Customer Reviews

I Am Legend (Unabridged)

I know it sounds like a bunch of cliches but this book gripped me so much I couldn't put it down and read it in just a few hours. A sometimes bleak study of the human condition it is also engrossing, thought-provoking and moving. It is also one of the few "horror" novels out of hundreds I have read that have genuinely scared me.
Basically it is the story of Robert Neville, the lone survivor of a plague that sends its victims into a coma, followed eventually by death and vampirism. By day Neville hunts sleeping plague victims and vampires and disposes of them in the traditional manner. By night he locks himself away while hordes of vampires attack his well-defended house. Eventually he seeks scientific explanations for the causes of vampirism and tries to find a cure. In that respect I think the story must have been an influence on the Blade comics and movies (just don't expect hi-tech weapons, martial arts and cool shades!!).
As Neville becomes more resigned to his situation, and gradually gets used to the nightly attacks of vampires on his well-defended house, so does the reader. The vampires become almost incidental and the writing focusses more on Neville's thoughts and preoccupations. Until, that is, Neville loses track of time and gets caught outside, miles from home at nightfall. It is a testament to Matheson's writing that at this point the thought of being in Neville's position and having to run the gauntlet of vampires waiting for him outside his only safe haven is truly terrifying!
The pseudo-scientific explanations for the characteristics of vampirism seem a little silly, especially the "body glue", but these are really incidental to the story, as is the futuristic 1970's setting, and you shouldn't let these put you off.
I would recommend this book to anyone.

I hadn't heard of Richard Matheson's post-apocalyptic novella until the film adaptation came out. After seeing that somewhat messy movie, I was inspired to seek out the source novel. Now, I think it's always better to watch a film version of a novel first, as it's usually less frustrating; the book is dark, eerie and ultimately harrowing, and I was gripped by Matheson's prose and couldn't put it down until I'd finished it. I would definitely recommend this novella to Sci-Fi/Fantasy fans and to those who simply like to read quality fiction. This edition is a reasonable price on here too.

It is hard to think or a darker book - Richard Neville is the last man alive the rest of the population turned into vampires by a mysterious bug. By day he scavanges the deserted city and seeks out sleeping vampires to kill, while at night he sits in his fortified house listening to the vampires howl for his blood.
But this isn't just a excuse for horror, it a novel about the nature of man which will make you think as well as scaring you.
Written in 1954 this is a timeless classic - I wonder if Matheson now regrets the then so futuristic 1970s setting - it is the only thing that dates the book. An influence on so many others, Steven King and George Romero for a start. This should be on any list of great novels of the 20th century.

I bought this because it was number two in the masterworks series, which has been a goldmine of excellent science fiction: Gateway, Forever War etc.

I was a little dubious about reading a vampire book. I went through a bit of a phase as a teenager, and it had all been a bit cheesy and romanticised, more about the costumes than horror. I also read Dracula many years ago and was decidedly underwhelmed. This, was however, unexpectedly excellent.

Reading this novel is a little like being locked inside the main characters small shuttered house, with occasional forays into the sunlit world outside. This is because at first the only knowledge of the world you have is through his fear, and his hatred of the vampires; but gradually this is added to by his recollections of the past, of his realisations about the world he is now living in. This mirroring between the reader's knowledge and the main character's world is an excellent method of creating empathy with a character with whom you are not always meant to agree, but are at least expected to comprehend his choices.

The vampires of this world are not a mythical, and mysterious creation, but a scientific fact and undeniable truth in John Neville's world. This makes them both more frightening and more sympathetic, because regardless of their present situation and their needs they were once people. The question the book ultimately poses is what is it that makes us human?

The Millenennium SF series is a bit of mixed bag of so called 'classic' and seminal sci-fi of the 20th century. 'I Am Legend' rightly deserves it's place in that list but not necessarily as a sci-fi novel. But it's a bit of a curate's egg. In fact it's not even a horror novel per se. There's a blend of sci-fi, post-apocalyptical musings ( more so in the movie based loosely on the book), some horror of course. But this novella is more a psychological examination of what it's like to be the last man alive. Matheson is an expert at leading us into the mind of a man without the companionship of his fellows. I won't spoil the plot as there are some brilliant and unexpected twists but the chapters concerned with Neville's discovery of a dog, company he has craved for for three years, is stunning and I defy anyone not to be moved to tears. I love the film, which is why I bought the book initially, but after reading it I'm afraid Heston et al missed out on a better adaptation. Near perfect.

I enjoyed this book so much that I read it in three nights. I came to it via the early 70s film 'The Omega Man', which I also enjoyed but the book is far more cohesive and less dated than the film (ironic considering it was written twenty years earlier). I particularly like Matheson's psychological exploration of narrator Robert Neville, whose emotional struggles with profound loneliness give this novel a human depth which is sometimes lacking in the genre. The prose is economical and briskly paced and chapters tend to end on cliffhangers making the novel difficult to put down. Neville's attempts to provide scientific explanations for the vampire plague drag the old bloodsucker myth into a convincing 20th Century context. I was so impressed by this novel that I quickly acquired other novels by Matheson, but so far this one is my favourite.

I Am Legend is my first venture into the SF Masterworks series, and is amongst my first foray into sci-fi. I felt compelled to read this as I love the movie, but I'd heard that the book is very different to the (underrated) Will Smith vehicle. I admit I wasn't really expecting much, I mean come on...this was written in 1954 right?

Wow, how wrong was I! I found the strangest thing reading I am Legend. Aside from some clearly dated references and "old fashioned" internal dialogue, this really could have been written last week. The writing has a quality that seems to transcend time, and within a few pages I'd forgotten that this is over 60 years old. Matheson's narrative is ruthlessly efficient and taut, and it feels as if not a single word is wasted. And even after all these years I got a sense of the hopelessness, the struggle of the main character and the absolute solitude that he has to deal with day after day after day.

It's this element, and the internal thought processes which are so effectively conveyed, that makes I Am Legend so absolutely compelling. By turns desperate, depressing, clever and uplifting, it's the definition of a writing masterclass. Even more of a revelation for me, though, was the story. It's completely different to the movie (regardless of which cut you watch), and I'm sitting here baffled as to why they changed it so completely for the screen. Whilst both good in their own right, the book is, in my opinion, far superior. And that ending! Wow.

I Am Legend isn't really sci-fi in the traditional sense but more of a thriller/horror. And even in 2012, it remains a relevant and superb piece of literature. If you've not read it, I urge you to do so. Highly recommended.

After reading the great reviews about this and being told time and again that it is nothing like the film, I was pleased to see that they are accurate. This is a tremendous book! a perfect blend of psychological horror and sci-fi and even after nearly 60 years it does not feel aged at all. It throws you completely into the mind and life of Robert Neville and provides genuine scares and delightful twists.

I found it very refreshing reading an old fashioned vampire novel, unlike the vampires depicted today that are near invincible, Matheson takes it back to their roots of garlic and cross-fearing. They still provide a very real threat and this is excellently portrayed through Neville's fear of them and being out after dark. I also appreciated the science that Matheson goes into to explain the vampires existence and weaknesses. It is all too easy to in sci-fi to leave out explanations of the supernatural, the science explored here grounds the novel in reality.

So much is explored in the relative short novel, Neville's coping of his day-to-day monotony and isolation, the loss of his friends and family, a brief glimpse at the beginning of the plague and the chaos that followed and much more.

A fantastic classic of the genre.

I am Legend the novel is far better than the film. It really was an absorbing, page-turning read with a much better ending. With respect to the Kindle edition I did not notice any typos, etc.

I first read this story about ten years ago and again recently - it loses non of its atmosphere the second time round.

Robert Neville is the only non-infected person left after a plague hits the world. He forages by day and holes up in his fortified house when darkness threatens. With the night comes the infected, calling for him to come out. I found his relationship with Ben Cortman, his friend in life but enemy in death to be amusing.

The story is never action packed however the scenes written are well thought out and emotional. For me the scene about the dog was tense, enjoyable and eventually very sad.

It touches on all human emotions and comes across as being very realistic.

The story was written in the fifties and set in the seventies and does not resemble the movie, I Am Legend.

Worth the money, worth a read and most definitely thought provoking.