Book Review: World War Z

World War Z (WWZ) takes place on or around 2010 as this disease goes from a global pandemic to a full battle for survival.

It is written in an interview-style format with each chapter consisting of first person interviews of individuals who lived through the Zombie War from its initial outbreak to it's final battles and final operations.

The sampling of survivors interviewed range from soldiers who fought the losing battles in the early part of the war to the lowly civilian that barely survived. There are many accounts of how it started, how people survived, and how the war was eventually "won".

The book starts off immediately with an account of one of the survivors and takes off from there. The thought and detail Max Brooks puts into every page is astounding. He must have spent a lot of time imagining exactly what it would be like, how the disease was passed around the world, the strategies used for survival, the weapons they would use, and the emotions that they would feel.

The thing I did not like were some of the characters, which seemed absurd in the way they acted. One example is the Southern California housewife which was characterized as "typical suburban". Most of the remainder of characters were very good.

Since the book is written in an interview format, it does not allow you to follow the characters from beginning to end. Also, being that the book is a "survivor's account" of the Zombie War, you do know that they survived. However, you just don't know how they survived, nor the sacrifices that were made along the way.

The book is very good overall.

The book received very favorable reviews when it first came out. Here are some that were listed in the book.





"Zombies are among us - turn on your television if you don't believe it. But, Brooks reassures us in this all-too-realistic novel, even today human fighters are hunting down the leftovers, and we're winning. Brooks seeds his mockumentary with smart nods to the chains of cause and effect that spring from today's headlines. A literate, ironic,
strangely tasty treat." - (Starred review) Kirkus Reviews


"A horror fan's version of Studs Terkel's The Good War (1984). The interviews and
personal accounts capture the universal fear of the collapse of society. Horror fans
won't be disappointed; like George Romero's Dead trilogy, World War Z is another
milestone in the zombie mythology." - Booklist


"The novel is hard to put down. The subtle, and not so subtle, jabs at various contemporary politicians and policies are an added bonus." - Publishers Weekly


"Provocative and enthralling, World War Z is science fiction at its best. Brooks imbues the story with a deep sense of humanity, a keen appreciation for detail, and a haunting perspective on the ability-or not-of our governments, militaries, and other institutions to deal with worst-case scenarios." - Bradley Graham, Washington Post


"Max Brooks has charted the folly of a disaster response based solely on advanced technologies and brute force in this step-by-step guide to what happened in the Zombie War. Brooks' account of the path to recovery and reconstruction after the war is
fascinating. World War Z provides us with a starting point, at least, a basic blueprint from which to build a popular understanding of how, when, and why such a disaster came to be, and how small groups and individuals survived." - Jeb WeismanPh.D.,
Director of Strategic Technologies, National Center for Disaster Preparedness

Max Brook's previous book (The Zombie Survival Guide) was so well received that the prospect of a new book (World War Z) was immediately fought over, with respect to the movie rights.

The book wasn't even published yet!

After a heated bidding war with Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way, Brad Pitt's Plan B walks off with the rights to Max Brooks' tome World War Z.






Plan B won out, picking up the production rights for a reported seven figure price.