Robert Neville is the last man on earth. But that does not mean that he is alone by any means – Neville is forced to bunker down in his house each night, to try and survive the onslaught of the dead who have since become vampires. “I Am Legend” charts the existence Robert Neville is forced to live – how he needs to build and maintain his shelter, his precarious hold on sanity, and his attempts to investigate what happened to the world in which he once lived.

Matheson manages to deal with all of the issues that have come to be expected of the “last man on earth” story – dealing with isolation, how people react without the guidance of society, how people manage to eke out an existence without a living, breathing society to provide for their needs. It’s all done quite well, enough time spent to make the ideas convincing, but not enough to bore those whom have read such things before.

One of the aspects of the novel that I greatly enjoyed about I Am Legend is how Richard Matheson manages to make vampires scientifically convincing. The various vampire mythologies, such as garlic, stakes, sunlight, pale skin, large fangs and so forth, are all explained in a scientific manner, is done convincingly, and this is done quite well. I would recommend this novel for that reason alone.

Another notable aspect of this novel is how “I am Legend” depicts a lone everyman alive in a world of undead creatures. It’s not really a story about one particular man (or woman, for that matter) trying to survive, it is actually the story of someone who survives such a catastrophe, who just happens to be a man named Robert Neville. He’s not special in any way whatsoever, doesn’t have particular qualifications or skills that could single him out anyone else, that are necessary for the story to progress. He’s not a scientist, combat veteran, a mechanic, or any other such role or position which would provide Neville with some aptitude that any other individual would not have. In fact, if such a situation were to occur, I would imagine many of my actions would be identical to those of Robert Neville, and that my struggles would well mirror his.

There are two minor points of criticism that I have with this novel. The first is that Neville’s reminiscences about his past life and family slow the pace of the book dramatically, and are not required to tell the story central to the novel. Although these flashbacks do expand upon Neville as a character, and help tell how the world fell, the main plot of the book does both of these things well enough already. The flashbacks make all of this blatantly obvious, are repetitive, and hence, unnecessary.

The other criticism that I have is of the character of Ruth, particularly Neville’s reaction to Ruth. She is a character that Neville meets, wandering around during the daytime, and whether Ruth is a vampire, or a human is something Neville is unsure of, but feels the need to investigate. I found Neville’s reaction to Ruth extremely implausible - a man who has believed himself to be the sole surviving human for years, who has had to fend off vampires each night, and kill them each day, should not trust Ruth as quickly as Neville did. While my critique of the flashbacks is more of a question of personal taste, the character of Ruth is a problem with the novel, and it is this that turns the book from a five-star novel into a four-and-a-half star novel.

I must recommend “I Am Legend”, whether you like horror, science fiction, or just reading in general. It’s an interesting idea for a story, and it is delivered quite well. Matheson’s attempts to scientifically rationalise vampires are quite convincing, and Neville, while starting as an individual without aptitudes or abilities, feels like a real character, with believeable mental and social problems, and his intellectual and mental progression is charted quite well. Highly recommended. ( )

This is an extremely compelling page-turner. It is not much like the movie at all, loosely related but an entirely different story. One of my favorite genres of books/movies/comics is the lone guy/small group against the incessant zombie/undead/infected hordes, and this one is a fantastic example of that style. ( )

This is an extremely compelling page-turner. It is not much like the movie at all, loosely related but an entirely different story. One of my favorite genres of books/movies/comics is the lone guy/small group against the incessant zombie/undead/infected hordes, and this one is a fantastic example of that style. ( )

If you're reading this after seeing the movie, you're going to be disappointed.

It's a great read otherwise. I got really into it. ( )

I loved this book. It had one of the best endings I've ever read. ( )