Everyone binge watches “The Walking Dead,” even “Game of Thrones” author George RR Martin.
After recently power through a marathon of 14 episodes – during which Netflix no doubt passive-aggressively asked if he was still watching half a dozen times – Martin spoke with Entertainment Weekly about why America is in such shambles post-zombie outbreak.
“Castles! Whatever is happening in the United States during “The Walking Dead,” I”m sure they”re a lot better off in England because they”re in castles. […] No way is a zombie [getting through]- medieval siege armies couldn”t break castles with conventional artillery, and zombies don”t use artillery. Zombies don”t build trebuchets. They don”t build siege towers. There is no way they can break into a well-defended castle.”
This jives with the theory laid out by Max Brooks in “World War Z.” In the novel, the British Isles survive the undead outbreak mostly unscathed. Between their island status and multitude of castles with reinforced curtain walls, casualties remained relatively low. However, in Brooks” universe, the government is still tenuously in charge. In the anarchy that is “The Walking Dead,” castles might keep out walkers…but marauding bands of humans are another story.
Max Brooks is widely considered to be one the world”s leading zombie experts (yes, that's a thing). On top of his critically acclaimed novel, Brooks has written extensively on ‘shambler” zombies in “The Zombie Survival Guide” and “The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks.” Both books serve as companions to the universe of “World War Z.”
Perhaps Martin and Brooks should collaborate on some kind of Middle Ages zombie outbreak. Maybe the Bubonic Plague wasn't a virus after all?