The book I Am Legend by the renowned author Richard Matheson is an apocalyptic-themed book that follows the last man on Earth, the book’s protagonist, Robert Neville. I Am Legend is a unique book in the apocalyptic genre mainly because of how the book handles the mood and the pacing of the story of the last man on Earth. The premise of the book is that the last man on Earth, Robert Neville, is fighting to survive long enough to find a cure for an airborne germ which turns people essentially into vampires that hide by day and hunt Robert by night. Unlike most apocalypse driver storylines, this is a slow burning, grueling one where Robert takes his time to problem solve and to prepare for specific events. This slow pacing helps the readers connect more and learn more about Robert Neville, his patterns, his thoughts, and how he solves problems. Richard Matheson also doesn’t leave anything about the apocalypse unanswered, unlike some apocalyptic books where the author decides to leave the mysteries for the sequels, instead, Matheson organically introduces the past events and mysteries of the apocalypse as Robert discovers them in a more timely fashion. Towards the end of the book, there is also a slight clever twist at the end which I personally wasn’t expecting and that I won’t spoil for you. When I first started to read the book, I was a little bit bored because of the pacing the book started with. About twenty pages in, I started to get really interested in invested in the book because new information that Robert Neville had learned was starting to come up regards to the virus and the backstory to the apocalypse. About halfway through the book, things really ramped up as Robert learned about a new society that was forming which I found interesting and exciting at the same time due to the reveal and the clever writing. Overall this book is quite a fun read because of the creative plot and the great writing. Although all of the other apocalyptic books bring it down originality wise, you have to give Richard Matheson credit for writing one of the very first books of the apocalyptic genre.
Colton G.
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