Richard Matheson: I Am Legend
Apocalyptic horror books don't get much better than this. I Am Legend is a story of Richard Neville, the last human on earth, surrounded by monsters. Not zombies, this time, but vampires: blood-thirsty beasts seeking Neville's life. He has a house turned into a fortress, and during days he goes around driving stakes through the creatures - just to find new ones at his door come evening.
It's an exciting story that wastes no space: the book is just 160 pages or so. It's full on action (and research, as Neville tries to figure out what is was that turned everybody else to a vampire), armed with a clever philosophical twist: if you're the only living person in a world of vampires, then who actually is the monster and deviant? Who is normal? Excellent stuff, really, this is a true classic.
What is really curious is why on earth this wasn't translated in Finnish before? My friend got a good catch here with his small independent publishing house, especially with the new major movie too. The book won the 2008 Tähtivaeltaja award for the best science fiction book published in Finnish, and for a good reason. (Review based on the Finnish translation.) [ I Am Legend (S.F. Masterworks) at Amazon.co.uk ]
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