World War Z
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 First edition cover | |
| Author | Max Brooks |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Horror, Satirical novel |
| Publisher | Crown |
Publication date | September 12, 2006 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (Hardback/Paperback), Ebook, Audiobook |
| Pages | 352 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 0307346609 Parameter error in {{ISBNT}}: invalid character |
World War Z (abbreviated WWZ) is a novel by Max Brooks which chronicles a theoretical zombie apocalypse, specifically the titular "Zombie World War", as a series of after-the-fact interviews with prominent survivors. It is a follow-up to his previous book, The Zombie Survival Guide. However, though Guide can be considered an extended 'dead-pan' joke, WWZ is much more serious - even tragic - in tone, and strives (within its fantastic premise) to be both factually and psychologically convincing. The book was released on September 12, 2006; a movie based on it is in the pre-production stage.
Plot summary
Taking place in the 2010s, the book charts a war against the undead from global pandemic to mass panic, and then to an armed struggle to reclaim the planet. Rather than a grand overview or a single perspective, World War Z is instead a collection of individual accounts, each revealing an aspect of the larger plot and simultaneously presenting a very personal tale. These different accounts take the form of interviews. The book draws from post-apocalyptic and zombie literature. "The Great Panic" chapter describes the rout of civilization in a similar manner to H.G. Wells's The War of the Worlds. The tales cover many genres -- the story of a Chinese admiral who spent the war on a submarine would fit easily among techno-thrillers. The viewpoint is not exclusively American, but focuses on the global nature of the struggle. This use of small personal tales creates a patchwork tapestry of the larger events unfolding in the book. Brooks addresses current issues such as environmentalism, the War on Terrorism and international health care. He also offers an interesting juxtaposition between the modern world and that of postwar Earth. For example, Cuba becomes the world's leading economy, Great Britain becomes a major producer of oil, and Tibet becomes the most populous country. This vision of a postwar Earth is startling in its contrast to that of today. It is implied that tribal groups such as South American Indians, Zulu of Southern Africa and Māori of New Zealand fared surprisingly well. One character relates an anecdote about how 500 Māori took on half of the Auckland horde, using traditional tribal weapons, and fared much better than the world's various military forces or Western civilians.
Characters
The book consists of a series of more than forty personal accounts from war survivors.
Major epochs of World War Z
 | This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. (January 2008) |
Brooks breaks down the zombie war into a series of distinct chronological periods according to the changing state of events and attitudes towards the situation:
Pre-War
Brooks uses the term "pre-war" to refer to the time before the first infection of the Class Four outbreak (see Zombie Survival Guide), which is the main focus of the novel. The pre-war world largely reflects the modern real world. Some events that Brooks refers to in the pre-war take place in the near future.
The Beginning
China witnesses the first reported outbreaks: refugees carry the virus to other nations. Maintaining the environmental theme of the book, the first outbreak occurs at a village now submerged as a result of the Three Gorges Dam. It is theorized in the book that the outbreak was the result of germ warfare research by the Chinese government that went out of control[citation needed]. As the plague spreads through Africa, it is first referred to as "African rabies" or "jungle rabies."
Some military and intelligence organizations begin to identify the threat, but most world leaders dismiss the possibility of a large scale outbreak or the presence of a virus that would reanimate the dead. A pharmaceutical developer sells a vaccine ("Phalanx") for the zombie virus, earning a fortune. However, Phalanx is only a vaccine against real rabies, not the zombie virus. "Alpha Teams" are deployed by the US government to combat isolated infestations. The combined effects of the cold weather and Alpha Teams reduce the number of zombie outbreaks, and with Phalanx perceived as an effective vaccine, the populace is lulled into a false sense of security. However, by spring the zombies become more active with warmer weather, and soon begin to overwhelm government response. A female journalist breaks the news that Phalanx is useless against the virus. This alerts the public, but also leads to mass hysteria.
The only nation during this period to take effective measures against the spread of the virus is Israel, which enacts a voluntary quarantine, first offering all Jewish people refuge, as well as Arabs' who had lived in the pre 1967 areas. A large all inclusive perimeter wall is built around the most easily defended area, with Israel Abandoning Jerusalem due to it being a large bulge in their lines, tactically a nightmare to defend against the undead.
The Great Panic
The Great Panic is the name given by Brooks to the time of mass hysteria surrounding humanity's awareness of the reality facing them. The Panic begins when the infection starts to overrun countries in Europe and the Western Hemisphere. Refugees escaping from blighted areas help to speed up the rate of infection in other nations. At the same time, the undead begin to outnumber the living in Africa and India. The number of zombies begins to increase exponentially, and combined with the mishandling of news coverage by the media, the first that many typical middle-class suburban Americans know of the undead threat is when zombies come crashing through their living room windows.
Many in North America migrate to northern Canada, hoping to put themselves beyond zombie territory. They are also motivated by the knowledge that zombies are immobile in an icy environment, but few of them have enough material or skill to survive a sub-Arctic winter, not to mention the inability of the land to support such a large influx of humans. Consequently the area plunges into violence and starvation, and its people resort to cannibalism.
One story tells of the response given by the American people, the general panic and civilians attempt to protect themselves, which consisted of a mob of living armed with baseball bats, blunt objects, and one man specifically who was rollerblading with a hockeystick that had a cleaver crudely attached to its end.
Another account came from the perspective of a mercenary who was hired by an unnamed (for 'legal reasons') rich executive to guard his sanctuary. He invites many celebrities to ride out the storm in his fortress, including people referred to as the 'Get it Done guy', the 'Political Talkshow Comedian', and the 'rich spoiled whore, famous for being a rich spoiled whore', leaving their identities to be assumed by the reader. However, due to a hunger for attention, their publicity attracts thousands of 'ordinary people' to seek refuge at the stronghold. The mercenaries, who signed up to fight the undead, refuse to shoot the invading humans and the complex is overrun.
The peak of the Great Panic is the Battle Of Yonkers, where the U.S. military planned to reassure the American people by attacking and eliminating the bulk of New York City's zombie infestation. The battle was a complete "victory" for the zombies, demonstrating that even the greatest, coordinated efforts of the military could not stop the zombies. The result was that the public watched many members of the United States military being slaughtered on live television. The American people, after seeing the pinnacle of their technology "fall flat on its hyper-tech ass", loses hope in its government, devastating the national morale and marking the end of a coherent American response for some time. Less than two weeks after Yonkers, the eastern United States is abandoned in a massive retreat by the military to establish a new defensive line at the Rocky Mountains. For several weeks, near-chaos reigned as the zombies increased in number exponentially and those east of the Rockies were left to their fate. Other similar events were experienced by many developed countries, when their prewar armies were routed against the undead and technology developed failed.
Other notable events during this period were the responses made by other countries. Pakistan and Iran had a small nuclear exchange resulting from panic and communications breakdown. Mexico, and South American citizens flock desperately North in a futile effort to reach safety leaving a large number of undead in the American Mid West. Almost the entire population of Japan is evacuated to the Kamchatka peninsula (two of those inadvertantly 'left behind' are characters in the novel). There was mass migration onto the oceans as many flee their homelands for the relative safety of the sea.
Russia relied on Spetnaz Spec Ops units and isolation to control the spread of panic by keeping the populace ignorant to the threats. However as more and more became aware, uprisings and power struggles resulted.
The Ukraine initially tried to evacuate its civilians over choke points, i.e- bridges, etc. Where they could be funneled together and inspected. However a lack of resources made this next to impossible, and the eventually turned to chemical weapons and dropped them on their own refugees. The gas killed all the living so that the dead, unaffected, could be separated and eliminated (resulting in thousands of civilian deaths).
India, possibly the most famous, and most influential campaigns early in the war evacuated to the Himalayas where mountain passes could be destroyed to keep the dead from reaching the living above. General Raj-Singh heroically defended against the undead to buy time for refugees. His tactic of using Napoleonic square formation (Later became known as RS's, for Raj-Singh or reinforced squares) worked perfectly until they ran out of ammunition and the dead slowly closed in on his troops. The General was evacuated by helicopter, but only after one of his own men knocked him out to get him to leave, but later Raj-Singh blows himself up in order to destroy the mountain pass the dead would use to reach the sanctuary in the Himalayas.
China continued to use its conventional tactics of "drowning" the enemy in their numbers, this worked to their disadvantage however, since every one they lost got back up and joined their enemy. Eventually they were faced with total defeat, in which the few surviving military commanders rebelled against the government officials and killed them with a tactical nuclear strike that destroyed their bunker fortress.
While they struggled to find a way to reclaim their homeland, the death rate kept going up because of ADS, formally known as Asymptomatic Demise Syndrome, but commonly referred to as Apocalyptic Despair Syndrome, a condition where people just give up their will to live because "tomorrow will only bring more suffering".
Turning the Tide
The Redeker Plan is developed by a South African ex-Apartheid government official, Paul Redeker, and copied by other nations (with varying names and details). Due to danger of infection and low resources, it is determined that not everyone can be saved. Redeker explains that the plan originated as a response to the worst-case scenario for the Apartheid government, full-scale rebellion by the native African majority. "Safe zones" are to be established for some civilians based on geographic barriers (mountains, islands, rivers, etc.) and cleared of all zombies by military personnel. However, other inhabited zones are used as live zombie bait -- set up to draw zombies away from the safe zones and allow the people there time to regroup.
During this time following the Great Panic, the United States restructures its government, military, and civilian population. The seat of the government is moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, and the majority of surviving Americans are encamped west of the Rockies. Old military battle tactics such as firing lines and infantry squares are resurrected, and melee weaponry becomes commonplace. Armor supports are restricted only for use against rebels, and the Air Force's only operations are resupply missions. Army SGT Todd Wainio narrates these developments in combat. He not only tells of how dangerous fighting zombie hordes was but he also describes various hazards such as wild beasts, feral humans, mental stresses and breakdowns which he and his fellow soldiers faced. Examples of these hazards include how many humans will breakdown to a point where their animal instincts take over. Other times people who are not infected will go into such a downfall in their mental stability that they begin to act like zombies. SGT Wainio also mentions the extremely high presence of doctors and psychiatrists monitoring their behavior. Extreme mental breakdowns vary but are all life threatening. One special case tells of SGT Wainio's squad clearing a suburban area when one of his squad members commits suicide upon entering a house, which is later discovered to be the home of that squad member.
Changes in civilian life include a drastic change in class structure. United States government personnel see celebrities, reporters, business executives, and other former media working civilians as useless in aiding reconstruction unless they are trained. Former low-status workers and tradesmen, such as farmers and machinists, become vital for the task of rebuilding and aiding America and rise in social status, while the former white-collar 'boss' class is confined to menial jobs until they can retrain with practical skills.
Post-War
During this period, all major cities are retaken. The majority of temperate and tropical areas are cleared. Many zombies remain in cold areas (such as Finland, Iceland, and Siberia), where the undead are frozen solid over much of the year; cleanup must be done during the brief summer thaw. These heavily infested areas are known as "White Zones". Bodies of water are also dangerous -- there are millions of undead under water which occasionally make it to land. The most heavily infected area other than the ocean floor is Iceland, due to a pre-war lack of military resources and an abundance of infected refugees. Many species of whales become extinct due to their harvest to support massive floating groups of people.
World War Z significantly alters the geopolitical and economic landscape. In particular, many governments collapse, and the political ties between certain nations grow stronger. One result of the war is a final peace settlement between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Another is the emergence of Cuba as the leading nation in terms of economy, becoming the "Capitalist pigs" they had once hated. Russia also goes through dramatic changes in its government. The former republic reverts to a religious empire ruled by someone resembling a Tzar. It is mentioned that during The Great Panic, the country is in an incredible economical struggle and the people have found new hope in the Russian Orthodox religion and a controlling political figure. The extent of Russia's reversion appears when a priest carries out executions of the "infected", with a World War II pistol. In reality the church is a symbol of totalitarian power with a Tzar-like figure once again as the head of power. China was the last country to be "liberated" and suffered the worst, its population dropping from over a billion to only several hundred thousand, due to the Politburo's refusal to implement the Redeker plan. The result was that the army eventually mutinied in a civil war which left China a democracy.
The environmental effects of the war are described as equivalent to the nuclear winter that would have resulted from a full nuclear exchange between the United States and Russia, so that the post-war world is much like a post-apocalyptic cold war scenario, with great portent for the countries emerging from the depths of the war.
Audio book
The abridged audio book is read by author Max Brooks and a full cast, including Mark Hamill, Alan Alda, Henry Rollins, Rob Reiner, and Carl Reiner. The audio book was published by Random House Audio, directed by John McElroy, produced by Dan Zitt, with sound editing by Charles De Montebello. The audio book was awarded with the 2007 Audie Award for best Multi-Voiced Performance.[1] Around half of the material in the book was omitted, mostly because of time constraints.
Film adaptation
A film adaptation is in development after the rights were obtained by Brad Pitt's Plan B Entertainment, with the screenplay being written by Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski.[2]
References
- ^ Audio Publishers Association (2007). "Audie Award press release" (.pdf). Audio Publishers Association.
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