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Summary: Seems like Our Molecular Future
Review: The factual counterpart to this book is "Our Molecular Future", that explores the up and downsides of the technologies that underlie Crichton's drama. Read these books together and you'll get a great idea of what may come. On the flip side of Prey are natural phenomena that may be worse, and nanotech that might one day protect us.
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Summary: Tripe
Review: Prey is full of made up techno-babble garbage. It has as much depth as a Star Trek novel, if even that much. If you want a more entertaining and better account of nanotechnology in science fiction, read Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age instead.
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Summary: Nanoparticles run amok.
Review: Michael Crichton, in his latest book "Prey," has returned to his "Andromeda Strain" and "Jurassic Park" roots. The hot topic of the day seems to be nanotechnology, which is also the theme of at least one other recent novel by a popular author. Nanotechnology, for the uninitiated is "the quest to build man-man machinery of extremely small size, on the order of a hundred billionths of a meter." The main character in "Prey" is Jack Forman, an out of work scientist, with expertise in creating computer programs that model biological processes. Jack is now a saintly stay-at-home dad, who takes care of the kids while his wife, Julia, works long hours at a mysterious company called Xymos. Julia and her colleagues are using nanotechnology to generate exciting medical applications. During the rare occasions when she is at home, Julia is tense and argumentative, and Jack suspects that his marriage may be in trouble. Only when Jack is hired as a consultant at Xymos does he discover that Julia and her colleagues are working on something that is top secret and extremely dangerous. For the first half of the book, Crichton does a bang-up job of creating an intriguing and frightening scenario. Since the reader has no idea what is wrong at Xymos, Crichton drops little innuendos and subtle clues to fire up our curiosity. By the time we get to Xymos, and Jack starts to sniff around, we are ready to be shocked by the revelations to come. Although there is gore and fright aplenty to please fans of this genre, Crichton is unable to sustain the excitement and intrigue throughout the novel. The ending is forced and a bit silly. There is no character development whatsover. Crichton's didactic theme is that man must not let his arrogance lead him to overreach, lest he unleash uncontrollable forces. This theme has been done to death, and it is getting a bit stale. However, I still give the book four stars for the dynamite beginning and for the fascinating primer on a technology that is real and absolutely amazing.
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Summary: Could have been better
Review: I have been reading Crichton since I was about 14 years old and have considered him one of my favorite writers of all time. His stories always appeal to me and I never want to put the book done once I start. Prey was no different but there was many things that did alter my judgement of the book. For one the story taking place during the course of a day (more or less)seemed to both enhance the evolution of the nanoparticles as well as giving the audience the feel of a rush. In my opinion I think it was rushed to much and it gave that feeling of unrealistic. The end, as well, in my opinion, without giving too much details, was horribly rushed and could have been written for a little bit more suspense. Also the added extras that made no sense...the continual noting of the sprinklers, car crash (essential to a degree but could have been done differently), etc, could have been used to, again, enhance the suspense of the reading. Overall the book was good, I would suggest it but not Crichton's best.
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Summary: "Prey"ing for another installment
Review: Michael Crichton has the rare intellect and ability to synthesize the most daunting scientific postulates and theories into a language that is easy to grasp for those for whom microscopic technology is an endless enigma. His new novel "Prey"is a frightening, horrific venture into the potentially destructive manifestations when molecular engineering detours off a contolled course. The main protagonist, Jack Forman has been laid off from a prestigous programming position in Silicon Valley and has been relegated toa "Mr Mom" role while his wife, Julia is vice president of a corporation involed in the manufacturing and harvesting of molecular particles which could revolutionize architectural structures and even delicate medical procedures with more innovative instruments. Problems arise when particles amalgamate into swarms and develop the capacity to become not only self sustaining and predatory. Jack has the ability to halt the scourge of these rabid, destructive particles before the repercussions are epidemic and disastrous for humanity on the whole. "Prey" is riveting in its impact and a cautionary tale which if not heeded ould lead to a holocaust generated by mans tampering with microscopic components that they do not understand fully. "Prey" really dramatizes the Walt Kelly quotation from Pogo "We have met the enemy and they is us" For in this novel, man has definitely sown the seed for its unintentional obliteration.
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Summary: Chrichton does it again
Review: Prey, the newest thriller by Michael Chrichton has everything we've come to expect in a Chrichton novel. Mad scientists, high technology, and wonderful writing. The one fear people may have with Chrichton is that he may fall into the old formula trap of writing the same book with slightly different settings. Thankfully his fans have nothign to worry about. Chritchton keeps his books diverse enough and suspensful enough that he avoides any hint of falling into formula. With books like Prey, fans of Chrichton can rest assured they have a long time.
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Summary: A rare misfire from my favorite author
Review: I'm a big MC fan and have greatly enjoyed all of his previous books with the exception of Terminal Man & now, Prey.
The problem with his latest is that it is a bit close to the now typical MC scenario. We know the protagonist isn't going to die because MC chose to write the book in first person. When the hero describes the players in the scenario, we as readers literally pick who is going to suffer the book's titular fate and who is not. (For the record, I was right about the victims!) We then turn pages to see how close we were to our predictions and also to see how gruesome their particular fates are going to be.
This is normally escapist fun but this book is a shade too melodramatic and formulaic to reach that level. Also, while resurrecting dinosaurs on a large scale & traveling to another dimension/time is obviously not plausible, MC truly made it seem like these advances in technology were right around the corner. The technology here - nanobots "breeding" and turning slightly malevolent in their choice of sustenance while the protagonist happens to be the only person able to stop them - is just too far away to make it seem like this is possible; this book is a shade too clearly on the science fiction portion of the literary spectrum. The final fate of some of the book's characters is pretty far out there.
I will say that I shivered and got itchy while reading the book & that I had to read it in one sitting just to see where it was going. I also enjoyed one portion that seemed nearly lifted from 'Aliens'. However, this is the 'Star Trek 3' of MC's oeuvre - wait for the paperback and its sure-to-be-lurid cover if you simply must read it.
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Summary: An immensely exciting, worthy novel
Review: Although he will never win the Nobel Prize for literature, Michael Crichton is, to my mind, the only readable mainstream writer. That he also happens to be one of the most successful - and richest - does not in any way cheapen that. His writings, from the start, have been highly technical, and certainly a lot more meaty than the standard bestseller fare. The fact that he has such an exceptional history in sales owes more to his ideas (bringing back dinosaurs, anyone?) than to his actual writing style or crossover potential. Crichton has long had a knack for taking hot contemporary issues (American-Japanese relations, sexual harrassment, airplane problems) and turning them into interesting, learned, and highly readable novels. He continues this trend with his newest book, Prey. Of course, Crichton does enjoy his mainstream success while juggling complex material for a reason: his books are inevitably fun, fast-paced and exciting, and highly suspenseful. He writes in such a way that his books are almost impossible to put down (I read the great majority of this book in one marathon early morning session - staying up until 7:30 in the morning - because I absolutely could not pry my fingers away from the book.) Crichton tackles a new - and emerging, though not exactly prescient - subject in this novel: nanotechnology. While this is not as exciting or appealing to the average Joe as dinosaurs, it has the Janus-esque virtue of being appealing to the tech nerds who read Crichton's books - and is also written in such an exciting and invigorating way that the normal, everyday reader won't care. Narrarated in the first-person, this book starts out slowly, as Crichton novels tend to, as we see life through the eyes of an ex-computer programmer - now an unemployed stay-at-home dad. One must admire Crichton for taking risks in his books: despite his well-earned reputation and instant commercial potential, he still tackles complex and controversial issues such as gender roles in domestic situations. The protagonist of Prey takes care of the kids, cooks, and shops while his wife works late hours, is consistently late, and sometimes never shows up at all. Eventually, he begins to think she is having an affair - all of which adds up to an interesting subplot for the book. The book is somewhat oddly paced, as it starts out slowly and then, very suddenly and without warning, drops right into the main action part of the book - which goes on almost non-stop for roughly three fourths of the novel (not to mention Crichton's frequent technical discussions.) Still, this is a book that I think everyone can enjoy, as it is written very appealingly, while also incorporating some very provocative and interesting concepts. It may be easy, in light of the long and storied history of literature, to dismiss Crichton as a mere template writer (his actual prose has never been anything to write home about), but I think that, in today's almost totally stagnant literary climate, he serves a useful function: introducing complex, technical subjects to the masses. There hasn't really been a writer who has done that consistently since H.G. Wells. We should be thankful for him. Prey is an immensely exciting and quite worthy novel, a distinct improvement over his last book, Timeline, that all fans of Crichton, and all of today's readers, would be rewarded by picking up.
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Summary: A Very Impressive Read
Review: I read this book over two days. It's definitely a page-turner in the same league as The Andromeda Strain or Jurassic Park. But best of all, it gets down to the science of "science fiction" in ways I think some of his other novels (Disclosure, The Lost World) seem to have neglected. While it's not "hard science fiction" (e.g., the sample computer code in the novel doesn't even make an attempt at looking like a recognizable programming language), it has enough scientific detail to keep the SF fan interested. The characters are also surprisingly well-thought-out, especially for a Crichton novel (where the characters are normally not nearly as important as the concepts). All in all, I would recommend this book to SF fans who were interested in a good read, or any reader who is interested in being introduced to Crichton's writing.
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Summary: This is an awesome novel!
Review: Jack Forman didn't think it could happen to him, he was a leader in the programming field, with a team of young programmers at the hottest company in the field, but to his surprise he was let go, given no choice by the company bigwigs who used Jack as the fall-guy in the shady dealings that were going on. Now, a house-husband, Jack is getting the kids ready for school, taking his son to soccer practice, and getting their meals ready while his wife Julia is working for Xymos, a leader in the technology field. Things are okay for awhile, but slowly Julia starts to change...her moods change fast and furiously, and she gets home from work later and later, until an accident sends Jack on a mission to uncover the truth about his wife, and the company she works for. Taking a job for Xymos, Jack begins probing fellow employees for information on the company, but nothing could prepare him for what he finds at the lab in Nevada, a lab where a techno/bio experiment has gone horribly wrong. Jack and a group of researchers become trapped in the lab by an unidentified force, a force driven by the lust for flesh, a swarm-like force known as PredPrey. As the swarm keeps the group captive, Jack and his workers find out the swarm is of the utmost intelligence, and it was man-made. Xymos is the behind this creation, and Jack's wife Julia may be a key player in this nightmare. Jack and his workers must do battle in a war where the swarm must be destroyed, or mankind as we know it will never be the same. 'Prey' is an awesome thriller; fast-paced, expertly written, with a nightmare plot ripped from today's headlines. From page one you are held captive as the plot twists and turns, never exposing too much, until halfway through where all the secrets start coming together. The book keeps picking up speed to the exciting, surprising climax. What can be said about Michael Crichton...the man is a genius, he takes a what if plot and makes it totally believable. As in his other novels, Mr. Crichton keeps the reader stunned with every turn of the page. This is DEFINITE MUST READ NOVEL! Nick Gonnella
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