I’m slowly working my way through some of the popular horror novels, because if I’m going to call myself a fan of all things horror, I better have read a good number of them! Well anyway, World War Z , of course, was on the list. This one came highly recommended by a lot of you, because I particularly love zombie stories. Unfortunately, I had to DNF this one, and there was one big reason why.
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks Published by Crown on September 12th 2006
Genres: Horror
Pages: 342
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Goodreads
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.
Reading World War Z was elucidating, because I realized that it’s not just blood, gore, and scary monsters that I like in horror novels. It’s the suspense.
World War Z is a series of interviews where people are talking about what happened to them. HappenED as in the past tense. So guess what? I KNOW CIVILIZATION SURVIVES because there are people being interviewed that are talking about their experiences IN. THE. PAST! I got about halfway through the book –in the middle of all the cool zombie action scenes– when I realized I didn’t care about what was going on. It was basically like reading a history book of the zombie apocalypse (BUT OH WAIT IT WASN’T AN APOCALYPSE BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE STILL ALIVE).
Because it lacked suspense, there was nothing for me to wonder about, no one for me to fear for, and therefore it wasn’t fun for me anymore. Why turn the pages if I know that things are going to end up okay in the end? At least, those were the thoughts that went through my head.
So while I am bummed that World War Z wasn’t for me, it was good for me to learn that it’s not the “scary stuff” that makes a horror novel good to me, it’s all the sitting at the edge of my seat.
DNF at 50%
Do you like suspense in your stories?
A.S. Thornton has evolved from book blogger to author with a particular fondness for writing forbidden love in ancient deserts. When not writing, she’s caring for dogs and cats as a veterinarian. You’ll never find animals at the center of her writing, though, because those fictional worlds don’t have veterinarians and her literal brain can’t accept that the poor critters would be without parasite prevention. Thornton’s debut, DAUGHTER OF THE SALT KING is available wherever books are sold.
Vanessa
That’s so weird! I saw the movie and it was super intense and action packed. I’ll skip the book then. I like sci-fi, but not heavy leaning sci-fi. Well, I know it’s Horror, but you know what I”m trying to say. There are a few books that are told in that style that works, but hmm this sounds to “factual”.
Let’s see: Sleeping Giants has an interview-style format. Illuminae is a series of transcripts, interviews, and “evidence”. I haven’t read those ones yet. Have you read other stories with similar style to World War Z?
Ali
I LOVED the movie, which is why I read the book. They are VERY different. I read both Sleeping Giants and Illuminae. I enjoyed them both. I think WWZ was a little too military heavy for me? Who knows!