Customer Reviews

The Zombie Combat Manual: A Guide to Fighting the Living Dead

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

The Zombie Combat Manual is not a mere retreading of Max Brooks' The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead. This book takes one small aspect of Brooks' book and delves deeply and broadly into it.

The Zombie Combat Manual not only discusses various weapons to use in lieu of a firearm; it also acts as a training manual for anyone in any physical condition, featuring physical assessments and exercise programs.

Of course it has the obligatory chapter on offensive and defensive equipment, which is seemingly exhaustive, but it also touches on a topic that Brooks omits, which is carrying and protecting children. Imagine being a parent of a newborn or toddler and having to not only survive but protect them as well. Being a father, I could appreciate this section greatly.

Additionally, there's an entire chapter on combat strategies and techniques for fighting the undead. With this chapter, Ma practically creates a new form of martial art with step-by-step illustrations showing how to position, maneuver, and strike with various weapons in various situations of melee combat with a zombie.

If you're a fan of Max Brooks' interviews in World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, then you'll enjoy the interviews in this book as well. In fact, one could almost plant these same stories into the World War Z setting.

Overall, Lovers of Max Brooks' work, as I am, should not look at this book as a competing product, but instead should see Ma's contribution as a complementary product. The content of this book will only better prepare you in the event that you find yourself having to engage in melee combat with a zombie despite all of the tips and strategies followed from Zombie Survival Guide.

So far, the five star reviewers before me have pretty much voiced my opinions quite nicely. What I will add is that comparing Roger Ma's book to a rip-off/retread of Max Brooks' work (of which I am a huge fan) is like saying anyone currently writing vampire romance is ripping off Dan Curtis's Dark Shadows (or, if you want to go further back, Bram Stoker's Dracula). Both the vampire and the zombie genre have room for many variations on the original themes. Did Brooks include the Bum's Rush in his book as a survival tactic? No, he did not. Both Brooks and Ma have a place on my bookshelf, and both authors deserve kudos for their work.

I just finished reading this book, and if you're a zombie fan and have wondered how to not simply survive, but to battle and defeat the zombie undead, you will love this book.

As a huge Max Brooks (Zombie survival guide), George Romero (Night, Dawn, Day of the Dead Trilogy) and Robert Kirkman (Walking Dead) fan, this book takes a unique angle to the zombie mythology by focusing where these other writers have not, specifically hand to hand combat against the undead. The book goes into detail about specific types of weapons- long, medium, short ranges, how to best utilized the most battle hardened weapons, such as a katana or battle axe, to the more accessible and practical garage tools like the shovel, pitchfork, or hunting knife. Interweaved within these techniques are some pretty graphic and intense first hand accounts and interviews from those who've battled the undead one on one. Well written (unlike some other zombie pub schlock) this book I think will entertain all hardcore fans, as well as the casual one's who ever wondered how they would handle oneself when encountering a zombie confrontation firsthand.

I can attest after reading this book that it is NOT a rehash of Brooks' work, as some others have previously suggested, but rather a great addition to the genre. My favorite and most original chapter for me is on how to protect your children against the undead. Stroller vs. baby bjorn. Great stuff!

The illustrations are great as well that give visual context to the techniques and weapons discussed. I would definitely recommend it to anyone into horror and zombies. Don't trust the online trolls- when there's no more room in hell, there's enough room in the zombie world for Brooks and Ma to coexist together. And from what I'm seeing from the other reviews online, they agree as well.

Zombie Hand-to-hand Combat 101.

Who'd of thought how woefully unprepared I'd be if a legion of the dead reanimated? Roger Ma's clever twist on a theme already populated by legions of zombie expositions brings an entertaining and enlightening new revelation. What the heck do we (the average Joe) do to protect ourselves without any fancy advanced weaponry?

In an inspiring vision to fill a void, Ma deftly describes the basics: How are zombies most vulnerable? How can we physically prepare ourselves to fight the undead? What are the most effective combat strategies? He keeps the instruction engaging by interspersing them with gripping "combat report" narratives to provide a poignant field perspective. Delightfully rousing yet humorous to boot. And the illustrations - Heller's black and white portraits paint a subdued, but brilliant landscape of lumbering zombies in a feeding frenzy.

It's clear from this work of affection that Ma is not only a devoted zombie fanatic, but an "aficionado" of the living dead. Rather than simply re-work a fashionable theme, he has celebrated his love of the zombie canon by skillfully introducing his own expertise to the zombie imagination. For all the haters here - why? If you're a fan of zombies, there's a wealth of ingenious work here to gnaw on. Devour and enjoy!

This book made me want to go kill some zombies, Buffy style. Except Roger Ma provides way more inventive ways to attack and dismember an undead than with just a wooden stake and a vampire sidekick. Bottom line is that when you come face to face with an angry lumbering corpse who wants to bite your head off, you're going to want to whip out this handy-dandy combat manual so that you know what to do. Except by the time you get to the Table of Contents, the zombie will have already gotten his hands around your neck! Therefore, read this book before it's too late!! Perfect for wiry nerdy types to the 30-something mother with baby in tote.

Yes, yes, everyone knows Max Brooks wrote the big zombie books, and they are fantastic. Here Ma takes anyone, from the casual zombie gawker to those of us counting down to the flesh-eating armageddon, further into that kind of fantasy. Speaking as a fan of zombie culture in general, as a Brooks fan in particular, Ma's in-depth look at how to be ready to fight the undead is an interesting and unique look at the zombie itself (its anatomy, strengths, weaknesses). It's a great, fun read that actually gets quite intense. There are some scenes I just pictured so clearly- I can't stop imagining them!

And its motivational to boot: I am now on the `prepare for zombie attack' work out regimen (ch3). And you know what? Knowing that I could get eaten alive if I don't work out- much better motivation than a bikini. AWESOME.

Being a die hard zombie fan (no pun intended), you might think that someone like me gives rave reviews to any book that moans or film that doesn't suck. This is completely untrue. I am actually very picky about which zombie perspectives make it into my "replace within a week if lost" media. Roger Ma has successfully written an instant classic for this great genre. While Ma recaps important points like zombie strengths and weaknesses, he does so bringing new issues to light that have not been covered by other notable zombie manuals. For those who think these revisiting moments seem redundant to Max Brooks' work, bare in mind, this is a stand alone text not a sequel to The Zombie Survival Guide. Hence, some explanations are required for those who don't already know basic zombie theory. For what its worth, I've read The Zombie Survival Guide between 60 and 70 times and I never once thought Roger Ma's Combat Manual was a rip off of Max Brooks. This book is exactly what it says -- a combat manual. It does not go into extensive details about evasion tactics or how to move through cities. Ma's writing is chock full of weapon ratings and illustrations on how to decapitate a walking dead guy. Modern language often groups combat with guns; probably because thousands of firearms a day are sold under the label "Combat Rifle." It's worth noting that THIS TEXT DOES NOT INCLUDE ANY INFORMATION ON THE USE OF FIREARMS!!! In fact, Ma seems so dead set against shining any light on firearms that he forgot a very important aspect of the weapon. My only criticism of The Zombie Combat Manual is that Ma doesn't include how to use a firearm as a melee weapon. Like the text says, what happens when your bullets run out??? Well, maybe you could beat the crap out of a few zombies with the butt of your gun until you can find a pitchfork? All in all, this book is a great read, well thought out, and full of zombie lovers porn. If you enjoyed Max Brooks' survival guide -- you will love this book! If Max Brooks is to zombie literature what Elvis is to rock n' roll, then Roger Ma is The Beatles. I wonder who's going to be Led Zeppelin?

For the record, I'm both a big Max Brooks fan and a zombie fan overall. Is The Zombie Combat Manual similar in satirical concept to the ZSG? Sure. But where the ZSG was parodying survival guides like the "SAS Survival Guide," this book is clearly targeting books like "Kill or Get Killed", "Cold Steel" or other close combat manuals, and it does it well. There is very little overlap, and where there is, it seems obviously necessary since this is a standalone work, not an unofficial sequel to any other existing book.

Getting back to an actual review of content, Ma starts with background to set up his undead world. He's clearly working from the Romero/Fulci "slow zombie" style but also adds some of his own interesting variants. He then gets into body assessment and conditioning, with actual workout routines. Ma also smartly addresses the mental aspect of having to actually kill people you know.

The book then gets into weapons and fighting techniques. Ma evaluates weapons for various ranges and the best techniques for them, like a martial arts manual. The illustrations are hilarious - I never thought in my life I'd see an illustration of how to shove an ice pick into a zombie's head, but now I've seen it. The weapon descriptions are detailed - here's where it may get a bit dry for those of you not into weaponry, as the descriptions read as if concocted from the mind of Dwight Schrute.

The other part to mention is the Combat Reports, which are discussions with zombie fighters. These are done in an interview style, like Studs Terkel, or WWZ (which I also loved.) Although he's using the oral history format, the characters Ma creates is completely original - a clothing designer, a cop, a green beret, a shaolin monk, etc. These were probably my favorite parts of the book, and provide nice contrast to the instruction portion of the manual.

No one has a lock on zombie parody. The only thing that matters is if it is well written, captivating, and adds something original and entertaining to the theme. This book is all those things. Quite frankly, there's not enough good zombie lit out there, as I can count on one hand the number of zombie books worth reading in the last 5 years. We zombie fans appreciate any quality writing we can get.

Came here to pick this up after catching a great review at (...) (and then searching out three more, equally-positive reviews.)

Was really puzzled at the wild disparity in the ratings here...until I checked the background on the critics. Interestingly, save one music review, the only things any of them has ever weighed in on OTHER than this book are...Max Brooks' zombie books. And those reviews were glowing. Hmm.

Methinks Max (or his fans) is/are deliberately stomping on Roger Ma just for having the nerve to bite into (sorry) the same genre / topic. Not very sporting, especially to an apparently fledgling author.

I've yet to read the book, but will happily add my two cents once it arrives. Am giving it a premature 5-star rating to help offset what smells an awful lot like foul play.

From what I understand, it's a well-considered exploration of zombie warfare in its own right. Seems like there should be enough room in the sandbox for more than one player.

Besides the first site I mentioned I found reviews on (...) and ....(...)

Okay, i'm not reaaally into zombies. I haven't read Max Brooks, I haven't seen every zombie movie, but this book is chock full of fun facts that had me debating with friends over for hours. seriously. you forget that these things don't exist. "oh, i heard the crowbar was the best zombie-killer". you will go on for hours. regardless, it pulls you into its universe of zombie infection without a breather and breaks down the facts in ways that make you ask how the author managed to amass such reference for an imaginary topic. FUN READ!