by Eric (Sword) Beaty

Created on: June 02, 2010

Book & Movie Comparison Review
I Am Legend
Richard Matheson

I listened to the audio version of the book as opposed to reading it, and I gotta say, this is one killer book! All the suspense you'd ever want is here along with nifty little sci-fi scientific tid-bits about why the vampiric protagonist creatures behave the way they do and why certain weaknesses work or don't work against them. Since all the hoop-la has been going around about the newly released movie based (to an extent) on the book, I decided to pick up a copy of I Am Legend (Paperback / Orb Books / Oct. 1997 / $14.95 / ISBN 031286504X) and give it a go. I wasn't disappointed; far from it. This book ranks up there with the likes of Stephen King, Bram Stoker, Anne Rice, and many others in the vampire/suspense/thriller/horror writers. And why not? Matheson's a master of the macabre.

In I Am Legend, Robert Neville is the last man left on earth after a plague of biblical proportions leaves it seemingly empty of any and all life. But Robert is not alone. By day, he fends for himself, taking what he can to survive whether it be weapons, food, clothing, or any other resources. Before dusk, he must hunt down and destroy hideous mutations of humans now left over from the remnants of the plague; because when nightfall comes, Neville must come home in time to barricade it from any intrusion by the vampire creatures and spread a fresh layer of garlic bulbs around the house to ward them off in attempt to find what remains a pitiful excuse for sleep.

Sounds tempting, huh? Part The Stand and Cell, and part Dracula, I Am Legend will have you turning pages faster than you can say, "I vant to suck your blud." The story is so intriguing because in the midst of all this chaos and will to survive, Neville is totally and completely alone not knowing if anyone or anything with any remains of sound mind exists. Every day I'd listen to this in my car on the way to work and couldn't wait to clock out so I could finish the next chapter and see how Neville survived the night or found a cure or found a companion. I felt as if I were right alongside him asking these questions, because every time I listened to the book I thought, "What if it were me all alone in a world where all that was left was trying to kill me? Would it be worth the fight to survive if I were outnumbered without any hope of an outside world coming to rescue me from all the madness?" These are the questions Neville faces throughout the book.

I was amazed to

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