Winner of the Bram Stoker Lifetime Achievement Award for best vampire novel of the century: the genre-defining classic of horror sci-fi that inspired three films. The population of the entire world has been obliterated by a pandemic of vampire bacteria. Yet somehow, Robert Neville survived. He must now struggle to make sense of what happened and learn to protect himself against the vampires who … against the vampires who hunt him nightly.
As months of scavenging and hiding turn to years marked by depression and alcoholism, Robert spends his days hunting his tormentors and researching the cause of their affliction. But the more he discovers about the vampires around him, the more he sees the unsettling truth of who is—and who is not—a monster.
Richard Matheson’s I Am Legend has been a major influence on horror literature. In 2012, it was named the best vampire novel of the century by the Horror Writers Association and the Bram Stoker Estate. The novel was adapted to film in 1964 as The Last Man on Earth, in 1971 as Omega Man, and in 2007 as I am Legend, starring Will Smith.
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Very original for it’s day, this was a very different take on the vampire story. It still holds up after about seventy years.
The’ve tried to make this into a movie three times, and some attempts were better than others, but none captured the true spirit and tragedy of the original. It’s a short read, but totally work it and a great introduction to how great Richard Matheson was as an author.
This is one of my favorite books. It’s a super fast read, and is a bit dated. But the wonderful thing is that it’s no outdated to the point you can’t follow the story. I still found a lot of relevance in the books characters, mindset and ideology. There is word play, psychological drama, and madness. It’s a book in which NONE of the film adaptations have been able to fully encapsulate. It’s a must read for any fans of post apocalyptic fiction, and per-dates the zombie craze in all the best ways.
This was a heartbreaking, yet innovative story. You really felt for Neville, as he struggles with the new normal that he is forced to live in. Each and every time you feel like there is some hope for this character, it is is stripped from him, in ways that you wouldn’t expect. And you join him, as he falls deeper into a depression and state of hopelessness. This isn’t a long story, and I felt could have had some more detail in certain areas, but it was a solid character-driven book. I also really loved the depth of the scientific rationale, as it pertained to the vampires.
Fantastic and dark, the essence of this book has never been captured in the attempts to make a film of it. Return to the source and read this.
I saw the movie with Will Smith before I read the book. The concept is the same as the book: A lone survivor of a vampire plague who can’t venture anywhere further than a day’s round trip drive from his home. He’s driven mad with loneliness. He’s also intent on wiping out as many of these vampires as he finds.
This is the only point on which the movie and the book agree upon. I was pleasantly surprised to read the book and discover a new ending, new characters, and a new story line. Had it been exactly the same as the movie I might not have enjoyed it so much. The book contains subtle humour as Robert Neville is constantly harassed by his neighbour, Ben Cortman in the book. By the end you begin to feel sorry for poor old Cortman. Especially his tragic demise at the end.
This haunting and original 1955 science fiction novel started the modern post-apocalyptic vampire genre. It is called the first modern vampire novel and influenced the zombie genre as well. However, the movie with Will Smith is at best loosely inspired by it. I fear many people will not read the book because they have seen this or one of the other movies inspired by the novel. That would be a shame.
The novel has roots in science fiction and has spawned dozens of other books and movies. Four movie adaptations were inspired by the book or based up it, The Last Man on Earth (1964), The Omega Man (1971), I am Legend (2007 direct to video) and I am Legend (2007 with Will Smith). In all the movies very little of the original novel remains.
Richard Matheson wrote a number of episodes for the Twilight Zone including “Nightmare at 20,000 feet” and “Steel.” Stephen King listed him as a creative influence and once said, “without Richard Matheson, I wouldn’t be around.” The 1957 movie the Incredible Shrinking Man is based on his story. There is even a character named “Senator Richard Matheson,” who appears in several episodes of the X-Files as a tribute to his influence. I could go on, but you get the idea, his influence has been great.
Within the vampire and zombie genre, this is a superior story. If you want to know the plot of this superior novel, you can find it online. I won’t be the spoiler. I will say that if you enjoy this kind of story this is a novel you should read.
Recommendation: Don’t judge this book by any of the movies. They are at best passing entertainment. This novel remains original and haunting. I found myself mulling it over in my mind days afterward. I recommend it.
One guy against a world filled with vampires.
I went into this book with an expectation of action. When the story had action scenes, they were done very well, and there is a wonderfully suspenseful and thrilling chase scene in the first half of the book. However, action, suspense and thrills were absent for most of the rest of the book.
There is sad reminiscing of his past life.
There is a long drawn out sequence of attempting to befriend a stray dog.
There is lots of time spent getting drunk, listening to classical music while complaining about the vampires.
The vampires mostly lack charisma, being more dumb brutes, than anything else.
When I give a book three stars, it’s because I know I’ll never re-read it. There is not enough here for me to rate it higher.
Not a disaster, has a neat twist at the end, has some good sequences – but, I found it a bit of a snooze fest.
I am Legend is the most original ‘spin’ on the vampire genre ever put down on paper. Richard Matheson manages to show the world from both the protagonist’s perspective and the ‘others’ (i.e. vampires). It’s themes of isolation, fear and loathing apply to everyone’s personal experiences. Great read.
Richard Matheson is the quintessential haunting story author. I have read mostly all of his books and they are all, without doubt, ingeniously written … he has also written many episodes for Twilight Zone (Nightmare at 20,000 feet being the most popular and well known). Another standout by Mr. Matheson is “Somewhere in Time” where the unexpected is expected and a love story becomes something more. Sadly Mr. Matheson passed away in 2013.
It’s been years but I still remember. Give it a go.
This was a rare instance of: I liked the movie better. The book isn’t bad by any means but it’s a bit dull after watching the movie which had lots of action, adventure and intrigue.
3 stars.
Note:
I listened to the audiobook and I DO NOT recommend this format. Narrator is absolutely awful. Raspy, unpleasant, robotic voice. Not even 1-star performance. Garbage.
I Am Legend Richard Matheson 1954
The only survivor of a pandemic lives in LA, as he struggles to beat the disease but constantly fears pandemic sufferers arisen from the dead like vampires.
I Am Legend
When the movie I Am Legend, starring Will Smith, came out, it looked like something we’d seen a million times before. It looked like a stylish remake of Night Of The Living Dead, starring vampires instead of zombies. The only thing is, I Am Legend was originally written by Richard Matheson in 1954. It focuses on a vampire apocalypse that takes place in Los Angeles. This book influenced George Romero when he made Night Of The Living Dead; it was also the basis for the movie The Last Man On Earth starring Vincent Price, and the movie Omega Man starring Charlton Heston. In other words, this book had a strong influence on our current concept of a monster apocalypse, most notably a zombie apocalypse.
Books influence movies. They influence other writers. They influence our culture. But I think it’s important to remember which came first, the chicken or the egg. John Carter or Superman. A vampire apocalypse or zombie apocalypse. Hopefully if we study the classics in the culture of science fiction, fantasy, and horror, we’ll be more likely to give appreciation where and when it’s due.
So, if you’re on the fence about reading this book, don’t be. It’s an excellent read and it set a high standard for more than one genre.
Excellent
My review in a nutshell: a slow classic that didn’t always work for me.
Want that with more feeling?
Here we go…
It’s a great take on the vampire story, I particularly liked the cause of vampirism and the ponderous steps Robert Neville makes to working that out.
It’s clever.
It’s descriptive. (Too much so in some places.)
I liked the contrast between hunter and hunted – a much more acute problem than many vampire books because Neville is alone.
Ben Cortman is a nice touch.
The scene where Neville realises his watch has stopped really got me going.
The dog! Did you have to do that? That was brutal.
But apart from those moments, much of the first part of the book just seemed to pootle along.
Then Ruth arrives.
I don’t want to give anything away so won’t say much about her. But from this point on, the book picks up considerably. And that was what was lacking for me for much of the story: a second character.
Neville’s wife and daughter and a huge part of his life but only in memory. Ben Cortman doesn’t really count as a companion. I was missing the dynamics of more than one person on the page. Ruth gives the book, and Neville, what they needed.
Her presence also sets up nicely for the end – the new reason for Neville being hunted and what happens to him. It was a great twist that I didn’t see coming and leads up nicely to the last sentence of the story.
All in all, it’s a good, measured read but I feel it could have done with Ruth appearing earlier to balance out Neville’s solitary existence. I realise that evoking a feeling of loneliness was probably one of the aims of the book, but the lack of a companion, and some of the overly precise descriptions of what he was doing, took the warmth out of the novel
I’d still recommend it. After all, it’s a classic.
I AM LEGEND set the stage for decades of “realistic” monster stories that followed. Matheson’s use of a pseudo-scientific approach to explain the vampiric qualities of the antagonists (a virus causing allergies to sunlight and garlic, etc.) has informed so much good modern horror – including but not limited to Stephen King, Jaws, The Walking Dead, and on and on and on. It’s all told with Matheson’s usual page-turning elan. Stunningly fresh for a book written so long ago, with a wry sense of humor and a hell of a twist ending that the many movie adaptions still haven’t managed to get quite right.
Hands down one of the best vampire books I have ever read…
This is another “end of the world” type of story. There has been an illness that is causing people to turn into vampires. (I know – for real). The main character’s name is Robert. He is pretty sure he is the last man on earth that isn’t a vampire. During the day time, he goes out into the city hunting vampires who sleep like the dead (and won’t attack him) and hunt for food and supplies. At night he has to hole up in his house to try and keep the vampires out. They know he is in there, and are constantly trying to break in. He can’t get away from the city where he is because once the sun goes down, he has to be back in the safety of his house.
Robert also spends a lot of time at the library trying to figure out if there can be a cure for the people who are not “too far gone”.
This is a really short story. The book has many short stories in it, and this is just one of them. I have seen the movie “I am Legend” and it is nothing like this book. Well – almost nothing. Yes there are vampires and yes there is Robert, but that is where the similarities end. So I was shocked when I read it – expecting it to be similar.
The story holds its own. Robert is very infested in finding a cure. He is desperate for human contact. He hardly sleeps because at night the vampires scream for him to come out and join them.
The ending was the same as the movie (if you have seen it – no spoilers if not), but it just happens in a different way.
You could try this book. It wasn’t really my cup of tea…..maybe because it was so short. I never really got as invested in the characters as I would have liked.
4.5 stars. I liked this better than the movie. That being said, the book and the movie are so far removed from one another I don’t even consider them the same story. It was interesting to see inside the mind of Robert Neville and all that he lives through, physically and mentally. The ending left him better off than I expected.