Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
12th out of 66 books
—
35 voters
Z
The First Rule of Torching: Cleanse with fire.
Josh is by far the best zombie Torcher around--at least, he is in his virtual-reality zombie-hunting game. Josh has quickly risen through the player ranks, relying on the skill, cunning, and agility of a real Torcher.
The Second Rule of Torching: Save all humans.
But luckily for Josh, zombies exist only in the virtual world. The...more
Josh is by far the best zombie Torcher around--at least, he is in his virtual-reality zombie-hunting game. Josh has quickly risen through the player ranks, relying on the skill, cunning, and agility of a real Torcher.
The Second Rule of Torching: Save all humans.
But luckily for Josh, zombies exist only in the virtual world. The...more
Hardcover, 288 pages
Published
September 7th 2010
by HarperTeen
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
817)
Originally Posted on Guy Gone Geek
Following the commercial success of several zombie fictions presented in different mediums such as Carrie Ryan’s Forest of Hands and Teeths series, Charlie Higson’s The Enemy series, Robert Kirkman’s graphic novel-turned-tv series Walking Dead, and movies like 28 Days Later and Shaun of the Dead, it is no doubt that zombies are now popular more than ever. But once a genre like this gains popularity, one can always expect that there will be the occasional(an unde...more
Following the commercial success of several zombie fictions presented in different mediums such as Carrie Ryan’s Forest of Hands and Teeths series, Charlie Higson’s The Enemy series, Robert Kirkman’s graphic novel-turned-tv series Walking Dead, and movies like 28 Days Later and Shaun of the Dead, it is no doubt that zombies are now popular more than ever. But once a genre like this gains popularity, one can always expect that there will be the occasional(an unde...more
Apr 25, 2013
Dames
added it
This is a very interesting read. It has some typical school problems, like love and school, but the twist is zombies. He starts off playing this zombie game, this is in the future, so its like a holo-game. His mom dosent like him playing the game. She dosent like it because when she was a kid the zombie out break really happend, and she had lived throughout it. So she feels the game is disrespect full. Hes very good on line, so get gest a message from the best gamer ou there, hes asked to meet...more
The 'Z' is a wonderful book written by Michael Thomas Ford. Z is a book based on a post-zombie-apocalypse world where all or most of the zombies have been neutralized and the world returned to the world before the apocalypse with the only difference of having more damage to the ecosystem, such as the melt down of Antarctica. The story follows Josh, a zombie gamer, who eventually gets pulled away from the virtual zombie world and gets put into a real zombie world game. This book shows a variety o...more
Reading Level: Grades 7 - 9
Josh spends a lot of his free time playing a virtual reality game that his parents despise. The game? Killing z's. Zombies. Meatbags. The undead. Doesn't matter what you call 'em, as long as you kill 'em quickly. And Josh is one of the best.
So good, in fact, that he's invited to play a secret IRL* version of the game. In prepping for his first game with another (female!) player named Charlie, he takes a drug called Z - to help him think just like the enemy. Josh soon s...more
Josh spends a lot of his free time playing a virtual reality game that his parents despise. The game? Killing z's. Zombies. Meatbags. The undead. Doesn't matter what you call 'em, as long as you kill 'em quickly. And Josh is one of the best.
So good, in fact, that he's invited to play a secret IRL* version of the game. In prepping for his first game with another (female!) player named Charlie, he takes a drug called Z - to help him think just like the enemy. Josh soon s...more
Z was an interesting, face-paced read that I enjoyed. Yes, Z stands for zombies. No, this isn't your typical zombie book. For Ford humans became zombies due to a rare flu strain that allows the smaller animalistic part of our brain to take over the 2 human parts. But that was then, before the human/zombie war that eradicated the zombies 15 years ago and a new vaccine that now prevents the virus.
When you join 15-year-old Josh, it is the year 2032 and the virtual reality hunting of zombies has be...more
When you join 15-year-old Josh, it is the year 2032 and the virtual reality hunting of zombies has be...more
It was pretty good. I liked the setting. At first I thought it was really where the two charecters (Josh and Firecracker) were but in real life they were just playing a game where you are a torcher and you use flamethrowers to kill zombies and rescue survivors. Any player in the game gets to chose who they want to play as a meatbag ( what Josh and Firecracker call zombies) or a torcher. The main character, Josh is a pretty cool character. Firecracker, Josh's best freind can be a bit of a jerk at...more
Great premise, not so great writing.
2032. The great zombie war is a horror of the past. Remembered by parents and grandparents. Ancient history to anyone under the age of 20. Enter Josh. Teen virtual reality zombie slayer who is so good that he is recruited to play the game live, or IRL (in real life). Set up by a mysterious man that goes by the name of Clatter, Josh and a team of seven other players navigate different courses in a live action game where they kill cybernetic robots that mimic re...more
2032. The great zombie war is a horror of the past. Remembered by parents and grandparents. Ancient history to anyone under the age of 20. Enter Josh. Teen virtual reality zombie slayer who is so good that he is recruited to play the game live, or IRL (in real life). Set up by a mysterious man that goes by the name of Clatter, Josh and a team of seven other players navigate different courses in a live action game where they kill cybernetic robots that mimic re...more
So, a world in which the zombie menace has been purged from the face of the earth by flame-thrower wielding Torchers. Sweet. A kid who likes to play video games simulating said purge. Awesome. A chance to play those video games in the flesh in creepy, abandoned ship yards and the like? Well, how could I not be totally on board with that?
This book completely gripped me from the start. I loved it. Loved the little details of the post zombie world, the humanising of those lost to zombie-ism. The ca...more
This book completely gripped me from the start. I loved it. Loved the little details of the post zombie world, the humanising of those lost to zombie-ism. The ca...more
Z took me 3 days to finish. When I like I book, I usually finish it in less than a day, and the three days it took me to read Z weren't busy days.
The premise is actually pretty cool, if not a bit obvious. Nothing really shocked me much. It wasn't that the story wasn't original, it was, but that I seem to be way more cautious than the main character so I couldn't relate to him much. I didn't like the character Josh very much— he made some choices that I really can't understand. The story isn't l...more
The premise is actually pretty cool, if not a bit obvious. Nothing really shocked me much. It wasn't that the story wasn't original, it was, but that I seem to be way more cautious than the main character so I couldn't relate to him much. I didn't like the character Josh very much— he made some choices that I really can't understand. The story isn't l...more
It's been fifteen years since the zombie plague broke out, killing thousands of people before the preventative vaccine was developed. Josh was just a baby then, so he has no memory of real zombies. For him, they only exist in his video games. And Josh is really, really good at killing zombies in video games. So good, in fact, that he's recruited by an elite group of gamers who play in real life (IRL) with simulated living dead robots. He hasn't been playing for long, though, when things start to...more
Solid zombie fic for the middle school set.
Josh lives in a world after zombies. Fifteen years ago, before he was born, a zombie virus ripped through society. Now, they're a memory from the distant past. Josh himself enjoys playing simulated video games - killing zombies. His mom doesn't appreciate his insensitivity to the trauma of the not-so-distant past.
And that's before he gets the chance to play in person.
This book has a lot going for it. I thought it was cool how they brought in the sensi...more
Josh lives in a world after zombies. Fifteen years ago, before he was born, a zombie virus ripped through society. Now, they're a memory from the distant past. Josh himself enjoys playing simulated video games - killing zombies. His mom doesn't appreciate his insensitivity to the trauma of the not-so-distant past.
And that's before he gets the chance to play in person.
This book has a lot going for it. I thought it was cool how they brought in the sensi...more
1 like
·
like
· see review
Josh loves to play a zombie-torching game. Imagine his surprise when one of the best players, Charlie, invites him to join a group that plays the game in reality and not on a virtual system. It is now 2032 but years ago a flu virus mutated into something that depressed two sections of the human brain and allowed the reptilian section to take precedence. Not only does Charlie lure Josh into the game but she also introduces him to Z, a drug that allows him to feel how a zombie thinks. When his bes...more
Original post at One More Page
One of our favorite past times/stress busters at work is zombie killing. No, seriously. Whenever we (namely Grace and I) find ourselves extremely stressed at work, and we have some money left, we'd troop over to Timezone (the nearest arcade at work) and start hogging the House of the Dead 4 machine and start blasting zombies away. There's something really therapeutic about gunning down zombies and killing monsters, even if we never get past the third level.
Z by Mich...more
One of our favorite past times/stress busters at work is zombie killing. No, seriously. Whenever we (namely Grace and I) find ourselves extremely stressed at work, and we have some money left, we'd troop over to Timezone (the nearest arcade at work) and start hogging the House of the Dead 4 machine and start blasting zombies away. There's something really therapeutic about gunning down zombies and killing monsters, even if we never get past the third level.
Z by Mich...more
2 likes
·
like
· see review
Aug 11, 2010
Chrissy
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Zombie enthusiasts
Recommended to Chrissy by:
Harperteen
Shelves:
zombies,
young-adult,
arcs-i-own,
rao-reviews,
suspense-thriller,
horror,
post-apocalyptic-dystopian,
2010
(Originally posted on Read All Over Reviews)
Rating — 4.5 cybooks out of 5!
It’s 2032. Antarctica is turning into a rain forest. The oceans are brown, capped with yellow foam. Books, magazines and all things made of paper belong to museums. And 15 years have passed since the great Zombie purge…
In 2017, a mutated strain of the flu caused a portion humanity to be reverted back to the reptilian brain—the part of the brain which is focused on instinctual behaviors such as aggression, dominance, and te...more
Rating — 4.5 cybooks out of 5!
It’s 2032. Antarctica is turning into a rain forest. The oceans are brown, capped with yellow foam. Books, magazines and all things made of paper belong to museums. And 15 years have passed since the great Zombie purge…
In 2017, a mutated strain of the flu caused a portion humanity to be reverted back to the reptilian brain—the part of the brain which is focused on instinctual behaviors such as aggression, dominance, and te...more
Ages 11+ (gore, death)
It's 2032, and the zombie virus has been gone for 15 years. That means that Josh can't remember what it was like to watch family members turn, but his parents sure can. For him, it's just a game - literally. He spends hours of his time playing a zombie hunter in an online game. He's gotten really good at torching z's. When a girl in the game approaches him and invites him to be a player in a high stakes, real life version of zombie hunting, he's in. But (as with many a goo...more
It's 2032, and the zombie virus has been gone for 15 years. That means that Josh can't remember what it was like to watch family members turn, but his parents sure can. For him, it's just a game - literally. He spends hours of his time playing a zombie hunter in an online game. He's gotten really good at torching z's. When a girl in the game approaches him and invites him to be a player in a high stakes, real life version of zombie hunting, he's in. But (as with many a goo...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
A great zombie story for a young adult / adult. I read this faster than I thought I would, it kept me interested straight thru. Not a dull moment.
A story set into the future after the common flu became a brain eating virus that made humans want to eat other humans. The children of the generation who went through the Zombie War, are now playing a virtual game killing these "Meatbags". But there turns out to be a living version of the game that very few are privy to. Josh is recruited and finds ou...more
A story set into the future after the common flu became a brain eating virus that made humans want to eat other humans. The children of the generation who went through the Zombie War, are now playing a virtual game killing these "Meatbags". But there turns out to be a living version of the game that very few are privy to. Josh is recruited and finds ou...more
This book was quite a lot of fun with an enjoyable, fast-paced plot. On the down side, the writing was a bit undeveloped and at times, it felt as though the writer was trying to find every possible alternative to the work "said". The ending is a bit of a disappointment, too. I'm all for an ending leaving you wanting more, but this one just STOPPED right in the middle of the action. There was no wind-down from the climax of the story whatsoever.
For all of its flaws, the story was quite engaging a...more
For all of its flaws, the story was quite engaging a...more
I really liked this book! I'm totally into all things Zombie, and this was interesting take on it. It had just enough history of the zombie to give good information, but not so much that it got overwhelming. The character was likable, the story was believable and I could even see this book being made into a movie (think of the antagonist in Grandma's Boy - he's exactly how I pictured the antagonist in Z). I really enjoyed it and read it all in a day due to how quick of a read is it. The only rea...more
Josh's parents don't want him playing zombie hunting computer games, because his mother lost her family in the first big zombie plague. But since he excels at them, he is pleased when Charlie (who turns out to be a girl) invites him to play a laser tag-type version of the game with animatronic zombies. Charlie also gets Josh hooked on a drug called "z" that makes people feel like zombies; her reasoning is that it will make Josh a better zombie fighter, since he knows their thought processes. Whe...more
Josh is a top-rated player in a virtual zombie hunting game. He plays every chance he gets – even though his other frequently grounds him from it. Hunting zombies isn’t a game to his mother. Her sister was infected with the virus that turned her into a raving, deadly monster.
The video game models what the world went through years ago when zombies were a problem. The government formed teams of Torchers to hunt and kill the zombies and a lot of people still have those horrible pictures in their mi...more
The video game models what the world went through years ago when zombies were a problem. The government formed teams of Torchers to hunt and kill the zombies and a lot of people still have those horrible pictures in their mi...more
The Setting – is 2032, fifteen years after the Zombie War. The world has been cleansed of zombies, and high tech gadgets replace many of the organic things that once lived alongside humans; pets, insects, they’re all gadgets now. And man, do humans rely on their gadgets! Paper. What’s that? Video games lack cords, they’re fully submerged virtual reality worlds where you feel and sense everything. Global warming has taken its toll, melting the polar ice caps enough to cause water to have risen si...more
Z is for Zombie, W is for Weaknesses
More than a decade and a half ago the newest strain of the flu mutated those infected into primal creatures. The primitive, instinctual center of their brains taking over and demanding the most basic human need--to feed. The only way to successfully destroy the virus and prevent transmission was to cleanse by fire. Torchers set fire to the zombies created by the flu until a vaccine could be found. Now zombies are little more than a cautionary tale.
For Josh, t...more
More than a decade and a half ago the newest strain of the flu mutated those infected into primal creatures. The primitive, instinctual center of their brains taking over and demanding the most basic human need--to feed. The only way to successfully destroy the virus and prevent transmission was to cleanse by fire. Torchers set fire to the zombies created by the flu until a vaccine could be found. Now zombies are little more than a cautionary tale.
For Josh, t...more
From shutupimreading.blogspot.com
I had some issues with Z, but as a whole I enjoyed it.
I think my main problem with it was the characters. They just kinda fell flat for me. Normally I find one that I connected with, or found entertaining or unique, but with Z, not really. I didn't like them or dislike them, they just kind of...were. Except for maybe our main character, Josh, who seemed too selfish. Honestly, I think Ford relied on the plot so much that he didn't think characterization mattered a...more
I had some issues with Z, but as a whole I enjoyed it.
I think my main problem with it was the characters. They just kinda fell flat for me. Normally I find one that I connected with, or found entertaining or unique, but with Z, not really. I didn't like them or dislike them, they just kind of...were. Except for maybe our main character, Josh, who seemed too selfish. Honestly, I think Ford relied on the plot so much that he didn't think characterization mattered a...more
I am reviewing an advance reading copy provided by the publisher.
Josh is a good teenager. He usually listens to his parents, does well in school, and never skips out on Family Night. The worse offense he commits on a regular basis is passively tormenting his little sister. That is, it’s the only real offense his parents know about. He would never admit it to them, but Josh is hooked on the latest internet video game: a virtual reality zombie hunting MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-play...more
Josh is a good teenager. He usually listens to his parents, does well in school, and never skips out on Family Night. The worse offense he commits on a regular basis is passively tormenting his little sister. That is, it’s the only real offense his parents know about. He would never admit it to them, but Josh is hooked on the latest internet video game: a virtual reality zombie hunting MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-play...more
I can't believe it. I read a zombie book and enjoyed it. In this story, the world has been infected with zombies but they have been wiped out. The only way to destroy a zombie is by torching. Now people play an online game where they continue to fight zombies. The main character is a good player and is soon recruited to play a live action game with others. He soon comes to realize that it is more than a game. I couldn't put the story down and can't wait to share it with the readers at school.
this book is about Zombies. A kid named josh is a zombie fan and likes to play this game that you torch zombies. This other person sees how good josh is and invites him to play the zombie game. the game is so real he thinks it is real but its not(he thinks). well, after playing for some time his friend, firecracker, follows him and they get into a fight. this person gives josh a drug called "Z" to make the game more real. Then firecracker goes missing and josh has to go find him, will he find hi...more
I enjoyed the premise of the book.
I had faults with it though.
Overall I enjoyed it though.
(view spoiler)
I had faults with it though.
Overall I enjoyed it though.
(view spoiler)
An interesting story.
The author was pretty creative with his zombies. The story was compelling enough for me to finish it in a couple of days.
The only problem I had was some of the more fantastical elements kept throwing me out of the story (life on mars, cloning, etc.). I don't know if it's just that this book was aimed at a younger audience than I'm used to but they didn't really strike me as necessary or believable.
The author was pretty creative with his zombies. The story was compelling enough for me to finish it in a couple of days.
The only problem I had was some of the more fantastical elements kept throwing me out of the story (life on mars, cloning, etc.). I don't know if it's just that this book was aimed at a younger audience than I'm used to but they didn't really strike me as necessary or believable.
I like the book how its started and ended. Josh the main character I like him he was good. The story had its good parts and not so well but could of done better parts. It had various setting so it was hard to keep up where he was located at. That was the only thing i did not like but it was no big trouble. overall the book was great.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| z | 1 | 2 | Aug 12, 2010 07:12am |
Michael Thomas Ford is the author of more than fifty books, for both young readers and adults, in genres ranging from humor to horror, literary fiction to nonfiction. As a writer for young adults he is the author of the popular "Circle of Three" series (writing as Isobel Bird); nonfiction books about spirituality (Paths of Faith), the AIDS crisis (Voices of AIDS), and the gay community (The World...more
More about Michael Thomas Ford...
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
Mar 28, 2011 05:39pm
Tina: yeah, you were generous. :PP
Mar 29, 2011 08:36pm