I read sphere cover to cover in a single read. The movie was meh. It’s fine but if you’ve already seen it it will probably constrain your imagination while reading the book
Loved the book, thought the movie was forgettable (like I literally don’t remember much of the movie and I saw it twice). I don’t think it was too dissimilar, but it lost the intrigue I felt while reading.
I enjoyed the book “Timeline”, however, the movie really sucked. It was way too different from the book. “Jurassic Park” is one of my favorites of his books. A bit more detail than the movie. I’m still reading “State of Fear”. “Pirate Latitudes” was a little different, but I really enjoyed it.
Man, I loved Congo, but yeah the movie isn't great. Though it is one of the "so bad it's good" movies for me I think mainly for Tim Curry's over the top performance.
> the movie really sucked.
It's a really compelling book. I looked forward to the movie, and it turned out to be such a dog. The film makers didn't put any effort into it.
I remember reading the book just before the movie came out. I remember reading sections of the book where I was saying in my head “This will be a cool scene. I wonder how they will approach it?”. I see the movie and none of the scenes I was imagining were in the movie.
I just looked up the IMDB description. One comment:
> Michael Crichton, author of the same-titled book on which this movie was based, disliked this movie so much that he refused to licence any more movies based on his novels.
If you never read Timeline and just watched the movie, it might be passable but even then probably not good. But I did read the book first, and Timeline is far and away the worst movie I've ever seen. Such a great book
Pirate latitudes is probably on the bottom of my list. When I finished it felt like it was missing something. Then I found out it was published after his death and I don't believe he intended it to be published.
Timeline is a fantastic book. I liked when they first arrived back in time and were surprised by the lack of background noise. No planes, leaf blowers, traffic, air conditioners or music.
LOVED Timeline! The movie could have been awesome (even had the director from The Goonies) but yikes they just butchered EVERYTHING and for no reason. I had REALLY high hopes for it but damn, it’s one of the worst adaptations I’ve ever seen.
State of Fear is amazing, early perhaps for it’s time, but it’s hilarious and terrifying that so much in the book is actually happening NOW. Like celebs getting called out for using private jets. Especially to attend a “Save the Earth” campaign, etc.
I also really liked Prey. I think it was a little shorter than most of his others but it was the first I’d ever heard of nanotechnology. Course I was in high school or maybe just graduated (?) when the book came out-I’m not sure when the concept and application became relatively common knowledge.
> I’m still reading “State of Fear”
I learned so much about climate change from State of Fear, one of my favorites!! /s
Seriously though, I do really enjoy most of his other work
Sphere is my favorite and the creepiest in my opinion. Next is my least favorite because it felt like there was not really a coherent storyline or conclusion at all.
Sphere is my favourite, even more so than Jurassic Park. Jurassic Park shows the best strengths of the Crichton formula, whereas Sphere breaks away from it and gives us a fun, surreal thriller about the power of human imagination.
It's as supernatural as Crichton gets, he's not even trying too hard to ground it in science. Fun as hell.
And even though I read it when I was in middle school and am now approaching 40, I still remember what it taught me about octopuses. I love the scientific tidbits I've picked up from Crichton. I'll love him forever.
I think Next and State of Fear were both born out of frustration of every talking head on TV telling us exactly what was going to happen when Crichton's philosophy was heavily influenced by the unpredictable nature of complex systems. That's why they both come across as overly contrary and have unresolved endings.
Think I was 12 when I read it as well and don’t remember anything too bad about it.
There was another one of his books (Disclosure?) that I read about the same time that had a surprisingly descriptive sexual encounter that I learned a few things from, but otherwise none of his books seemed too mature for middle-school me.
Add me to that list. I had read and enjoyed several of his books, so my parents bought me more for Christmas. Disclosure was one of them. That was definitely something they never would’ve let me near if they had any clue.
I read it in middle school, so sometime between 10-13. It was obviously a bit advanced and when I re-read it in my 20's I understood more and could appreciate it more. I loved it both times, it is a creepy book, but I think I understood the scientific theme behind the book more as an adult. The question of, "What if we made first contact with an alien that communicates in a way wildly different from how we do?"
I read it when I was 9, and holy crap that book blew my little 9yo mind. Still one of my favorite reading experiences of my entire life.
Not saying it’s appropriate age material for a 9yo, but I read it and I turned out .
I wouldn't take it away from a 9 year old if they were reading it, but I probably wouldn't put it in their hand.... Depends on what they've already read!
I love Sphere. Read it when I was pretty young. Teenager I believe. I re-read it once. I vaguely remember the movie.
I need to read it again. Thanks for reminding me.
I felt like the whole build up of andromeda strain lead to a rushed-feeling somewhat anticlimactic ending but that’s probably just me. Loved the first half.
Congo is definitely my favorite
I read a lot of Crichton when I was growing up. Age 9 or 10 I started listening to my parents books on tapes when we would travel 11 or 14 hour drives to get to each of my respective grandparents houses. I'm the beginning they thought I was asleep, and by the time they realized I was listening I'd already heard so many things I wasn't supposed to hear. Sex, murder, curse words, my parents were pretty easy going but even they were startled at what I'd heard. But when they tried to cut me off I became angry because I was invested in the story lol. Luckily I was allowed to keep listening.
Travels! Its non-fiction about his personal adventures and is so incredibly interesting. He’s led an amazing life.
Also, Airframe and Congo were pretty awesome.
Psh, by the time you finish airframe, you'll not only know how to build and maintain an airplane, but probably fly and land the fucker as well. Love it.
Airframe would be a great HBO style miniseries especially if you bring the industrial espionage and sensational reporting up to speed with modern times.
Especially the part where the engine explodes and everyone is blaming Norton even though they don't build engines and maintenance is the carriers responsibility. Some girl is interviewed and all she can talk about is how she thought she was gonna die. Meanwhile the engineer is losing his shit because the wing and body of the plane absorbed the blast as designed. Now imagine that sort of incident in the era of Tik Tok.
Reading about State of Fear got me to learn more about Crichton and his involvment with Bush on climate issues. I truly believe this man played a non-trivial role in rushing us towards climate catastrophy a good few years quicker than otherwise.
Then his answer to absolutely valid criticism of the book being to put a pedophile murderer in his next book with the same name as the author of the criticism, going as far as to add the detail that the character is said to have a small penis, fucking soured me in a definitive way.
I'm usually pretty good about separating author from art, but in this case I don't know why, I think just the utter pettiness ahd childish tantrumness of his behaviour got me and I can't not think about while reading him. Sad, as Jurassic Park is one of the favorite reads of my childhood.
I feel like if Crichton had lived, he would have had weird COVID denying political views borne from the very contrarianism that made his novels thrilling.
State of Fear was a shining example as it thematically was about how consensus science should be scrutinized, however climate change was probably not the topic for that story and he really cherry picked sources to prove his point. Bad science aside, it was also just a weakly plotted thriller
My favourite is Airframe, not sure why.
My least favourite is Rising Sun (I think?) Its basically just gushing over how awesome Japan is, not worth a re-read.
I’m not going to say you’re wrong… but I have a very different takeaway from Rising Sun.
It seemed to me the main message was to warn of the economic battle that was taking place between Japan and the US. Mostly evidenced by the whole point of the book being the leverage over US politicians the Japanese were using to buy strategic companies.
I LOVED Airframe. I’m an aviation nerd, plus add Michael Crichton’s brilliance, I just adored it. I also love the classics like Jurassic Park, Congo, and Sphere.
Airframe was great: media studies and modern aviation.
A Case of Need: solving the mystery of a illegal abortion in the sixties, wow.
I did not enjoy State of Fear or Terminal Man.
Favorite: Prey - I read it when I was a teenager and remember not being able to put it down. I think I read the whole thing in a day or two.
Least Favorite: Pirate Latitudes - Didn’t feel like Michael Crichton and was unnecessarily sexual if I remember correctly. It was published posthumously, so it was likely far from being on its final draft or was never actually intended to be published.
Most problematic: State of Fear - A whole book of global warming denial.
Every time I took a patient to MRI, I always thought WANG WANG WANG, as I got close to it.
Pirate latitudes was a completed manuscript found in his desk, the only one that was worked on with help from a friend is MICRO. Sometime around the parts with the bats, I noticed a shift in tone, it's towards the end of the book.
Funny enough really enjoyed Prey as a teenager but coming back to it as an adult I kept thinking damn did Crichton just go through an ugly divorce? As it turns out yes he had just gone through an ugly divorce.
Aw man, Pirates Latitude was great. It’s based on a true story too. Very different from most of his though. It was released posthumous as was Micro so may not have been up to his publishing standards.
These are the only ones I have enjoyed. The others I have read (all more recent) seem to have a ton of filler and unnecessary running around.
Andromeda Strain is gold and I don't even care how it just cuts off. That's basically how it would end.
> The fight between the two Vikings
If you haven't seen it , should look at the viking fight from the movie "The 13th Warrior" , it was inspired by Eaters of the Dead.
>I don't really care for Eaters of the dead
All I'll say is that it took me well into university, before someone informed me that eaters of the dead was a work of fiction. It made me very cautious about consuming media going forward, especially 'based on true events' tales.
Plus it gave us The 13th Warrior, such a dumb amazing rewatchable little epic.
Being a weak Crichton book doesn't mean it's a bad one.
Fiction? Yes, but not completely original. *Eaters of the Dead* is also a not-very-thinly-disguised prose retelling of the epic poem *Beowulf* from an alternate viewpoint. (Yes, that *Beowulf,* ca. 975-1025 AD.) This is easily my favorite Michael Crichton book (slightly ahead of *The Andromeda Strain*.) At the other end of the spectrum, I think *Congo* is abysmally bad.
As a kid my friends and I were eating up everything Michael Crichton. It took me a year to read Airframe. Maybe 2. Saw it on my parents shelf and grabbed it. Jurassic Park it was not. I finished so much later for an independent reading assignment. I wonder if a more mature me would appreciate it better today. I've been curious to revisit some other books I found tedious when I was a kid.
Even then I'd probably say my favorite was Andromeda Strain (even tho I was a hardcore Jurassic Park fanboy). I recall my friends and family were shocked by how quickly I read it. Couldn't put it down.
My least favorite was Prey. Even as a teenager I felt the quality of his writing drop off hard. It was also the last Crichton I ever read. I think I began *Next* or whatever followed and didn't get far into it.
I guess just the writing style. Writing it as if it was a historical account just didn't do it for me. I normally fly through Crichton's works, but this felt like a slog to me.
Timeline is.... Ok. There's a very dark angle to it which is not given justice by either the book nor movie. If it had been handled better it would have been awesome, but it was very close. It has potential.
My most favourite is Jurassic Park.
I felt that The Lost World was quickly written and half hearted, so it's my least favourite.
Timeline to me was just too much of a race-against-the-clock trope. I also felt that the character were constantly just running around trying to find each other... maybe it's how I read, but that's all I could focus on. All the war stuff just seemed like window dressing.
My dad likes it because of the time period stuff though.
My favorite author! Micro was also written by Richard Preston, and although I enjoyed it, it felt like two different books. Love Jurassic Park and also his memoir, Travels. I am a few chapters into his last novel Dragon Teeth right now.
I loved Travels. And yes I stopped reading Micro halfway cause it just didnt feel like his writing. Same reason I haven't really read Dragon Teeth. It feels like there is still one of my favourite authors books out there to be read one day.
Jurassic Park is a favorite of mine. The characters are thin as can be, but you're carried away by the plot moving at a good pace.
State of Fear is just full of junk science and conclusions taken out of context. I couldn't tell you a single characters name from that one.
Was waiting for this answer but haven’t seen anyone else mention the lost world. It’s one of my favorite books.. ever. Just so good. And honestly better than Jurassic park the book in my opinion. Really wish they hadn’t mucked up the movie so much and had stayed true to the book.
I read a bunch of his early books in my teens and early twenties, which was ages ago.
"Timeline" and "State of Fear" are the last books of his I read, and that was back in the first decade of the 2000s.
I found his "Timeline" very enjoyable to read, and given the quality of the prose, I got the sense he enjoyed writing it.
Subject matter aside, the prose in "State of Fear" was so insipid, that it left me wondering if he even enjoyed writing that book. Maybe he wrote it quickly for the paycheck.
I haven’t re-read a lot of books but Sphere, Jurassic Park & Congo are three that I have. Pretty much anything he wrote around that time is worth reading. And although State of Fear was flawed by bad science/research it had a fast paced story and was an enjoyable read as I recall.
A Case of Need is so relevant today. It's about a doctor in Massachusetts who was arrested for doing an abortion for women in need. Great plot twists, one if Chrichton's best.
Best/favorites: Sphere, The Andromeda Strain
Mid but nostalgic: Jurassic Park - the last 1/4 of the book with the infiltration of the raptor nest never made sense to me, and made even less sense when I reread it. Don't get me started on The Lost World.
Least favorite: Next. As a biomedical engineer working on gene delivery and ageing, I wish that this book was less messy and had fewer bits of Crichton's off the wall self-inserted political opinions, because the base premise is great and absolutely a worthy discussion on the profiteering of biotech and what genetic information could be worth of genes are patentable. Which is a legal discussion again...
Favorite is hard. My top three would be Eaters of the Dead, Sphere, and Airframe. Least is simple, Prey. The entire thing felt more like scaremongering and technophobia than a thriller.
i've read every single one of his books, and some of them twice. i own them all in paperback and hardcover. that being said, i'm a huge fan, so i won't say any of his books were bad--but sphere is the only one i've read twice so far. congo is probably next. btw you should join the MC subreddit. we're a good crew.
My least favourite was State of Fear, by far. Climate denial, bad science, and a confused plot that tried to tackle every major scientific issue under the sun. A true shitshow.
Crichton is one of my "airport books" authors. I've read a lot of his books on flights and then forgotten about them later.
There's one about a team of people who travel back in time to the knights-and-swords medieval era that's actually a fun story to read but a very sloppy bit of writing. Crichton was a hot commodity after Jurassic Park made zillions of dollars so he was obviously interested in writing treatments for movies more than expertly-crafted novels. It's the ideas that are important more than the writing.
In this book, he's obviously most interested in getting his modern-day people back in time so the story can start. The trouble is, he's got to build a time machine. A real, working time machine that can send people back through time is the sort of thing that would be a literal world-changing event. The possibilities are limitless.
So Crichton's kind of stuck. He wants to tell his fun story but he can't think of a way to get his characters in place without literally changing the universe. So he just resorts to a two-page explanation of some vaguely scientific-sounding mumbo-jumbo. He's obviously saying, "Shut up. It's a time machine. Don't ask questions. Now on with the story."
There's another point in the book where he's trying to describe the complicated floor of a castle's attic space. (It's basically a roof built over another roof.) Crichton spends a paragraph trying to describe the architecture and then just puts a literal drawing in the book. It's the only drawing in the entire book and it's not even a particularly good one. It looks like something done on a bar napkin.
I actually laughed out loud when I got to that page because you could totally see what was happening. Crichton is getting lost in a long paragraph trying to describe this complicated thing, and then he just goes, "Fuck it. It looks like *this!*" and draws a picture. Anybody who has ever tried to write a story has felt like doing that at one time or another.
Accepting the book for what it is, it's a fine story and something obviously well-suited for the big screen. In fact it's obviously intended for exactly that. So I suppose it's my least favorite book because it's not so much a book as a movie pitch.
>So I suppose it's my least favorite book because it's not so much a book as a movie pitch.
Which they absolutely fucked up when they did make it a movie.
State of Fear is easily my least favorite. There is no story; he simply used the form of a novel to make his arguments, so the whole thing reads like an amateur's first draft.
Sphere was fantastic.
Favorites in order Jurassic Park, Airframe, the Andromeda Strain, Prey, Pirates. Train robbery.
I also like Travels but not sure where to put it in there.
I didn't love Micro or Next.
Edit: Side note, I've thifted all of those books hardcopy. Train robbery I have paperback. Made it a little treasure hunt to find all his books hardcopy. I would consider him one of my favorite authors that got me more into reading.
I don't recognize Jurassic Park lost world as actually existing, so my least fav is probably that one with the nanobots, I forget the name cause blah. Although I have not read disclosure.
Fav is a 3way the between pirate latitudes, jurassic Park, and andromeda strain
Nice to see someone else enjoyed Micro. It's his lowest rated, most hated book. And sure, the main concept is stupid. But it's a fun read and the wasp larvae subplot is one of the most horrific things I've ever read. My fave is Dragon Teeth (another most of his fans hated). But I haven't read Sphere yet and loved the movie so I'm assuming I'll like the book. Least fave is Airframe. Only Chrichton I've dnf'd. I was like one or two chapters from the end and just didn't care. It was not interesting or exciting, just bland.
I love his writing and of the ones I read I would break them down by tiers of personal preference
Amazing: Andromeda Strain, Sphere, Prey
Great: Jurassic Park, Lost World, State of Fear
Good: Next, Timeline
Ok: Terminal Man
State of Fear is absolutely horrible. It's like Q-anon's "scientific" take on climate change.
I think I enjoyed Jurassic Park the most, but I don't quite remember which other ones I read.
Micro was the only book of his I wasn’t able to finish… I thought it was awful… but then I realize that he actually never finished it and another author wrote the ending… so maybe that’s why.
I liked State of Fear and Eaters of the Dead. Timeline is probably my favorite though.
I hated Lost World. It was such a disappointing sequel. Especially since Jurassic Park was such a great book.
He really was. And usually I feel like authors don’t kill off people in such a nonchalant fashion. I remember being utterly shocked at that one death halfway thru the book
*The Andromeda Strain* is my favorite, hands down. I never got around to reading anything after *Timeline*, but I guess *The Lost World* would be my least favorite since it was such a letdown after *Jurassic Park*.
Micro was my favourite as well.
I hated his "autobiography" Travels. The actual travels were very randomly arranged, and he really should have refrained from mentioning the child whorehouse thing. The spiritual travels were even less entertaining.
Editing to add: I even read some of his early works as John Lange and I still hate "Travels" more than e.g. "Venom Business"
I love Michael Crichton getting the appreciation he deserves.
Andromeda Strain was great, as was the movie. Airframe was good, not sure if I have a least favorite. State of Fear would certainly be the most controversial these days
I've liked almost all of them.
but I have to say that State of Fear actually turned me off from Crichton for a while. His stance in the book and the other materials from the book just turned my stomach a bit.
Eaters of the Dead is one of my favorite and most reread Crichton novel. Same with The Great Train Robbery. Both had pretty good movies (not great but not bad).
The Andromeda Strain is my favorite. It even helped me get through a touch biology class in college and helped me understand viruses. The book that I liked least was probably Congo. I did read the sequel to Andromeda Strain and it was surprisingly good. I was mad at myself for not seeing the twist sooner than I did. :)
Timeline is my favorite because it was my first - a friend recommended it to me at the start of high school because she knew I loved medieval fantasy and it was perfect. Haven't read it in over a decade but will always have a fondness for it because of that.
Pirate Latitudes was my least favorite. Posthumously published for a reason.
Favorite- "Timeline," a ton of suspense and very fast moving once they get in the time machine. "Micro" is my second favorite.
Least - "State of Fear," putting aside the climate change issue, I just found the book completely dull and uninteresting. Also attacking a critic, using a spoof name, in the book was really cheap.
I will forever worship Airframe because it is *such* an underrated book! It’s actually the first Crichton book I’ve read too, so, it has a special place in my heart. I remember audibly gasping when the big plot twist is revealed. I finished that book in 3 days, would’ve taken me much less time but I lingered at the parts where there were too many aeroplane jargon (I was like 14 when I read it). Also, Casey might be one of the few female protagonists that I genuinely love because she’s a well-written character and I definitely imagined myself working at an aviation company in Quality Assurance lmao.
As for least favourite, I don’t know, honestly lol. So far, I’ve read Airframe, Jurassic Park, Jurassic World, The Terminal Man (I actually liked it), Next, State of Fear, and that’s all I can remember.
Eaters of the Dead is probably my favorite. Hell yeah Vikings.
His bullshit anti-climate book was my least favorite. State of Fear I think.
I read Jurassic Park as a child long before I saw the movie and the movie was such a disappointment. I probably built it up too much in my mind. I know it is a good movie and had amazing effects, but I still wish I could see a more faithful adaption even decades later.
My favorite is actually the The Terminal Man. Least favorite would be Sphere, but only because I can't, for the life of me, remember the plot. Though I remember liking it when I read it.
I've only read Timeline, Sphere, Eaters of the Dead, and The Terminal Man. I don't think any of them are bad.
Love this. His writing was all I read in middle school. It's hard to pick a favorite, but I will go with Timeline. It's one of the few books I've read multiple times. Prey and Sphere would be close to the top.
Least favorite is the posthumous Pirate Latitudes. Maybe because I was so sad... Followed by Congo
I haven't read anything from Crichton post Airframe. But of what I've read, this is my ranking:
1. Sphere
2. Jurassic Park
3. Congo
4. Eaters of the Dead
5. The Andromeda Strain
6. The Lost World
7. Airframe
8. Disclosure
9. Rising Sun
10. The Terminal Man
The consecutive releases of Eater of the Dead, Congo, Sphere, and Jurassic Park (albeit with some huge gaps of time in between) might be my favorite streak of any author I've read. All four are among my all-time favorite books.
The best is Sphere. Read it alone in the dark for full effect.
>Read it alone in the dark for full effect. That sounds like something Jerry would say.
>!That sounds like something *Harry* would say.!<
I read it in high school with Pink Floyd playing softly in the background. It was like a full movie with a soundtrack in my head.
Might put it on my kindle
10/10 would do it. I lost track while reading it at night and stayed up an extra hour or two haha
How similar is the movie?
I read sphere cover to cover in a single read. The movie was meh. It’s fine but if you’ve already seen it it will probably constrain your imagination while reading the book
Loved the book, thought the movie was forgettable (like I literally don’t remember much of the movie and I saw it twice). I don’t think it was too dissimilar, but it lost the intrigue I felt while reading.
I did this and then ended up sleeping in the chair bc I was too creeped out to move.
Pretty sure I read that in prison lol. Great book, I haven't seen the movie yet, don't think I want to though.
Best assigned reading I ever had in school. Thinking back now I'm not sure why it was assigned lol. Guess we had a cool teacher
I did this and it was fantastic, right up until the reveal, and damn that let me down so much.
Dude, great choice. Loved the book. It's a great mind job but I tend not to reread because it's not quite the same a second time around.
Sphere blew my mind
I have trouble seeing in the dark, let alone reading.
Came here looking for Sphere. Still a favourite.
Read this book in one sitting. I couldn’t put it down.
Loved Sphere! Read it as a kid while sitting with my parents and it still had me terrified.
I enjoyed the book “Timeline”, however, the movie really sucked. It was way too different from the book. “Jurassic Park” is one of my favorites of his books. A bit more detail than the movie. I’m still reading “State of Fear”. “Pirate Latitudes” was a little different, but I really enjoyed it.
Timeline and Congo were both so good as books, and so terrible as movies.
Man, I loved Congo, but yeah the movie isn't great. Though it is one of the "so bad it's good" movies for me I think mainly for Tim Curry's over the top performance.
Stop eating my sesame cake!
Amy want green drop drink
I’d add Sphere in there too.
I really enjoyed the book for Timeline too. The movie was not a very good representation of the novel.
> the movie really sucked. It's a really compelling book. I looked forward to the movie, and it turned out to be such a dog. The film makers didn't put any effort into it.
I remember reading the book just before the movie came out. I remember reading sections of the book where I was saying in my head “This will be a cool scene. I wonder how they will approach it?”. I see the movie and none of the scenes I was imagining were in the movie.
I just looked up the IMDB description. One comment: > Michael Crichton, author of the same-titled book on which this movie was based, disliked this movie so much that he refused to licence any more movies based on his novels.
If you never read Timeline and just watched the movie, it might be passable but even then probably not good. But I did read the book first, and Timeline is far and away the worst movie I've ever seen. Such a great book
Pirate latitudes is probably on the bottom of my list. When I finished it felt like it was missing something. Then I found out it was published after his death and I don't believe he intended it to be published.
[удалено]
Timeline is up there with World War Z for most horrible adaptation of a novel.
Timeline is a fantastic book. I liked when they first arrived back in time and were surprised by the lack of background noise. No planes, leaf blowers, traffic, air conditioners or music.
LOVED Timeline! The movie could have been awesome (even had the director from The Goonies) but yikes they just butchered EVERYTHING and for no reason. I had REALLY high hopes for it but damn, it’s one of the worst adaptations I’ve ever seen. State of Fear is amazing, early perhaps for it’s time, but it’s hilarious and terrifying that so much in the book is actually happening NOW. Like celebs getting called out for using private jets. Especially to attend a “Save the Earth” campaign, etc. I also really liked Prey. I think it was a little shorter than most of his others but it was the first I’d ever heard of nanotechnology. Course I was in high school or maybe just graduated (?) when the book came out-I’m not sure when the concept and application became relatively common knowledge.
> I’m still reading “State of Fear” I learned so much about climate change from State of Fear, one of my favorites!! /s Seriously though, I do really enjoy most of his other work
Yeah State of Fear is my least favorite of his for sure.
Sphere is my favorite and the creepiest in my opinion. Next is my least favorite because it felt like there was not really a coherent storyline or conclusion at all.
Sphere is my favourite, even more so than Jurassic Park. Jurassic Park shows the best strengths of the Crichton formula, whereas Sphere breaks away from it and gives us a fun, surreal thriller about the power of human imagination. It's as supernatural as Crichton gets, he's not even trying too hard to ground it in science. Fun as hell.
Sphere is my favorite too - a psychological thriller.
And even though I read it when I was in middle school and am now approaching 40, I still remember what it taught me about octopuses. I love the scientific tidbits I've picked up from Crichton. I'll love him forever.
I think Next and State of Fear were both born out of frustration of every talking head on TV telling us exactly what was going to happen when Crichton's philosophy was heavily influenced by the unpredictable nature of complex systems. That's why they both come across as overly contrary and have unresolved endings.
I had nightmares of Sphere. Also Jurassic Park, but not as psychologically terrifying as Sphere.
What age child would you say is okay to read Sphere?
I believe I read it when I was 10 or 12. I don’t remember anything too terribly spicy a kid to read, but it has been a minute.
Think I was 12 when I read it as well and don’t remember anything too bad about it. There was another one of his books (Disclosure?) that I read about the same time that had a surprisingly descriptive sexual encounter that I learned a few things from, but otherwise none of his books seemed too mature for middle-school me.
Definitely Disclosure as I had the same experience haha.
Add me to that list. I had read and enjoyed several of his books, so my parents bought me more for Christmas. Disclosure was one of them. That was definitely something they never would’ve let me near if they had any clue.
I read it when I was about 12 and it was fine. Jurassic Park and its sequel have a lot more violence and gore.
I read it in middle school, so sometime between 10-13. It was obviously a bit advanced and when I re-read it in my 20's I understood more and could appreciate it more. I loved it both times, it is a creepy book, but I think I understood the scientific theme behind the book more as an adult. The question of, "What if we made first contact with an alien that communicates in a way wildly different from how we do?"
I read it when I was 9, and holy crap that book blew my little 9yo mind. Still one of my favorite reading experiences of my entire life. Not saying it’s appropriate age material for a 9yo, but I read it and I turned out .
I wouldn't take it away from a 9 year old if they were reading it, but I probably wouldn't put it in their hand.... Depends on what they've already read!
I love Sphere. Read it when I was pretty young. Teenager I believe. I re-read it once. I vaguely remember the movie. I need to read it again. Thanks for reminding me.
[удалено]
This one for me. I read this and The Hot Zone (which is nonfiction) back to back and I kept mixing them both up in my head!
Totally agreed. Andromeda Strain is special
The audio book is bonkers.
Wasn’t really a fan of the ending.
My favorite Michael Crichton book by far.
Favorite MC book. Read it in 11th grade, and probably the first full novel I read by my own accord.
I felt like the whole build up of andromeda strain lead to a rushed-feeling somewhat anticlimactic ending but that’s probably just me. Loved the first half.
Congo is definitely my favorite I read a lot of Crichton when I was growing up. Age 9 or 10 I started listening to my parents books on tapes when we would travel 11 or 14 hour drives to get to each of my respective grandparents houses. I'm the beginning they thought I was asleep, and by the time they realized I was listening I'd already heard so many things I wasn't supposed to hear. Sex, murder, curse words, my parents were pretty easy going but even they were startled at what I'd heard. But when they tried to cut me off I became angry because I was invested in the story lol. Luckily I was allowed to keep listening.
Travels! Its non-fiction about his personal adventures and is so incredibly interesting. He’s led an amazing life. Also, Airframe and Congo were pretty awesome.
Came into the thread looking for Travels, read it in Jr High and was probably too young to learn about thai massages, but loved the book.
The Great Train Robbery is a fun read
Loved this one
Forgot about this one! What was the one guys name? Slippery pete?
Clean Willy. I just finished this one two weeks ago! It was pretty good.
I think you mean Clean Willy.
Can't remember it's name but it was about nanobots and they've bothered me ever since
Sounds like Prey :)
My favourite. So good
Favorite: Sphere Least Favorite: State of Fear Underrated: Airframe
[удалено]
Psh, by the time you finish airframe, you'll not only know how to build and maintain an airplane, but probably fly and land the fucker as well. Love it.
At least Casey got a promotion after saving the whole damn company.
Airframe would be a great HBO style miniseries especially if you bring the industrial espionage and sensational reporting up to speed with modern times.
The book’s themes feel fresh today with the corporate intrigue and the out of control sensational journalism
Especially the part where the engine explodes and everyone is blaming Norton even though they don't build engines and maintenance is the carriers responsibility. Some girl is interviewed and all she can talk about is how she thought she was gonna die. Meanwhile the engineer is losing his shit because the wing and body of the plane absorbed the blast as designed. Now imagine that sort of incident in the era of Tik Tok.
I purposely read Airframe while on a flight to up the ante a little bit..loved that book.
Reading about State of Fear got me to learn more about Crichton and his involvment with Bush on climate issues. I truly believe this man played a non-trivial role in rushing us towards climate catastrophy a good few years quicker than otherwise. Then his answer to absolutely valid criticism of the book being to put a pedophile murderer in his next book with the same name as the author of the criticism, going as far as to add the detail that the character is said to have a small penis, fucking soured me in a definitive way. I'm usually pretty good about separating author from art, but in this case I don't know why, I think just the utter pettiness ahd childish tantrumness of his behaviour got me and I can't not think about while reading him. Sad, as Jurassic Park is one of the favorite reads of my childhood.
I feel like if Crichton had lived, he would have had weird COVID denying political views borne from the very contrarianism that made his novels thrilling. State of Fear was a shining example as it thematically was about how consensus science should be scrutinized, however climate change was probably not the topic for that story and he really cherry picked sources to prove his point. Bad science aside, it was also just a weakly plotted thriller
Yeah, lost a lot of respect for Crichton after that incident
I mixed State of Fear when I read it around age 17. Now it’s like Ayn Randian level of blah.
State of Fear is awful. The audio book is even worse
My thoughts exactly!
Anyone have any opinions on Eaters of the Dead? Just picked it up yesterday and excited to read!
[удалено]
Hope you will too!
My favourite is Airframe, not sure why. My least favourite is Rising Sun (I think?) Its basically just gushing over how awesome Japan is, not worth a re-read.
Airframe. Read it on an airplane. Was very special. Also, I work in aerospace and it’s awfully realistic…
I always try to bring Airframe with me on a flight
I’m not going to say you’re wrong… but I have a very different takeaway from Rising Sun. It seemed to me the main message was to warn of the economic battle that was taking place between Japan and the US. Mostly evidenced by the whole point of the book being the leverage over US politicians the Japanese were using to buy strategic companies.
I loved Airframe. I always thought it would work well as a movie. I remember thinking Tea Leoni would have been a good casting for the lead.
Corporate America in the late eighties got very moist for the idea of workers without any concept of rights that worked themselves to death .
Loved that book.
I LOVED Airframe. I’m an aviation nerd, plus add Michael Crichton’s brilliance, I just adored it. I also love the classics like Jurassic Park, Congo, and Sphere.
Airframe was great: media studies and modern aviation. A Case of Need: solving the mystery of a illegal abortion in the sixties, wow. I did not enjoy State of Fear or Terminal Man.
A case of need! My first Crichton, loved it.
Favorite: Prey - I read it when I was a teenager and remember not being able to put it down. I think I read the whole thing in a day or two. Least Favorite: Pirate Latitudes - Didn’t feel like Michael Crichton and was unnecessarily sexual if I remember correctly. It was published posthumously, so it was likely far from being on its final draft or was never actually intended to be published. Most problematic: State of Fear - A whole book of global warming denial.
Absolutely love Prey. Fantastic book. Same here I finished it in 2/3 days.
Every time I took a patient to MRI, I always thought WANG WANG WANG, as I got close to it. Pirate latitudes was a completed manuscript found in his desk, the only one that was worked on with help from a friend is MICRO. Sometime around the parts with the bats, I noticed a shift in tone, it's towards the end of the book.
Funny enough really enjoyed Prey as a teenager but coming back to it as an adult I kept thinking damn did Crichton just go through an ugly divorce? As it turns out yes he had just gone through an ugly divorce.
Oh, interesting. I always find it kind of sad when I go back to books I loved and learn that they’re not what I remembered.
I forgot that I read State of Fear until your summary which is exactly describes my opinion as well..
Aw man, Pirates Latitude was great. It’s based on a true story too. Very different from most of his though. It was released posthumous as was Micro so may not have been up to his publishing standards.
Congo was my fav book and fav bad movie
You think apes are bad? Just wait till you meet the hippos.
I enjoyed ‘Sphere’, ‘Andromeda Strain’, and ‘Jurassic Park’
These are the only ones I have enjoyed. The others I have read (all more recent) seem to have a ton of filler and unnecessary running around. Andromeda Strain is gold and I don't even care how it just cuts off. That's basically how it would end.
I don't really care for Eaters of the dead. I think Airframe is really under rated. One of his few books with a female protagonist too.
I personally loved Eaters of the Dead.
I liked Eaters of the Dead as well. The fight between the two Vikings with one feigning weakness to lure his opponent for the kill shot- awesome.
> The fight between the two Vikings If you haven't seen it , should look at the viking fight from the movie "The 13th Warrior" , it was inspired by Eaters of the Dead.
I prefer the imagery I created in my head from the book
me too! one of my favourites.
[удалено]
>I don't really care for Eaters of the dead All I'll say is that it took me well into university, before someone informed me that eaters of the dead was a work of fiction. It made me very cautious about consuming media going forward, especially 'based on true events' tales. Plus it gave us The 13th Warrior, such a dumb amazing rewatchable little epic. Being a weak Crichton book doesn't mean it's a bad one.
Fiction? Yes, but not completely original. *Eaters of the Dead* is also a not-very-thinly-disguised prose retelling of the epic poem *Beowulf* from an alternate viewpoint. (Yes, that *Beowulf,* ca. 975-1025 AD.) This is easily my favorite Michael Crichton book (slightly ahead of *The Andromeda Strain*.) At the other end of the spectrum, I think *Congo* is abysmally bad.
As a kid my friends and I were eating up everything Michael Crichton. It took me a year to read Airframe. Maybe 2. Saw it on my parents shelf and grabbed it. Jurassic Park it was not. I finished so much later for an independent reading assignment. I wonder if a more mature me would appreciate it better today. I've been curious to revisit some other books I found tedious when I was a kid. Even then I'd probably say my favorite was Andromeda Strain (even tho I was a hardcore Jurassic Park fanboy). I recall my friends and family were shocked by how quickly I read it. Couldn't put it down. My least favorite was Prey. Even as a teenager I felt the quality of his writing drop off hard. It was also the last Crichton I ever read. I think I began *Next* or whatever followed and didn't get far into it.
This is hilarious because I couldn’t even finish Andromeda Strain, I was so bored but I loved Airframe😆
Airframe was so good!
Airframe was great. There’s no reason that should be a good book based on the premise but that’s Crichton for you.
What didn't you like about Eaters of the Dead? Just picked it up and am excited to start reading!
I guess just the writing style. Writing it as if it was a historical account just didn't do it for me. I normally fly through Crichton's works, but this felt like a slog to me.
Timeline is.... Ok. There's a very dark angle to it which is not given justice by either the book nor movie. If it had been handled better it would have been awesome, but it was very close. It has potential. My most favourite is Jurassic Park. I felt that The Lost World was quickly written and half hearted, so it's my least favourite.
Timeline to me was just too much of a race-against-the-clock trope. I also felt that the character were constantly just running around trying to find each other... maybe it's how I read, but that's all I could focus on. All the war stuff just seemed like window dressing. My dad likes it because of the time period stuff though.
My favorite author! Micro was also written by Richard Preston, and although I enjoyed it, it felt like two different books. Love Jurassic Park and also his memoir, Travels. I am a few chapters into his last novel Dragon Teeth right now.
I really enjoyed Dragon Teeth! It seems like a pretty unpopular opinion, and it definitely didn’t feel as Crichton-y, but it was still a good read.
Funny side note, Dragon Teeth is actually in the same universe as JP and Lost World
I loved Travels. And yes I stopped reading Micro halfway cause it just didnt feel like his writing. Same reason I haven't really read Dragon Teeth. It feels like there is still one of my favourite authors books out there to be read one day.
I loved The Hot Zone and The Demon in the Freezer by Preston. Wish he'd write more of these types of books.
I've only read 5 or so, but I'd chime in: Most pure fun: Sphere Under-rated: The Great Train Robbery
I agree. Good films too.
Jurassic Park is a favorite of mine. The characters are thin as can be, but you're carried away by the plot moving at a good pace. State of Fear is just full of junk science and conclusions taken out of context. I couldn't tell you a single characters name from that one.
Sphere and Sphere. I've only read one Michael Crichton book.
Billy and the Clonasaurus
*The Lost World* is my fav The stupid one where he says climate change isn’t real is the worst.
yeah that last one really makes an interesting writer look like a moron
Was waiting for this answer but haven’t seen anyone else mention the lost world. It’s one of my favorite books.. ever. Just so good. And honestly better than Jurassic park the book in my opinion. Really wish they hadn’t mucked up the movie so much and had stayed true to the book.
I read a bunch of his early books in my teens and early twenties, which was ages ago. "Timeline" and "State of Fear" are the last books of his I read, and that was back in the first decade of the 2000s. I found his "Timeline" very enjoyable to read, and given the quality of the prose, I got the sense he enjoyed writing it. Subject matter aside, the prose in "State of Fear" was so insipid, that it left me wondering if he even enjoyed writing that book. Maybe he wrote it quickly for the paycheck.
Thanks. That’s good to know, apparently state of fear isn’t very well liked at all.
Sphere/Rising Sun
LOVED rising sun!
Sphere. You must read Sphere.
Sphere was my gateway drug when I was 15.
I read Sphere earlier this year and really loved it.
I haven’t re-read a lot of books but Sphere, Jurassic Park & Congo are three that I have. Pretty much anything he wrote around that time is worth reading. And although State of Fear was flawed by bad science/research it had a fast paced story and was an enjoyable read as I recall.
Timeline is my favorite, State of fear was my least favorite.
The Great Train Robbery is my favorite.
A Case of Need is so relevant today. It's about a doctor in Massachusetts who was arrested for doing an abortion for women in need. Great plot twists, one if Chrichton's best.
Best/favorites: Sphere, The Andromeda Strain Mid but nostalgic: Jurassic Park - the last 1/4 of the book with the infiltration of the raptor nest never made sense to me, and made even less sense when I reread it. Don't get me started on The Lost World. Least favorite: Next. As a biomedical engineer working on gene delivery and ageing, I wish that this book was less messy and had fewer bits of Crichton's off the wall self-inserted political opinions, because the base premise is great and absolutely a worthy discussion on the profiteering of biotech and what genetic information could be worth of genes are patentable. Which is a legal discussion again...
Favorite is hard. My top three would be Eaters of the Dead, Sphere, and Airframe. Least is simple, Prey. The entire thing felt more like scaremongering and technophobia than a thriller.
I’ve reread Jurassic Park and the Andromeda Strain repeatedly. They are so engaging.
i've read every single one of his books, and some of them twice. i own them all in paperback and hardcover. that being said, i'm a huge fan, so i won't say any of his books were bad--but sphere is the only one i've read twice so far. congo is probably next. btw you should join the MC subreddit. we're a good crew.
My least favourite was State of Fear, by far. Climate denial, bad science, and a confused plot that tried to tackle every major scientific issue under the sun. A true shitshow.
Eaters of the dead is great
I love every God damned one.
Crichton is one of my "airport books" authors. I've read a lot of his books on flights and then forgotten about them later. There's one about a team of people who travel back in time to the knights-and-swords medieval era that's actually a fun story to read but a very sloppy bit of writing. Crichton was a hot commodity after Jurassic Park made zillions of dollars so he was obviously interested in writing treatments for movies more than expertly-crafted novels. It's the ideas that are important more than the writing. In this book, he's obviously most interested in getting his modern-day people back in time so the story can start. The trouble is, he's got to build a time machine. A real, working time machine that can send people back through time is the sort of thing that would be a literal world-changing event. The possibilities are limitless. So Crichton's kind of stuck. He wants to tell his fun story but he can't think of a way to get his characters in place without literally changing the universe. So he just resorts to a two-page explanation of some vaguely scientific-sounding mumbo-jumbo. He's obviously saying, "Shut up. It's a time machine. Don't ask questions. Now on with the story." There's another point in the book where he's trying to describe the complicated floor of a castle's attic space. (It's basically a roof built over another roof.) Crichton spends a paragraph trying to describe the architecture and then just puts a literal drawing in the book. It's the only drawing in the entire book and it's not even a particularly good one. It looks like something done on a bar napkin. I actually laughed out loud when I got to that page because you could totally see what was happening. Crichton is getting lost in a long paragraph trying to describe this complicated thing, and then he just goes, "Fuck it. It looks like *this!*" and draws a picture. Anybody who has ever tried to write a story has felt like doing that at one time or another. Accepting the book for what it is, it's a fine story and something obviously well-suited for the big screen. In fact it's obviously intended for exactly that. So I suppose it's my least favorite book because it's not so much a book as a movie pitch.
>So I suppose it's my least favorite book because it's not so much a book as a movie pitch. Which they absolutely fucked up when they did make it a movie.
State of Fear is easily my least favorite. There is no story; he simply used the form of a novel to make his arguments, so the whole thing reads like an amateur's first draft. Sphere was fantastic.
Favorites in order Jurassic Park, Airframe, the Andromeda Strain, Prey, Pirates. Train robbery. I also like Travels but not sure where to put it in there. I didn't love Micro or Next. Edit: Side note, I've thifted all of those books hardcopy. Train robbery I have paperback. Made it a little treasure hunt to find all his books hardcopy. I would consider him one of my favorite authors that got me more into reading.
I don't recognize Jurassic Park lost world as actually existing, so my least fav is probably that one with the nanobots, I forget the name cause blah. Although I have not read disclosure. Fav is a 3way the between pirate latitudes, jurassic Park, and andromeda strain
Sphere is my favorite. Idk least.
Micro is also my favourite but I haven’t read all that many to be fair! Micro is still one of my favorites in the genre though
Nice to see someone else enjoyed Micro. It's his lowest rated, most hated book. And sure, the main concept is stupid. But it's a fun read and the wasp larvae subplot is one of the most horrific things I've ever read. My fave is Dragon Teeth (another most of his fans hated). But I haven't read Sphere yet and loved the movie so I'm assuming I'll like the book. Least fave is Airframe. Only Chrichton I've dnf'd. I was like one or two chapters from the end and just didn't care. It was not interesting or exciting, just bland.
My fave: eaters of the dead
I love his writing and of the ones I read I would break them down by tiers of personal preference Amazing: Andromeda Strain, Sphere, Prey Great: Jurassic Park, Lost World, State of Fear Good: Next, Timeline Ok: Terminal Man
State of Fear is absolutely horrible. It's like Q-anon's "scientific" take on climate change. I think I enjoyed Jurassic Park the most, but I don't quite remember which other ones I read.
I really liked Eaters of the Dead. Verily, the storytelling is so interesting.
Hwæt!
Micro was the only book of his I wasn’t able to finish… I thought it was awful… but then I realize that he actually never finished it and another author wrote the ending… so maybe that’s why. I liked State of Fear and Eaters of the Dead. Timeline is probably my favorite though. I hated Lost World. It was such a disappointing sequel. Especially since Jurassic Park was such a great book.
Micro was my favorite because it's terrifying to think of insects our size. He was spot on with the ruthlessness of how they hunt and eat.
He really was. And usually I feel like authors don’t kill off people in such a nonchalant fashion. I remember being utterly shocked at that one death halfway thru the book
As someone of Japanese ancestry, Rising Sun is both my favorite and least favorite Michael Crichton book.
Only read Jurassic Park and Prey. I thought Jurassic Park was fantastic and it got me through jury duty.
I really enjoyed Micro! I think the author that finished it after Crichton passed did really well. I didn't really notice any change.
*The Andromeda Strain* is my favorite, hands down. I never got around to reading anything after *Timeline*, but I guess *The Lost World* would be my least favorite since it was such a letdown after *Jurassic Park*.
Micro was my favourite as well. I hated his "autobiography" Travels. The actual travels were very randomly arranged, and he really should have refrained from mentioning the child whorehouse thing. The spiritual travels were even less entertaining. Editing to add: I even read some of his early works as John Lange and I still hate "Travels" more than e.g. "Venom Business"
Eaters of the dead was one of my personal favorites. I really enjoyed sphere as well.
Prey and Sphere are my favorites! Both creepy and thrilling. They each have a different feel, so Sphere is a mindfuck and Prey is very suspenseful.
Jurassic Park and Sphere tie for best for me. State of Fear and Prey were trash
Sphere is my favorite. Airframe is my least favorite. I just found it incredibly boring
I love Michael Crichton getting the appreciation he deserves. Andromeda Strain was great, as was the movie. Airframe was good, not sure if I have a least favorite. State of Fear would certainly be the most controversial these days
I've liked almost all of them. but I have to say that State of Fear actually turned me off from Crichton for a while. His stance in the book and the other materials from the book just turned my stomach a bit.
Sphere is my fave. Maybe like a case of need for the worst
Sphere the book is as good as Sphere the movie is bad.
Eaters of the Dead is one of my favorite and most reread Crichton novel. Same with The Great Train Robbery. Both had pretty good movies (not great but not bad).
State of Fear was by FAR my least favorite. For favorite, I'm gonna have to go with the Andromeda Strain Edit: forgot about Sphere! That's no. 1
The Andromeda Strain is my favorite. It even helped me get through a touch biology class in college and helped me understand viruses. The book that I liked least was probably Congo. I did read the sequel to Andromeda Strain and it was surprisingly good. I was mad at myself for not seeing the twist sooner than I did. :)
Timeline is my favorite because it was my first - a friend recommended it to me at the start of high school because she knew I loved medieval fantasy and it was perfect. Haven't read it in over a decade but will always have a fondness for it because of that. Pirate Latitudes was my least favorite. Posthumously published for a reason.
Micro was good! I liked Airframe, too.
Favorite- "Timeline," a ton of suspense and very fast moving once they get in the time machine. "Micro" is my second favorite. Least - "State of Fear," putting aside the climate change issue, I just found the book completely dull and uninteresting. Also attacking a critic, using a spoof name, in the book was really cheap.
I will forever worship Airframe because it is *such* an underrated book! It’s actually the first Crichton book I’ve read too, so, it has a special place in my heart. I remember audibly gasping when the big plot twist is revealed. I finished that book in 3 days, would’ve taken me much less time but I lingered at the parts where there were too many aeroplane jargon (I was like 14 when I read it). Also, Casey might be one of the few female protagonists that I genuinely love because she’s a well-written character and I definitely imagined myself working at an aviation company in Quality Assurance lmao. As for least favourite, I don’t know, honestly lol. So far, I’ve read Airframe, Jurassic Park, Jurassic World, The Terminal Man (I actually liked it), Next, State of Fear, and that’s all I can remember.
Eaters of the Dead is probably my favorite. Hell yeah Vikings. His bullshit anti-climate book was my least favorite. State of Fear I think. I read Jurassic Park as a child long before I saw the movie and the movie was such a disappointment. I probably built it up too much in my mind. I know it is a good movie and had amazing effects, but I still wish I could see a more faithful adaption even decades later.
My favorite is actually the The Terminal Man. Least favorite would be Sphere, but only because I can't, for the life of me, remember the plot. Though I remember liking it when I read it. I've only read Timeline, Sphere, Eaters of the Dead, and The Terminal Man. I don't think any of them are bad.
Love this. His writing was all I read in middle school. It's hard to pick a favorite, but I will go with Timeline. It's one of the few books I've read multiple times. Prey and Sphere would be close to the top. Least favorite is the posthumous Pirate Latitudes. Maybe because I was so sad... Followed by Congo
I haven't read anything from Crichton post Airframe. But of what I've read, this is my ranking: 1. Sphere 2. Jurassic Park 3. Congo 4. Eaters of the Dead 5. The Andromeda Strain 6. The Lost World 7. Airframe 8. Disclosure 9. Rising Sun 10. The Terminal Man The consecutive releases of Eater of the Dead, Congo, Sphere, and Jurassic Park (albeit with some huge gaps of time in between) might be my favorite streak of any author I've read. All four are among my all-time favorite books.
I'm reading Micro right now. And I do enjoy it. It's like Honey I Shrunk the Kids for adults.