I Am Legend

I make it a habbit not to read too much into the reviews as too many times plots are ruined and the whole story is given away. Im glad I didnt read the editorial review on this book here on Amazon as it gives just about everything away!!! If you havent read it, good, dont! If you have, well its still a great story eventhough the review blew the ending for you. Just to clear things up, this book has around 10 stories in it. The title I am legend is the first story in this book and the longest. I am Legend is a great story. Mathesons style of writing is a bit jagged but it adds tremendously to the atmosphere. I thought about this story many days after I read it. Its the kind of story that will kick you in the head. Do your self a favor and pick it up, its a quick read and worth it. So far Ive read several of the other shorts in the book and they are ok. Sort of Twilight Zone-ish, nothing that really stood out so far. These are just quick little reads at bed time. All the pages following the title story could have been blank for all I care. I am Legend was that good.

When I first saw The Omega Man, I instantly fell in love with the story and the characters. Ive always been a fan of Post Apocalyptic fiction. I could feel The main characters sense of isolation, loneliness and desire to rid the world of Matthiass army. I took a chance and saw Will Smiths version. I didnt like it at all and never will. It didnt have the same feel of a Post Apocalyptic world. Eventually I watched Last Man On Earth with Vincent Price. Not too bad, but Ill always enjoy Charlton Heston. Id love to see a video game based on The Omega Man, but thats just a pipe dream.

This is a fantastic novella from a brilliant writer. It was way ahead of its time and Matheson inspired so many giants in the horror field, including Stephen King. This book in particular is one of the main contributing forces that gave rise to the zombie genre. I wouldnt say this is a literary masterpiece so much as an amazing story that is solidly written. The premise is dazzling and it kept me turning the pages. I will refrain from giving it the fifth star because some of Nevilles thinking got a touch repetitive for me and I was actually a little confused about what constituted a (WARNING, mild spoiler) vampire or another kind of undead type of vampire being that isnt quite a vampire. I honestly cant spoil it too bad because I dont clearly understand that part. One of the things I really enjoyed about this book was that I have seen two film versions of I Am Legend and this still felt original. I think its because the main character is a truly human character. We get a front row seat to those flaws in the book and we get to do it as he battles vampires from a last man on earth perspective. It was a fun read. I will try more of Mathesons written work. (He also wrote many screenplays.)

Just what I wanted and received BEFORE the stated delivery time frame. I knew I was ordering the hardcover version of the book, but I was surprised to see its size. Its a little larger than a paperback. Fits in my hands perfectly. I was kind of leery about the font sizes as I was sure shrinking it down would make it difficult to read (getting up in years, so my eyesight isnt so good). But again, I was pleasantly surprised to see that wasnt the case. Excellent readability. The stories contained within: I Am Legend Buried Talents The Near Departed Prey Witch War Dance of the Dead Dress of White Silk Mad House The Funeral From Shadowed Places Person to Person

This isnt a bad book. I just couldnt finish it. As soon as I knew the set-up and what our hero expected to encounter every night, I went right to the movie. This a good book for the movie makers. They did a good job, and I was entertained.

Reviewing a classic is rather strange for me. Its like reviewing Oliver Twist, when almost everyone knows what its about, due to movies, TV show references, and most recently in commercials urging kids to use manners. When people think of I Am Legend , they usually dont know its a book, and just know its a post apocalyptic movie where most of the population has been mutated into vampires, and Will Smith is the last man standing, blah, blah, blah. The movie was great, I admit it. But that was before I read the book. And like every other movie supposedly based on I Am Legend, like The Last Man On Earth and the very horrendous The Omega Man, the movies seem to exclude many of the main points that make the novel so great. I hope they actually make an accurate movie based on the book someday. Richard Matheson deserves a better movie adaption. Ok, now enough about the movie and on to the book. The book is set in the late 1970s. The world was decimated by a horrible virus, that turns men and animals into vampires. Robert Neville, the last man, as far as he knows, is fighting to survive. The book deals mainly with Roberts internal struggle with insanity, which Matheson handles beautifully. I dont want to spoil the main points, so I urge you to read the book. :) Overall, I give the book 5 out of 5 stars! Available in most eBook formats and in print.

If, like me, you became interested in the book based on the popularization of the movie, prepare yourself for something altogether different. While the title and character name remains the same, the similarities stop there. That said, the book is an enthralling and suspenseful work lending as much to the psychology of isolation as to myth and mayhem. I enjoyed the work immensely and only regret it’s brief nature and lack of expansion.

This is one of those classic books Ive been meaning to get around to. When it was finally on sale for less than a buck on the Kindle, I decided to take the plunge and I was not disappointed. Ive only read one of Mathesons other books (his latest one at the time of this review) but Im a big fan of his work on the original Twilight Zone and I Am Legend certainly has much of the same vibe as many TZ episodes. Many Twilight Zone episodes (including the pilot) dealt with a lone or small group of survivors after the apocalypse. Only in this case instead of nuclear war its a plague that gradually turns everyone into vampires. Its important to note that in many ways Mathesons vampires are more akin to the zombies of Night of the Living Dead and such than the vampires in Dracula or especially Twilight. These vampires cannot go out in the light and they drink blood, but they arent super strong or super fast and they cant change into other shapes. The way they shamble around, seemingly unable to even open a door, definitely makes them closer to zombies than vampires. Robert Neville is seemingly the last man on Earth, or at least the last man in his neck of the woods in California. After about five months hes built his old house into an impenetrable fortress thats stocked with food and has a generator for electricity. He even has a hothouse to grow garlic that helps keep the vampires at bay. Every night the vampires gather around his house, hoping hell come out. One of his former neighbors yells at him constantly to come out while the undead women strike lurid poses in the hope of coaxing Neville from his fortress. Most of the story then deals with Nevilles survival. In particular in how he has to deal with the crushing loneliness and isolation of being the only real human left. To help combat that, Neville begins trying to understand the disease that wiped out humanity and possibly to find a cure for it. Along the way we learn a little more about Nevilles life before the plague, in particular what happened with his wife and daughter. Though still by the end the details are a little skimpy, especially where the daughter is concerned. One bit of confusion for me was that it took a while for Matheson to really establish whether Kathy was the wife or daughter and the same for Virginia. Still, I found this a riveting, suspenseful read. Modern readers who yearn for buckets of blood and gore arent going to find that so much in here, but it is a fascinating tale of survival in the face of great horror and adversity. Another note is that if you saw the Will Smith film from a few years ago you should disregard that as except for the title and basic premise they dont have much in common. That is all.

I absolutely enjoyed reading this, its a shame that the movies, I Am Legend, The Omega Man, and The Last Man On Earth didnt follow this book more closely. Without giving the story away, the detail given to the depth of character, human psyche, was amazing, considering when this was written, Im mildly shocked at how Not Campy the story is. Definitely an excellent read. If youve seen any of the movies I mentioned, this is a must read, as usual Hollywood absolutely did not do the story justice.

This haunting and original 1955 science fiction novel started the modern post-apocalyptic vampire genre. It is called the first modern vampire novel and influenced the zombie genre as well. However, the movie with Will Smith is at best loosely inspired by it. I fear many people will not read the book because they have seen this or one of the other movies inspired by the novel. That would be a shame. The novel has roots in science fiction and has spawned dozens of other books and movies. Three movie adaptations were directly inspired by it,