I Am Legend

Compelling story with the best kind of twist. I wish I could say that the prose was better. But overall a good horror Sci-Fi read. It’s a page turner and won’t take you long.

There were too many details when there didnt need to be and not enough when they needed it. Good concept though.

Richard Mathesons I Am Legend is a short story about a man named Robert Neville, the last living human on the planet. To complicate things, due to a bacteria there are now vampires running amok who know where he lives. By day he hunts the vampires and kills them while they sleep, by night he inebriates himself and holes up in his house. He finds a dog, and another survivor, but both feed the fire of despair, loneliness and inebriation. And by day the legend grows. Matheson weaves a compelling and frightening tale, and the emotions of Robert Neville are felt by the reader. The ending offers a wonderful twist, and the original story is far better than the recent Will Smith film of the same name. I Am Legend is such an influential story that it almost single-handedly invented the vampire/zombie apocalypse genre that is so prevalent in modern cinema. This specific omnibus also features ten other short stories. A reader unfamiliar with Matheson may pass over them, or read them expecting very little compared to the titular story, but reading them will quickly change the readers mind. Several of the short stories are wonderfully frightening, and they all offer a horrific twist at the end. Highlights include Prey, Madhouse, and Person to Person, although each story is well written and highly entertaining.

I read this one because its supposed to be great. It inspired a few movies, after all. I must admit I was disappointed. Matheson did his research and his scientific theory is reasonable (mostly - Im a doctor with a background in microbiology so I can say so), but it wasnt enough to hold me to the story. The story itself, well, that was little more than the drunken ravings of a sociopath driven to the edges of madness by circumstance.

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.

Wow, what a story, complete with an unexpected twist in the end.. I haven’t seen Will Smith’s movie of the same name, but it sounds like a typical Hollywood treatment of a story that already has two other movies based on it. To expect the MC of the book to behave like a heroic character in a 2007 movie does the book an incredible disservice. The MC has faced horrors enough to result in a major traumatic stress syndrome. To face the distinct possibility of being the last person on earth not affected by a bacteria which has turned everyone else into vampires- both the dead and a not quite living. These are not glamorous “Twilight” vampires, but more like the creatures from Bram Stokers novel, with similar powers and weaknesses. One or two are people Robert Neville, the main character, knew before they were infected. Now every night they gather outside his barricaded house and try to entice him outside. Initially, Robert drinks himself into oblivion every night. As the book progresses the things has gone through are revealed- I’ll try to avoid spoilers here, but the MC’s actions are understandable. He also is trying to figure out how the plague spread. Not a trained scientist, he makes use of daylight hours when the vampires are hiding from the sunlight to take books from the library and try to understand. He also actively seeks out the vampires who are weak and lethargic in the daytime and kills them, initially with wooden stakes which were mentioned in Brampton Stoker’s Dracula. The MC has an electric generator to power his home and especially keep food from spoiling. He also has a car which he keeps maintained so he can drive to half destroyed supermarkets for food, as well as ammunition. The vampires cannot be killed by bullets, but it slows them down when the MC is in a tight spot. I had to take a break from reading about halfway as the story is really intense. If you approach the novel as the original, written half a century before the movie of the same name, before Anne Rice’s novels and tough movie heroes who can handle almost anything, the MC becomes more understandable, having gone through the collapse of civilized society.

A plague has wiped out humanity and left vampiric creatures in its wake. Robert Neville, a former factory worker, is the sole surviving human being as far as he knows. He spends each night barricaded in his home with vampires outside his door calling for him to come out. During the day, he fortifies his home, kills vampires, and even researches the cause of the plague. Neville is obsessed with explaining what has happened in rational, scientific terms and discovers a bacteria that appears to be the root of the problem. His struggles to stay alive and find a purpose for his life form the crux of the story. I Am Legend has been cited as influential by virtually every horror writer, but you should not expect to find a classic horror story here. The first third actually conforms pretty closely to the norm with some harrowing moments, but then the book focuses much more on Nevilles research, his attempt to befriend a dog, his state of mind, etc. The ending is more of an ironic social satire than it is a climax to the story. None of this is to suggest that the novel is not worth reading, it certainly is. Just dont pick it up expecting a thrill ride of scares because youll be severely disappointed. For those who have seen the movie

The absolute coolest vampire concept ever! My friend recommend I read telling me how the ending left him speechless, and now having read it myself I can definately say it is the best ending of any book Ive ever read. The concept is that Nevelle is the last man alive due to a virus that changed everyone else into vampires. The book starts with him making repairs to the outside of his, which he does every day due the damage the vampires do trying to get in at night. His house has become his fort, the only thing that protects him each night from them. He cant stray too far away during the day cause he needs to have enough time to get home and seal himself up at night, which removes any hope of him finding any survivors beyond a certain radius. By day he wonders out for supplies when he needs them and reinforces his house, and by night he locks himself in and tries to ignore the vampires outside trying to get him to come out. The book is mostly about this one remaining man whos all alone, researching and trying to figure out what the virus is and how it works. At the end he is in a situation which explains the title of the book. The book is very short, I was disappointed when I Am Legend ended after only 100+ pages with the rest being short stories. But for such a short story it is still incredibly powerful and intresting, and the other short stories are worth a read too.... Dont let the movie ruin it for you, while it follows the same concept as the book it leaves out all the things that make the book so good. They should be punished for changing the ending to the way they did.... BOO Hollywood...... LATE

wowowo i finally got some money and after watching pewdiepies review of the book i am pleasantly surprised how much i loved following nevilles story. Like i seriously wished the story went on longer. Im not going to lie though, i was a little confused at the end, but i think I understand it-_-. Anyway i really do recommend I Am Legend. The main story is so much fun and some of the mini stories after were enjoyable too.

Its a great read