From the Bookshelf of Never too Late to Read Classics…

I Am Legend

Richard Matheson

Start date: November 1, 2022

Finish date: November 30, 2022

Discussion: Science Fiction and Fantasy

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 12 topics — 1,164 comments total

Science Fiction and Fantasy

* 2025 Sci-Fi and Fantasy Reading Schedule
By Book Nerd , Purple Book Horse · 14 posts · 146 views

last updated Jan 05, 2025 07:59PM

2025 September - The Inverted World by Christopher Priest
By Book Nerd , Purple Book Horse · 9 posts · 9 views

last updated 9 hours, 1 min ago

showing 3 of 3 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Apr 13, 2016 Josh Caporale rated it really liked it · review of another edition

4.5 stars

Richard Matheson is perhaps the most important name alongside Ray Bradbury when it comes to speculative fiction writers. When leaning toward the horror fiction end, Matheson reigns supreme, and Stephen King credits him as being an inspiration. By all means, I Am Legend solidifies Matheson's legacy in how he approached the vampire and how its pandemic affected the last surviving man, Robert Neville.

Neville lost both his wife and daughter to a plague that took place and everyone that was 4.5 stars

Richard Matheson is perhaps the most important name alongside Ray Bradbury when it comes to speculative fiction writers. When leaning toward the horror fiction end, Matheson reigns supreme, and Stephen King credits him as being an inspiration. By all means, I Am Legend solidifies Matheson's legacy in how he approached the vampire and how its pandemic affected the last surviving man, Robert Neville.

Neville lost both his wife and daughter to a plague that took place and everyone that was affected became a vampire. While these vampires keep up with some of the traditions, such as their inability to handle garlic, only being able to lurk at night, and their ability to be staked, they are portrayed in this novel as being zombie-like creatures that are thirsty for blood. Neville locks himself in his house when they are lurking and does the errands that he is able to during the day. Most of his days follow a similar routine, but his routine is broken on a few occasions, first by a dog, then by a woman named Ruth, both of which come off as not being infected with the bacilli that Neville came across.

Most people have watched or are familiar with the film starring Will Smith as Robert Neville. Just about anything having to do with this film should be disregarded when approaching this book. Key differences include:
1.) Neville is white and blond in this novel.
2.) The dog plays a much smaller role.
3.) Things wrap up much differently, but at the same time less crucially. Neville is less renowned in this novel.

I feel that a lot of effort is put into this short novel with the scientific elements and how Neville goes about researching the bacilli that affects the victims are turns them into vampires and also how he approaches the vampire so differently. The way they come off as zombies creates the argument that Matheson is a pioneer of zombie fiction. Why I rate this novel 4.5 stars, though, is because of some of the details that were zipped through, primarily those regarding his daughter, the dog, and to some extent Ruth. I will say, though, that I like how Neville is an everyman and not "the world's greatest fighter," for it places him in a situation that is very similar to ours. In some ways we may handle things better than Neville, while in others, not so much. Neville is an example of what anyone would do when faced with difficult occurrences that need to be addressed right away.

Richard Matheson is a genius and this only solidifies what he can do! ...more

6 likes · Like · see review

Jul 11, 2019 Caitlin Channer rated it it was ok

Shelves: classics, creepy, sci-fi

I can see how this was so influential, but I felt the plot was so dang slow through the entire novel before it suddenly ended. Meh.

Like · see review

Oct 13, 2014 Laura (Reading is a Doing Word) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: vampires-etc, science-fiction, apolcalyptic-dystopian

I can't believe I hadn't read this book before! It's tense, claustrophobic, suspenseful and compassionate. A truly original vampire story. I loved it! ...more

Like · see review