Here are the 5 Zombie Books that you probably missed over the years, but should definitely read if you are a fan of the post-apocalyptic zombie genre.
#5 This is the Way the World Ends
February, 2031: The global population now stands at an estimated 400 million, and every survivor bears the scars of humanity's decade-long struggle to defeat an enemy few believed could exist. Some nations have emerged from the war stronger than ever. Others still struggle to survive. Some no longer exist at all.
In the aftermath of the zombie pandemic Keith Taylor, noted pre-war author of apocalyptic fiction, traveled the world to gather the first hand accounts of survivors from every walk of life, culture and strata of society, ranging from American political leaders to British journalists to Mongolian miners to members of India's homeless underclass.
Together these chilling interviews describe the course of humanity's most brutal war, leading from the initial emergence of the virus in the Siberian wilderness to the visceral, heart-rending Shibuya footage, through the confusion of the US President's impeachment to the unintended and disastrous consequences of the UN's sweeping refugee amendment, and ending with us battered and broken, diminished but not defeated, in the fragile peace we now enjoy. Together these accounts represent the most illuminating and complete commentary to date of humanity's loss.
From these candid interviews emerges an image of early 21st century civilization as it truly was: imperfect, fragmented and wholly unprepared for a disaster on such a scale. This is the Way the World Ends takes an unflinching, uncompromising look at the world we had and lost; a look at the pain we suffered due to our inability to accept a single, simple truth: Zombies are real.
#4 Inherit the Earth
Alien bacteria piggy-backed on an asteroid that crashed into Earth 65 million years ago...creating the Gulf of Mexico and killing off the Dinosaurs. It unleashed a chain reaction that has infected everything on Earth...including you.
More like "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" than "Dawn of the Dead", this book does for zombies what "Interview with the Vampire" did for vampires...give them a complete makeover.
Here’s what molecular microbiologist Priscilla Bruner has learned about the alien bacteria:
They have intelligence.
They feel no pain.
They have no fear.
They have no emotion, yet they can mimic emotion.
All of the historical plagues...The Bubonic Plague...the Spanish Flu...Ebola...and Aids...were failed attempts by the bacteria to collect mankind.
That’s why they call themselves “The Collection”...a hive-like organization determined to add every living thing to its bacterial colony.
And now, after millions of years, they are ready...to Inherit the Earth.
#3 Rise of the Six
Joey Foust has no idea he’s a wanted man and his parents aim to keep it that way. They raised him as a normal boy in a small American town, hoping he and his friends don’t discover what lies beyond. And for eighteen years, they succeed.
Joey and his friends, the Preston Six, were all born on the same day, but soon come to find they have much more in common than a simple birthdate. Details of their past are suspicious, and they are determined to figure out what their parents are hiding.
Small threads of new information are discovered, leading the Preston Six to venture in search for the truth. What they find pushes the boundaries of their beliefs.
Now, they’re forced to leave behind everything to face an unknown adversary who’s been hunting for them since the day they were born. They must rise as one, or fall to enemy hands.
Reader comment: ”Six 18 year olds from six families in one small town share the share the same birthday. The secret of their conception, background and history are slowly revealed (and only partially in this book). Chased by strange enemies, the six go through a series of wild adventures.
I enjoyed reading this book at times but then would be yanked out of the story by poor writing.
I enjoyed:
1. Discovering information about the background of the six.
2. The action and fight descriptions.
3. The ideas for strange and new places and things”
#2 Infection: Post-Apocalyptic Survival novel
The countdown to the end of the world begins silently.
No one realizes there's a deadly illness spreading like wildfire until it's too late. With few symptoms, victims literally drop dead after a brief surge of energy. Within days, it tears through the population of the United States.
Now, faced with the very real possibility of extinction of the human race, Cole Evans has only one chance to save his family and survive: a safe haven on an isolated, hard to reach island.
Can he convince his brother that the danger is real and that there's enough space for his family as well? But can they all reach the island before the lights go out for them...forever?
As "Infection" begins, former colleagues, Cole and Ellie, discuss growing concerns about reports of a rapidly spreading virus and its likelihood of becoming pandemic. Cole warns son, Hunter, who's college is days away, of the danger. Instructed to stock up on supplies, Hunter takes off towards an island Cole has inherited from a deceased uncle. The island will accommodate Cole, Hunter, and Cole's brother's family, while they wait out dissemination of the virus. Those infected by the Sympatico virus display symptoms akin to elation and drunkenness, often lashing out in fits of physical violence. Once symptoms are observed it takes only a day or two before the infected succumbs to a very sudden death. Ellie watches the virus take hold of the city as she looks down onto the streets from her hotel room window. Far from home, she also turns to Cole's island as a haven of safety, but she'll have to get there on her own. The story unfolds as all the characters make tumultuous journeys towards their only hope of surviving humankind's swift destruction.
#1 Zombie Armageddon
A virus was unleashed, leading to a zombie apocalypse. No one thought that people would be able to turn into such horrible, violent creatures, even just in the metaphorical sense, let alone physically. Matthew was a retired soldier who quit the army after seeing his friends die. It’s hard for him to trust anyone, but in this crisis full of zombies, he will need to trust the group he’s stuck with to survive. Genevieve and Ellie are part of his group and are on a mission to find a cure to recover humanity. Luckily, they aren’t alone in this new reality of zombies and having to fight for their lives. But will they be able to work together to survive? Zombie Armageddon is book 1 of the Last Man Standing series.
Top Reader Comment: "This is a very well written, thought out novel that did a nice job focusing on the people; while there is a solid back drop of zombies and post apocalypse (how can you go wrong with that), I was happy to see character development and effort put into creating textured people with strengths and barriers. While there might have been two or three bumps in point of view, it didn't keep me from enjoying the book. I do plan on reading the next one but as this was emotionally draining (in a good way; I enjoyed the characters so much and so intently, I need an emotional break), I'll be holding off until August when I'm on vacation. The editing, structure, premise and characters were very good, and the 400 pages went by very fast!"
A Short Essay About Zombies
In this essay, I will discuss why we love zombies and what zombies have to teach us about improving humanity. After I saw Zombieland, I began to wonder why so many people love zombies and have such an enduring love of movies that portray the destruction of civilization in a zombie apocalypse. One reason zombies are so popular is that they are us in simplified form. This connection between zombies and humans can be expressed through the idea of will power. Nietzsche saw the fundamental drive of all life as a “will to power”. If one interprets the idea of the will to power as an instinct, the most useful interpretation of this instinct is that the will to power is nothing more or less than our instinct to be willful. No human being ever experiences power other than in the expression of the will. It does not matter how great our wealth or influence. If we fail to express our will we fail to be powerful.
Humans pursue the expression of their will in a relatively complex diversity of ways. The zombie will to power, however, is simple. Zombies do not think about the future or about history. Zombies do not contemplate morality and ethics, become embroiled in political scams, aspire to scientific realization, fret about religion, or have any thought whatsoever about any of the thousand and one aspects of human life that make the patterns of our volition so complex. The zombie will to power is in the zombie’s complete devotion to fulfill one simple drive...to eat your brain. (Although Zombies may eat your flesh generally, brains are the favorite zombie snack.) Zombies do not care about what new artist will make the top forty. They just want to eat your brain. Zombies do not contemplate the relevance of environmental ethics on their daily behaviors. They just want to eat your brain. Zombies do not ponder the meaning of the universe or the status of their neighbor’s wealth. Zombies.Just.Want.To.Eat.Your.Brain. The zombie, although often stumbling in its motions and always unable to reason, displays a purity of devotion to eating brains that is impressive. All of the complexities of life are reduced, in the zombie mind, to this one, completely fulfilling, expression of the zombie will.
This reduction is illustrated in one of the lost dialogues of Plato in which Socrates engages in philosophical discourse on the nature of justice with a few zombies:
Socrates: Can you tell me, what is justice?
Zombie1: “ugraag!...mmfff!” {Brains!}
Zombie3: “rrghmt!...rrg....rrghmt!” {Braaaaaaaains!}
Zombie2: “uuuuuuuuuuhhmmmm” {Brains!...Bra...Brains!}
Socrates: Why are you looking at me like that? Aaaaahhhh!!!
(This was one of the shorter dialogues of Plato)
The entire zombie philosophy of life can be expressed in the following phrase, “Om nom nom nom nom.” (sound of eating) The simple minded, pure hearted will of the zombie to fulfill her one and only desire gives the zombie an endearing childlike quality. Zombies are like semi-dead, decaying, stumbling, verbally challenged children, who want to eat your brain. This zombie simplicity also has a pet like appeal, if you can avoid getting your face chewed off. This appeal may be part of the inspiration behind the movie Fido. In spite of the complexities of human living, the human will to power is also simple. Our simple will to power is merely refracted into the complex patterns of human living, giving us the illusion of greater complexity. However, the bottom line is that we are always following our simple instinct to express our will. Expressing our human will IS our experience of human power and is the human equivalent of munching on a nice juicy brain.
The actual experience of expressing our will, being the essential nature of human power, is often more important to us than the coherence of the action or idea that our will is expressing. This is part of what we are witnessing with the decline of reason in public political discourse in the United States. In spite of the complex maneuverings of political life, the basic reality underlying the philosophy of political groups is, “Om nom nom nom nom.” No matter what the rationales or complexities of thought (or lack thereof), political discourse can be reduced to the simple desire of different groups to gain more power through the increased expression of their will.
Politics is not the only realm for a zombie like will to power. The same is true of religion, nationality, race, class, gender and all of the other incidental group distinctions we tenaciously cling to during our attempts to be willful. Humans from all walks of life are following their biological instinct to assert their will. No matter how complex we are in our reasoning, our underlying motivations can be as simple as zombies. We are a lot more like simple, hungry zombies than we care to admit. The patterns of our living, to the extent that they are divorced from knowledge, resemble the lives of stumbling zombies. Without proper knowledge and understanding, we become enslaved to fulfill our simple instinct to express our will in a variety of destructive ways and do so at any horrific cost.
The main difference between humans and zombies is that, unlike zombies, our wills to power are immersed in mountains of verbal and conceptual bullshit. Here we can see part of the great appeal of the zombie. Zombies are more honest than us! It does not matter what the circumstances are, you know the zombie wants your brain. The zombie will not lie or rationalize. The zombie will not seek scientific or religious justification. The zombie has no ulterior motives. The.Zombie.Just.Wants.To.Eat.Your.Brain. In this singular, simple desire to fulfill herself, the zombie has an honesty and purity that makes even the saints and sages of humanity look like huckster pretenders.