I Am Legend by Richard Matheson Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of I Am Legend
Book Review: The genesis of 'Survival Horror' games & movies
Summary: 5 Stars
First off, this story has actually been filmed three times, with varying results. The first was in the mid 60s, with Vincent Price "The last man on Earth". Not a bad version (although the dubbing of some Italian cast grates) and surprisingly close to the book compared to the subsequent "Omega Man" (very dated now, highly un-scary 'mutants' in place of vampires). Finally (although remake rumours abounded several years ago) George Romero made "Night of the living Dead" exchanging Vampires for Zombies, and the sole survivor for pockets of humanity. These three films were made within only a few years of one another and give testament to the strength of the story. Normally I avoid Vampire novels like the plague (pun intended) - I just don't get the Anne Rice stuff. None of that matters in this book, as the flowery gothic notion of Vampires is dispensed with in favour of a '28 days later' style disease as explanation. If you enjoy the films of George Romero - If you enjoy games like 'Resident Evil', or if you just want to know where this most intense of genres in both film and videogame first surfaced, this is ESSENTIAL!
Undead dogs in Resident Evil (and soon in the remake of Dawn of the Dead)? - Pah, they were here first!
Book Review: Science Fiction with a bite.
Summary: 5 Stars
Richard Matherson drags the horror genre into the cold light of day - and it's not a pretty sight.The horror comes, not from the vampires, but from the numbing despair of the main charecter who struggles to come to terms with the fact that he is the last man on earth.
This book is a must for the serious horror fan.
Book Review: One of the great SF novels
Summary: 5 Stars
What can you say? This is one of the big daddys of SF. It has been so influential that I could sit here for days listing all of the books / comics / films that have been influenced by this.It is so different it could be construed as something other than science fiction. This makes it all the more great. It is one of the most original books in the field of SF.
The term 'seminal' is often overused. Not in this case.
A 'must', if ever there was one.
Book Review: Fan-uber-tastic!
Summary: 5 Stars
The book is fantastic. It takes you to a place where you may have been, but wouldn't normally want to go to again. And that's the point. It strives to let you understand what it would be like, to be the only one, as you fear you are alone and then takes you back to your pain and what its like to suddenly remember the past. It doesn't stop there - it describes no future, so you never really get over it.It's the kind of book you should read to remember even when you know you should forget. That's the point again; it makes you feel normal and that leaving the past behind is the only sensible way forward. Although, in the end, there's simply nothing you, or anyone else can do, to live in the future you have made for yourself. You know you don't belong.
There is melancholy in the character and sorrow in the past, but from getting inside the soul of the main character, Robert Neville, you seem to place yourself in his shoes; your shoes. It's a relative escape in an un-relative world.
A must for all SF fans who need to rediscover the past. If it doesn't allow you to understand it, at least it offers a way to deal with it.
Book Review: brilliant!
Summary: 5 Stars
A came accross this novel through a search for a VHS copy of The Omega Man and I am so glad I did. Great book which got me reading some of the rest of SF Masterworks range. Very recomended