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Summary: A fun read but not his best
Review: In Prey, Crichton uses primarily the same formula that he did in Jurassic Park and Timeline. Replace dinosaurs and Medieval horrors with nanoparticles, and you have Prey. That is not such a bad thing. All three of these novels will keep you up late at night trying to get to the resolution of some very exciting sequences.The resolution in Prey does seem a little flat though. The climax of prey is filled with as much intensity as any of his novels, but the denouement (falling action after the climax) is weak at best. When you hit the last page, you find yourself wondering why he would end the story at that moment. There is still a little left to be resolved. I was also a little put off by the main character. We are supposed to see him as being intellectual and yet some very obvious details and clues slip right past him. At times he is passive to the point of absurdity and other times he is a determined leader. Crichton's characters tend to be a little flat. He is usually more concerned with providing background details than he is with developing characters. Having said this, Prey is a fun read. Crichton's stories hold your attention, and like his books from the past, this once keeps you reading.
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Summary: Scary Stuff!!
Review: The more I read about the possibilities of the future, the more I embrace our past. Now it is nanotechnology which poses the threat and Michael Crichton has done with it as he has done with other similar themes, i.e. he makes terrible things sound reasonably possible. While I must admit this technology was not on my radar screen before I picked the book up, it surely is now and if you would like to spend some discomfiting time getting entertainingly educated, this is your opportunity.
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Summary: Promising Premise But Lame Ending
Review: The premise is promising--a secretive startup firm becomes the first company to manufacture commercial quanitites of simple nanobots that can perform a complex funtion as a swarm, and they get loose. However, the kind of havoc they wreak increasingly strains credibility, despite the author's repeated descriptions of the "emergent behavior" that a rapidly evolving swarm is capable of. The ending is so outrageously over-the-top that it reads like the script of an amateurish B movie. What a shame because Mr. Crichton could have concocted a less fantastic, but ultimately more deadly and interesting menace.
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Summary: Just Try to put it down!
Review: In the beginning, our narrator, Jack Forman, ominously reveals that "Things never turn out the way you think they will". Jack is a Bay Area high tech manager who has recently been fired, for exposing corruption in his company. His wife is in charge of a team that has been developing a kind of nano-spy plane. These nano-planes are intended to be a swarm of micro-robots that can fly to remote places and, acting in concert, send back a visual image. The team is using a piece of software that Jack wrote to control the swarms of nanoparticles, and hence when they get out of control he is called into the Nevada desert to try to help reign them in. As the battle rages, the nano-swarm begins to demonstrate what is referred to "emergent behavior", ie their tactics evolve. As the plot twists & turns, I found myself drawn in and glued to this book. While it may not be fine literature, it is a tremendously enjoyable read.
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Summary: He frowned. I said. Then I did. I said. You will frown.
Review: This is the first M.C. book I read. It was kind of fun, especialy liked the cliff-hanger parts on the end of the chapters. I almost expected a commercial after each.
Michael Crichton delivers a fun book, but not a very well written book. I frowned. She frowned. They frowned. GET IT!? If anyone is a Next Generation fan (Star Trek), you will be able to guess most of the book. Those crazy "Nanites", were able to do so much in such a little time. I kept expecting to see the Terminator 2 robot pop up somewhere in this book. Once again, just like alot of his work, scientific advances go haywire in a secret isolated environment. I read the book. I frowned. The ending is pure Hollywood.
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Summary: Couldn't Put it Down
Review: I stayed up late and got up early all week to finish reading this book. Just buy it.
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Summary: Crichton at his best
Review: This was a fantastic novel! It follows a structure very similar to "Sphere" (with characters you care just as much for) while focusing on a much more realistic scientific possibility. As a graduate computer science student, I appreciated the accuracy of Crichton's details when describing distributed intelligence. This book presents us with a haunting (and somehow inevitable) future.
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Summary: Prey
Review: In the novel, Prey, by Michael Crichton, the author uses rising action to effectively tell the story of the possible negative effects on society of advancing technology too far. In this case, the technology involves a combination of nano-science, information science, and biology. The results are nano-particles that take on the characteristics of a rapidly evolving, intelligent biological species. Jack Forman, an out-of-work Silicon Valley engineer, becomes increasingly suspicious about his wife's behavior and her secretive work with these nano-particles. As he seeks to understand and then to destroy the technology, he faces the danger of being exposed to the swarms of particles. The risk and consequences of exposure increase as the swarms of nano-particles evolve and become more powerful. The frustration of not knowing the whole truth about this technology and the need to find out amplifies the tension and holds the reader in suspense, waiting for Jack's exposure that could very well be deadly, or life altering. The novel, similar to an action movie, starts with small, abrupt encounters with these nano-particles and then builds up to the eventual head on, highly dangerous confrontation between the man and the manmade technological nightmare.
To Crichton, portraying the protagonist's thoughts is as important as describing his actions. During every tense moment, and sometimes during the less stressful ones, Crichton portrays the rush of thoughts that surge through Forman's head. Not only does he keep up the protagonist's train of thought, but also he tells what thoughts Jack Forman reads from the other character's actions and appearances. Crichton has certainly done his research, and the many physics related quips and statistics really add to the intelligence of the story. This book is enjoyable because Crichton spends a fair amount of the time discussing physics and the ideas of future computer technology. The storyline seems character driven. Crichton has assigned unique personalities to every character including the nano-particles. Perhaps Crichton even incorporated himself in one of the characters, so that he might live in his own created world. The unique characters and the physics and other science accompaniments incorporated in the story make this an entertaining and educational read.
Overall, Crichton's Prey is a brilliant novel. Because of his use of rising action to increase tension and excitement throughout the story, he is able to keep readers turning pages to find out what happens next. The unique personalities of the characters, the incorporation of science details, and the foresight into the negative consequences of not managing scientific advances appropriately bring much insight into what could be possible in the future of technology. Prey deserves at least four and one half stars, for the excellent storyline, as well as for making the reader think about the potential risks of technology out of control.
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Summary: Gripping the edge of my seat!
Review: This was a great read. The storyline is creative and gripping.
It reads like a movie, which also makes a fun read. It is action packed and mysterious right to the last page. I don't usually read Micheal Crichton's books. This was a nice change of pace for me. I picked up this book and started reading before I had the slightest clue what it was about. I am so glad I did. I recommend that others do the same, don't read an all-too-revealing review. This book will keep you guessing!
I just can't say anymore without spoiling it.
Thanks for reading my review!
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Summary: This is the reason i read Crichton!
Review: Michael Crichton's new novel reminds me somewhat of his earlier work Jurassic Park . This is a compliment. Jurassic Park is perhaps Crichton's best novel. In many ways, Prey is quite similar. Substitute dinosaurs for nanomachines, and you've got a storyline that is very close to that of Jurassic Park . That's okay, Jurassic Park was a very strong and interesting book. Crichton is very good at presenting complex theoretical science in a way that is both understandable (in a very rough form) as well as believable. While we may not be close to being able to achieve the science in Crichton's novels, he makes us believe that perhaps it is possible, at least for the length of a novel. In that, he is a very successful writer. The basic story is that nano-machines are possible and after years of the theory being discussed, one company has actually created them. As each individual nano-machine is smaller than dust, they are designed to travel through veins and transmit images of what they see. Jack is the narrator, he is unemployed having been fired from his software job for whistle-blowing (a co-worker was selling company secrets, but the boss was in on it). Jack's wife works for the company making the nano-machines. He suspects that she is cheating on him. A swarm of nano-machines has gotten free from the laboratory and is potentially a danger. Strange things are beginning to happen at Jack's house. A very interesting and well told story. It is fast paced and I didn't want to put the book down. Recommended.
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