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)

Great performance!

The format of the this book really is well served by the audiobook format. Great use of narrators as well. This is as close to an unabridged version from what I've read. I am not a horror or even zombie fan. This book doesn't have an excessive amount of gore but does really dive into the impact of a pandemic on the people who live through it.

Killer Cast For This Undead Story

This book was absolutely incredible! I'd been wanting to read it for a long time but then heard really good reviews about the audiobook. It lives up to the hype. The very unique and sometimes chilling stories are narrated by some voices you may recognize and some you may not, but all did a spectacular job!

Entretenido e Inteligente

World War Z es una obra entretenida e inteligente sobre las distintas reacciones de gobiernos e individuos ante un brote de zombis fuera de control. Los zombis sirven de metáfora para cualquier crisis global que eventualmente nos impacte como civilización (calentamiento global, migraciones, pandemias, etc.).

Las reacciones son tan verosímiles que asustan, especialmente a nivel de gobiernos y corporaciones. Sin embargo, y sin quitarle valor a los testimonios más tensos, no resulta un libro pesimista gracias a la naturalidad, el humor y la luminosidad de algunos entrevistados. En mi opinión, el punto fuerte del libro es la parte del medio, donde la plaga de zombis se vuelve evidente e imparable. Todo se va al carajo y los entrevistados nos lo cuentan de primera mano.

Algunas voces de los testimonios quedaron escritas muy similares entre sí a pesar de pertenecer a distintos contextos. Sin embargo, el formato de audiolibro le juega a favor a la obra en este punto porque le da más versatilidad. Otro punto débil es la falta de tensión en algunos testimonios, donde el autor se enfoca más en hacer una crítica geopolítica que un testimonio atrapante. El libro cierra con las despedidas a los entrevistados, algunas de las cuales resultan flojas y conforman un remate que no hace justicia al resto de la obra.

La calidad de grabación del audiolibro es excelente y cuenta con voces de primer nivel.

my favorite

The best audio book I have listened to. A robust story full of twists and turns. Top notch voice talent. love making the connections between the various stories.

Amazing!

Read this book when it first came out and absolutely loved this new edition on audiobook. a must read for any zombie fan!

Only sad it had to end

This telling was wonderful. The cast was vibrant and in depth. They made each character come to life in a way, reading couldn't. My only sadness was at the end, because there wasn't more to experience

Phenomenal

It’s not a work of high art, but WWZ is one of the most entertaining audiobooks I’ve ever heard, and the performances and production are absolutely top notch, it honestly might be the best pure audiobook I’ve heard, and I make a point to listen to it in full every October as part of my Halloween celebrations. A+.

belongs in your audio library

this book belongs in your audible library amazing cast wonderdul preformances it isnt a zombie tale like the title suggests its a human one about war, survival and loss it's great.

One of my favorite books now

I now whole heartedly believe that the movie World War Z does not do this masterpiece of a book justice. Each story told as if it was a real moment of our history. I almost believed I was living it. Like we had all suffered through a zombie outbreak. Each story with a certain theme or lesson to learn. And so many pieces I wish were turned into full length books. I wanna know every story of everyone from the minute the outbreak started to where they are now. For anyone getting audible for the first time. This book is definitely a must to listen to

What the movie should have been!

One of the most well thought out books I have read. The author dives into every aspect of what would happen if zombies took over the planet, he left no stone unturned!