I Am Legend (revamped!)

I was very interested in reading I Am Legend, having seen the movie adaptation of the novel. I was pleasantly surprised to find, from what I read, that the book and the movie are different enough to be two similar, but stand alone stories. I Am Legend was an incredibly influential short horror story, that changed the vampire genre. He takes the old vampire myth, and adds a twist of science fiction to it.

I am Legend is a novel that I wanted to continue to read (it's not a long read. Can be done in one sitting). There is something about it that had me hooked. I'm not sure if it was the easy to follow, simple, but interesting way it's written, or the need to know the fate of the character. Since Robert Neville is the only character (live character, anyways), we get to delve into his innermost thoughts and feelings. We are completely immersed in his everyday life. His situation is so alien, and unthinkable to us, but to him it's just his normal routine. I think the fact that the scenario is so outlandish and unthinkable makes I am Legend such an interesting read for me. It also may be that I am attracted to stories about other peoples misfortune.

I could see people feeling that the book is a little slow paced, or boring, but I feel like the story may not be for everyone. Just the fact that I am aware of the vampire-zombie's, and the destruction they can cause was enough for me to not be bored by the build up. I was always anticipating something. Waiting for a big, exciting event. I was hanging on the simplest words. There's something about it that just kept me hooked, wanting to delve deeper into Nevilles past, his daily life, the reason for the vampirism.

The story alludes to the use of biological warfare as the cause of the Vampirism outbreak, although no real reason is deeply explored. Neville attempts to give some insight, explaining some of the scientific reasoning for the outbreak, a bacterium he calls vampirus. Neville also connects and believes that the Black Plague could have been caused the an outbreak of the same bacteria. The fact that an abnormal approach to the cause of vampirism was used in this novel was really interesting to me.

Overall, I really enjoyed I am Legend. I can see why many horror authors hold this story to high esteem. It's a fresh take on a classic myth. It was new, interesting, and gripping, but not too over the top. I would definitely recommend this story to another.

The Magicians

The Magicians is definitely not one of my favorites. Being a Harry Potter fan, there was just something annoying about how obvious The Magicians takes from the Harry Potter series (as well as the Chronicles of Narnia. There's a lot taken from there as well). One thing that I didn't mind was they made the concept of magic a more realistic dynamic. When I think of learning magic, I don't think of it being as easy as they show in the Harry Potter series. At least they have to work at it in the Magicians.
That, mixed with the fact that the main character is an annoying, whiney, miserable brat just made for a really unejoyable read. There were a few parts that I began to get into, but I just couldn't handle how much I didn't like the book. Honestly, I didn't even finish it.
A friend of mine read it, and if I recall correctly mentioned that this is actually a series of books. I'm not sure if that's true, but if it is maybe they get better as the series go on, but I sure won't be finding that out. If I couldn't even get through the first one, I don't think I could get through any of the others.

Snow Crash + Blade Runner

Snow Crash (and the movie Blade Runner) were both pretty interesting to me. I kind of have a thing for peoples perceptions of the future and the way they interpret it. Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson, is about Hiro Protagonist (ha ha), a Mafia run pizza delivery man. He escapes his reality by spending a lot of his time in the Metaverse. The  is a fully immersive, cyber-space, internet world. People from all over the world can come together and interact using their avatars. The book was riddled with sarcastic humor and puns, which was pretty funny to me.

Blade Runner is about, well, Blade Runners. Blade Runners are a bounty hunter sort of deal. They are sent to Earth to kill Replicants, humanoids that were created by scientists to perform tasks. They were basically created for space slave labor. They aren't allowed to exist on Earth, which is why the Blade Runners are sent in to kill them.

Both of the stories revolve around humans and human interaction. In todays day, we as a society have been quickly shifting into a completely digital world (have you been to LaGuardia Airport? They use Ipads instead of waiters). Snow Crash is a look into what our world could become. People use the metaverse for social interaction, but is it really as satisfying? Is it real? Blade Runner brings up non-humans acting with human emotion. Sometimes acting with more emotion than actual people. It brings up really interesting moral questions.

I think the reason I enjoy both of these stories is because none of us know what the future holds. Being able to kind of peer into it using fiction is exciting and interesting. I can't wait to see where the future takes us.