World War Z tells a story of the zombie war, a massive outbreak across the globe that turned humans into mindless, deadly creatures. The main character is tasked with creating a report about the entirety of the war. He does so, but finds that almost half of his work has been removed from the final draft, on the grounds of being too “intimate” and “emotional.” This book is a collection of what was removed from that report, published in the hopes that the horror and fear of this event should never happen again.
Those who have not yet read this book may think it’s just another zombie novel, a novel filled with mindless fun. Those who have will say something different. The format is certainly unique in that there is no real main character in the conventional sense. The “main character” interviews many people about their experience with the zombie war, and does his best to remain quiet so that the interviewees have more time to talk. With all these different people come vastly different experiences, including political, military, civilian, scientific, and societal outcast views. Each person has a different story to tell, and many of them are surprisingly emotional for just a few pages of dialogue. Though some characters feel similar in terms of their speech, its overall variety makes it a great book for many people.