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Summary: A horrifying tale you can't put down.
Review: This book is so well written you can't stop reading to eat. From the first page you are absorbed into the story and become Robert Neville. You feel the sheer hell it would be to live in solitude, to be the only man left on the planet and be tortured nightly by vampires who want you dead. Matheson's words flow so smooth from the page you shudder at the horror in the world he's created. A magnificent story that becomes so real you want to lock your doors and windows before the sun goes down. This book is a must read. (For those who may be interested; Hollywood is remaking "Omega Man", a well done adaption of Matheson's novel. Unfortunately, this remake, so far titled "I am Legend", will not do justice to the novel. The film will star Arnold Schwarzenegger and Ridly Scott will direct. Expect this movie to be a worthless piece of garbage filled with explosions and stupid one liners from Schwarzenegger. And don't even think the movie will end like the book. I read the screenplay.)
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Summary: The only Modern Vampire novel
Review: This is the only vampire novel I've found that brings the myth into the modern world, not only through science-fiction science, but with the modern state of politics and society. As such, it is viscerally terrifying, not distanced and picturesque like current books still stuck in the 19th century (time and place or attitude). The suspense does wane at the end, but this is a satisfying book to read and re-read.
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Summary: The Most Original Vampire Book Ever
Review: In I Am Legend, Matheson has spun the most original take on the vampire myth that I have ever read. It features Vampires not only as predators but as victims as well. Packed with tension and knowledge, I Am Legend is truly one of the most satisfying books in my library. A page turner that will keep you in your seat reading, but still short enough to allow you to go to work in the morning
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Summary: The atmosphere is so thick you can slice it!
Review: Matheson weaves a vampire tale with enough smarts and pseudoscience to cause his readers to look over their shoulders in nervous anticipation. (Don't overlook the first film based on this novel ,The Last Man on Earth ,starring the inimitable Vincent Price.
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Summary: A clever slide into what may come to pass...
Review: A tight, even, and almost tangible book, Matheson's novel asks the question: "What would you do if a killer virus wiped out the entire planet and you were the only one left?". Matheson not only answers this through the eyes of his main character, but goes further, to answer it not as it would be answered for one and all, but for one man, his character, the last man alive. He is the only one between the world he remembers, now mostly empty buildings and vacant streets, and the world that threatens to engulf it, one to be populated by a legion of vampires, creatures created by their exposure to the virus. It is one man against an entire society and he must either fight his enemies, and face a lifetime of struggle and conflict in an attempt to salvage what he can of the world he knew, or submit, and watch his world disappear forever, so that he may join in what has come to replace it. A work of character and atmosphere. ( A side note to anyone who may be a movie buff as well as an avid reader, this book was made into the film "The Omega Man" starring Charlton Heston.
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Summary: Great Book - DON'T READ ANY MORE REVIEWS FURTHER ON!
Review: Great book - genuine masterpiece of SF and horror. However, don't read any more reviews as half of the reviewers seem to think that a review consists on revealing all of the plot (including twists) and will definitely spoil your enjoyment of this book. The only plot a person can reveal without spoiling it is the stuff that's in the blurb (the bit on the back cover). If you want to know what the book is about then go read it! The only people who won't like it are the people who think that Freddy Kreuger is the pinnacle of intellectual horror.
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Summary: Thoroughly Engrossing, If a Bit Clunky at Times
Review: What a great airplane read. I bought this at LAX and it kept me devotedly busy for the next couple of days. I'm not much of a vampire-reader... not into the whole Lestat/Ann Rice scene or style. What I liked about this was the narrator's scientific, blunt approach to his highly macabre predicament.
Don't want to give away too much of the plot, and I'm sure most of the other reviewers already gave you what you need in terms of the general story line.
My main criticisms:
1) The ending is too swiftly delivered to us. I wouldn't mind a little longer denouement to pay me off for my patience throughout Neville's ordeal;
2) Mr. Matheson uses too many adverbs. There are some real clunker descriptions sprinkled throughout, but luckily they seem to fade into the background once the pace picks up.
But on the whole, a very cool book. Written in 1954 -- it must have been revolutionary. The whole genetics/epidemic storyline was way ahead of its time, and contemporary monster lore and hit movies -- most recently, "Twenty-Eight Days Later" -- owe it a huge debt of gratitude.
If you buy the Orb Book edition, copyright 1995, you get the added bonus of a handful of short stories at the back of the book. Most of those were fun, though "Dance of the Dead" annoyed me and tested my patience a great deal. Actually, a few of the stories tested my patience. But to finally read "Prey" --the story forming the basis of the Devil Doll segment of Karen Black's classic, "Trilogy of Terror" -- was a real treat for me.
"The Near Departed" is an amusing gag story, and "Buried Talents" is suitably mysterious and satisfyingly unresolved.
Matheson is an interesting writer, responsible for a whole heck of a lot of Twilight Zone episodes -- so if you're a fan like me who can sit in front of the marathons for days at a time, it's in your best interest to read this novel and the stories that come with it. You won't be disappointed.
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Summary: It's the best book I've read this year
Review: Sure, it's only February as I am writing this and I've only read 5 or 6 books but the title still stands.
I am Legend was my first introduction to the wonderful Richard Matheson. I had never heard of him before this book and picked it up after noticing the many recommendations on a particular good vampire novel thread. The book itself is presented well and not only includes the great I am Legend but also a variety of short stories from the author some of which are as gripping as the novel itself. This is a book you'll fly through due to it's short nature but also because the writing style lends itself to quick reading with Matheson using mainly short sentences in his work. Therefore, it's not too complex and reads very well.
The story follows one character for the majority of the novel. Robert Neville is the last living man in his area. He has boarded himself up in his home in hopes of evading the constant swarms of vampires that haunt him nightly(He goes out during the day and does some hunting of his own). The vampires here are not what I was expecting. Most vampire novels I've read present us with vampires as intelligent creatures. The vampires here are more akin to zombies with their lack of intelligence and primal instincts. Therefore, the novel centers around Robert Neville with no specific vampire characters.
You can probably finish this book in one sitting. Some of the writing is particularly fantastic. One scene early in the play has Robert Neville staying out too late and having to speed home to avoid the zombies. The writing in that scene is just perfect with short quick, and thrilling sentences that really suck you into the novel.
I give this book high praises not only for I am Legend but also the numerous quality short stories from Richard Mathenson. Not all of them in that group are good, but the majority are and all of them are worth reading. If you're looking for a good vampire novel, or even if you're a fan of zombie flicks then you should definitely pick up this book.
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Summary: Imaginative genius
Review: Matheson has been quoted as saying, "... when I lived in New York, I watched Dracula, the old Lugosi Dracula, at a motion picture theater, and it just occurred to me that if one vampire was frightening, then a whole world of vampires would really be frightening." _I Am Legend_ is about a hard-drinking family man, Robert Neville, apparently the last living human being -- everyone else has been turned into vampires by 'bacillus vampiris' after an atomic or biological war, who lives in a house fortified against the nightly onslaughts of an army of the undead, including his next-door neighbor-ghoul, Ben Cortman, who keeps yelling, "Come out, Neville!" The suspenseful creepiness begins with the first sentence of the book: "On those cloudy days, Robert Neville was never sure when sunset came, and sometimes they were in the streets before he could get back." You just know that eventually he is not going to make it back inside his house in time. The first half of the tale describes Neville's mundane existence: eating, drinking, listening to classical music, hanging garlic bulbs on his outside walls, driving stakes into vampires during the day, going to the library to read about bacterial diseases, etc. In the second half, things happen -- Matheson had to come up with an ending, but like most horror stories, the conclusion is not as satisfying as you might wish. Ten short stories are also included in this book, including most notably "Prey" about a doll that comes to life and attacks a woman in her apartment, and "Person to Person" about a man who receives telephone calls in his head from maybe (?) his subconscious. Matheson is an imaginative genius; Google him and see his long list of writing accomplishments and the many movies made from them. _I Am Legend_ was first published in 1954, long before derivative works like Romero's Night of the Living Dead and the Resident Evil video games and movie.
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Summary: I stand speechless
Review: This is such a outstanding book. It is completely original and told in a unique way. The story is also keep short and this also was the right thing to do. I mean you can only go so long with a story about the only human left on the planet. Be forewarned this is without a doubt the darkest story I have ever read. This is not bad, on the contrary it really gives the story an atheneic feel. You really feel like you are there, like your looking through his eyes. Wow, how depressing and frightning.
If you like horror and want to read something completely original in every aspect then by all means find a copy and enjoy the ride.
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