World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War in Oly Reads

Mar 28, 2011 Jackie "the Librarian" rated it really liked it

Shelves: horror, zombies, adultfiction

We’ve got zombies. Now what? I really enjoyed this book, which may sound strange, given that it’s supposed to be this really scary zombie horror story. Maybe I’m weird, but this book didn’t scare me at all. It didn’t have that pervasive sense of dread some horror has, and that was okay with me. I liked its practicality, and I think it appealed to my ISTJ personality. Yes, zombies are bad, but being freaked out by them won’t help anything. C'mon! I liked the first person accounts, which gave imme We’ve got zombies. Now what? I really enjoyed this book, which may sound strange, given that it’s supposed to be this really scary zombie horror story. Maybe I’m weird, but this book didn’t scare me at all. It didn’t have that pervasive sense of dread some horror has, and that was okay with me. I liked its practicality, and I think it appealed to my ISTJ personality. Yes, zombies are bad, but being freaked out by them won’t help anything. C'mon! I liked the first person accounts, which gave immediacy to the zombie danger; I liked getting to find out what was happening around the world. I liked how people learned how to effectively fight the zombies, and how the military had to learn to change tactics. I was relieved when it did. Don’t get fancy, laser beams are showy, sure, but a sword works just fine and you don’t have to wait for it to recharge.

This is not SF, in my opinion. This is just horror. The story seems to be contemporary, not in the future. We don’t get any explanation for how the zombies were created to start with, just that bites and wounds are infectious. I liked the fact that zombies don’t need to breathe, and so can exist under water just fine. Okay, yeah, that part was creepy. But I wasn’t scared! I liked the frozen zombies, and the idea that spring thaw would also be zombie thaw.

This was not a cautionary tale, either. As we weren’t given an explanation for the rise of the zombies, I never felt that it was a warning not to mess around in God’s domain, or not to engage in chemical warfare. There was never the sense that if only humans hadn’t done such and such, all this could have been avoided. That wasn’t the point. It was more like the zombies were a natural disaster, and if such an event arose, how would we deal with it, without any handwringing over how it occurred to start with. Because, really, that wouldn’t have helped anything. This was a pragmatic, straightforward charging story.

Ultimately, I liked that this book had a positive ending, which robs it of its impact as horror – true horror puts its characters through hell and never lets up. But I like happy endings better, so I didn’t mind.

A nice change from all the romantic sparkly vampire nonsense. Fun! Highly recommended for fans of grody monsters! ...more

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Sep 15, 2011 Kit rated it really liked it

Just....get this on audio. Trust me.

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Dec 03, 2012 Christopher Clark rated it liked it

I was actually rereading this book the other day since my wife checked it out from the library (I read it when it was new). I forgot how preachy this book was. He uses zombies to rail various political philosophies that wear me out.

I have no clue how this movie will work since it's not really a story, but a collection of interviews. That's why I am not a huge fan of this book. There really isn't a protagonist to latch onto and root for. ...more

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Jun 24, 2009 Raina rated it liked it

Shelves: sci-fi, adult, didn-t-finish

Cool almost clinical account of zombie wars. Didn't actually finish it, but liked it enough to recommend it. ...more

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Sep 17, 2022 Renée Davis rated it really liked it

Amazing horror read that I couldn’t put down. I started reading it after watching the 2013 movie. It’s incredibly well considered and rigorous as a near future apocalyptic story. Highly recommended, particularly for this upcoming spooky season.

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Aug 15, 2010 jess rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, 2007

fiction, fiction?, zombies, zombis, zombie revolution, oral history, fictional oral history

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Apr 29, 2018 UberApril rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: library-loan

The beginning was a bit confusing because I didn't realize it was going to be full of interviews. You'd think the title of the book would have been a huge clue for my dumbass lol. But I'd say my progress was like the war progress.. confusion at the start, clarity in the middle, sense of conclusion at the end. The book brought up so many different views I didn't even consider. The religious fanatics, suicides, ferals, the WHALES!!!, those providing false hope looking at you Phalanx king, racism, ...more

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