I Am Legend

By: Richard Matheson

Narrated by: Robertson Dean

Length: 5 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

The basis for the film starring Academy Award nominee Will Smith, I Am Legend is a classic of horror and suspense.

In I Am Legend, a terrible plague has decimated the world, and those who were unfortunate enough to survive are transformed into bloodthirsty creatures of the night. Robert Neville is the last living man on earth. Every other man, woman, and child has become a vampire, and they are all hungry for Neville’s blood. By day, he is the hunter, stalking the sleeping undead through the abandoned ruins of civilization. By night, he barricades himself in his home and prays for the dawn. How long can one man survive in a world of vampires?

Richard Matheson’s chilling tale is a white-knuckle ride into a world of darkness and terror.

©1954, 1982 by Richard Matheson (P)2007 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Critic reviews

"One of the ten all-time best novels of vampirism." ( Fangoria)
"The most clever and riveting vampire novel since Dracula." (Dean Koontz)
"I think the author who influenced me most as a writer was Richard Matheson. Books like I Am Legend were an inspiration to me." (Stephen King)

Good story bad Audio

Good story once you get to the end however it did go up and down up and down several times. My problem with the audio is that the performers voice drops to a low-volume during parts forcing me to miss what he is saying or having to rewind and turn the audio up then back down. Especially annoying on a car ride

Omg

This is awesome. Not like the movie. Brace yourself for an intense trip. Not a lot of blood and guts just loads of thrills. The story of the last man on earth and how he copes and the surprise ending that is hard to see coming. The narrator is top notch and I hold him in the company of Ray Porter. Yes, he's that good. Loved this trip.

Will Smith has nothing on this

I could not stop listening to this. Seriously, the Will Smith movie does this book a grave injustice by missing out on the depth of the story and the constant suspense.

Excellent performance by Dean

The book is brilliant but sad. The narrator's voice makes every emotion resonate. Good job.

It's not Will Smith, it's better

What did you love best about I Am Legend?

The authors ability to draw you into the struggle of the main character. He's an imperfect guy in a rotten world.

What did you like best about this story?

It's dark and gritty. I've got a soft spot for apocalyptic stories - especially zombie ones - and this is one is seminal. Although the beasts are 'vampiric', this story was a historical turning point in the zombie genre.

Have you listened to any of Robertson Dean’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I've listened to one other Robertson Dean performances and this is the better of the two. His voice matches the main character well and Dean really brings out his anger and complexity.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Not really. It was good but dark and dreary at times. I welcomed the short breaks but enjoyed the book as a whole.

Awesome book.

I really enjoyed this book and the narrator did a great job. I was hanging on every word in several parts of the book. It’s nothing much like the movie but it is very good.

Just Okay...

A good, but tragic read. Post-apocalyptic survivor Robert Neville struggles to survive in a vampire infested world. Dispels some and fleshes out other commonly accepted vampire legends. Interesting take on the rationale behind the plague. Ironically, the sole survivor finds common ground with the enemy he had fought so hard to exterminate when a new threat arises. Certainly not what I would consider a great book, but a nice way to pass a few hours.

Great Book - Different than the movie

This is a great book, regardless of if you saw the Will Smith movie or not. It is different enough that you will not get bored. Many differences and very enjoyable read. I can't believe the book is so old!
~ JTC ~

A legend indeed

I Am Legend is a great book about a vampire apocalypse that decimates the world, as one lone survivor does his best to undo the damage of this catastrophe. It’s probably not hard to see that besides the whole world being torn to shreds, and vampires lurking, it bears no resemblance to the movie adaptation, which is a blockbuster mainstream repackaging of this story. It’s a short and suspenseful book that follows one mans futile quest to cope with a pandemic. Relevant!

this was written in the 1950s?

I saw the movie. I saw the alternate ending to the movie. The alternate ending greatly improved the totality of the movie. The book makes both endings look terrible by comparison.


I listened through being pretty impressed the entire time, it wasn't terrible for a book I assumed was written sometime in the 90s, there were some incongruities with things that I knew didn't exist in real life the way they were described in the book.

Then (in the end credits) I heard the book was first published in the 50s and my jaw hit the floor. The author seemed almost prescient with his theories of societal structure after a cataclysmic event (spoilers, from both the downfall/survivalist motif as well as the rebuilding of society). the biology and psychology aspects of why and how the "vampires" came about and behaved the way they did, it was as good an explanation as the vampires of dracula 2000 (the only good thing about that movie was the reasoning behind the vampire behavior/lore)