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)

as good as I remember from the book!

WWZ is a great read and the audio version is a fantastic listen! I was impressed by the amount of good voice talent!

Sad to think the movie could have been this good

Don't be put off by the movie tie-in, it's an amazing book and an outstanding performance

Wow

I was a fan of the movie and people always told me the book was way better and to give it a try, I’m glad I finally did. It was a great story and was rather emotional at parts, the audiobook is probably the best I’ve ever listened to.

Great

The book is better, more complete and has fun footnotes, but this is a fantastic audiobook

Reply engaging

This is so well done. The whole cast did just an amazing job of really painting this as an oral history. Stunning.

A great listen for movie and non movie fans alike

I love the cast selection! I listen to this book probably once a month just based on the cast performance alone, throw in some very immersive story telling and that's what keeps me coming back for more

Read by a full cast and is very authentic.

It had me questioning weather or not the events in this book actually happened. Max Brooks really did his research when writing this book and you can tell the love her has for the subject matter. Best zombie book ever.

Great story!

One of my favorite readings. Familiar voices and great acting make it worth a second listen.

Much more than Zombies.

Over and over I have to explain to zombie haters why I like this book.I love post-apocalytiic tales, but WWZ has a slightly different angle. It's a thought-provoking exploration of what MIGHT happen to the world, should we have to fight this kind of war and what this kind of unconventional enemy/threat would be like; from many, many POV. It's especially entertaining with the top-notch cast and the addition of the other material makes it far more interesting. Mark Hamill is a favorite, much to my own surprise!

Excellent book, excellent reading, a couple of disappointments

I love this book. Love, love, love it, and I've always wanted to hear it read aloud, ever since that disappointing movie. This audiobook was excellent, though there were a few notable disappointments, particularly in Sharon's interview. I wish they'd replicated her sound effects, as well as those of other characters, such as Wainio's tapping. Her moan was also a bit disappoint, seeing as how it was hyped up as terrifyingly realistic. I don't know, maybe zombies just sound kinda dumb. There were some great high points, though. I ADORED the voices of the Whacko and Wainio, as well as Joe and Dr. Jingshu. Other than the lack of sound effects and poor moan, Sharon was excellent as well, and everyone did a great job of capturing the character and how they felt. I'd give this a 4.5 in performance if I could, probably a five if I didn't feel the need to point out my one major qualm