The best fiction books on pandemics

There are many interesting stories that we could immediately associate with the present. This is why we decided to find out which are the best novels that portray stories where, in one way or another, a threat appears that changes the life of the planet and the existing social relations.

I Am Legend, by Richard Mathesson (1954)

We begin by talking about a work that many will know for its film adaptation, starring Will Smith. However, that does not mean that it cannot be enjoyed in its original version, which captures, from the perspective of horror and science fiction, a post-apocalyptic world of the city of Los Angeles.

According to what the specialized media of Resibooks mentions, we will know the story of Robert Nevill, the only man who managed to survive a pandemic that ended with the rest of human beings. However, some did not die completely, as they turned into vampires or infected. Ideal if you are looking for a terrifying perspective of desolation and disease.

The Plague, by Albert Camus (1947)

Here we are talking about a novel based on the epidemic that took place in the Algerian city of Oran in 1849, after the French colonization. According to the Jesús de Matías Batalla website, the rats begin to appear dead in the place, being a truly terrifying symbolism for the citizens.

In this sense, we can discover at first how some characters, such as goalkeeper Michel, believe the epidemic is fake. However, many others, such as Dr. Bernard Rieux, begin to worry about the death of the inhabitants, generating a plague that plagues life as they knew it.

Also read: The history and importance of Mafalda for Latin America

Apocalypse, by Stephen King (1978)

In this case, we mention a bestseller that became one of the popular horror writer's favorite novels. Here a flu virus will appear, which was created in a laboratory as a possible biological weapon that threatens the entire United States, due to its high contagion capacity.

It is one of the longest novels by Stephen King. The fear of the pandemic can be seen throughout all its pages, since it has a high effectiveness in ending human life, for which 99% of people will tend to die since such lethality cannot be counteracted.

World War Z, by Max Brooks (2006)

Finally, we have the original work of the film starring Brad Pitt, which, according to the HobbyConsolas website, generated a very large “visual force” due to the impact of the apocalyptic situation. In the book, we will see a narrative in short stories in the first person that will fascinate us immediately.

According to what the Hello Friki website highlights, we will meet a journalist who wants to clarify what happened during the conflict, all through a structure composed of different testimonies, where the pandemic is approached from different perspectives: political, economic, religious, or communicational.

Therefore, moving to these literary environments in this complex scenario can generate terror, but from a completely fictional side. That is to say, it could help us to see that the world, in reality, is not as bad as we think, since we have seen that there are much more disastrous cases.