stories, but the stories all tell a part of the same global story. I honestly can't think of a better way to give the reader that full global feel. The other part fans may expect, and others have complained about, is the horror factor. This book isn't exactly a "scary" novel, it's not even a thriller or suspenseful most of the time. It's an account, and it's written in a recollected manner. I think the fact that the threat has already passed is what takes away from the real "scare" factor. I, for one, didn't find this to be a detriment to the books format, but others might. Ultimately, this is one of the most unique books I've ever read. It takes you through interviews from specific time frames as the threat of the zombies grew, became all out war, and then as the tides turned; mankind had to pull together and clean up the mess. This book is a global effort at it's best and anyone interested in reading something in a very different format, with quite a unique twist on this kind of a tale will find this immensly enjoyable. Many of the stories could be fleshed out to become their own tale. I think one of the best mediums to present this would be in comic book or graphic novel format. I think in that format you'd get the necessary cinematic feel that the stories would require. Something for the author to consider in the future, should he ever stumble upon my review.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-07-28 01:57:43.
(Language: English)
For a quick summer read, this fit the bill. The interview format makes it easy to pick up the book, read for a while, and put it down for a short period of time. paragraph Some reviews say that the interview format makes the chronology of the events difficult to setup, and I see the point. There were times when "characters" in the book referred to events that hadn't been fully explained yet, but with patience, everything was quickly cleared up. paragraph The book did drag a few times ... one battle seemed just like the last after a while ... but eventually something new and interesting came out of the battle narrative -- a new detail about the enemy, a new perspective, a new reaction, etc.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-01-11 07:30:40.
(Language: English)
Excellent read and not what I expected at all. I thought this was going to be a straight up zombie story. It instead turns into the ensuing disaster when governments and people just fail to respond to common sense in the midst of a virus where the dead come back, feed on the living and how we have to work together again to rebuild the entire world. Filled with widly different perspectives from the story of a Long Island body guard forced to open fire on families looking for food, the eventual nuclear exchange between unresponsive governments who think the plague is an excuse by the opposing side as a takeover bid, to the tragic irony of U.S. refuges in make shift rafts attempting to get to Cuba. The stories are always tragic with incredible self refelection applied to our everday lives. Great book and I look forward to the movie in production by Bradd Pitt's, PLan B Films, if it goes through.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-09-08 10:21:05.
(Language: English)
I read the Zombie Survival Guide, and didn't like it much. However, I heard a radio review of World War Z and it piqued my interest. Thank God I listened to the radio. World War Z is a marvelous work, Brooks' characters are colorful and multi-dimensional, and his writing style presents a to-the-point look at how we as a civilization would be nearly annihilated should something like this happen. His style, writing as survivors being interviewed about their experiences before, during, and after the "Zombie War", is intriguing, and is far better than if he had simply done a standard novel. Brooks has certainly done his research, showing how different civilizations around the world would each handle the crisis differently, before eventually coming to the same conclusion. Though the ultimate ending is known right from the beginning, the reader will find themselves glued to the book to read the next story, to find out what happens next, and to learn just how humanity could possibly succeed against an enemy that feels no fear, no pain, and will never stop until humanity is but a memory. Go out and build yourself a "Lobo".
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-03-23 08:04:53.
(Language: English)
'World War Z', like Brooks 'Zombie Survival Guide', draws you in until your actually start to live the story. It is written in an interview format, where various people recount their experiences during the zombie war, but half way through you really start to live the story and imagine it could be real. The level of detail Brooks adds to this story is staggering and really adds to the overall reality in the book. It is extremely easy to read and looks at all aspects of life around a zombie outbreak, army response and mutiny, new society development, government plans to escape and then fight back, living on water, eradicating the zombies in water, how civilians fought back, dealing with being stranded in a zombie infested area etc etc the list goes on and is exhaustive. If you like zombie books and movies and if you enjoyed 'The Zombie Survival Guide' (which I kind of recommend you read first) then this is the very book for you. Highly recommended.
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A Reader posted a review at 2011-01-14 08:24:24.
(Language: English)
Not the typical book that I read, but on a rec from Regan I checked it out. A very interesting way to tell a story...it describes life after "World War Z" - the zombie war. Through a series of oral interviews, the author, as an agent of the United Nations Postwar Commission, describes the history of World War Z. black Market organ trade, nuclear war, fraudulently marketed vaccine - all included and more. Survivalism and disaster preparedness are strong themes, as well as criticism of government ineptitude, corporate corruption and human short-sightedness. I never expected so much depth from a zombie novel. Thanks Regan!
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-06-05 07:11:33.
(Language: English)
Amazing! Ive heard people say that this book is overated and too highly rated because of the fact that the authot is the son of Mel Brooks but I had to read it to see for myself. But this is a great piece of work. It entails the global reaction to a lethal pandemic of the undead. It is byfar the most realistic book I have ever read. Max Brooks thoroughly writes of the worlds reaction and how the world copes with these events and with a fine knowledge of history and current events he portrays the situation perfectly and accurately. Some of his witty comments and views of how the world works in reality is scarily realistic and hits right at home. This book shows the end of the world with a keen truth. This is as scary in setting to current global situation ( whether it be econimics or politics) as the popular radio play War of the Worlds. Byfar one of my top "novels" and it should be read by many people. I even heard that it is being read by some schools because of how accurately realistic it is. It falls under the same category as War of the worlds but in greater proportions.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-13 09:52:52.
(Language: English)
World War Z is a niche item, and I feel like most of its potential fans are already aware of it. To keep things lean: It's a series of interviews conducted by a bureaucrat after a virus turns many people into zombies. Brooks pays a lot of attention to detail and realism. One outstanding example was the Palestinian who believed the reports of an Israeli zombie quarantine to be Zionist lies. I was quite absorbed by World War Z . The book is clearly a labor of love, with a meticulously-detailed mock chronology that puts most any alternate history novel to shame. Brooks takes his novel seriously, perhaps too much so: By the three-quarters mark, I just didn't need to hear any more. It is difficult to indicate chronology through a series of interviewees, and though Brooks makes a damned good effort, he couldn't snag me all the way. If you're on the fence, give World War Z a shot. I am no fan of horror in particular, but the novel is much more thoughtful than the typical King or Koontz joint. If you like sci-fi, politics, sociology, or alternate histories, or have ever seen just one zombie flick, there will be something for you in World War Z .
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-09-28 09:31:22.
(Language: English)
I found this book rather disappointing in the wake of "The Zombie Survival Guide." The beginning was great; Brooks shows off his immense creativity in explaining how the zombie plague originated and then spread to the rest of the world. The middle part, however, is frustratingly dull. He could have spent a lot of time having people recount how they survived using the techniques in his Zombie Survival Guide, but many of the people he "interviews" did things that were not only discouraged by the Guide but plainly stupid on top of that. He also has some inexplicable fixation with Japanese culture, like the blind monk who turns out to be an awesome martial artist and the fat Japanese shut-in who somehow manages to do acrobatics as he's jumping from balcony to balcony avoiding zombies. The majority of the book has him matter-of-factly recounting all the horrors the zombies visited upon mankind, and the part that I expected to be the best - the story of mankind's furious fight for survival, ultimately reclaiming the world - occupies about two chapters at the very end. Extremely disappointing. It's as if Brooks was in a rush to churn the book out and simply stopped trying. There's so much excellent material from the Guide that could have been included, and it felt like Brooks just halfheartedly crapped out a novel to cash in on his own success. With that said, it's still a zombie novel, and it did hold my attention while I was reading it. Three stars for zombies, and I'd recommend it to anyone who's not as nitpicky as I am.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-06-08 04:23:58.
(Language: English)
I was predisposed to really dig this book simply because I have a twisted, macabre fascination with zombies. However, what Brooks does is really clever and downright scary. This is an oral history of the aftermath of the zombie wars. The "interviews" are with people all over the world, from different backgrounds (including government officials) in the aftermath of the infection that created zombies. So basically, what you get is different people talking about how the infection spread, what different officials and governments tried to do to combat it, how different political systems either helped or hindered the response to the millions of zombies, and how human societies begin to deal with the threat, figure out how to more effectively combat the hordes of zombies that are all over the land (and, super creepily, in the waters) and rebuild their communities. Brooks also gets some digs in at the current state of affairs in this country. One of the government officials in the US who was interviewed and who was in charge of rebuilding in the Rocky Mountain region talked about how they needed skilled workers--people who could fix and build things like engines, small motors and appliances, weaponry, and living spaces. Because of the type of society the US had become in the early 21st century--a culture of consumers and consultants--the only people who could really do those types of things were the people who had had to work very hard to survive economically in America. Yep. Recent immigrants. Because basically, nobody knew how to do anything, and those people who didn't have viable skills at fixing or repairing things was put to work doing manual labor until he or she developed a skill. Brooks' book is thus not only a riveting zombie chillfest, but a fascinating indictment of modern consumer culture, international politics, and some of the nutso things human cultures and societies do to drive each other apart.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-06-18 08:23:50.
(Language: English)
I'm giving this book one star for pure creativity. Max Brooks really has a great idea and has spent a lot of time thinking about every aspect of life on earth that would be affected by an all out zombie war. But his writing is TERRIBLE. I don't mind a book that has little to no character development - and this book has none - but every one of the 50+ characters introduced has the exact same voice - arrogant, pissed off and full of testosterone. And, really, how many times can ten different people call someone else a "puke"? Aren't there some other PG-13 insults you can think of for name calling? I think Brooks wore out his imagination scheming about zombies so completely , that he had none left for diction and basic book writing.
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A Reader posted a review at 2011-07-15 03:35:31.
(Language: English)
I bought this book for two reasons: 1. Because duh I love zombies, and 2. Because I thought it would be funny. While it wasn't really funny, it was a completely fascinating book. It's basically a look at what might happen in countries all over the world if an infection like "zombies" was to spread, and how people would be able to fight a war against an enemy who did not need supplies, or sleep, and would never stop. It was so interesting to read about which countries would fare the best, or worst. For a book about zombies, it seemed incredibly realistic and somehow plausible.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-01-04 11:59:15.
(Language: English)
A smart and totally convincing view of the world after a global zombie attack. This book tells the story of a world-wide zombie plague from the perspective of people that lived through the experience- from soldiers to aid ground-zero aid workers, from war profiteers to survivors of refugee camps. I'm a big fan of disaster/horror style fiction, so this was great stuff for me. For me, the biggest problem I have with the horror genre (in books and movies) is the lack of realism- people always seem to make ridiculous mistakes or have their day saved by some totally unconvincing circumstances. This books has none of that. Its portrayal of the horror and chaos of watching a global plague of dead friends, neighbors and family members coming back to life to devour human flesh is perfect. Nothing clunky, no dumb teenagers smokin' doobies in the woods, no not-so-scary antagonists. If you like zombie stories, this is the one to which all other should be compared. Check it!
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-08-21 05:15:43.
(Language: English)
An account of a war that was on such a scale, and of such importance, that it should never be forgotten; a war in which humanity faced and defeated the hoardes of the undead. Zombie movies, in most of their incarnations, are very straight forward. A group of people avoids the zombies, and shoots at them. There's very little depth in the film medium. However, World War Z does an amazing job of taking a zombie plot, and adding levels of depth to the characters that one does not ordinarily see, aided by how much more one can do with writing rather than film. This also puts it on a whole scale larger than at least any zombie movie i've ever seen, while also going from start to finish of the crisis. More impressive is not just how Brooks relates this to zombies as they're known in movies, but how much of our society, and societies worldwide, Brooks critiques. Hidden within stories of how to fight zombies are commentaries on individualism, religion, illegal immigration, celebrities, and I'm pretty sure the vice president in the book is an analog of Howard Dean. Perhaps this is what makes this book so chilling at points, is how accurately Brooks seems to capture the world so that it truely feels as though the only difference between the book and the world today is that in our world, the dead don't walk the earth. Yet.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-04-15 01:47:01.
(Language: English)
A good read in the genre of zombies, and works on a couple of levels. More scary in the psychological sense than gross out, and it ads a layer about how world societies and governments would react, fail in the beginning, but ultimately make hard choices and win against a horrible disaster. Because of the emphasis on government and society, it also works as a good critique of current cultures, asking the question about what would happen if the world today (especially the U.S.) suddenly had to combine for a real all out war where losing meant our extinction (with many parallels to World War II). If you're a big zombie-head, then you will have to add a dimension to your usual reading and you might not like it. If you like the occasional zombie movie AND the occasional political thriller, you'll probably like it a lot.
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