Synopsis: "Brooks, the author of the determinedly straight-faced parody The Zombie Survival Guide (2003), returns in all seriousness to the zombie theme for his second outing, a future history in the style of Theodore Judson's Fitzpatrick's War. Brooks tells the story of the world's desperate battle against the zombie threat with a series of first-person accounts "as told to the author" by various characters around the world. A Chinese doctor encounters one of the earliest zombie cases at a time when the Chinese government is ruthlessly suppressing any information about the outbreak that will soon spread across the globe. The tale then follows the outbreak via testimony of smugglers, intelligence officials, military personnel and many others who struggle to defeat the zombie menace. Despite its implausible premise and choppy delivery, the novel is surprisingly hard to put down. The subtle, and not so subtle, jabs at various contemporary politicians and policies are an added bonus." Source
World War Z is one of the few books I DIDN'T hear about through word of mouth and just happened to pick up at the bookstore due to the interesting title. "A book about a zombie war! How awesomely hilarious!" were my thoughts after reading the back cover. Well, World War Z IS awesome, just not necessarily in a hilarious kind of way. World War Z has ended up being the best book I've read this year.
The book takes the form of a collection of interviews taken from those who survived the fictitious global zombie war. This strategy suceeds on several levels. Brooks gives us interviews with people from all walks of life, all across the globe. By doing this, Brooks is able to cover within 300 pages the entire duration of a war that lasted around 10 years, if my memory serves. That is a feat within itself. We see the military tactics and strategy shift from being targeted at living, breathing opponents for whom fear is a motivator, to the undead who can only annihilated and not reasoned with or scared into peace.
However, don't think this is some kind of military/zombie movie fan's dream come true. Most of the book focuses on those who were civilians before and during outbreak of the war. We see how the zombie war completely changed the lives of individuals and society. We also get a very clear view of the fear and panic that gripped people as the zombie plague spread across the globe. The ineptitude of the government's initial response and the greed of those who seek to profit from the uncertainty and confusion will ring true for anyone who pays attention to the real news.
The ultimate reason I would classify World War Z as "great" book rather than an "entertaining," or simply "good," book is the sincere human emotion that pervades it. What comes through in the interviews with these characters are the same hopes, fears, sorrows, and anger that are part of daily life, as cliche as this sounds. As the book's setting is the modern, globalized world, it is quite easy to relate to the characters and events within it, even if it does center around a zombie war. I'd recommend this book to anyone who can cope with zombies in their books as the zombie war simply provides the conflict necessary to explore the feelings of the characters. In short, World War Z isn't what you'd expect from an author whose previous book was "The Zombie Survival Guide," a sort of satire of zombie movie conventions and cliches. I hope to see more books like World War Z from Mr. Brooks in the future.
World War Z is one of the few books I DIDN'T hear about through word of mouth and just happened to pick up at the bookstore due to the interesting title. "A book about a zombie war! How awesomely hilarious!" were my thoughts after reading the back cover. Well, World War Z IS awesome, just not necessarily in a hilarious kind of way. World War Z has ended up being the best book I've read this year.
The book takes the form of a collection of interviews taken from those who survived the fictitious global zombie war. This strategy suceeds on several levels. Brooks gives us interviews with people from all walks of life, all across the globe. By doing this, Brooks is able to cover within 300 pages the entire duration of a war that lasted around 10 years, if my memory serves. That is a feat within itself. We see the military tactics and strategy shift from being targeted at living, breathing opponents for whom fear is a motivator, to the undead who can only annihilated and not reasoned with or scared into peace.
However, don't think this is some kind of military/zombie movie fan's dream come true. Most of the book focuses on those who were civilians before and during outbreak of the war. We see how the zombie war completely changed the lives of individuals and society. We also get a very clear view of the fear and panic that gripped people as the zombie plague spread across the globe. The ineptitude of the government's initial response and the greed of those who seek to profit from the uncertainty and confusion will ring true for anyone who pays attention to the real news.
The ultimate reason I would classify World War Z as "great" book rather than an "entertaining," or simply "good," book is the sincere human emotion that pervades it. What comes through in the interviews with these characters are the same hopes, fears, sorrows, and anger that are part of daily life, as cliche as this sounds. As the book's setting is the modern, globalized world, it is quite easy to relate to the characters and events within it, even if it does center around a zombie war. I'd recommend this book to anyone who can cope with zombies in their books as the zombie war simply provides the conflict necessary to explore the feelings of the characters. In short, World War Z isn't what you'd expect from an author whose previous book was "The Zombie Survival Guide," a sort of satire of zombie movie conventions and cliches. I hope to see more books like World War Z from Mr. Brooks in the future.
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