I saw it in the airport the other day and thought about it because I haven't ready any Michael Chrichton books for a while (I was on a Tad Williams and Piers Anthony kick for a while) but it does seem a lot like just another Andromeda Strain.
Ex10: It depends...do you generally like Crichton's work? If so, this is one of his better ones, closely reminiscent of Andromeda Strain.
The plot gets going fairly quickly, but there's some science that's a little hard to get your brain around at first. Let me just say that it's theoretically possible to create these tiny machines, but the intelligence they acquire is waaaaay exaggerated, especially in the time frame covered in the book.
Still, I did read it through in one evening, even taking time out to watch West Wing and South Park. The last Crichton book I did that with was Jurassic Park.
Ah, Piers Anthony, was it the Xanth series? It gets kind of tired after the first 10 or so books.
Actually the Incarnations of Immortality series. "For Love of Evil" was especially hilarious to me, but my favorite was the first one, "On A Pale Horse."
Honestly, the only Crichton book I've read is Timeline, because I got it as a freebie through my book club. But I enjoyed it, not because the plot or story was neccesarily so intriguing, but because of the picture it painted of life in Medieval times. I just never had considered the brutality and violence that abounded then.
Ex10: Oooh. I don't know if Prey is for you, then. It's still a pretty good suspense thriller even if you don't understand all the science, but I don't know if you'd want to pay 40 bucks for it.
Honestly, the only Crichton book I've read is Timeline, because I got it as a freebie through my book club. But I enjoyed it, not because the plot or story was neccesarily so intriguing, but because of the picture it painted of life in Medieval times. I just never had considered the brutality and violence that abounded then.
The science part generally loses me.
Didn't Michael Chrichton also do that Beowulf update...I forget what it was called but that movie "The Thirteenth Warrior" was inspired by it.
I think I WILL save my bucks and wait til my brother reads Prey and borrow his copy, and see if I like it. I'm kinda wierd about reading books though, somehow I get obsessive/compulsive and think I HAVE to finish a book if I start it.
Was listening to an NPR interview of MC a couple a days ago concerning "Prey" and Crichton was explaining the reason/inspiration he wrote Andromeda Strain... unfortunately I had to exit my truck to shop material for a remodel job and did not have the opportunity to enjoy the rest of the interview. Do you have any info concerning why he wrote Andromeda Strain?
SocketCreep: True. Andromeda Strain was a fantastic book, especially for, what, 1969? I must have read it twelve times. Jurassic Park and its sequel are the only ones that are in the same league as TAS.
The Lost World was a bad movie, but a fantastic book. The second half of the book was totally different (and infinitely better) than the stupid ending that Spielberg bolted onto the movie.
TSRTS: No, I don't know the exact reason he wrote TAS, but he did write it right out of medical school, and Robert Wise optioned it for the movie immediately.
I went to a local Target to look for "Prey". I was going to be sitting in an auto repair shop for quite a while and wanted something to read. I think I will wait for the paperback to come out. But I did pick up another John Grisham novel "The Street Lawyer". It was a good read. I have not yet read a book by him that I did not like. I have read "A Time to Kill", "The Pelican Brief", "The Rainmaker", "The Firm" and now this one. He is a very good writer. I look forward to reading his other works too.
"The Street Lawyer" deals with homelessness. A subject that got a lot of negative opinion from TWI. It was an interesting read, in that it took me to the other side of the coin. I have a more compassionate outlook toward the homeless now.
Of all the Michael Chrichton books, I think that "Sphere" was one of the best. It did start off pretty slowly, but it was one that kept me reading until I finished it and constantly trying to figure it out.
On a side note, if you like humorous fantasty fiction, do yourself a favor and pick up some of Terry Pratchett's Discworld books. Think "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" with "wizzards", trolls, and Cohen the Barbarian.
quote:When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man I put away childish things because, wow, then I could afford much *better* childish things!
-- Terry Pratchett, on alt.fan.pratchett 20.01.2001
I also liked the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" series. I don't think I have ever laughed so hard from simply reading a story.
There are some books by Jon Land that are interesting to read, once you make it past the initial premise which are hard to believe. The only title I recall at this time is "Labyrinth"
TSRTS:...Do you have any info concerning why he wrote Andromeda Strain?
Zixar: No, I don't know the exact reason he wrote TAS, but he did write it right out of medical school, and Robert Wise optioned it for the movie immediately.
TSRTS: Hiya Zixar!!!!!!!... Hey, I asked a couple a people I know who listen to NPR and to the best their memory from that interview, MC was inspired TAS from a foot note he found in a book... and that's all I could gather... I would really like to find out... any suggestions???
TSRTS: Okay, I think I know what you're talking about now. If memory serves, in the book MC goes into the idea that visitors from other worlds would be microscopic in size, due to the efficiency of transporting such a tiny thing. In the movie, Dutton is shown in a flashback drawing a picture of a scientist looking through a microscope with a word balloon from the slide saying "Take us to your leader!"
This was taken from a real scientist's theories, and the only two I remember being mentioned in the book were Karp and Nagy. That's where I'd start looking.
God bless,
Zix
"Scoop was built for germ warfare, and you knew it, Stone!"
Yep, Rudolf Karp and Bart Nagy were two scientists who believed fossilized microbes might be found in meteorites.
From the obituary at Univ. of Arizona:
quote:
Bart's landmark volume Carbonaceous Meteorites appeared in 1975. (Note: this was 4 years after TAS the movie)The excitement of those times is currently being relived as new information about meteorites, particularly those from Mars, is being discussed. The focus then, as now, was on carbonaceous matter. The Martian carbonaceous matter may hold the key to prebiological chemical evolution or evidence of extraterrestrial life. Bart and his colleagues pioneered efforts to resolve these issues. Carbonaceous Meteorites deserves the careful scrutiny of all researchers balanced on the precarious cutting edge of research for evidence of extraterrestrial life. This is especially so in light of the current "identification" of fossil microbial life forms in meteorites believed to be fragments blasted off the surface of our red sister planet. At times, the boundary between science fiction and reality seems disarmingly flimsy. The reader will discover this upon reading (or rereading) Michael Crichton's The Andromeda Strain where the author refers to "Nagy".
Glad to see you are still into good books. I called the library to see if it was in. They said they had many copies, but they were always out & they couldn't reserve it because it was on the best sellers list. I asked her to hold it - said I lived 4 minutes away. She said she couldn't hold it & it would probably be gone when I got there.
I raced to the library & got it.
I also read it in one sitting - sort of. I read, fell asleep, woke up & kept reading - until I was done.
Science or no science, it is a good story teller reader's story.
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Steve!
It HAS to be better than Timeline! That book was written for the masses, and has plot holes that a truck could drive through.
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Mister P-Mosh
I saw it in the airport the other day and thought about it because I haven't ready any Michael Chrichton books for a while (I was on a Tad Williams and Piers Anthony kick for a while) but it does seem a lot like just another Andromeda Strain.
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ex10
So, my question is, should I put this book on my Christmas Wish List??
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Zixar
Ex10: It depends...do you generally like Crichton's work? If so, this is one of his better ones, closely reminiscent of Andromeda Strain.
The plot gets going fairly quickly, but there's some science that's a little hard to get your brain around at first. Let me just say that it's theoretically possible to create these tiny machines, but the intelligence they acquire is waaaaay exaggerated, especially in the time frame covered in the book.
Still, I did read it through in one evening, even taking time out to watch West Wing and South Park. The last Crichton book I did that with was Jurassic Park.
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Steve!
Ah, Piers Anthony, was it the Xanth series? It gets kind of tired after the first 10 or so books.
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Mister P-Mosh
Actually the Incarnations of Immortality series. "For Love of Evil" was especially hilarious to me, but my favorite was the first one, "On A Pale Horse."
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ex10
Zix
Honestly, the only Crichton book I've read is Timeline, because I got it as a freebie through my book club. But I enjoyed it, not because the plot or story was neccesarily so intriguing, but because of the picture it painted of life in Medieval times. I just never had considered the brutality and violence that abounded then.
The science part generally loses me.
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Zixar
Ex10: Oooh. I don't know if Prey is for you, then. It's still a pretty good suspense thriller even if you don't understand all the science, but I don't know if you'd want to pay 40 bucks for it.
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Mister P-Mosh
Didn't Michael Chrichton also do that Beowulf update...I forget what it was called but that movie "The Thirteenth Warrior" was inspired by it.
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Zixar
P-Mosh: Yes, he wrote "Eaters of the Dead", which was turned into the Antonio Banderas pic "The 13th Warrior."
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ex10
Zix
I think I WILL save my bucks and wait til my brother reads Prey and borrow his copy, and see if I like it. I'm kinda wierd about reading books though, somehow I get obsessive/compulsive and think I HAVE to finish a book if I start it.
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Mister P-Mosh
Hopefully they'll come out with a paperback at some point.
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TheSongRemainsTheSame
Hey Zixar...
Was listening to an NPR interview of MC a couple a days ago concerning "Prey" and Crichton was explaining the reason/inspiration he wrote Andromeda Strain... unfortunately I had to exit my truck to shop material for a remodel job and did not have the opportunity to enjoy the rest of the interview. Do you have any info concerning why he wrote Andromeda Strain?
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SocketCreep
I think I would enjoy that one. I have read "Andromeda Strain" twice, once while in middle school and I loved it. It was much better than the movie.
I have also read "Congo" and "Sphere" (also MUCH better than the movie) and I enjoyed both of these.
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Zixar
SocketCreep: True. Andromeda Strain was a fantastic book, especially for, what, 1969? I must have read it twelve times. Jurassic Park and its sequel are the only ones that are in the same league as TAS.
The Lost World was a bad movie, but a fantastic book. The second half of the book was totally different (and infinitely better) than the stupid ending that Spielberg bolted onto the movie.
TSRTS: No, I don't know the exact reason he wrote TAS, but he did write it right out of medical school, and Robert Wise optioned it for the movie immediately.
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SocketCreep
I went to a local Target to look for "Prey". I was going to be sitting in an auto repair shop for quite a while and wanted something to read. I think I will wait for the paperback to come out. But I did pick up another John Grisham novel "The Street Lawyer". It was a good read. I have not yet read a book by him that I did not like. I have read "A Time to Kill", "The Pelican Brief", "The Rainmaker", "The Firm" and now this one. He is a very good writer. I look forward to reading his other works too.
"The Street Lawyer" deals with homelessness. A subject that got a lot of negative opinion from TWI. It was an interesting read, in that it took me to the other side of the coin. I have a more compassionate outlook toward the homeless now.
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Zixar
SocketCreep: Try Grisham's "The Runaway Jury" next. You'll like it.
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Mister P-Mosh
Of all the Michael Chrichton books, I think that "Sphere" was one of the best. It did start off pretty slowly, but it was one that kept me reading until I finished it and constantly trying to figure it out.
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Zixar
On a side note, if you like humorous fantasty fiction, do yourself a favor and pick up some of Terry Pratchett's Discworld books. Think "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" with "wizzards", trolls, and Cohen the Barbarian.
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SocketCreep
I saw "The Runaway Jury" on the shelf.
I also liked the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" series. I don't think I have ever laughed so hard from simply reading a story.
There are some books by Jon Land that are interesting to read, once you make it past the initial premise which are hard to believe. The only title I recall at this time is "Labyrinth"
The are sort of Jame Bondish.
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TheSongRemainsTheSame
TSRTS:...Do you have any info concerning why he wrote Andromeda Strain?
Zixar: No, I don't know the exact reason he wrote TAS, but he did write it right out of medical school, and Robert Wise optioned it for the movie immediately.
TSRTS: Hiya Zixar!!!!!!!... Hey, I asked a couple a people I know who listen to NPR and to the best their memory from that interview, MC was inspired TAS from a foot note he found in a book... and that's all I could gather... I would really like to find out... any suggestions???
Thanks Zixar
Stevo
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Zixar
TSRTS: Okay, I think I know what you're talking about now. If memory serves, in the book MC goes into the idea that visitors from other worlds would be microscopic in size, due to the efficiency of transporting such a tiny thing. In the movie, Dutton is shown in a flashback drawing a picture of a scientist looking through a microscope with a word balloon from the slide saying "Take us to your leader!"
This was taken from a real scientist's theories, and the only two I remember being mentioned in the book were Karp and Nagy. That's where I'd start looking.
God bless,
Zix
"Scoop was built for germ warfare, and you knew it, Stone!"
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Zixar
Yep, Rudolf Karp and Bart Nagy were two scientists who believed fossilized microbes might be found in meteorites.
From the obituary at Univ. of Arizona:
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Tom
Xix,
Glad to see you are still into good books. I called the library to see if it was in. They said they had many copies, but they were always out & they couldn't reserve it because it was on the best sellers list. I asked her to hold it - said I lived 4 minutes away. She said she couldn't hold it & it would probably be gone when I got there.
I raced to the library & got it.
I also read it in one sitting - sort of. I read, fell asleep, woke up & kept reading - until I was done.
Science or no science, it is a good story teller reader's story.
Tom
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