Kathryn’s Pick: World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks

World War Z is a documentary-like novel that follows the story of multiple survivors left wandering in the decomposing world slowly being overrun by zombies. We as readers get brief glimpses into the lives of these survivors as The Great Panic, or World War Z, begins to unfold. The beginning of this novel gives personal insight on the governmental decay and how survivors begin to learn the true depth of this event. Rarely do we as readers get to truly witness the initial outbreak and the preparation era in zombie franchises and instead we’re left wondering: “How did this all happen?”. Luckily, Max Brooks took the idea of interviewing or documenting “personal” stories in this war and turned it into an easy-flowing book that allows readers to effortlessly get invested.

The movie adaptation of this book was great but it does not follow true to this novel. Unlike the movie, readers will learn to love many characters as this book does not follow a single group for too long. I personally believe the historical variety displayed instead is well worth that lack of deep character connections. If you have enjoyed the movie adaptation or are into horror and zombies, I highly recommend giving this book a try.