World War Z: The Complete Edition

An Oral History of the Zombie War

By: Max Brooks

Narrated by: Max Brooks, Alan Alda, John Turturro, Rob Reiner, Mark Hamill, Alfred Molina, Simon Pegg, Henry Rollins, Martin Scorsese

Length: 12 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

Audie Award Winner, Multi-Voiced Performance, 2014

World War Z: The Complete Edition (Movie Tie-in Edition): An Oral History of the Zombie War is a new version of Max Brooks' episodic zombie novel. The abridged versions of the original stories are now joined with new, unabridged recordings of the episodes that were not included in the original (abridged) version of the audiobook. These additional episodes feature a star-studded cast of narrators to coincide with the upcoming release of the film.

New narrators include Academy Award-winning director Martin Scorsese, Spiderman star Alfred Molina, The Walking Dead creator Frank Darabont, rapper Common, Firefly star Nathan Fillion, Shaun of the Dead's Simon Pegg, and members of the casts of Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Heroes and more! Max Brooks will be reprising his role as The Interviewer.

The original abridged edition, released in 2006, won an Audie Award for Best Multi-Voiced Performance. Original cast members include Alan Alda, Mark Hamill, Carl & Rob Reiner, and John Turturro.

In this new classic of apocalyptic fiction that feels all too real, the Zombie War came unthinkably close to eradicating humanity. The documentary-style oral history records 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.

Featuring five more hours of previously unrecorded content, this full-cast recording is read by F. Murray Abraham, Alan Alda, René Auberjonois, Becky Ann Baker, Dennis Boutsikaris, Bruce Boxleitner, Max Brooks, Nicki Clyne, Common, Denise Crosby, Frank Darabont, Dean Edwards, Mark Hamill, Nathan Fillion, Maz Jobrani, Frank Kamai, Michelle Kholos, John McElroy, Ade M’Cormack, Alfred Molina, Parminder Nagra, Ajay Naidu, Masi Oka, Steve Park, Kal Penn, Simon Pegg, Jürgen Prochnow, Carl Reiner, Rob Reiner, Henry Rollins, Jeri Ryan, Jay O. Sanders, Martin Scorsese, Paul Sorvino, David Ogden Stiers, Brian Tee, John Turturro, Eamonn Walker, Ric Young, and Waleed Zuaiter.

©2006 Max Brooks (P)2012 Random House

Critic reviews

"What happens after the end of the world as we know it? Humanity rebuilds, and Kirby Impoinvil (Max Brooks) is there to help survivors make sense of what happened the day the zombies came. Helping author Brooks is a host of family friends, including Alan Alda, Nathan Fillion, Paul Sorvino, Rob Reiner, Carl Reiner, Simon Pegg, John Turturro, and many others. This audio production was released to coincide with the movie of the same name. That it’s a real drama is not surprising given the stellar cast. They don't just read the book, they act it out. And don’t think this is a teen thriller. The zombies serve as a backdrop to the larger story of how humankind reacts to such an unexpected and catastrophic invasion and the inevitable conclusion that millions must be sacrificed to save the rest. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2014. Audies Finalist." (AudioFile magazine)

Not Scary

Any additional comments?

The many stories that make up this book jump around in terms of focus, be it political, military, ordinary Joes surviving, or some that seemed to only be there to give an occasional creepy air. It did, at least, group them in a manner that made chronological sense. Some stories were memorable. Others were so drab my mind continuously wandered. I couldn't get past 40 pages of this author's Zombie survival guide so I wasn't expecting much going in. I'd have given this book 3 stars if not for the absolutely stellar narration from the many readers of this work. If you are looking for zombie thrills, look on. Only a couple hours will fit the bill. Its more of a post apocalypse chin scratcher.

Great listening

I wasn't bored or lost ever! l would recommend this to anyone who wants to read but doesn't have time.

Wow. Just Fantastic.

What did you love best about World War Z: The Complete Edition (Movie Tie-in Edition)?

This book has nothing to do with the movie, which is a good thing. The story reads like a historical account of a war, except the war is entirely fictional (for now). Incredible voice cast makes you feel like you are fully immersed in the story. They range from funny, to heartwarming, to absolutely tragic. Excellent book.

What other book might you compare World War Z: The Complete Edition (Movie Tie-in Edition) to and why?

And WW2 historical account. It's presented like non-fiction with candid interviews.

What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Personality. I feel that the book is well written, so there would still be panache to the language itself, but the individual voices for each story really bring it all together for me.

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

We fought. We won. We will remember. We will never forget.

Any additional comments?

Listen to it, seriously. You won't regret it. Perfect for non-fiction fans looking for something different, or fiction fans looking for more serious fare.

Spectacular

A full cast bring this fantastic book to life. If you've seen the silly movie, I need to tell you the book is very different and extremely well done!
Enjoy

It was awesome

Great awesome amazing fantastic crazy good ginormous met expectations sex in you ears orgasmic shabang

I wish the movie could have done this justice

The paperback book and this audible reading are spectacular. Such a shame that the movie was such a failure "Thanks a lot Hollywood". I recommend this audible book to everyone be you a fan of zombie fiction or not

amazing.

loved this audiobook. Listened to it on my drives to work. love the fact that every chapter is a different reader

Absolutely Brilliant!

While the book itself is amazing, the decision to have a different narrator for each "interview" was perfect. Well known actors each are given a part where the character gives their tale of how they survived World War Z.

I feel like this was a labor of love and I highly recommend it to anyone!

This.

Would you consider the audio edition of World War Z: The Complete Edition (Movie Tie-in Edition) to be better than the print version?

I wouldn't go as far as to say better, but it brought the book a new life that I felt really made it feel just a bit more real.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Picking a single character from this is not easy for me.

Have you listened to any of the narrators’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This was done by multiple voice actors, each covering specific characters. In the few cases where an actor doubled up, it was hard to tell. The changing voices, in this case, actually helped lend a feel to this audio adaptation that made sense. Each different character sounded much like they appeared to me. In a way, it gave every character a kind of look to latch on to.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

There were sections of this story that left you feeling really drawn in. Certain bits pulled you into their part of the tale deeper than you'd expect to be. Some, you couldn't help but feel a deep sympathy for. One or two you couldn't help but want to hit with a Lobo, but they were supposed to come off like that anyway.

Fantastic!

I went into this after having seen the movie already. I had heard that it was pretty different and didn't really know what to expect.

I was really impressed! The voice acting was amazing and really drew you into the story. Much better than the movie!!!!!!!