World War Z

By: Max Brooks

Narrated by: Christopher Ragland, Rupert Farley, Nigel Pilkington, Jennifer Woodward, David Thorpe, Adam Sims, Robert Slade

Length: 13 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

"The end was near." Voices from the Zombie War.

The Zombie War came unthinkably close to eradicating humanity. Max Brooks, driven by the urgency of preserving the acid-etched firsthand experiences of the survivors from those apocalyptic years, traveled across the United States of America and throughout the world, from decimated cities that once teemed with upwards of thirty million souls to the most remote and inhospitable areas of the planet.

He recorded the testimony of men, women, and sometimes children who came face-to-face with the living - or at least the undead - hell of that dreadful time. World War Z is the result. Never before have we had access to a document that so powerfully conveys the depth of fear and horror, and also the ineradicable spirit of resistance, that gripped human society through the plague years.

©2012 Max Brooks (P)2012 Audible Ltd

movie was totally stupid imho

this is wonderful, the movie was nothing even like it. helped me get through LASIK recovery.

Best Zombie story i have heard

The last 2 chapter are somewhat slow and tired, but when the other 52 chapters are pure gold i can live with a weak ending
😊

How did they manage to botch the movie

The book is awesome. The movie must have been made at the end of a month long drinking session.

Interresting storytelling style for zombie stories

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

For entertainment, it was. But it is not a great book, it is a ok book. Some of the characters are very stereotypical or mono dimensional. There is very little surprise in the book and there is very little foundation of why the zombie plague succeeded to spread. Most of it relies on the fact that people are under prepared.

What did you like best about this story?

The diversity of situations is very interesting. Some of the stories are actually very good and plausible. Also, the criticism to some aspects of international and local politics are valid in my opinion.

What three words best describe the narrators’s voice?

Good not amazing

Could you see World War Z being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

It would be interesting if it was made in a documentary format. Stars? no idea. This movie would be better done with local actors of different countries than with famous ones.

Any additional comments?

If you are looking for a thriller, this book is not for you. This book explores cultural differences and their flaws into deal with big crisis. In my point of view, it is a good snapshot of the world as it is right now, disguised inside a zombie outbreak.

Yawn…

If it wasn’t for the great narration on this, it would’ve scored far less.
60k different stories crammed into one book. Zero suspense. And I mean zero.
Definitely in my worst 5 books listened on this platform.

A pity the unabridged version is inferior

Fans waited for an unabridged version of the audiobook with bated breath... and it's been a bit of a letdown. For a book that seems tailor-made for the aural medium - it is a spoken word history of the titular war after all - the performances were uneven, some of them particularly weak, and some of the accents were absolutely terrible. Given the care and thought that went into the original abridged celebrity-laden audio book - not even legally available in some countries - it's a pity that the same attention wasn't given to this unabridged version. There are countless audiobook performers who, although not stars like Alan Alda, Henry Rollins etc, could have done very good jobs with these stories and characters. I would recommend this version for hardcore fans only.

An Oral History (Not like the film)

It wasn't until I'd seen the film and read the reviews of how much it deviated from the original novel that I decided to take the plunge. If you're looking for a 'kicking zombie ass' post-apocalyptic action thriller, don't buy this.

If, on the other hand, you're interested in just how craftily speculative fiction can be employed to critique modern society, this is a masterpiece.

Not bad.

Pretty good, I like the story but not so much the delivery. Constant interview after interview. Felt very samey after a while. I think I'd have liked more flashback sequences and action.

Modern Classic

Any additional comments?

How this author took a done to death concept, mixed it up, and made it fresh & exciting I will never know. There is a reason they made a movie about this with one of the most popular actors on the planet in the lead - A BIG REASON! But good news if you have seen the movie there is lots more they did not film in here for you to listen to. Enjoy!

A great way to tell a story

Would you consider the audio edition of World War Z to be better than the print version?

I have not read the print version but this book is tailor made for an audible book

What did you like best about this story?

The cast of voices, the stories that they told were very believable

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Zombies are doomed, by land, sea, air or space, we will get them

Any additional comments?

I was surprised by how better this was than I had expected. I loved the way we traveled the world listening to the stories of the survivors and the fighters. How the author turned a phrase or a nickname for a Zombie or a weapon was clever and well thought out.

Enjoy this, I have not seen the movie yet but would be surprised if both are the same somehow to me that is not a discouragement for either.