"The Last Man" - Novel by Mary Shelley

"The Last Man" is a dystopian novel which was written by author Mary Shelley in 1826. You can probably tell from the title that the story concerns the end of humanity (think: Richard Matheson's novel "I am Legend" minus the vampirish ghouls). The story is told in first person, and it depicts a lone man trying to eek out life in a twenty-first century world that has been destroyed by a global pandemic.

In "The Last Man," the audience is also given insight into how the world came to be in its particularly bleak state. "The Last Man" was previously lost for many years, but was recovered in modern times. The novel is known by most science fiction fans to be the first of its kind (dystopian genre).

*Mary Shelley is more celebrated for penning the sci fi/horror novel "Frankenstein." She is said to have written "The Last Man" whilst she was in mourning for her father.

*It is rumored that Mary Shelley first got the idea for "The Last Man" during one of her prophetic visions.