#2. I AM LEGEND By Richard Matheson

Published : 1954
Pages : 160
Overall Mark : 9/10

An SF novel about vampires...
Robert Neville is the last living man on Earth... but he is not alone. Every other man, woman and child on the planet has become a vampire, and they are hungry for Neville's blood. By day he is the hunter, stalking the undead through the ruins of civilisation. By night, he barricades himself in his home and prays for dawn. How long can one man survive like this?

RICHARD MATHESON (1926-)
I Am Legend, first published in 1954, is Richard Matheson's first SF novel and established his reputation. His other novels include The Incredible Shrinking Man and Hell House, and he has written many film and TV scripts.

VERDICT
I was surprised at how modern this book felt. Richard Matheson manages to make this book feel contemporary even by today’s standards and, as this is supposed to be set in the late 70s, that’s not an easy task! This novel has been imitated by many, most recently in Stephen King’s Cell, but will always remain one of the original and the best of the modern vampire novels, up there with the likes of Dracula!

#1. THE FOREVER WAR By Joe Haldeman

Published : 1974
Pages : 253
Overall Mark : 9/10

Private William Mandella is a reluctant hero in an interstellar war against an unknowable and unconqerable alien enemy, but his greatest test wil come when he returns home. Relativity means that for every few months' tour of duty centuries have passed on Earth, isolating the combatants even more from the world for whose future they are fighting.

JOE HALDERMAN (1943-)
The Forever War, published in 1974, won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards for Best Novel and cemented Joe Haldeman's reputation as one of SF's major writers. His experiences in Vietnam, where he won a Purple Heart, influenced much of his writing.

VERDICT
This is a great novel, and I’m glad I picked it up. The characters are solid and believable, and the book flows beautifully from start to finish. Some people believe that this novel is based on Haldeman’s tour of duty in Vietnam, and the sense of not belonging that Mandella feels each time he returns to Earth, coupled with the idea of the government not even knowing anything much about their enemy, makes me believe that this could well be the case.