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 like the movie!

The book was excellent. I enjoyed hearing all the different actors reading the different parts. All the human emotions that are shown of people in war, not a scary zombie story. If they had only done the movie like the book was written I might have watched it.

Familiar yet unfamiliar.

Even with the end of the world, capitalism clings to those who survive with greater strength than the undead. Leaving everyone facing the same world that was taken from them, for better and for worse. Beyond that, incredibly relevant with covid. The faults made by this books world are made in this world as well.

Best Zombie book ever written

A masterpiece. The audible book amazing. Fantastic cast ever assembled. I was happy Max did the main voice.

Such an amazing zombie tale

I loved being a looker down on a zombie apocalypse abd being able to experience a zombie take over from every walk of life. the narrators were amazing and the writing and vivid imagery made this book as enjoyable as possible.

So much better than the movie.

If you liked Zombie Survival Guide, or the movie you will probably adore this. This is more like a radio drama, less Hollywood, thank God. I wish I could find more like it.

great book!

actors do well, story is enticing, yoy almost forget that its fiction while getting lost in the narratives

Great listen but the little kid chapter was brutal and awful.

I’m about three hours in and really enjoying the book. It’s a lot different than I thought it would be but that’s ok. The chapter with the “kid” a little less than 3 hours in is just terrible acting and narrated. It sounds like an adult woman doing stereotypical baby talk that I almost stopped the book for. Luckily it was only 7-10 minutes long. Isn’t this supposed to be 12 years later or something? Wouldn’t that kid sound a bit older now and not be using baby talk?

Loved it

I really dug the book I wish more audiobooks had this production quality and talent.

Zack

Well done.

This audio production was supremely well done and I am so glad I bought it.

Incredible

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I highly recommend this book to anyone. It's a great listen and the narration is outstanding. The different narrators do a superb job of tell thier parts of the story. I gaurntee that once you start listing to this book you'll make excuses to keep from putting it down.