Friday Face Off : To be a legend, you’ve either got to be dead, or excessively old!’
24 August 2018
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Books by Proxy, Friday Face off, I am Legend, Legend, Richard Matheson
Here we are again with the Friday Face Off meme created by Books by Proxy . This is a great opportunity to feature some of your favourite book covers. The rules are fairly simple each week, following a predetermined theme (list below) choose a book, compare a couple of the different covers available for that particular book and choose your favourite. Future week’s themes are listed below – the list has been updated to help out those of you who like to plan ahead – if you have a cover in mind that you’re really wanting to share then feel free to leave a comment about a future suggested theme. This week’s theme:
‘To be a legend, you’ve either got to be dead, or excessively old!’ – A cover with a title featuring the word ‘legend’
This week I’m thinking should be relatively easy to find a book. Let’s see if we all come up with something different. My choice this week was inevitable and never in doubt in my mind. I thought of it as soon as the prompt came up: I Am Legend by Richard Matheson. There are a lot of covers for this book – I’ve not shown them all here.
My covers:
Lots to choose from and two movie tie in covers included as well. My favourite this week:
Which is your favourite?
Next week – a cover featuring a goblin or dwarves
Future themes: (if you’re struggling with any of these themes then use a ‘freebie’ of one of your favourite covers)
31st August – ‘“Come buy our orchard fruits, Come buy, come buy’ – A cover featuring a goblin or dwarves
7th September – ‘Mirror, Mirror on the wall – A cover featuring a queen
14th September – “He had killed man, the noblest game of all, and he had killed in the face of the law of club and fang.” – A cover featuring a wolf or wolves
21st September – ‘I wandered lonely as a cloud’ – a cover featuring clouds
28th September – Eyes wide shut – a cover featuring eyes
5th October – “He sounded like a man who had slept well and didn’t owe too much money.” – A cover that is ‘noir’
12th October – “The impossible could not have happened, therefore the impossible must be possible in spite of appearances.” – A cover for a mystery novel
19th October -“If I cannot inspire love, I will cause fear!” – A horror cover
26th October – Trick or treat – A halloween inspired cover
2nd November – ‘Remember, remember the fifth of November,’ – A cover inspired by Bonfire Night
9th November – ‘All right! They’re spiders from Mars! You happy?’ – A cover feturing a critter of the eight legged variety
16th November – There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it.’ – A scary cover
23rd November – ‘The child is in love with a human. And not just any human. A prince!’ – A cover featuring a mermaid/man
30th November – “..the children of the night. What music they make!” – a cover with a vampire
7th December – ‘I am Aragorn son of Arathorn; and if by life or death I can save you, I will.’ – A cover featuring a hero
14th December -“Heavy is the head that wears the crown” – A cover featuring a crown
21st December – ‘ho, ho, ho’ – A seasonal cover
28th December – A freebie – choose one of your favourite titles and compare the covers
2019
4th January – A cover that is fresh – New beginnings for a New Year
11th January – ‘I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king’ – A cover that depicts a novel set in the Tudor period
18th January – A cover featuring an Amulet – either in the cover or title
25th January – ‘Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.’ – A cover featuring a monk/priest/person of the cloth
1st February – A comedy cover
8th February – ‘Hi little cub. Oh no, don’t be ssscared.’ – A cover with snakes
15th February – A heart – for Valentine’s day past
22nd February – “Woe, destruction, ruin, and decay; the worst is death and death will have his day.” – A cover with abandoned building/s
1st March – ‘who will buy this wonderful morning’ – A cover featuring a shop or market
8th March – ‘Two little fishes and a momma fishy too’ – A cover featuring a fish/fishes or other sea creatures
15th March – ‘Beware the moon, lads.’ – A cover with a shapeshifter
22nd March – ‘A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse’ – A cover featuring a king
29th March – “I thought unicorns were more . . . Fluffy.” – A cover featuring a unicorn
5th April – ‘nomad is an island’ – A cover featuring a desert landscape
12th April – ‘Odin, Odin, send the wind to turn the tide – A cover featuring a longboat
19th april – ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times – A cover featuring a school
Nomad is an Island: The Friday Face Off #RRSciFiMonth
4 November 2016
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: #RRSciFiMonth, Books by Proxy, Friday Face off, I am Legend, Richard Matheson
Here we are again with the Friday Face Off meme created by Books by Proxy . This is a great opportunity to feature some of your favourite book covers. The rules are fairly simple each week, following a predetermined theme (list below) choose a book, compare a couple of the different covers available for that particular book and choose your favourite. Future week’s themes are listed below. This week’s theme:
4th November – Nomad is an island – a cover with a wanderer
You may have seen on recent posts that November is Sci Fi 2016 which is an event that celebrates all things sci fi. So, I’m using my weekly memes to highlight sci fi novels. For the theme this week I’ve chosen: I am Legend by Richard Matheson. This book is perfect for this week’s theme because of course the main character really is by himself!
plus the first edition cover:
And the winner:
I had to go with the scary cover! I just couldn’t help it – even though it doesn’t necessarily fit in with the theme!
Which is your favourite??
If you fancy joining in with the FFO the themes for the next few weeks are below.
11th November -Falling off the rails – a cover with train tracks
18th November – The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play. So we sat in the house. All that cold, cold, wet day – a cover with stormy weather
25th November – As old as the hills?? – A cover with mountains
2nd December – Oranges and lemons say the bells of St Clements – A cover with fruit
9th December – Soul Meets Soul on Lovers’ Lips – a cover with lips
16 December – Give a Girl the Right Shoes and she can conquor the world – a cover with shoes
23rd December – The first noel… – a cover with angels
30th December – Ho ho ho! To the bottle I go… – a cover with drink
I am Legend by Richard Matheson
19 June 2011
Filed under Book Reviews, Challenges for 2011
Tags: I am Legend, Richard Matheson
It never occured to me to read I am Legend as I have already seen the film (the Will Smith version) and I prefer to read the book first so that I don’t have any preconceived ideas. However, this book was strongly recommended to me by somebody who’s opinion I value so I decided to take a look (and also the film and the book are completely different).
Simply put this book is a masterpiece. A work of art and frankly a legend itself. There are countless books flooding the market about vampires and other supernatural creatures and a lot of them make very good reads – however, they’re not iconic. Bram Stoker’s Dracula brought to us these creatures of the night with all the folklore and superstition, Richard Matheson’s I am Legend brings to us the new concept of vampirism being a plague that has swept through the world killing and recreating in it’s path and wiping out humanity as we know it. Surely this book must have provided the inspiration for any number of books and movies, including zombie films and certainly updates this particular story and brings it into the modern era turning all the old superstitions on their head.
To quote the back of the book:
‘Robert Neville is the last living man on Earth …. but he is not alone. Every other man, woman and child on the planet has become a vampire and they are hungry for Neville’s blood. By day he is the hunter, stalking the undead through the ruins of civilisation. By night, he barricades himself in his home and prays for the dawn. How long can one man survive like this?’
A combination of horror and sci fi, I am Legend is only a short story. It’s dark and atmospheric but not overly descriptive. We begin with Robert barricaded in his house at night being driven to distraction by the monster’s outside who appear every night to attack his house and try to lure him outside (even shouting ‘come out Neville’). During the day he himself becomes the hunter, going out into the city to kill the vampires who plague his nights.
This book manages to convey such a lot of emotions. We start the story living with the fear (and temptation) that Robert experiences every night. We read about him being driven to distraction and despair and almost giving up the will to survive. We also feel his loneliness and through his thoughts it almost feels as though his enforced isolation will eventually drive him crazy. The scenes involving the dog were really touching to read as Robert desperately tries to befriend the animal. (Keep a tissue handy for that bit).
We are gradually given the back story in chapters where Robert recalls events from his past. And are made aware of an infection that quickly swept throughout the population. Robert survived due to an incident with a blood infection during his past but he appears to be the only person immune to the disease. Eventually Robert goes on a search for the truth behind the illness, I don’t suppose his findings will hold up to a great deal of scrutiny but then he isn’t an expert, just somebody desperately seeking answers and a cure. I liked the way that all the old myths were examined, garlic, crosses, daylight, etc,.
What is really clever about the writing is that there isn’t a great deal of detail that will eventually date the book. This book was first published in the 50s but was set looking forward into the future (the 70s) and yet if you look back there is no really significant detail say clothes, food, equipment, houses, etc, everything is kept very bland and in writing in this way when you read the book it could read as though it’s set in the here and now.
On a final note I think the ending is brilliant. As Robert has changed over the years – so have the vampires. They have evolved and adapted. Ironically, in being the only human left and in hunting the vampires during the day Robert has himself become a feared monster. He is now the bogeyman, the myth, the legend, that the vampires now whisper about and fear. Outstanding.
A must read (although, be warned, this is a blunt, unromantic and dark story. There are no sparkly or handsome monsters, no love and no lyrical prose).
Rating A+
I am Legend
Books and travelling with Lynn 