From the Bookshelf of The Sword and Laser…

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War

Max Brooks

Start date: June 7, 2010

Finish date: July 15, 2010

Discussion: 2010 Reads

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2010 Reads

WWZ: Favourite characters in zombie Movies and T.V. shows
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What Members Thought

Aug 14, 2007 Tom Merritt rated it really liked it

Overall an outstanding read. The end sections actually brought asmall tear to my eye.

Brooks does a very good job creating the idea that this is really an oral history. Writing from the perspective of so many different people, and keeping them with authentic voices is tough. Occasionally a voice doesn't ring true, or feels stilted, but not all that often.

Also the complicated matter of trying to execute a history through bits and pieces of recollections is well done too. I didn't find any glaring ...more

8 likes · Like · see review

Jul 31, 2009 Eric rated it really liked it

Shelves: science-fiction, signed, post-apocalyptic

Max Brooks's World War Z has no business being as realistic as it is. It was not what I expected from a book subtitled "An Oral History of the Zombie War," and I mean that as the highest compliment.

There was little to no cliched explanation for the disease and its origin (i.e. -- no monkeys infected with "rage"), there was little unnecessary gore, and it did not come off as tired for such a well established pop culture genre.

What it was, was a fresh take on our society. The walking dead, or "Z ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

May 25, 2008 Angie rated it it was amazing

This book is GREAT! I haven't read anything written like it before. I love how it reads as an interview... but then again while you are reading it, it does not seem like an interview. If you are looking for something different to read this is it! ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Apr 28, 2013 Kaveh rated it it was amazing

This is a fantastic read. First and foremost, zombie nerds will eat it up. In the pantheon of zombie fiction, Max Brooks has made a name for himself by being one of the first to really take the subject seriously, and help to create a consistent lore. Every detail - from the neurological to the highly military-technical - is so credibly thought through. It's so engaging.

On another level, the book is a terrifyingly credible imagining of what a true world crisis looks like: the collapse of all inte ...more

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May 15, 2009 Michael rated it it was amazing

This is, without question, the best novel (not by Neal Stephenson) that I have read in years. It's staggeringly good.

When my friend Dana told me there was a Studs Terkel-esque review of a fictional Zombie Apocalypse that I absolutely had to read, I was a bit dubious, but I was hooked from the first 10 pages.

It's well thought out, very funny and at times unsettlingly prescient about how our government, and our society, would react to a situation like this.

I really cannot recommend WWZ highly e ...more

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Jun 04, 2010 Lydia Presley added it

Shelves: 2010, thriller, fiction, scifi

Well, now I know what we should do to prevent a zombie war from happening.

This was an.. unexpected type of story. I'd heard from a friend that this book was fun to read, but I think I was thinking of it more along the lines of a Pride and Prejudice and Zombies type of book, a kind of tongue-in-cheek war novel. What I got was along the lines of.. a documentary, with fake interviews that felt real, a scenario that was both fascinating and filled with horror, and a story that just kept gaining mome ...more

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Sep 09, 2010 Dave rated it liked it

An interesting take on the overcrowded zombie genre, examining it from a political and social perspective. The book features interviews with various survivors of a worldwide zombie outbreak, but the voices sound mostly the same, with many of the interviewees having a semi-apologetic to at having survived. Some of the political discourse gets a bit tired after a while, and the zombies aren't well fleshed-out, but nevertheless an interesting approach. ...more

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May 02, 2009 John rated it really liked it

Shelves: no-longer-in-the-library

I'm not a huge Zombie fan. Like couldn't care less about Zombie stuff, the genre is just so played out. BUT. This was a good read, it wasn't over the top zombie and it didn't make it sound like the world is a bunch of idiots who can't escape a shuffling horde. ...more

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Oct 26, 2007 Caitlin rated it it was amazing

This is one of the best books I've read in a little while. Max Brooks did an incredible job of creating different voices for each interview and examining this imaginary conflict from every conceivable side. It's an exhaustive study of the Zombie War and how it affected every part of the world, from Antarctica to Australia to Israel. There's amazing detail and he seems to have thought everything through very thoroughly. Sometimes I forgot it was a fake war. It was gripping and frightening and hor ...more

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Oct 01, 2007 Matt Allain rated it it was amazing

This book, so far, is EXCELLENT. Much better than I thought it would be, to be honest.

It's a good, solid, realistic but fictional collection of interviews after the Great Panic - when the dead began to rise and ravaged the world.

Great political commentary coupled with zombie action, coupled with some really fantastic and varied storytelling techniques.

...more

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Dec 15, 2009 Jason rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: library, audio-book

This is closer to 4.5 stars. It is an excellent book. I love the post-apocalyptic stuff and this really hits the mark. Like Earth Abides kind of book, but short and only interviews with survivors. But these interviews had great stories. ...more

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Apr 09, 2008 Clarice rated it really liked it

Shelves: at-home

Somehow much better than I was expecting it to be. Not your typical horror story, but still horrifying overall. An interview style contemporary history of the future and what happens to the world overall when Zombies become real.

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