The Walking Dead, Vol. 1
by Robert Kirkman
★ Top 25 book of 2004 · #18 on Best Books of 2004
A global epidemic has made the dead rise to feed on the living, and society has fallen apart within months. Survivors in this graphic series must now find a way to live without the old comforts.
Best for: Readers who want a gritty zombie apocalypse story told through survival
The Walking Dead, Vol. 1 is #18 on BookWard's Best Books of 2004, out of 48 2004 books that cleared our data bar.
What The Walking Dead, Vol. 1 is about
An epidemic of apocalyptic scale has swept across the world, and the dead are rising to feed on the living. Within months, society has fallen apart: there is no government, no grocery store, no mail delivery and no cable TV. Commerce has given way to survival, and the people left alive must work out what they owe one another.
Robert Kirkman's first volume, from 2004, is a bleak and tense story that sets aside the spectacle of the catastrophe to ask how ordinary people cope once everything that organised their days is gone. It dwells on responsibility, family and the moral choices that survival demands. Readers who like gritty, character-driven stories about life after collapse will find a lot to follow here.
The Walking Dead, Vol. 1 on the Best Books of 2004
The Walking Dead, Vol. 1 came out in 2004. Of the 48 books first published in 2004 that met BookWard's data bar, it ranks #18 on our Best Books of 2004 list.
Why it made the list: 183 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.4 out of 5 (28 ratings). The list ranks each year’s books on how many readers have picked them up, how highly readers rate them, and how many are reading them right now.
Nearby on the 2004 list
- The Enemy Lee Child, #16
- The Spook's Apprentice Joseph Delaney, #17
- Collapse Jared Diamond, #19
- Knuffle Bunny Mo Willems, #20
See all Best Books of 2004 Best books by year
More years: Best Books of 2003 Best Books of 2005.
The numbers behind it
- Readers: 136 want to read it, 12 are reading it now and 35 have read it, according to Open Library.
- Ratings: 4.4 out of 5 from 28 Open Library ratings.
| Signal | This book (0 to 100) | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | 38 | 55% |
| Reader love | 92 | 25% |
| Being read right now | 65 | 20% |
Questions about The Walking Dead, Vol. 1
When was The Walking Dead, Vol. 1 published?
The Walking Dead, Vol. 1 by Robert Kirkman was first published in 2004.
Was The Walking Dead, Vol. 1 one of the best books of 2004?
The Walking Dead, Vol. 1 is #18 on BookWard's Best Books of 2004, out of 48 2004 books that cleared our data bar. 183 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.4 out of 5 (28 ratings).
Why is The Walking Dead, Vol. 1 on the Best Books of 2004 list?
183 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.4 out of 5 (28 ratings).
More of the best books of 2004
- Darkly Dreaming Dexter Jeffry P. Lindsay, #1
- Rich Dad, Poor Dad for Teens Robert T. Kiyosaki, #2
- The Ruins of Gorlan John Flanagan, #3
- Alexander Hamilton Ron Chernow, #4
- Blink Malcolm Gladwell, #5
- She Comes First Ian Kerner, #6
See the full Best Books of 2004, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views for recent years. The description is paraphrased from real source text. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Lists update monthly.
Find your own best books
Add what you have read, rate it, and BookWard will recommend what to read next.
Free while in beta. No credit card needed.