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Summary: What's all the fuss
Review: I eagerly anticipated this book and I have to honestly say that I hated it. Nothing ever really happened in the story and the ending seemed imcomplete to me. What a disappointment. If you want to read good vampire related material, try the Anita Blake series
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Summary: Move over Anne Rice, here is the real vampire story
Review: Richard Matheson can really keep a reader in the seat, or under the covers frightened of what may be lunking in the dark. I Am Legend made me think twice about going outside alone at night. The most interesting thing about the book, however, is the science behind the vampires. No doubt Matheson did extensive research to come to his conclusions. This made for a very good read. Everything that Anne Rice and other vampire authors neglect to explain is written here in black and white. Great book! It kept me from sleeping soundly...
Rating: 
Summary: Worth it for the title story
Review: Richard Matheson is a new author for me until recently, and it was only after I'd read _I Am Legend_ that I found out he was responsible for _What Dreams May Come_ (though I must admit I've only seen the film).The title story in this collection is an eerie and fascinating exploration of our society after it is overcome by vampirism. The main character, Robert Neville, lives locked away in his fortress of a home by night, and kills vampires by day. He explores their affliction scientifically to determine the origins of the "germ" as he calls it. In fact, this is an interesting aspect of the story; vampirism as a simple bodily illness blown into the proportion of a legend. _I Am Legend_ is a good read, and the ending, though abrupt, is worth it as Neville finally comes to understand his place in this new world ruled by gruesome enemies of humanity. The other stories in the volume are entirely forgettable, in my opinion. Most are enumerative horror at their core, and simply list all the horrible things that happen to someone because of African curses/cursed statuettes/witchcraft wielding teenage solider-girls/fiery temper/etc. The words sound right, but the stories suffer because of the bland laundry list of cuts, bruises, and lacerations that the characters endure. Again, read it for the title story; I was disappointed in the others.
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Summary: Absolutely Stunning!
Review: I AM LEGEND is probably one of the finest books on vampires, those undead and oft nightmarish bloodsuckers of our own creations. However, Matheson presents his vampires as the ultimate human terror, that of a replacement species for our race. The story follows Robert Neville, the sole survivor of a biological holocaust that created night stalkers who has turned his home into a fortress in suburban Los Angeles. During the day he hunts sleeping vampires, staking them through the heart and barricades himself in his home at night while they mill about his yard like cadaverous door to door salesmen, calling his name while the females raise their dresses to tease and taunt him. Neville is a beautiful study into the deterioration of the human mind, aside from the loss of his wife and daughter that haunts him constantly, he begins to lose his own grip on humanity. For three years he has lived this life of solitude, but surrounded by human monsters who, incidentally, do not wear 18th century regalia, top hats nor do they moan about how much their unlife makes them do such terrible things. Matheson's vampires are a paradox of life, do not turn into bats, wolves or mists and haven't an ounce of pretense or angst found in the likes of Anne Rice's Eurotrash vampires or the found in Vampire: the Masquerade. Neville has forgotten the sound of his own voice and much of the common etiquette that we as humans all share. Matheson's masterful descriptions of the monotony of daily life mingled with the nagging question of why he just doesn't give himself up to them permeate the book. He constructs arguments for both sides, and deconstructs the myth of vampires by producing a wonderful scientific explanation that Neville learns over a period of a few years, literally by educating himself at the UCLA libraries. The reader is so aware of the protagonist's torment and the surging desire for companionship, human or otherwise, that when he finds the stray dog, we are captivated and pulled along as Neville spends weeks trying to coax the terrified animal into his home. And, without giving it away, the ending will knock the reader off of whatever he or she is sitting on. Some might see similarities to this and the Chuck Heston flick, the Omega Man, which was a pale adaptation of the novel into a typical 1970's dystopian film. For myself I churned through the pages with a certain eagerness that I never possessed while reading Rice's morose and trite endeavors in the world of undead. This book soars and packs emotion into fluid verse that never stalls or loses direction. I Am Legend fits beautifully with movies such as Blade and John Carpenter's Vampires.
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Summary: The keystones of the modern horror scene.
Review: There are three milestones in the development of Vampire lore. Bram Stoker began the whole thing with Dracula, and Stephen King ushered in the modern incarnation with his 'salem's Lot. This seminal work by Matheson, originally published in 1954, is the middle stage, bringing Vampires out of thier Victorian beginnings and into a familiar, urban setting. The story tells the tale of Robert Neville, the last man on Earth. Thanks to a world-wide plague, he is now holed up in his fortified house, at night holding off the attacks from the zombiefied vampire populous, at day roaming a deserted city methodically rooting out and dispatching his sleeping foes. This is a true revisionist version of the swave, Bela Lugosi bloodsucker. Neville is a proper British practicioner of logic, and as he puzzles through what is going on, the entire vampire legend is sussed-out with proper scientific method. And as the legend is deconstructed, we also see the wonderfully drawn Neville travel through a heartbreaking character arch as he comes to grips with the vast solitude he can't decide is worth living through or not. Influential is a label often given to this story, and it's not hard to see the fallout it has created with the authors in the horror genre today. Filling out the book are several other, shorter tales created by Matheson, some of which fly higher than others, but are all entertaining to read. Matheson was a contributer to Rod Serling's classic anthology series The Twilight Zone, and reading these stories makes it easy to see why. They are extremely well-crafted, accessable and leave a lasting impression on the reader. I Am Legend made it to the screen in two versions: one as an entry in the Charleton Heston 70's SF sweepstakes called The Omega Man, and the other a much more faithful adaptation made in the early 60's called The Last Man on Earth, starring the venerable Vincent Price. Both are worth seeing, but even the creepier Last Man pales in comparison to the source material. Read it and the other stories and see how Matheson laid the foundation for the modern horror/suspense market.
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Summary: Not his best - but a GREAT read
Review: I read this book after THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN, a book in which I thought Matheson did a better job of conveying his character's thoughts and emotions given his situation. I found I am Legend to be a bit monotonous and lacking in dynamic plotting through much of its first half. However, I found the last forty pages or so ABSOLUTELY captivating, and with a fantastic ending- which made the book. Overall, I never felt emotionally connected to Robert Neville the way I felt towards Scott (I believe that was his name) in The Incredible Shrinking Man. But this emotional element notwithstanding, I am Legend is an amazing conception- for its depth of vision and its penetrating questioning of just what "horror" is- and how much of it is individual perception.
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Summary: Best book i've ever read
Review: A friend of mine lent me this book, and it turned out to be the best book i've ever read. It draws you into the story, and won't let go. It was a bit short, with an odd, abrupt ending but wonderful. Richard Matheson is the most talented writer i've found so far. Read this book. Not for the weak of mind, not to mental for the everyday person. I also reccommend "Hell House" by Matheson, not as good as "I Am Legend", but a great story, captivating. READ THIS BOOK!
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Summary: The Best Vampire Novel I've Ever Read!
Review: I've read this book a total of 4 times. And I must say that once I start reading this book, I cannot put it down. It's so damn realistic that I always end up trying to imagine myself as a survivor and joining forces with Robert Neville to battle the creepy vampires. That is, until I find out we were the bad guys who needed to be terminated...
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Summary: A must read for a vampire fan.
Review: I grew up look and reading anything about vampires.One night I saw a movie on tv title the omega man. I loved this movie. I found out that this movie was taken from the book I am legend. I had to find this book. I found the book at the age of 39. The book takes you into the life of the last man on earth. The last normal man for everyone else are vampires.The book take you on a ride into the mind and will of the last man on earth. This is a must read for a true vampire fan,and for fans of a good book.Anyone who thinks that they know the story from the omega man,and will not read the book are missing the story altogether. The movie can not touch the book in anyway.
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Summary: THE vampire novel of the 20th century
Review: The title says it all. The last days of the last man on Earth. Richard Matheson paints a pretty grim World, and of the conflicts of Robert Neville as he struggles to cope with the loss of his wife and child and of the rest of the known world. Matheson expertly puts us in Neville's position and the sadness and futily at times in overwelming. A superb testament to the writing of one of the best writers of the 20th century. Buy it...buy it today.
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