Prey LP

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Summary: Fast paced book where nanotech, biotech, and AI meet
Review: Prey is a novel about the possible consequences of nanotechnology going wrong. Crichton very cleverly describes how nanotechnology, molecular biology and computer technology (AI) will fuse in the nanotech world. He does careful research and the arguments are presented by the protagonist who is a project manager in the nanotech world.

The book describes how one application of nanotech will be based on a Predator-Prey system, which will be modeled upon animals in the real world (like a colony of ants). Such systems may not have a central intelligence (like humans or a company) but instead have collective intelligence based on simple rules. It is a largely a tightly written book, quite well paced and the characters are real. The appendix at the end provides references to seeming interesting material on nanotech - both technical and social from scientists working in the field. Every book I have read written by Crichton has been interesting and I have learned something from it. But then it is just my bias towards someone who is a Dr from Harvard and very well travelled? In any case, I enjoyed it and look forward to the next one!


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Summary: Not Crichton's best effort
Review: After reading most of Crichton's books, it gets hard not to compare the latest effort against the previous books. With such books as 'Jurassic Park', 'The Andromeda Strain', and 'Disclosure' it makes it difficult to always hit a home run.

This book takes on the dangers of dealing with nano-technology. Crichton is such a good writer that he grab the reader and keep them captivated sometimes in spite of the subject. I think that is a great skill and still enjoyed the book.

The story did lose me a little regarding the mass of nanobots and their life like abilities. It is hard to believe some of the books imagery. This may be partly due to the limited knowledge regarding nano-technology.

If you a Crichton fan or some looking for an enjoyable easy read, then this book is good. However, if you're looking for Crichton's next great novel, I didn't think this book stood up with the rest.

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Summary: A peak into our powerful and dangerous future
Review: As part of a broad public discussion, not a specifically scientific one, Michael Crichton reaches into the deep thick darkness of our future with his new book, "Prey," and viscerally pulls out some issues, some potential realities, with his poetry-prose, that are so central to our continued breathing and cognition that we are well advised to ignore the obvious scientific weaknesses of many parts of this book. The issues he brings up include the development of nano and bio technologies, artificial life, and swarm and emergent behavior.
The plot of "Prey" is formulaic in many respects, following closely in the footsteps of books such as "Frankenstein," which was the first real story about artifical intelligence, "2001: A Space Odyssey" and, of course, "Jurassic Park."
In ignoring these varied faults, as we read "Prey," we sit quietly on this beautiful dark night and get a glimpse of the deeper issues that glimmer, simmering, on our nearest horizon.

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Summary: The worst book I've ever read
Review: Do not lose your time in reading this terrible novel.

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Summary: Cerebral action thriller with a serious message
Review: Good as it is, the movie "Terminator" is obviously science fiction. Cyborgs are way beyond today's science, and time travel may be downright impossible. But how close could a writer get to "Terminator" using only technology that is available today, or will be within a few years? The result might well look a lot like "Prey". Crichton draws on his wide knowledge of current scientific developments to paint a terrifying scenario of what could happen, very soon, when greed and commercial ambition dictate cutting a few corners to get to market first.

Take some leading-edge nanotechnology, blend with software agent algorithms, sprinkle on some fairly standard biotech, and optimise for the requirements of the military. To anyone who knows a bit about software, that is a prescription for something you don't want anywhere on the same planet with you - but the protagonist of "Prey" finds himself up close and personal with. Crichton skilfully feeds the reader just enough information to keep the tension building steadily, but holds back a few devastating surprises.

On the downside, as with so many techno-thrillers, the end seems to come rather suddenly, and one or two really intriguing aspects of the plot are never fully explained. That may be the price of writing a novel that depends so heavily on technical riddles: when the action is done, it would be out of place to go on and wind up the lecture. Still, I for one far prefer novels that teach me things I didn't know before.

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Summary: Prey Review
Review: Great book, great stuff about nanotechnology, compelling plot. I liked this even better than his new anti-ecology tome, State of Fear.

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Summary: De ja vu all over again
Review: I used to really like Michael Crichton, he was cutting edge and new. The problem with Prey is that in truth it owes an awful lot to a book that came out two years previous to his called Decipher by Stel Pavlou. Nanoparticles that can mimic humans, eat flesh and become a formidable foe. Sure that book is far more complex and the nano tech is just one part of that book, but it's so obvious to me having read Prey that Crichton read that book and borrowed the bits he liked that Prey has made me lose a tremendous amount of respect for him. Prey on its own is okay for the first half, strange things are happening and the hero doesn't know why, but many of the questions are left unanswered, and perhaps the most annoying thing of all was the lame last minute attempt to wrap everything up with a two page excuse near the end. It made the book very unsatisfying. Disappointed.

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Summary: Two Thumbs Up!!!!!!
Review: Let me tell you, I was so hooked the first 50 or so pages, I couldn't stop reading.

I thought this whole "nanotechnology" business was fascinating...I couldn't get enough of it. As you're reading, you yourself will imagine dozens of horrific ways this sort of stuff can go awry. Thinking back to "Jurassic Park", he does something similar: a cutting-edge, just-in-the future technology that has one obvious but still quite interesting focus (dino-DNA cloning), and then takes you on a rollercoaster that springboards from that initial conceit.

This book has that locomotive start. You learn more and more about these swarms and computing technologies that seem ominous and powerful and mysterious.

Then, and fairly suddenly, the plot devolves into a sub-standard B-movie scenario.

You know, a group of people, isolated, with "something out there."

Ooh...run outside! Quick! Get back inside!

I dunno...I just expected so much more from the way this novel opened...something more disturbing, I guess. It seems that the misuse of what Crichton describes could go so way beyond what is conjured here, this seems slight.

Halfway through you'll think this might make a cool movie. Then you think, well, maybe a TV mini-series or something.

Now I think (hope) this is merely a prequel to something far more sinister and suspenseful.

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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: Shelby Mehans thriller reveiw of Micheal Crichton's PREY
Review: Unexpected great ideas are crammed into this book written by the author of Jurassic Park! For example, a unique strategic airborne camera could be made of nano-technology machines of molecular level, which could be formed by making it a "swarm" in the air. This swarming and unswarming will be made possible by their own free will by autonomous allocation of roles of various camera parts. In war time it is very convenient tool to use because that camera can't be shot down and could be disintegrated into molecule level parts in such cases. It is seemingly an ultimate machine, but it has a fatal weak point of being easily swept away by the wind! The responsible research company can't get the necessary fund raised from sponsors because of this fatality, and begins dangerous wrongdoings... .

Like other Crichton stories, uncontrolled swarms go out of the laboratory and start attacking people as a monster. By the strenuous efforts of mankind, the danger is finally gone. But was it really exterminated? This is the usual Crichton endings! We can expect sequels to this story and movies as well.