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Summary: Obviously You Are Intersted In Vampires and Zombies...
Review: SO BUY THIS BOOK!This is where it all started. The pioneering work that later inspired George Romero's "Night Of The Living Dead" and Stephen King's "Salem's Lot" and every other tale of a normal human being fighting against the odds in a world gone mad with the hungry hordes of the undead.
Matheson, a TV writer (most notable work, "The Twilight Zone"), places us in a world where a mysterious virus has not only killed off virtually ever other man, woman and child but causes them to return as zombielike vampires intent on only one thing... to drain the blood of the living. Matheson's hero holds up in his old family home, now a battered fortress assaulted nightly by what were once his friends and neighbors and who have become the walking dead intent on taking hold and devouring him. He, in turn, waits until the morning light and searches out there hiding places in order to destroy the revenants when they are at their most vulnerable. A one man army, who is patiently, skillfully ridding his world of this vermin.
Fortunately, in one of his sweeps he finds that there is another who is doing the same thing. He is not alone in the world afterall.
Unfortunately, this other wants to destroy him as well. Matheson wrote a thinking man's horror novel. He touches on that feeling of alienation and loneliness that pervades so much of our modern world. A world that places us as pawns, used (and often victimised) by the science and technologies of our own creation. However, Matheson also inspires in the reader a feeling of hope and fighting back even if the odds are staggeringly against us. He appeals to the survivalist instincts that every healthy, normal man and woman possess. He builds the anger in us to strike back and overcome the menace to our existence.
Two movies made were based on "I Am Legend": "The Last Man On Earth", starring Vincent Price and the classic, "Omega Man", starring Charleton Heston. Neither of these came close to the quality of this novel. This book is essential reading and keeping for every horror fan, especially us zombie fanatics. Now go order this book!
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Summary: A clever, imaginative and gripping read.
Review: "I Am Legend" is an engrossing tale that succesfully moves the legend of the vampire into the modern world and the realms of plausibility. The narrative is quite dry, and yet gripping. Rovert Neville is excellently portrayed as a man who has survived a plague, only to see his family, friends and neighbours return from the dead as monsters. Driven to survive without ever truly understanding his own motivations, he establishes a routine of hunting the dead in their inert state by day while barricading himself in his home at night. Eventually, as much to maintain his sanity as out of any curiosity, he starts to research what turned these people into vampires and why he seems to be immune. The plot is plausible, and the novel treatment of an established legend is exceptional. I read this book as part of the excellent "SF Masterworks" series, which has introduced me to several authors I'd never previously heard of - I'll certainly be seeked out more of Richard Matheson's writing.
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Summary: The Book that started it All
Review: I am legend is the story that started it all, it spawned The Last man on Earth(Vincent Prince), The Omega Man(Charlton Heston) and the most recent 28 Days Later. This is an incredible story one of Richard Matheson's best in my opinion. I've read this story over a dozen times and each time I read it I pick up something new from it. Robert Neville is the last man on earth and every other man, woman, and child has become a blood sucking vampire. Neville is immuned to the vampiris virus by being bit by a bat during the war. After 3 years of isolation and hunting by day and boarding up by night Neville discovers and woman who can walk in sun light and then later discovers she was a spy and theres a clan coming to destroy him, for those who haven't read the story I don't want to spoil it anymore, its a great read.
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Summary: Gripping, emotional, killer ending.
Review: I was turned on to Matheson after watching Charlton Heston in the Omega Man years back, the movie based loosely upon the book, I Am Legend. You may find that the only regret from reading I Am Legend is the length of the story: It leaves you aching for more. What is particularly remarkable about Matheson is that he can compose a truly compelling story in so few pages, as he deftly details the tribulations of the last man alive in the world...or is he? Combining interpretations of vampire lore with an excellent interweaving of science fiction, Matheson achieves in his one main character greater fulfillment of plot, tension and irony than many horror or sci-fi authors are able to gain with a full cast. Positively riveting and fear inspiring, Matheson appeals to the reader emotionally as well: The chapter involving the protagonist and his relationship with a stray dog is heart breaking, but is evidence of what a truly fantastic author can do with the right material. Oh, and the killer ending....if you can't see this bittersweet conclusion play out in your mind's eye like a motion picture, you need to read this story again. Simply the best.
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Summary: Deserves its good rep.
Review: Always a good writer, Matheson had at least three classic novels in him, and this is one of them. Dean Koontz usually gets the credit for creating the cross-genre novel, but he was predated by others, Matheson among them. I Am Legend redefined the vampire novel as science fiction, but it actually is even more complex than that. The story is richly layered and textured, highly adult and morally ambiguous. It is a medical thriller of the genre later made more famous by Michael Crichton and Robin Cook, a post-apocalypse novel, a commentary on Darwinism, and even a war story - Cold and Hot. The '64 AIP Vincent Price vehicle The Last Man On Earth was a faithful and effective adaptation of the book, though Matheson didn't like it any more than he did the far less faithful Warner Brothers remake ten years later, The Omega Man. Both movies are worth a look, for different reasons. But you owe it to yourself to read it as Matheson originally wrote it, if you really want to enjoy it to the max. I re-read it about a year ago, and was pleasantly surprised at how little dated it was. In fact, it's actually more up-to-date, in light of AIDS and concern over biological weapons.
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Summary: Praise for 'I am Legend'
Review: This is possibly one of the best horror novels I have read as of late. I was surprised when I found out, that it is actually a colection of short stories by the author. Each story is enough to give you a chill or two, if not at the very least a few goose-bumps. I enjoyed the dark-humor in a couple of stories. A must read for any fan of the darker side.
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Summary: A vampire novel second only to Stoker's
Review: I am Legend is arguably the greatest short horror novel ever written, and its influence on the horror genre has been profound. Stephen King and many other of today's masters rank this book highly in their personal top ten lists of favorites. It is a short novel that can be read in one sitting; it is hard to put down, building in intensity from start to finish. Matheson creates an entirely new type of vampire fiction herein. Transcending the traditional vampire tale, he adds science fiction elements to produce a refreshing new interpretation of Stoker's legend. The most fascinating part of the story is the protagonist's (Richard Neville's) attempts to explain the legendary aspects of the vampire myth in scientific terms. His discovery of a bacterium, which he dubs vampiris, as the true source of vampirism struck me anew reading the novel again after the events of September 11, 2001. Although we only get pieces of the story regarding the outbreak of the vampiric plague, including a reference to bombings, it can easily be seen as the fruits of germ warfare. Neville even conjectures that the Black Death of the Middle Ages was caused by this same vampiris germ, and he extrapolates facts and ideas from that history in his attempts to understand why such defenses as garlic, crosses, and stakes driven into the heart actually are effective against the hordes of undead creatures menacing his own time. He studies academic texts and conducts experiments with the blood of these creatures, which is the means by which he identifies the bacterium. The essence of garlic has no effect on the germ when injected into a blood sample, which initially he is unable to explain, but he later is able to explain garlic's effectiveness. Less scientific tests lead him to conclude that crosses are only effective against "Christian" vampires; the cross has no meaning to for vampires who were once Jews and Moslems, but sacred symbols of those religions, such as the Torah and the Koran, do. All of these scientific tests and speculations are just fascinating. Neville is essentially the last man on earth, and the loneliness of his situation is the central part of the story. Matheson is able to communicate Neville's emotional feelings vividly, making him very real. We gradually acquire the story of the deaths of Neville's wife and daughter, essentially experiencing the pain he goes through when these memories overcome him. We watch him drink himself into a stupor as each night finds him besieged in his fortified house, surrounded by vampires, including his old friend and neighbor, calling for him to come out. We watch him slowly lose his grip on sanity and come very close to giving up. Then, however, we watch him overcome his depression and courageously fight to live in the nightmare world he is trapped in. The scenes with the dog he finds are full of emotion and really gripped this reader. This is Neville's first contact with nonvampiric life, and his attempts to befriend and help the poor creature (at the same time finally finding a companion) touched me greatly and brought tears to my eyes. His eventual discovery of another human being like himself is also powerful and emotional, although to speak more about this aspect of the story is to risk giving something away to the future reader. This is a story of one man overcoming all obstacles and fighting to defend his way of life and his very humanity. The novel deals with the human condition, the essential ingredient to effective horror writing. Neville struggles constantly with his doubts and fears, particularly as he commits acts that he would have condemned as barbarous in the time before the plague. His needs for companionship of any kind offer us a clear image of the inner soul of man. By the end of the story, he does indeed become legend, both in his world and in ours.
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Summary: 2nd only to Stoker.
Review: This book, which is sadly short, is easily the second greatest vampire story written, behind Dracula of course. Once i started reading I Am Legend i just could not put it down and finished it in one long sitting. It starts off superb and doesnt let up one bit. The ending also is beautiful, smart, and tragic. Truly original. And what many people arent mentioning is that I Am Legend only takes up half of this book. The second half is a compilation of Matheson's short stories and are extremely entertaining also. Buy this book. Now!
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Summary: one of the best
Review: I am Legend is the best of two of my favorite genres; post-apocalyptic fiction and vampire stories. Reading this for the first time many years after it was published, it is amazing to see how much it has influenced movies and books that came later. It's a very quick read that makes you wish it were longer.
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Summary: Vampires
Review: My book is entitled "I Am Legend", it is written by Richard Matheson. The thing that caught my eye about the book was that Richard Matheson inspired Stephen King to start writing, also the fact that the book was about vampires. "I Am Legend" is about every human on Earth turning into vampires except one man, Robert Neville. Robert is trying to keep himself alive while all these vampires are thirsty for his sweet fresh blood. Robert tries to find if the so called "vampire" is a virus or not, and tries to find a cure for them. Robert Neville is a hunter in the day and when night falls he traps himself in his room. "I Am Legend" is an excellent book, I recommend this book to everyone and anyone. It is an exciting book that keeps you reading and reading. Richard Matheson wrote the book in a way that I could picture everything that was going on. The dialogue was also believable. I could see people talking the way they did in the book. Remember the book is entitled "I Am Legend", pick it up and read it you'll like it.
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