It reads like a real-world work of history or political science, told through a collection of interviews with global leaders. Through its attention to detail and commitment to realism, World War Z established Brooks’ style as an author. In the middle of an actual pandemic in 2020, the book seems to have garnered some renewed attention. Each nation reacts to this new existential threat much like one would expect. The book feels eerily plausible, despite its fantastical premise. In the novel, Brooks plots a worldwide pandemic caused by a zombie-inducing virus. It’s not a bad movie by any means, but it gains nothing by sharing the name of its nominal “source material.” But, in any case, the book itself is excellent. It’s a fantastic novel, with a movie adaptation that doesn’t even pretend to follow the same plot.

The first book I read by Brooks was 2013’s World War Z. The end result was that I was constantly on edge as I plowed through the book over the course of a few evenings. His writing style carries this pretense of fact even further - everything is told through fictional interviews and journal entries that read like something you might find in a magazine or a newspaper. The lion’s share of the details in this story come from real-world events and places, setting a firm foundation for the fantastical tale that follows. Because of its style and commitment to realism, this book is one of the most terrifying pieces of fiction I’ve ever read.īrooks’ ability to make scary, impossible events feel real is his greatest strength as an author and it’s what makes Devolution such a good book. The escapism label clearly applies to Max Brooks’ Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre, but perhaps not in the way most people might want. The chance to throw on a tv show, pick up a book, or sink into a video game and forget the outside world can give people a chance to forget everything around them, if only for a few minutes.

Escapism has rarely been more appealing than in the middle of a pandemic.

Devolution brooks