Rating: 
Summary: Tense, horrifying, amazing
Review: I read this book in only four hours. It is one of the most tense and horrifying techno-thrillers that I've read yet. Put down whatever book you are reading and pick this one up. You won't be able to stop yourself!
Rating: 
Summary: His fastest Yet
Review: I read the book over a matter of two days. It is a very interesting and fast read. I've always been a huge fan of crichton and had eagerly awaited the release of his latest. I was also eager once I heard the film rights had already been purchased.
Now to the novel. Amazingly fast. The story jumps into gear and doesnt stop. It seems to be a mystery novel at first then switches gears and heads into the sci fi adventure style of crichton. Its written in first person and to me that is the only thing I didnt like. But that is just my personal oppinion, Iwould have loved the story had it had multiple points of view. It would have been nice to get to know the other charachters. Though seeing though the eyes of JAck was interesting also. but he created a great slew of charachters alongside him, why not use them. to me it kind of downplays the suspense...usually always the story teller survives.
As for the story and suspense, great.I was drawn in..felt like I was part of it. The swarms are terrifying..and I wish there had been more about their creation. The pace was very very fast...
The end even seemed to happen too quickly but was satisfying. Unlike his other books I think that this may make the best movie as there seems to be less to translate.
All in all it isnt my favorite of his work. It didnt explain the technology as well as TIMELINE nor have the charachterization elements of SPHERE but was still very suspensefull and the pace was the fastest of all his books. Though this review, on a second reading, seems unsatisfied partly. I did enjoy the book and I will be reading it again. And believe me Im already eagerly awaiting his next release.
Rating:
Summary: Great, as always.
Review: I bought this book at around 6:00pm and finished it at 12:30pm. I COULD NOT put it down. Crichton is in fine form as always, and makes a number of difficult fields (nanotech, intellegent computer systems) very accesable. Impress your friends by talking intellegently about convergent technologies! Plus I'm afraid to turn off the lights for fear of...
Rating:
Summary: Science and Chaos, Together Again
Review: OK, so I just bought the book today and I haven't finished yet. I'm only 150 pages into it. But I couldn't pass up the chance to be the FIRST person on Amazon[.com] to review it. I've never been first! OK, I've never left a review before either. But I am a huge Crichton fan. The man is brilliance personified. As always, Crichton is on top of his game as a master of cutting-edge techno-suspense. He knows his subject matter and knows it well. It's hard to tell where the facts end and where the fiction begins. He blends reality with fantasy so seamlessly, it just sucks you in. Unlike other Crichton novels, it is written first-person. However, despite this departure from the usual third-person format, Crichton's suspense-driven style remains completely intact. He drops just enough hints and twists to keep you guessing and turning the pages. Written from the perspective of an experienced software engineer, Crichton throws enough computer science jargon in the book to stimulate the mind of a programmer, such as myself. Like I said, the man is smart and knows his subject matter. Good book, thus far. And I've never read a Crichton book that has disappointed me when I've finished... I'll finish reading it, and if by some miracle the ending really [is bad], I'll be back to revoke this review. "Obey me, I Am Root"
Rating:
Summary: Among Crichton's Best
Review: Just as "Jurassic Park" was a cautionary tale for the dangers of tampering with the genetic code, so to is "Prey" a warning. This time, Michael Crichton has chosen to explore the potential and hazards of nanotechnology; the fashioning of robots at the molecular level. The power of these machines is that they are small enough to go anywhere, and their capabilities are limited only by human creativity. However, since they are so small, they need to be able to apply adaptive learning in order to accomplish their assigned tasks, and that's where the trouble starts. The novel begins with Jack Forman, stay at home dad, and long time, but currently unemployed software engineer, shopping for placemats. This touch of normalcy sets up an environment where Crichton can rapidly ratchet up the tension, as an all-American home life turns distinctly scary. Moreover, Crichton has written the book in the first person, so the reader really has the opportunity to roam around Jack's head. As a result, Jack may be the best character Crichton has written to date. His emotions leap off the page, and his thought processes allow Crichton to seamlessly integrate necessary expository elements into the flow of the novel. Of course, Jack doesn't remain the house-husband for long. It turns out that there are problems at Xymos Corporation, where his wife is a vice-president. It seems that they've lost control of some of the nano-particle swarms that they were working on, and they need Jack to help bring them back into the fold. As it turns out, Jack wrote an early version of the software (which is based upon predator-prey relationships) that is being used as the brains behind the swarm. As an added level of intrigue, Jack suspects that his wife is having an affair with one of the people at Xymos' fabrication plant. I don't want to say much more for fear of ruining the plot, but as one would expect, the situation quickly spirals out of control in typical Crichton-esque fashion. Specifically, I think I can say without giving anything away, that he does a superb job of imbuing what are essential machines with an incredible sense of malice. Anyone who thinks that tiny machines acting in groups aren't scary will quickly have their minds changed by this novel. As with all of Crichton's best work "Prey" leaves you not only entertained, but feeling like you learned something as well. At the same time, unlike "Jurassic Park" and "Timeline" which employed technically possible, but functionally questionable technology, nanotechnology is on its way, and is already here to a degree. Already there are microchip sized laboratories that can perform dozens of experiments on a single drop of blood, and there are exotic materials custom built for specific functions from the molecular level. It is entirely likely, even probable, that within ten or twenty years, we will see some crude version of the technology that plays the central role in the novel. As a result, Crichton writes with a sense of urgency that makes this a thriller you don't want to put down. This is definitely one of his best novels to date: an incredibly exciting story filled with cutting edge, but easily understood, technology. A must read! Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Serve my nanobots with saccharine, please ....
Review: Mr. Crichton has developed a habit of taking current technologic challenges and submitting them to flights of fancy. Such is the case with his latest novel. Here is the thesis: increasingly complex systems become increasingly uncontrolable, and at some point may develop behaviors beyond those intended or anticipated by the designers. In a sense these behaviors may mimic evolution, at some point the creatures imitating if not in fact becoming sentient creatures. Of course these creatures would not be worth a novel if they didn't do Really Bad Things, and couldn't be contained or controlled in a conventional way. The creatures in this case are microscopic machines manufactured (bred?) to act as collectively as a camera, that take on the characterists of a predatory algorithm conveniently built into its programming by its designers. They attack things, multiply, threaten to take over the earth; well, you get the idea. The subplot concerns the marital relationship between an unemployed programmer who just happened to design the algorithm, and his wife, who just happens to be an executive in the company who inadvisedly included his algorithm into the microbots. Did she cheat on him or not? Does the world end? What unswered questions will we have at the last page? Sticky sweet melodrama to be sure, but worth an afternoon to read. The thought came to me as I read another of Mr. Crichton's books (Airframe) that he had written it with the movie rights in mind. No deep character development, thank you, and evenly paced, if not contrived, action. The same happened as I read this book. Now that is not necessarily a bad thing. If you want a little more meat with your starch, maybe try Stephen King. A lot more energy could have been given to what the principals felt and though along the whole way. Narrated by a man who on the one hand is troubled by his wife's (possibly unfaithful) behavior, and on the other by the technology he spawned that threatens mankind, I would have liked a better image of what made him tick, and a little less stereotype. Being part geek by nature I didn't mind all the techno stuff, but it may be off-putting to some. These reservations aside, Prey is worth the time to read it, or as in this case, to hear while on the way to work. Keep your literary expecations in check, though, and try not to lose any sleep over the thought that there may be nanobots in your soup.
Rating:
Summary: Another Crichton Thriller
Review: I like his books b/c they combine cutting edge techno-concepts into a thriller you can't put dowm. This is another great example of the same.
Rating:
Summary: A High Tech Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Review: Crichton does an excellent job of writing a heart-pounding high tech thriller! This is a story of nano-technology gone out of control. Those familiar with Ben Bova's tales (Venus, The Asteroid War series, etc.) would know the concept of nano or microscopic computer technology going in. In both cases the potential is there for both good results and total disaster. It is scary because science is probably trying very hard to perfect this technology and the way things seem to be designed today; the odds are greater for disaster than good. In this novel, a man (Jack) out of work has to take care of his kids until he can find a new job while his wife starts putting in incredibly long hours. His wife starts acting very strange (like a Stepford Wife), being very standoffish with her family and acting very "weird" around them. She starts beating her baby when he starts crying and is constantly snapping at her kids. She starts looking "younger" and leaner especially in the face. Jack starts suspecting that she may be having an affair and when he discusses her behavior with a few people they tell him it is typical behavior of someone who is. Jack seems to not want to face that possibility or maybe senses something else linked to the job. Weird things start to happen like a mysterious black line that seems to engulf his wife and then disappear and then Jack sees what appears to be a young man in his wife's car with her who seems to vanish mysteriously. Other strange things occur like Jack's baby gets a mysterious rash that engulfs his body. Jack rushes him to the emergency room and the doctors are perplexed as the baby gets worse and worse. Finally, they call for an MRI. When the baby is put in there the MRI gets damaged and the baby is mysteriously better. The doctors mentioned that the MRI has a strong magnetic field so the reader immediately suspects that the magnetism of the MRI destroyed whatever was harming the baby. Being in the computer field, I know that magnets destroy computer components, so you can kind of guess what was affecting the baby. When Jack's wife is injured in a car crash, Jack is asked to go back to work (at the same company she was at) and go to where his wife was working to solve a computer programming problem that is threatening to wreck a major project involving nano-technology the company is working on. Jack goes to the facility in the desert to try to help. When he gets there he finds that some of the people working there, like his wife, are acting very strange. For some reason Jack never suspects the truth about them even when he sees evidence of duplicates of some of the people being made. Crichton has written a riveting tale that I highly recommend. The only drawback for me was that the first two pages of the book take place at the end of the story so you know that Jack and his co-worker (Mae) will survive throughout most of the "inescapable" perils of the book. This took away some of the suspense of those scenes.
Rating: 
Summary: The worst book I've ever read
Review: Do not lose your time in reading this terrible novel.
Rating:
Summary: A must for every SW architect
Review: This book presents a possible usage for artiicial inteligence, nanotechnology and nanobiology to create artificial organisms.
The idea is so simple that one has to ask himself:
Is it really science fiction or maybe it is already here?
I highly recommend it for reading for laymans as well.
| 
