For one, the audiobook is one of the best audiobooks I have ever heard–and I’ve heard a plethora of audiobooks. The now cult-classic World War Z has led to the creation of other mediums than a New York Times bestselling novel. For one, what would really happen if the world became overrun by zombies? Would countries band together against a common enemy? Or, would the world crumble under its own selfish blindness? Whether you’ve read any of Max Brooks’ other works or not, I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in apocalyptic or zombie novels.
What World War Z is best at is really making you think – about a lot of things. While a great zombie tale at face value, clearly Max Brooks had some political and social commentary he wanted to share with the world, as well as general commentary on the current state of the zombie genre. While not along the same line of terror as I Am Legend was, World War Z takes a more artful and tactical approach to the telling of the zombie apocalypse the book has something more to say.
This leads to the creation of a new hand weapon called the Lobotomizer–awesome! They are only killed via shot to the head. The zombies in World War Z are slow movers and usually in large groups, although the zombies don’t work cooperatively. North Korea becomes completely void of all life. Zombies become Iceland’s top export, as the country is filled with millions of zombies and no humans are left. The geographical and topographical landscape was forever changed. Also, Cuba becomes the leading economic breadwinner in the world.
For example, China becomes a democracy and Tibet becomes the world’s most populated city. We also see a swing in political power after the end of the zombie war. Also, pharmaceutical companies try to capitalize on human fear by selling “anti-zombie” drugs, which are only placebos and, sadly, do not work. The book also brushes with political cover-ups, as it turns out the Central Intelligence Agency in Virginia knew about the situation in China and ignored it. That’s not stupidity or weakness, that’s just human nature.” One of my favorite quotes from the book is, “ Most people don’t believe something can happen until it already has. Through his writing, Brooks comments on how people would not be ready for a zombie apocalypse if it were to happen in real life. It starts with New York City falling and then South Africa taking charge with their idealogy to segregate people into small safe zones that have been cleared of zombies. These personal accounts of survival create a larger picture in the zombie world. Max Brooks tells individual stories instead of one, overarching narrative. He is known as “Patient Zero” in the novel–shouldn’t he be “Patient One” though? This book is a must read for zombie enthusiasts, as it depicts a post-apocalyptic world that suffered from a zombie plague which started in China, after a twelve year old boy iss bitten by something while fishing with his father.Īfter the boy is bitten, the military is unable to contain the outbreak and it spreads throughout China before traveling to the rest of Asia and then the United States. World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, written by Max Brooks (son of GENIUS filmmaker Mel Brooks), was released in 2006.