Audiobook Review – I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

Posted January 18, 2018 by Carole in Audiobook, Book Reviews / 24 Comments

I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
Narrated by Robertson Dean
Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Publication Date: August 14, 2007
Date Read:  January 12, 2018
Length:  5 hours 19 minutes
Source: Purchased – Audible
★★★★☆

In I Am Legend, a plague has decimated the world, and those unfortunate enough to survive are transformed into blood-thirsty 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?

My Review

This was good!  I really didn’t have this book on my radar until recently.  Sure, I saw the movie with Will Smith but I honestly wasn’t all that impressed with it.  I knew that the movie was based on a book but didn’t really feel the need to pick it up.  When Audible had their 20th anniversary celebration a few months ago, they offered this book free to members so I snatched up a copy.  I was in the mood for a shorter listen recently and decided to go with this book and I really ended up enjoying it.

So when I started this book, I thought it was a zombie book.  I don’t even know what I am doing some days.  This is not a zombie book.  I guess I really didn’t pay all that much attention to that Will Smith movie after all because this is a vampire book.  In my defense these vampires are almost zombie-like in a whole lot of ways.

Robert Neville is alone.  He is the last person around in a world full of vampires.  He spends his days gathering supplies and staking the vampires that he finds.  He spends his nights locked in his house trying to ignore the vampires that gather outside his home.  He does this every day and is utterly alone.  He does some research to try to figure out the cause of the outbreak and to learn as much as he can. 

This was the first time that I have listened to Robertson Dean’s narration and I really did enjoy it.  I thought that his voice was perfect for Neville and he brought the right amount of emotion into the story.  I thought that he had a very pleasant voice that was easy to listen to for hours at a time.  I would not hesitate to choose another book narrated by Robertson Dean.

I would recommend this book to others.  It is a great story about a man trying to navigate the world alone.  I am quite sure that this audiobook will have a much more lasting impact on me than the movie did.  I do hope to read more of Richard Matheson’s work in the future.

About the Author

Richard Matheson was The New York Times bestselling author of I Am Legend, Hell House, Somewhere in Time, The Incredible Shrinking Man, A Stir of Echoes, The Beardless Warriors, The Path, Seven Steps to Midnight, Now You See It…, and What Dreams May Come, among others. He was named a Grand Master of Horror by the World Horror Convention, and received the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement. He has also won the Edgar, the Spur, and the Writer’s Guild awards. In 2010, he was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame. In addition to his novels Matheson wrote several screenplays for movies and TV, including “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet,” based on his short story, along with several other Twilight Zone episodes. He was born in New Jersey and raised in Brooklyn, and fought in the infantry in World War II. He earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri. Matheson died in June, 2013, at the age of eighty-seven.

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24 responses to “Audiobook Review – I Am Legend by Richard Matheson”

  2. Barb

    I remember reading this once and not being able to get into it. I still have it on my shelf somewhere. Glad you enjoyed it. I liked the Will Smith movie okay except for the dog. Unthinkable!

    • Carole's Random Life in Books

      It was free during the anniversary celebration that took place the first 20 days of November. They had like 5 or 6 free books over the course of the promotion. The dog in the book is very different than the movie.

  7. Sophia Rose

    I started the movie, but got scared (yeah, that's me,LOL)so had to let my husband watch and summarize for me. He's used to doing that. But, glad the book and narrator were so much better for you.

  8. Shell

    Huh. Can't believe the book is about vampires when the movie is clearly about zombies. That's a weird thing to change in the adaptation. I actually liked the film, though. Of course, the ending was awful, but that had more to do with the dog than anything else.

    Glad you liked this one.

    • Carole's Random Life in Books

      I honestly remember very little of the movie but that makes me feel better. I may need to see if I can find the movie and watch it this weekend to refresh my memory. I didn't think that the dog scene was even close to being the same in the book.

  9. Katherine P

    I haven't read this but my husband did and really loved it. I've been meaning to give it a read and definitely will have to now. It helps that there are no dogs in the book. That's why I never watched the movie!

  10. Melanie Simmons (mlsimmons)

    I agree with you. The movie wasn't all that interesting. It didn't encourage me to pick up the book. Usually when I enjoy a movie, it makes me want to grab the book because I know that the book is always better. I grabbed this freebie too. I'll have to give it a try. Great review.

    Melanie @ Hot Listens & Rabid Reads

  11. Literary Feline

    I haven't seen the movie yet because I want to read the story first–and I still haven't read it. I am glad you enjoyed it, Carole! I always assumed it was about zombies too. I like the idea of listening to the audio version. I may have to go that route instead!