I AM LEGEND - REVIEW

No, no, no. I'm not referring the the Akiva Goldman penned, future blockbuster. I'm instead referring to the 1954 novel upon which the movie will be loosely grounded (from seeing the previews).

I want to begin with the utter shock and absolute let down of the ending. I bought the new paperback edition with Will Smith on the front and looking at the bkac page for reference prior to starting, I braced myself for a good 312 page ride. What I received instead was 159 pages of I AM LEGEND, and the rest filled with a collective of Matheson's other works. So imagine my surprise when here I am expecting another 153 pages of Robert Neville doing something heroic and I get the beginning of another story. So in the end, it took away a little bit, as I was thinking I had hit the midpoint rise in action, when instead it was the ending. Meh...

Overall, this book reaches far beyond the Vampire genre in the sense that the vampires are simply a backdrop for a very emotion, psycological journey into the mind of the last man on Earth. Anyone who is having trouble grasping the creation of characters should definitely read this book. Robert Neville is the eiptome of the fleshed out character we should all strive to create. By the end (grrr) you have so much concern and care for this fictional man, that you can almost smile at his last quote in the book.

The story begins bland, and never really changes, though you as a reader will. What I mean by this, is that around page 40, you've grown so accustomed to Robert's plight that this semmingly banal story of a man on his own becomes something of your own. We've all had moments of helplessness, adrenaline-based anxiety, and absolute terror; and that is what I AM LEGEND brings out of you. You begin remembering rushing home to make sure you locked the doors or turned the iron off. You remember when a loved one passed on and you were shaken to the core. It will pull a tremble form you when you reach the final scene of the story and you accept this simple, surviving man as a hero.

By far, this has to be one of the best character based, third-person narratives I have read in a long time, and I highly recommend you read it before the movie comes out. If only for true definition of what a character should be.

Rod