Extra Reading: World War Z by Max Brooks

Extra Reading: World War Z by Max Brooks

            I can only speak as a casual book reader and as someone who loves zombies and political intrigue. That said you need to get a copy and read World War Z. It is one of the grimmest looks at the zombie uprising and should definitely be on any readers list of things to read.

            First of all, in this day and age where the zombie apocalypse dominates horror media, this is the pinnacle of zombie literature. If you are going to read any book with the undead in it, let it be World War Z.

            World War Z is presented as an alternate history where in a series of interviews (short stories) are linked together to tell the story of  the war against the undead. What make it so excellent is that every story is from a different perspective with a different tone and tale to tell. You have the badass female fighter pilot who may be slightly crazy, the mentally damaged survivor who had to learn to survive by herself after losing her family and friends, to the arrogant CEO who made millions selling a fake Zombie vaccine. You hear how the cultures of the world responded and barely held off the undead. It really does seem more like a historical fiction instead of a Zombie apocalypse story. In addition to this rich cast of characters you have a hypothetical example of how such a pandemic might affect the world. No culture felt stereotyped or overdone. They all had villains and heroes. Most of all, they had normal people doing exceptional things.

            This is a war book at its heart and you will need to enjoy history or large military conflict to appreciate it fully. If neither of those are your cup of tea, then you should still read it for the human folly presented by every group; From the leaders of the New Russian nation to the Israelis who quarantine themselves. Again I cannot tell you how different and unique the voice of each character is. They all have their own problems to deal with and they handle them in different ways.

            I feel I can only weaken my cause by gushing over this book anymore but I simple cannot help it. It is fantastic and deserves to be read, especially by the millennials who are now experiencing the end of the Zombie craze. Max Brooks recognized that zombies would be big and he did them better than anyone else I have ever read. A+++

(only watch the movie knowing that it is nothing like the book. It is still an okay movie in its own right but it really shouldn’t ne called World War Z)