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 story

great story and great performance, however not really sure how' it ties into the movie. It does give more back story to the story but even if you haven't seen the movie you'll be fully informed and engrossed by this title.

Not just an audiobook; an experience

5 stars for everything, this coming from a lover the original book. The characters are engaging, the recounts are emotional and gritty giving a glimpse into not just a Zombie Apocalypse but the realities of war, any war.

I’d recommend this audiobook to anyone, albeit with a PG-13 rating of course. If you’ve not read the book before, this is a tremendous way to learn the story. And if you’ve read it already, get ready to meet the characters.

Truly nothing like it.

Could not have asked for more

I was already a fan of WWZ prior to listening to the audiobook. Simply put, this may be the best audiobook I have ever heard. The cast gives some great performances and brings a level of humanity to the storytelling you may not get from reading. Highly recommend this for fans of WWZ and the zombie genre.

Different then the movie.

Where does World War Z: The Complete Edition (Movie Tie-in Edition) rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Its ranks pretty pretty high.

Any additional comments?

If you have seen the movie then you should get this book. Its completely different. In a good way.

Thought-provoking and poignant

I enjoyed both versions of this book a lot and there are so many reasons why, I'm not sure I'll be able to enumerate them all.
The narration, for the most part, is top notch and the actors they chose were excellent. Each one brought a certain gravitas to their reading and each injected the emotion that I would expect if I were interviewing someone about a disaster such as World War Z. In particular, the stories behind the effort in the US to create the safe zones, the Battle of Yonkers, the flight to the Himalayas, the report of the Canadian Soldier and the Australian space-walker were some of the most informative. The most heart-wrenching, however, was the interview with the feral child. The actress deserves every award that is possible for this kind of voice-acting; I really believed, for the duration of her interview, that I was hearing about something that had actually taken place. I know that a lot of that was Brooks's writing, he was able to portray in words the experience of a child and keep it in the child-like tone and diction. That is difficult for an author, but he manages beautifully. A lot of the credit, however, goes to the actress.
The politics involved were also interesting to listen to, especially when the Allied Commander is talking about WHY the US nearly lost the war and it hits you in the gut when you realize that he is talking about America's reactions right now. Everything that he talks about is exactly the way that it is right now, both in the armed forces and with the country at large and it is frightening to think that we could be so vulnerable.
Totally worth the money to purchase. Buy it. Now.

amazing

best book I've ever listened to the cast is amazing. this book has it all.

Really enjoyed this and it's abstract perspective

it was an awesome listen and it had great voice actors. would def recommend to anyone

Excellent story

Several narrators sound flat, but it's a good story that surprised me in its depth.

Thrilling and satisfying

While some of the voice actors sounded a bit too much like they where reading instead of talking, many of them did a fine job. Story and overall narrative was well executed.

If you have twelve hours to kill...

The cast is awesome, content is full, and plot is incredibly interesting! ...Read this book!