I Am Legend

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.

Im usually not one of those people that reads the book AFTER seeing the movie, but this was the case for this particular story. I seen the Will Smith version and was somewhat confused as not much was explained correctly. It was all too extreme with the way the movie portrays it. The book (or rather short story) is really a fascinating dive into the brain of the last survivor of a vampiric plague. It really makes you feel like that last person siting there, while reading in bed imagining Vampires bouncing bricks off your house. The different moods the main character goes through in his daily routine. Only thing I didnt like was the ending, but not for the reason that it ends, but that because after I flipped to the main page and continued reading 5-6 more pages before I realized I was reading ANOTHER short story. This cover makes no mention of short storys it just finishes the I am legend one and continues into another, and another, and another. So it left me confused if THAT was it? that was the ending? But then I got pissed off because I kept reading and was confused by other short stories. I cant say I really enjoyed the other ones tho, I bought this book for I am Legend.

This book was awesome. No complaints about it at all. Id been wanting to read the book since seeing The Last Man on Earth and I am Legend (which definitely wasnt as good as the former, of the book). The book is better than either movie (I cant speak to The Omega Man because Ive never seen it). One thing I will point out is that if you are buying the mass market paperback version, please note that the book actually contains I am Legend as well as many other short stories. I was a little thrown off when reading the book, and about in the physical middle of the book the story ended and short stories picked up. Yea, there was a table of contents that I paid no mind to, because nothing on the book cover or in the book mentioned that it contained other short stories. I was a little disappointed thinking that I still had half a book left, only to realize I was at the end. Technically, all the extra short stories are bonuses, if you like horror short stories.

Im going to admit that I bought this book because I enjoyed the movie more then I had expected so my review is automatically skewered. I went into this read with expectations that make my opinion unfair to the writer. There were a few things that surprised me right off the bat: This is a book of short stories though the longest story in the book is I Am Legend. The story in the book is absolutely nothing like the movie. Honestly, I dont know how on earth they pulled the movie script out of this short story they are truly NOTHING a like. In fact, this goes way beyond the cliche point of, the book was better or when you hear people complaining that the movie wasnt enough like the book, no, in this situation the literal only thing the movie and this short story had in common was the title and the fact that the world is overrun in an apocalypse setting. After that, the story-line of the movie and the story-line of this short story are so completely different in every way I dont know how anyone could even say that the movie was based on this. With that said, I was automatically disappointed because when I saw the movie I was excited to read the book because I thought the story line of the movie would have really lent itself to a good read. The story as it is is like all of the stories in the book - dark, depressing and hopeless. This is not the kind of book you read for a feel good feeling at the end of any story in it. Though I Am Legend (as a story) was written in an interesting narrative that passed time quickly it ended with a stale quality that I found was a theme with all of the short stories in this book. I would be surprised if anyone who read this didnt know exactly what was going to happen at the end of every one of these short stories. Which was probably the biggest disappointment for me, I may have had unfair expectations of I Am Legend as a story because of the movie but I had no expectations of the rest of the stories in the book. Sadly I found this entire read rather stale and just disappointing.

Of course, most of us have seen the film I am Legend starring Will Smith. I liked most of the movie well enough, but wasnt very satisfied with the ending, so I thought I would give the book it was based on a try. Robert Neville is the sole survivor of a plague that has transformed the population into vampire-like creatures. Set in a California suburb in the mid seventies, this book chronicles Roberts daily activities of survival and understanding of the disease. He spends his days refortifying his home, restocking supplies, and exterminating any hibernating infected he comes across. By night, he hunkers down inside his home while the infected swarm outside, reminiscing about his deceased family, and studying the disease. He lives this way for several years when he encounters a woman out during the day, alone and wandering the town. Desperate for companionship, he makes a decision that changes everything and goes after her. The beginning of the book is very interesting. The reader is intrigued by what has happened that led to the current events of the story. The history behind the plague is revealed in bits and pieces, hooking the reader along. Roberts personal losses to the plague make the story much more compelling. The reader learns the nature of the disease alongside Robert, who is no doctor or scientist and after observation and trial and error, comes to his own conclusions about the plague. The final third of the book slows down a lot. By this point, all that there is to learn about the disease has been revealed and all the reader is left with is Robert and his loneliness, his own dehumanization as he lives in solitude. The book ends differently than the film, but is not really any better. The story was an okay read, but I feel I overpaid for it, especially for how old the story is. The story wasnt as good as I had hoped it would be. If you can acquire this book for free or for fairly cheap, then I would recommend it. But at the current kindle price of nearly six dollars, it is too much for a mediocre story.

I was surprised and enjoyed that the book was so different from the movie. It was an interesting story, this masculine post apocalyptic story, filled with great scares and really compelling main character. I liked the vibe of the main character, very no nonsense drinks and smokes, a very kind of badass guy.

This book suffers from what I like to call Fake Science-itus. The Martian had a similar issue, where the book would spend pages go on and on and on about how their sci-fi science & chemistry works. Bruh, I dont need a lecture on how your fake science works, youre putting me to sleep here.

The book is dark. And I love that. People could easily get rejected thinking oh its a horror but its not. I would sound probably cocky or something if say I can relate to this book a lot but it is not because I think too highly of my self and it does not have any connection with the title, but it is because I had difficult times in my youth growing up through the surrounding that was really dark and people were really a mental wreck. And I could relate to Robert Nevilles emotional difficulties and how hard it feels to meet that normal person that is almost impossible to find. Thats what kept me through the book that I read 1-2 chapters a day. But seeing how he became a legend it left a mark on me of how through all those things he went through the book, he never changed his core self. And probably because its a book and not a movie, it somehow stays so deep within you. It is awesome.

A virus of unknown origin has swept across the planet killing the majority of humans and mutating the rest - all except for one man who seems to be immune. The mutants have developed vampire-like traits, and the lone survivor, Robert Neville, barricades himself in his home by night to avoid being drained by them, and systematically searches for and destroys the mutants when they become comatose during the day. Although there are zombie-like vampires (or vampire-like zombies?), and Robert Neville is hunting and killing them, this is not really the focus of the story, so there isnt very much blood and gore. The story actually focuses around Neville struggling to cope with isolation and his pursuit of knowledge in an attempt to make sense what has happened to his world and his tenacious effort to fix it. Above all, the story is an exploration of the true definition of humanity and the subjective moral center of society. Written in 1954 and taking place in the future of 1976, I Am Legend doesnt feel at all dated until Neville decides he needs to do some research and doesnt go into a panic over the loss of the Internet. This futuristic 1970s dude knows exactly what to do when the power grid is down and he needs to know everything there is to know about blood and bacilli - he heads straight to the local library. Richard Mathesons writing is absolutely brilliant, and I now understand why this novella is considered a classic. If you have seen any of the movies based on this book, you still dont know the story. Read the book.

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