I Am Legend

by Richard Matheson

Audio CD, 200 pages

English language

Published Sept. 3, 2007 by Blackstone Audio Inc..

ISBN:: 978-1-4332-0331-2

(197 reviews)

I Am Legend is a 1954 post-apocalyptic horror novel by American writer Richard Matheson that was influential in the modern development of zombie and vampire literature and in popularizing the concept of a worldwide apocalypse due to disease. The novel was a success and was adapted into the films The Last Man on Earth (1964), The Omega Man (1971), and I Am Legend (2007). It was also an inspiration behind Night of the Living Dead (1968).

34 editions

Nicolas Fressengeas reviewed Je suis une légende by Richard Matheson

Des vampires au rayon SF

5 stars

Certains livres ont mal vieilli. Ce n'est pas le cas de Je suis une légende. Écrit en 1954, il ne fait pas ses 70 ans. Le récit est en effet intemporel, mais ce n'est pas ce qui en fait la force principale. Les sujets et préoccupations du présent de 1954, abordés ici par la science-fiction, se retrouvent pour certains avec une préoccupante modernité en notre vingt et unième siècle.

Jugez plutôt. C'est d'une épidémie mondiale dont il est question. Elle n'affecte pas le système respiratoire, comme nos années 2020 auraient pu le suggérer, mais modifie de manière assez importante le comportement des personnes infectées. Elles deviennent en effet nocturnes, fuyant la lumière du jour. Elles se nourrissent quasi-exclusivement de sang, préférentiellement humain. Leurs canines ont tendance à pousser un peu plus que d'habitude. Elles craignent l'ail. Il paraîtrait même qu'elles fuient devant les crucifix et les miroirs. Vous avez …

Notre légende, Robert Neville, semble être immunisée contre le mal. Exception faite des vampires, il est le dernier homme sur terre, ou du moins le pense-t-il, car il n'a aucun moyen de le vérifier au-delà de son proche périmètre. Harcelé toutes les nuits par les créatures en quête de sang frais, il s'est barricadé à l'intérieur de sa maison. Il profite du répit diurne pour exterminer les vampires en profitant de leur sommeil, à l'aide d'un pieu planté en plein cœur, bien entendu.

Une histoire de vampire somme toute assez classique, selon la description que je viens d'en faire. Impossible cependant d'en dévoiler plus au risque de gâcher la lecture. Tentons néanmoins un indice pour montrer l'originalité de l'œuvre. Les récits traitant de vampires sont généralement classés au rayon Fantastique. L'approche développée ici par Richard Matheson incitera pourtant à classer Je suis une légende au rayon Science Fiction.

Si donc, comme moi, vous avez raté ce roman tout au long des 70 ans qui se sont écoulés depuis sa parution, je me permets de suggérer qu'il faut absolument réparer l'erreur.

Alex Cabe reviewed I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

Groundbreaking, but later authors would do more with it.

3 stars

This was primarily interesting to me because it showed me the early versions of tropes that have become familiar in the sci-fi and horror genres. It doesn't achieve greatness but sets the framework for later works by other authors that do.

It's kind of difficult to judge a book like this because things that were novel or big reveals have since become familiar tropes. The central concept of I Am Legend is rock solid, but it sometimes drags or goes on tangents, even with the short length, and I never found the scientific explanations either easy to follow or convincing.

Witch War was my favorite of the short stories, and I'd love to see someone adapt it or expand it into a larger book. From Shadowed Places had obviously outdated and questionable racial elements.

A lot of these felt like spec scripts for The Twilight Zone, so I wasn't surprised …

Witch War was my favorite of the short stories, and I'd love to see someone adapt it or expand it into a larger book. From Shadowed Places had obviously outdated and questionable racial elements.

A lot of these felt like spec scripts for The Twilight Zone, so I wasn't surprised to find out after reading the the author wrote a lot of Twilight Zone episodes.

The audiobook narrators tried a little to hard to do funny voices, and neither was any good at women's voices.

Alex Cabe reviewed I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

Introduces a Lot of New Concepts that Later Authors Used Better

3 stars

Witch War was my favorite of the short stories, and I'd love to see someone adapt it or expand it into a larger book. From Shadowed Places had obviously outdated and questionable racial elements.

A lot of these felt like spec scripts for The Twilight Zone, so I wasn't surprised …

Witch War was my favorite of the short stories, and I'd love to see someone adapt it or expand it into a larger book. From Shadowed Places had obviously outdated and questionable racial elements.

A lot of these felt like spec scripts for The Twilight Zone, so I wasn't surprised to find out after reading the the author wrote a lot of Twilight Zone episodes.

The audiobook narrators tried a little to hard to do funny voices, and neither was any good at women's voices.

oatmilk_alex reviewed I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

Review of 'I Am Legend' on 'Storygraph'

2 stars

my first book read for a book club :)
too bad this was painfully mediocre and ofc there was bad romance/cringe in it

Claude reviewed Je suis une légende by Richard Matheson

Review of 'Je suis une légende' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Je rappelle à toutes fins utiles qu'il n'existe qu'une seule adaptation de ce livre en film, dont le titre est The Last Man on Earth, avec Vincent Price. Bonne séance à vous.

Jonathan Zacsh reviewed I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

Review of 'I Am Legend' on 'GoodReads'

3 stars

Good story ending. The writing really shows its age and the era it was written in, but still wasn't too bad and I'm glad I read it.

Cheri reviewed I Am Legend by Richard Matheson (SF Masterworks)

Review of 'I Am Legend' on 'Storygraph'

5 stars

Loved the story. 1950s sexism galore but great story.

Bumped up my rating because the narrator made it come alive and was just fandamntastic!

Zivan reviewed I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

Review of 'I Am Legend' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

It is rare that such an old work holds up so well. Yes there is sexism and it shoes its age but the fact that Matheson concentrates on the emotional impact of what our protagonist is going through rather than the just giving us the technical details of his struggle makes this a human work that transcends time or place.

I usually listen to books at 1.5x or 1.75x speed, but in this case I kept to 1x speed, the performance by Robertson Dean was so well done I couldn't allow myself to degrade it by listening faster.

The Gnome King reviewed I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

Review of 'I am legend' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

loved this, million times better than the movie. One of those rare books where you just have to keep coming back to it and you are always looking for a time you can read a bit more.

Robert Neville is the main character in this book, he lives in his house on his own and has to deal with attacks from vampires every night. the story deals with his loneliness and bouts of madness. Very moving at times and I also found myself laughing along with the character now and then. Vampires are discussed in medical terms and as Robert is still learning from books, things are kept at a level to allow idiots (like me) to understand what's going on.

Top book that will get a re-read one day.

govmarley reviewed I Am Legend by Richard Matheson (SF Masterworks)

Review of 'I Am Legend' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Did you see the movie? If yes, forget what you watched and read this book. If no, don't watch the movie and instead read this book.

Different, and infinitely better, this book will take you on an emotional ride. Imagine you are the last uninfected human on earth. Vampires are everywhere. You spend your days scavenging around, taking what you can find from the remains the dead left behind. You spend your nights holed up in your house, listening to the infected attempting to get in. Imagine you find a friend, a companion. A sliver of hope. But life is unpredictable, and so is this book.

Read it, but have something happy to read immediately afterwards to cleanse your soul. I chose "Yes Please" by Amy Poehler, but you can choose whatever you would like, as long as it makes you happy.

Vedang Manerikar reviewed I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

Review of 'I Am Legend' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Don't watch the movie. Read the book instead.

Luke reviewed I Am Legend by Richard Matheson (SF Masterworks)

Review of 'I Am Legend' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

liked it so much I read it in 3 sittings.

Zéro Janvier reviewed I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

Review of 'I Am Legend' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Le mythe du vampire est revisité de façon magistrale dans ce roman à mi-chemin entre la science-fiction et l'horreur. Je découvre ce roman bien tard mais c'est un chef d'oeuvre de la science-fiction que j'aurais dû lire il y a bien longtemps.

arkhi reviewed I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

Review of 'I Am Legend' on Goodreads

5 stars

I loved it. I had so many different emotions while reading it. Anger, fear, disgust... I will recommend it to anyone.

I got frustrated when reaching the middle of the book, not knowing this was a series of novels, more than one single story. But although uneven, some stories really are beautifully written. I found "From Shadowed Places" particularly intense.