I Am Legend

Ive seen the movie version of I Am Legend at least twice, probably three times. And up until maybe a year ago, I didnt realise that it was actually a book, and a sci-fi classic to boot. Which also made me think - how many movies are based on, or inspired by a book we dont even know about? Im also not a fan of reading a book after seeing the movie - I always find movie versions are either a) completely different or b) a big fat let-down, so I was a little wary when I started reading. I really thought I wouldnt be able to get Will Smiths face out of my mind..... However, right from the beginning I realised that the book version of I Am Legend is different in several ways to the movie, and not once did I imagine Neville as Will Smith. The book is more personal and intimate than the movie, and the hopelessness and isolation Neville experiences comes through strongly. There is less action and less vampire spookiness, but their presence was always in the back of my mind the whole way through. Im really glad I put my habits aside and decided to read I Am Legend - and I will definitely be recommending it to anyone that interested in reading a sci-fi classic. Theres not a lot I can say that hasnt been said a thousand times and a hundred different ways before, but I found I Am Legend to be far more character-focused and emotionally intense than I imagined it would be.

Im going to admit that I bought this book because I enjoyed the movie more then I had expected so my review is automatically skewered. I went into this read with expectations that make my opinion unfair to the writer. There were a few things that surprised me right off the bat: This is a book of short stories though the longest story in the book is I Am Legend. The story in the book is absolutely nothing like the movie. Honestly, I dont know how on earth they pulled the movie script out of this short story they are truly NOTHING a like. In fact, this goes way beyond the cliche point of, the book was better or when you hear people complaining that the movie wasnt enough like the book, no, in this situation the literal only thing the movie and this short story had in common was the title and the fact that the world is overrun in an apocalypse setting. After that, the story-line of the movie and the story-line of this short story are so completely different in every way I dont know how anyone could even say that the movie was based on this. With that said, I was automatically disappointed because when I saw the movie I was excited to read the book because I thought the story line of the movie would have really lent itself to a good read. The story as it is is like all of the stories in the book - dark, depressing and hopeless. This is not the kind of book you read for a feel good feeling at the end of any story in it. Though I Am Legend (as a story) was written in an interesting narrative that passed time quickly it ended with a stale quality that I found was a theme with all of the short stories in this book. I would be surprised if anyone who read this didnt know exactly what was going to happen at the end of every one of these short stories. Which was probably the biggest disappointment for me, I may have had unfair expectations of I Am Legend as a story because of the movie but I had no expectations of the rest of the stories in the book. Sadly I found this entire read rather stale and just disappointing.

I found it funny that some of these reviews called this suspenseful. This must be the first book theyve ever read because it is anything BUT suspenseful. I gave it 2 stars only because of the concept, not the actually story line and how it was written. You can sum this whole book up on a single page, double spaced, probably less...so Ill try. Neville barricaded himself in his house after everyone turned into vampires ***SPOILER*** by bacteria ***END SPOILER***. He worked on his house for a lot of the book, making it sound proof, etc., he ate through a lot of the book, and drank for even more of the book. He fought with himself and his thoughts (obviously since he was alone). He found a dog that wasnt affected by what was going on and had survived the vampires, so he lured it in for what seemed like an eternity ***SPOILER*** and then for it to die immediately after he brings this companion in to live with him ***END SPOILER***. The last chapter was the only one of any interest and I wont even include that in my summary because I hate people that ruin books by writing about how it ends (the rest of the spoilers Ive written are just from the front half of the book). It is interesting the thoughts and psychology behind the last chapter, and how the book came to be titled I am legend. It was the only good part, but when compared to other suspenseful books and thrillers, this ranked dead last for that. If you were a fan of the Will Smith movie I Am Legend, if you liked all the concepts in that and were looking for a book that was similar to that theme, definitely PASS ON THIS BOOK. There is only one chase scene where he gets a scare by being outside when it is getting dark and the vampires all come out (not even that late in the book either). There is next to no suspense, even with that chase scene. All he did was ride around the block, accidentally forget his keys in the car, have to run and get them as the vamps were getting closer, then get them and get inside. All this happened on what seemed like 2 pages on my kindle touch (so probably about a page long in the real book). I love scifi thrillers/suspense and this was anything but that. Definitely one of the worst vampire books Ive read so far...Id say it ranks worse than Twilight in terms of story line about the vampires (minus the teen love story in Twilight). I was bored with it and couldnt wait to finish it...luckily it was pretty short. This coming from a guy that read vampire books when he was younger (around 20 years ago, way before the vamp fad we see now days). This is anything but a vampire book IMO. It talked about blood sucking 1 time...ONE TIME. I cant even go on without spoiling it...the vampires were just stupid in this book...please, just find a different book to read. Idk what these other reviewers are smoking, but I want some if it can take a bad book like this and turn into something interesting.

I was apprehensive about getting this book because of all the good reviews surrounding it. I am somewhat skeptical of what everyone else thinks is good because I like to form my own opinions. Its not that I go out looking for things with bad reviews, (because most of the time, theyre right *grin*) just that I dont like to be overly influenced by other people. However in this case I can assure you, the hype is all that. All the stories in this collection are worth your while. Some are funny, some gross, all intriguing. I am Legend is the stand alone best though. It reminded me of The Omega Man, a movie with Charleton Heston, or perhaps it should be other way around. . .I am not sure about the dates. The one true man against a world of monsters. It is fantastic, people at work kept giving me strange looks because of how obivously into the book I was. I read it very fast, then again, it goes fast once you get past I am Legend, which takes up most of the book. The book is set up with I am Legend which is like 126 pages or so, and the others are kind of tag alongs, they dont deal with the first story at all, in fact none of the stories are related in any way, but as I said before, each have their own flavor and I loved each one and began to respect Mr. Matheson more and more as I went on. Check it out, if youre into horror, you dont know what youre missing. Five worthy stars!

This book was awesome. No complaints about it at all. Id been wanting to read the book since seeing The Last Man on Earth and I am Legend (which definitely wasnt as good as the former, of the book). The book is better than either movie (I cant speak to The Omega Man because Ive never seen it). One thing I will point out is that if you are buying the mass market paperback version, please note that the book actually contains I am Legend as well as many other short stories. I was a little thrown off when reading the book, and about in the physical middle of the book the story ended and short stories picked up. Yea, there was a table of contents that I paid no mind to, because nothing on the book cover or in the book mentioned that it contained other short stories. I was a little disappointed thinking that I still had half a book left, only to realize I was at the end. Technically, all the extra short stories are bonuses, if you like horror short stories.

I love my vampire and zombie fiction, but this really isnt either of those. Its a lot more than just bloody gore and jumpy scares. Its also about survival, and the struggles of man with his inner demons and loneliness. Themes that go a bit deeper than your average zombie apocalypse movie. For that I actually really liked it, though it did start out pretty slow but once I got past the first few chapters it quickly became a page turner for me. Like many others I first heard about this book through the movies, for me it was I Am Legend with Will Smith. In my opinion if you havent seen the movies yet, or already have, then you should read the book as well. None of the movie adaptions have the same weight as the book does. Robert Neville the main protagonist, once an everyday average Joe he survives a deadly pathogen that goes on to destroy most of humanity. Now the world is populated with the living dead whos only living objective is to haunt the ruins of man looking for blood to gorge themselves on. With the world destroyed Neville is forced to become a survivalist. He turns his house into a fortress, sharpens stakes, and goes out hunting the vampires. Eventually he hones his skills to where he becomes an expert vampire killer second to none. Vampire survival isnt all of it however, Neville struggles with loneliness as well as his personal demons as he just tries to get by day by day. He seeks peace in music, books, or the bottom of a bottle. To give his continued existence meaning Neville occupies himself with almost pointless tasks such as trying to understand the very disease that took everything he knew. Hes very human, hes not going to fly through a church window on a motorcycle with duel wield guns and a katana. Instead hes a bored, half crazed, booze addled mess just as any other person who has lived as long as he had in that kind of world would be. If I had any reservations about the book it was its ending. I understand the theme but for a man who spent so much time killing vampires that he almost sees it as an art form, to just suddenly hand himself over like as a feasts main course seemed pitiful. I guess I just found it very bleak (and Ive read The Road). Still it didnt really take away because afterword it stuck with me and I dwelled on it for it awhile, a sign of a pretty good book ending. Its a good story, Robert is a very relatable character that is believable and to some degrees likable. The world he lives in is fleshed out by Matheson and the moments of sheer terror are well done, this is horror not just cheap jumpy scares. Its a very good horror novel about survival and vampires that no movie has matched, and probably never will.

I was surprised and enjoyed that the book was so different from the movie. It was an interesting story, this masculine post apocalyptic story, filled with great scares and really compelling main character. I liked the vibe of the main character, very no nonsense drinks and smokes, a very kind of badass guy.

As other reviewers have mentioned, the Kindle edition is missing some of the text from the book. This was obvious in the middle of Chapter 8 and it might explain some of the other issues I had with the story. One of these was that Richard Matheson stated there was more than one type of vampire early on in the story but I found it hard to understand from Nevilles point of view what the differences between them were. The story also jumps around a little and, while Ive seen this in other stories, I found it harder than usual to recognize when this was happening. This might have been the result of missing text. Having said all this, I recommend the novel which clarifies the title in a way that the Will Smith movie did not. The story could also be taken as a metaphor for the process that various groups, comfortable with having the majority, have faced when societal change leaves them in the minority. The book is not a difficult read although in a couple places, Matheson gets a little heavy-handed with his scientific knowledge or research. I read it in about a day.

is a classic horror story. Some regard it as THE classic horror story. Influencing great modern horror writers like Stephen King, its one that will stick with you. I still remember the exact moment I started and finished this book nearly 10 years ago. I was sitting shotgun while my father drove us home from a vacation in Michigan. The AC was too high and I was freezing but couldnt bare to pull my eyes away from this story long enough to ask him to turn it down. I was delighted that I could find a Non-Will Smith cover for this book. As many people know, this story has been adapted into 3 or 4 movies over the years. Word of warning, this is different from the Will Smith movie. If the movie was a standalone with a different name, I would have liked it more. As an adaptation of the book, the movie is seriously lacking. Differences like the fact that the vampires can talk make this story more compelling as the last man on earth isnt alone. This is one of my favorite books of all time. Pros: If youve seen the movie, you can still read the book and be very enthralled. Different enough where you wont know the twists. Great writing. This book made me want to become an author when I was little. Cant say too much more as I dont want to give anything away. Cons: Be careful to purchase the correct copy if youre avoiding the Will Smith movie cover print. The sticker on the back of mine was sticky enough that now, once removed, my book sticks to everything. Thats my biggest complaint people. Back of the book is a little sticky. Seriously. Buy this!

I have a passion for punishing myself by reading the books that inspired movies. The movies sometimes augment the books, assuming that the details you need youve already read from the print versions. Harry Potter was very much this experience. In some cases, Ive enjoyed the books much more than the movie adaptations...Jurassic Park was one such movie. As beautiful as the film was, the book was leaps and bounds better. With this book, its been a few years since Ive watched the movie. I remember feeling bad about the dog... the loss of Nevilles family, the search for a cure... the mindless zombie like creatures. In many ways, the movie adaptation and this source material are two fine stories that share common threads but diverge enough that they really shouldnt be compared. And thats how I had to approach this book. It took me about three chapters of saying, Wow, thats really different from the movie, before I had to have a mental come to Jesus with myself and say DONT COMPARE THE TWO VERSIONS. Once I did that, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was able to delve into the dark places and moral/ethical questions that came along with creatures overrunning the human race. Neville is flawed. Hes tortured. Hes a survivor. In essence, hes HUMAN. Its easy to empathize with his confusion, melancholy, anger and despair - even when some of those acts are unspeakable. Nevilles journey is really that of watching the Kübler-Ross model, or the five stages of grief, play out its course (denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance). And I never understood the significance of the title of the movie, the book brought the point home with alacrity and wonder. Totally unexpected, but a really great read.