Monsters and Minecraft: Our Favorite Max Brooks Books

When the undead rise from their graves and take over the world, will you be prepared for it? Do you have the tools and know-how to take on a zombie apocalypse whenever it strikes? Max Brooks has you covered. This dark work walks the line between satire and seriousness on fighting a zombie siege to ensure your survival. There are 10 lessons to be learned here, from organizing before the threat occurs to keeping your clothes tight to the most effective weapons when you're stuck in a tight situation. 

Zombies almost took over the planet and annihilated humanity. But we survived, and now, in the aftermath of the cataclysm, comes a fictional oral history of first-hand experiences of the survivors. World War Z features stories of death, fear, and resistance in the face of seeming hopelessness. Ranging from the now infamous village of New Dachang in the United Federation of China, where Patient Zero originated, to the American Rocky Mountains where the tides began to turn in favor of the living, this document captures the full picture of war from beginning to end, all from the words of those who endured the unimaginable.

China has invaded America, believing that it can take over the country and watch the States fall to its knees in no time at all. But guerilla warfare has sprung up on the streets of Los Angeles, and bodies line the streets. A Chinese officer is forced to toe the line and spread the party's propaganda, but he can no longer remain silent. Torn between loyalty to his country and loyalty to his troops, he writes a brutally honest letter home to let his family know the truth of the war. It could cost him his life, but that's a risk he's willing to take.

The mysterious story of the Greenloop massacre has gone unexplored for many years, until now. The journals of resident Kate Holland, recovered from the town’s bloody wreckage, reveal an unexpected battle between man and beast. Mount Rainier's latest eruption cut the town off from the rest of the world, and in came an unexpected invader. They also reveal something that humanity may not be ready to accept: The mythic creature known as Bigfoot is real, and lives among us, and he's out for blood.

For his first foray into the world of comic books, Brooks took on the true story of the historic Black regiment known as the Harlem Hellfighters. In 1919, the 369th infantry regiment marched home triumphantly from World War I. They had spent more time in combat than any other American unit, and had done so without losing a foot of ground to the enemy or losing a single man to capture. 

But being heroes could not protect them from the rank bigotry and cruelty they faced from their own people and government. From the enlistment lines in Harlem to the training camp at Spartanburg, South Carolina, to the trenches in France, these soldiers' story is one of bravery and overcoming adversity.

As the war between zombies and humans wages, the humans understand that they're close to losing. This proves to be a problem for the secretive race of vampires who live in the shadows and operate without leaving a trace. If humans go extinct, their food supply will be gone, and they'll die off too. They have no choice but to join the war, and to take down the mindless, hungry hordes of the zombies that threaten to take over the planet.

You wouldn't expect a New York Times-bestselling author to write a novelization of a video game, but Max Brooks and Minecraft are a surprisingly well-suited pairing. Inspired by his own love of the game, Brooks penned Minecraft: The Island, a tie-in to the beloved sandbox game of blocks and battles that he described as a "cuboid Robinson Crusoe." 

Our protagonist is a real-world person who falls asleep and wakes up in the Minecraft world. With no memory of who they are or how they got there, they must survive in this strange place and find their place in this place that shouldn't be real. The protagonist is gender-less, and there are two versions of the audiobook with each gender: one read by Jack Black and the other by Samira Wiley!