World War Z

[Archangel]

Is anyone here reading this, I think I'm going to pick it up tonight.

http://www.bordersmedia.com/shortlist/091406/wwz/ (http://www.bordersmedia.com/shortlist/091406/wwz/)

About the Author: Max Brooks's previous book, The Zombie Survival Guide, formed the core of the world's civilian survival manuals during the Zombie War. Mr. Brooks subsequently spent years traveling to every part of the globe in order to conduct the face-to-face interviews that have been incorporated into this present publication.

Description: The Zombie War came unthinkably close to eradicating humanity. Max Brooks, driven by the urgency of preserving the acid-etched first-hand experiences of the survivors from those apocalyptic years, traveled across the United States of America and throughout the world, from decimated cities that once teemed with upwards of thirty million souls to the most remote and inhospitable areas of the planet. He recorded 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. World War Z is the result. Never before have we had access to a document that so powerfully conveys the depth of fear and horror, and also the ineradicable spirit of resistance, that gripped human society through the plague years.
Ranging from the now infamous village of New Dachang in the United Federation of China, where the epidemiological trail began with the twelve-year-old Patient Zero, to the unnamed northern forests where untold numbers sought a terrible and temporary refuge in the cold, to the United States of Southern Africa, where the Redeker Plan provided hope for humanity at an unspeakable price, to the west-of-the-Rockies redoubt where the North American tide finally started to turn, this invaluable chronicle reflects the full scope and duration of the Zombie War.
Most of all, the book captures with haunting immediacy the human dimension of this epochal event. Facing the often raw and vivid nature of these personal accounts requires a degree of courage on the part of the reader, but the effort is invaluable because, as Mr. Brooks says in his introduction, "By excluding the human factor, aren't we risking the kind of personal detachment from history that may, heaven forbid, lead us one day to repeat it? And in the end, isn't the human factor the only true difference between us and the enemy we now refer to as 'the living dead'?"
Note: Some of the numerical and factual material contained in this edition was previously published under the auspices of the United Nations Postwar Commission.

[Zurbaran1]

I brought this book up in a thread a few weeks back when I first heard about it. My copy should be here any day now from Amazon and I'll get to it when I'm done with the Ice & Fire books. I think the book was reviewed in the current issue of Entertainment Weekly.

[Johnneeukca]

Have you read the Zombie Survival Guide? Very funny read. Coovers a whole range of info like which dwelling is best to fend of a zombie attack and which is the worst. Which weapons are most effective, and how to "fit in" like a zombie. Do you know which vehicle is best to escape from zombies? A bicycle, because it doesn't need fuel and you can get off and hop it over a wall if needed. Fantastic stuff. And it comes with illustrations.

J

[Archangel]

Have you read the Zombie Survival Guide? Very funny read. Coovers a whole range of info like which dwelling is best to fend of a zombie attack and which is the worst. Which weapons are most effective, and how to "fit in" like a zombie. Do you know which vehicle is best to escape from zombies? A bicycle, because it doesn't need fuel and you can get off and hop it over a wall if needed. Fantastic stuff. And it comes with illustrations.

J

My wife just finished reading the Zombie Survival Guide and really liked it. I'm half way through World War Z and it's a great read. The stories are broken up into short interviews so it's really easy to pick up and put down. I'll read the survival guide afterwards.

[Archangel]

I finished reading this book, very enjoyable. It's a strange read beacause you read about peoples recountings of the war and forget that, oh yeah they were at war with zombies and not some rogue nation.:thumbs2:

[Comicboy]

Pretty good read. There's some pretty freaky stories. Now I have to read the Survival Guide. What other good horror-like books are there to read? I've read all the King books, but I'm talking zombies, vamps, etc....

[Archangel]

Pretty good read. There's some pretty freaky stories. Now I have to read the Survival Guide. What other good horror-like books are there to read? I've read all the King books, but I'm talking zombies, vamps, etc....

I've started, "The Road" by Cormac Mccarthy. It came out last week and have enjoyed it very much. It's not about zombies but it's in a post apocalyptic atmosphere... very gray and shows the core of all that's being human, disturbing.

Oh, and people are eatting other people!:buttrock:

[Comicboy]

Sweet! I like apocalyptic books as well. I picked up Survival Guide for $10 so I'm going to be digging into that here pretty soon. There is another book I was going to tell you about but I can't for the life of me remember the name. I'll ask my wife she'll know, but anyway it's along the lines of The Stand. Good vs. Evil, end of the world type stuff. It's going to drive me nuts, I haven't read it in a very long time and I can't find it on the shelves.

[Comicboy]

The name of the book I was trying to think of before is Swan Song. No idea who wrote it. I finished Zombie Survival Guide. Didn't much care for it really. It's not what I expected, it's an actual guide. I didn't find any real humor in it though, but good tips on how to survive a Zombie infestation. I liked WWZ better. :D

[Johnneeukca]

Robert Mccammon wrote Swan Song. Awesome book from a fantastic author. Couple of other recommendations by the same author: Wolf's Hour, Mine and Speaks the Nightbird.

Website www.robertmccammon.com

[MiamiLoco]

ComicBoy haven't you read "I am Legend"?? Great book!!

[Comicboy]

ComicBoy haven't you read "I am Legend"?? Great book!!

Nope, but I intend to now. Thanks Loco! There is a movie coming out based on this I gather from what I've read. I also read Omega Man was very loosely based on this but it was butchered.

[Comicboy]

Robert Mccammon wrote Swan Song. Awesome book from a fantastic author. Couple of other recommendations by the same author: Wolf's Hour, Mine and Speaks the Nightbird.

Website www.robertmccammon.com

Very cool, thanks! It's funny we have Wolf's Hour on our shelf, I don't think I ever finished it though. Mine and Speaks the Nightbird I've never heard of. I guess I have some reading to do.

[MiamiLoco]

Nope, but I intend to now. Thanks Loco! There is a movie coming out based on this I gather from what I've read. I also read Omega Man was very loosely based on this but it was butchered.
Yeah, pick up this book ASAP!!! Here is some nice trivia:

* 1968: Night of the Living Dead directed and written by George Romero, who acknowledges the initial idea for which was drawn from Matheson's book. The movie has spawned numerous sequels and clones.

* 1984: Night of the Comet concerns the survivors of a mass extinction resulting from a comet's close sweep to Earth. The survivors are split between those unaffected by the comet and those who have been transformed into murderous, zombie-like creatures.

* 2002: 28 Days Later, by Trainspotting director Danny Boyle which takes the zombie movie template established by Romero. However, 28 Days Later does not feature the traditional slow-moving reanimated corpses of most zombie films, but does feature outright murderous, angry hordes of what are essentially diseased, but not undead, people; the "infected" in Boyle's film share such qualities with the vampires in I Am Legend.

* 2007: I Am Legend is directed by Francis Lawrence and stars Will Smith. The screenplay was initially drafted by Mark Protosevich and has been revised by Akiva Goldsman. I Am Legend began filming in late September 2006 and is slated for a November 21, 2007 release.

[rric528]

Just finished WW Z. Great book! Would recomend it to anyone interested in horror or military/political novels.

[Gangleri]

Read the Survival Guide and enjoyed it ..... am looking to WW Z.

First heard about the author and both books when he appeared on the Late Late Show.
Ever since (Ferguson's book "Between the bridge and the River" is like his monologue, funny, insightful but it bounces around alot ) the host wrote a book he's had some interesting authors on. Can recommend Denise Mina (strong female characters)mysteries after watching the show and reading her books.

[mrmoto]

Robert Mccammon wrote Swan Song. Awesome book from a fantastic author. Couple of other recommendations by the same author: Wolf's Hour, Mine and Speaks the Nightbird.

Website www.robertmccammon.com

Robert McCammon is AWESOME!!

I've read the majority of his work. WOLF'S HOUR, THEY THIRST (you might imagine the characters as the ones in the film, NEAR DARK!) and MINE are great to start with.

McCammon disappeared for 10 years, and finally released SPEAKS THE NIGHTBIRD. I gotta say, it was an extremely tedious read. I really didn't like it and slogged to the end.

Hope we don't have to wait another 10 years.

[Raven1014]

Found this tidbit on another website.

http://geeksofdoom.com/2007/02/24/straczynski-to-adapt-world-war-z/

While discussing his upcoming projects at this weekend’s New York Comic Con, writer J. Michael Straczynski said that he is adapting the Max Brooks novel World War Z for Paramount Studios.

The writer stressed that his adaptation will be “very faithful to the book,” which centers around first-hand accounts from human survivors of a zombie war. Since the book does not feature a main character, the writer will make the journalist interviewing the survivors of the war the protagonist.