Science fiction - one of my favourites

One of my favourite genres is science fiction. Last week I watched on dvd three movies: I am legend (2007), directed by Francis Lawrence, Invasion of the body snatchers (1956) directed by Don Siegel, and Perfect Creature, directed by Glenn Standring (2006). I am legend (starring Will Smith) and Perfect Creature both treat the vampire issue. The movie I am legend caught my attention and so I ordered the novel by Richard Matheson (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Matheson) which was published in 1954. People who saw the movie weren't happy, especially those who read the novel before. Now I know why. Personally I found the movie gripping and having a nice mix of sci-fi, fantasy, horror, drama. But it is very different from the original novel of Matheson. I liked the novel more as it is a good read, very flowing (only 160 pages), and a classic. As good sci-fi books, this one seems to treat a remote issue or reality, but in fact it discusses present day problems such as isolation, solitude, evolution, different perspectives and interpretations, biological warfare and mutation.

Summary on the back cover of the novel (Gollancz Publications): "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 the dawn.

How long can one man survive like this?"

Two other short novels which are a good read are The Fifth Child and Ben, in the World by Doris Lessing.

A farewell to Arthur C. Clarke who left this world some days ago (19 th March) at the age of 90. He was best known for his work on the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey based on his story The Sentinel (1948). See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_C._Clarke