The Andromeda Strain

by Michael Crichton

book data

10,987 ratings, 3.53 average rating, 421 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		15%
4		35%
3		37%
2		10%
1		1%

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published

November 1st 2003 (first published 1969) by Avon

binding

Paperback, 327 pages

characters

Jeremy Stone, Peter Leavitt, Charles Burton, Mark Hall, ...more

setting

The United States

isbn

0060541814 (isbn13: 9780060541811)

description

Some biologists speculate that if we ever make contact with extraterrestrials, those life forms are likely to be--like most life on earth--one-celled ...more

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12/18/08

Richard rated it:

(review of isbn 0440101999)

bookshelves: classic, scifi

Read in January, 1974

This was probably one of the first science fiction books I ever read, and so far the only book by Crichton. My rating is based on my reaction over three decades ago -- I seem to recall there were some parts that felt awkward, like they were written by someone trying to leap across the so-called "generation gap". But my teen self loved the book, so it gets the five stars. I have no idea whether I'd still feel as generous if I were to re-read it, but then I seldom re-read books anyway.
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08/22/07

Russ rated it:

(review of isbn 0345378482)

bookshelves: 2007, novel, thriller

Read in August, 2007

recommends it for: Scientists

This book is all about the tension, not the payoff.

As with most entertainment, this book pulls you in by asking some questions. "What is it?" "How does it work?" "What happened?" While those questions are still being asked, this book is a fairly thrilling read.

If you don't like books that get too technical about things, though, this isn't the book for you. It's full of pages from government documents, computer readouts, and the like. ...more

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01/26/09

Andrew Mueller rated it:

Read in December, 2008

The Andromeda Strain starts fast in a small Arizona town where a mysterious military satellite has crash landed. When a dispatch team is sent to retrieve the satellite, something terribly wrong happens. At the site of the satellite, the dispatch team also sees a horde of dead bodies surrounding the satellite. As the dispatch team contacted a nearby military base to tell the news they are suddenly overcome by a mysterious unknown force, leaving them dead, and the communicator silent. The m...more The Andromeda Strain starts fast in a small Arizona town where a mysterious military satellite has crash landed. When a dispatch team is sent to retrieve the satellite, something terribly wrong happens. At the site of the satellite, the dispatch team also sees a horde of dead bodies surrounding the satellite. As the dispatch team contacted a nearby military base to tell the news they are suddenly overcome by a mysterious unknown force, leaving them dead, and the communicator silent. The military then acts fast, engaging a procedure meant only for this type of emergency. They gather a team of professional scientists together, each with separate unique specialties. This emergency procedure codenamed Wildfire is professionally setup in order to end the potential for an epidemic. After a thorough scan and sampling from the crash site they realize the cause of the deaths was a mutant alien virus. The team then works together to come up with an antidote and a vaccine for this highly contagious, highly dangerous virus. As they do this they encounter several problems which make an epidemic inevitable.
The overall presentation of the book was very good, giving a mixture of well planned events and a creative writing style. Even at the beginning, the suspense was overwhelming. It only takes a few pages to get fully absorbed into the book. The beginning was perfectly created to catch and keep the reader’s attention. After the first chapter the suspense doesn’t end. The fast paced storyline only slows down for a few parts but picks right back up again. However, if science isn’t your thing, then this book isn’t for you. It is packed with real facts to back up the reality of the plotline. Michael Crichton, an ex-physician used a lot of science based theories and terms to describe possible causes for the virus. A lot of medical terms were used as well when describing and classifying the virus. When the reader is first introduced to the virus identification building it starts to over explain some of the technologies and procedures. Some chapters explicitly just explained layers of the facility and why it was that certain way. Though these parts may seem boring, they add to the seriousness of the situation and end up helping the reader’s imagery.
The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton is a classic book displaying the mysteries of the universe. It is another work that shows that the human race might not be as intelligent as they think they are. Michael Crichton is also known for several other great works such as Jurassic Park that display the same type of message. The book shows themes such as organization and persistence which are reflected on constantly throughout the book. The writing style that Crichton shows is more casual than most authors and doesn’t challenge the reader as much as some may hope. The writing however, though casual, displays a great deal of imagery which helps visualize the setting in both the crash site and the project area. During the introduction to the project facility, Michael Crichton uses simplistic images in the book to carry out the full feel of the technological advances used in the building. The characterization that he uses is also excellent. During the virus analysis Crichton really gives the doctors a personality. As they find more and more about the virus they show signs of excitement and self-fulfillment which make them seem life-like. Each scientist is given a specialty that they are to focus on for the project. This separates their qualities so that the author can focus on each scientist’s character traits. As the book progresses the characters become better defined.
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01/12/09

Annette rated it:

liked the beginning, thought the end was unbelievably anticlimatic.

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01/05/09

Branko rated it:

Branko Galonja
Ms. Campanella
English 3H Period 2
8 December 2009
The Andromeda Strain

The genre of this breath-taking and awe-inspiring book is classified as a Science Fiction novel, one with many technological and medicinal terms. I chose this book because I am a huge fan of Michael Crichton and I love Science-Fiction novels. I love the feeling of mystery and fear throughout the books and love to see what the characters do ...more Branko Galonja
Ms. Campanella
English 3H Period 2
8 December 2009
The Andromeda Strain

The genre of this breath-taking and awe-inspiring book is classified as a Science Fiction novel, one with many technological and medicinal terms. I chose this book because I am a huge fan of Michael Crichton and I love Science-Fiction novels. I love the feeling of mystery and fear throughout the books and love to see what the characters do in the situations of peril and disaster. The setting takes place in the small town of Piedmont, Arizona. This was a quiet and peaceful little town before the strange and destructive event took place. It seems that there was a satellite out of orbit and was on a destructive path spiraling towards the earth and unfortunately landed in Piedmont, Arizona. As soon as the satellite hit the small town, all the residents in the area started to decimate away. It was a complete mystery, but as soon as the satellite collided with that town, every single living organism died in that town. An investigation party was sent to search and research the crash site, but before they made any report of what they saw, they died as well. So after that two doctors were sent in to take samples of the specimens on or near the site of the crash just in case if any evidence was seen concerning the deaths of all those people. Stone and Burton were sent in to check the crash and encountered possibly the most horrible organism a man meet. It was absolutely disgusting in its approach and it was barely visible. It was up to these two brave scientists to figure out what caused this tragedy and make sure it does not spread to other areas of the United States. Dr. Stone, Dr. Burton, Dr. Hall, and Dr. Leavitt are definitely the protagonists and the antagonist could be the deadly bacterium. The supporting characters are Officer Wilson, Dr. Robertson and Peter Jackson as well as Arthur Mancek who are all part of the team to solve this mystery.

The Central conflict conflict could be seen as man versus nature because of their epic fight to solve the mystery of The Andromeda Virus and its horrible symptoms. They would like to see how the virus functions and to create an antidote for the disease so just in case if someone catches the infection, they will be able to survive the horrible process. They would also like to contain the virus and be definite that it does not spread past the town of Piedmont, Arizona. The theme of this book could be the significance of teamwork in the face of a catastrophe. Teamwork is extremely needed in the face of a horrible ordeal, because if one tries to take on a complex situation by himself, he will surely fail. But if there are friends and family there to help him through the troubles he has a higher chance of succeeding through the ordeal. The motifs in this book are teamwork and strong will. In this book these motifs are expressed greatly, because if they are not utilized by the scientific team, they surely would have been infected by the virus and would have seen the same fate as the others in the town. They worked together, never giving in to the extremities of the virus, fighting through the pain and eventually defeating the virus. In this book there is quite a few examples of figurative language. For example there is a great deal of similes and metaphors and one or two examples of personification.

The writing style of the author is interpreted in the language of Science and Medicine. This book in general, has a good amount of scientific and medicinal terms. There is a necessity to this kind of language to further interest the reader because it allows him or her to experience what situations a real doctor must endure through. It gives a real feeling of what the body might go through a disease or what the physical appearance of the body might be because of the infection of the disease. But I was in total awe when I was reading the novel. By every flip of the page, I grew more and more interested in the book. The vivid language of Science and medicine really caught my attention and allowed me to express what a real doctor must go through in the face of a dying patient or critically injured patient. I recommend this book to anyone who likes Science-Fiction novels and who likes a good story of natural disaster and mysteries.

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01/13/08

Maddy Toft rated it:

(review of isbn 0440101999)

I think I read this when I was in junior high at my Dad's recommendation. I really liked it and ended up being a fan of Michael Crichton's books for a while. I've probably read most of them. I have to say though, for some reason, this is still my favorite by him. I started feeling like every book he was writing was written so it could be made into a movie. It was almost as if he was constructing shocking, suspenseful action scenes that would make a movie exciting while keeping dialog simpli...more

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07/11/07

Ed G rated it:

Read in January, 1995

recommends it for: Crichton fans, Medical Fiction fans, Mystery fans

All I'm going to say about Crichton is that he has a knack for what I call the "miracle ending". In one summer I read Congo, Jurassic Park, The Andromeda Strain, Terminal Man, The Great Train Robbery and Sphere. I felt the same about each of them when I finished each.

He's a very good writer with captivating storylines, dead on science, compelling plot and in depth characters, but...I feel like he gets tired of writing the same story or can't properly tie things together a...more

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03/18/09

James rated it:

(review of isbn 0345378482)

Read in March, 2009

After hearing about the mini-series based on the book that came out on A&E last year, I figured I should probably read The Andromeda Strain. I’m a fan of some other books by Michael Crichton (ie: Jurassic Park and Next), not to mention ER, so this is worth a shot, right? Not really. The Andromeda Strain is basically all the uninteresting parts of The Stand. You remember that one chapter where they talk about how the disease spread and how devastating it was? Well now imagine that chapter, exp...more

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07/03/07

Amy marked it as to-read

bookshelves: to-read

Read in July, 2007

recommends it for: science-minded folks via 1970

michael crichton tends to be my brain candy when it comes to reading, mostly because his books are fast, formulaic, and somewhat interesting. this being writing back in the 60s isn't exactly contemporary, and a lot of the technology used today makes the book outdated, and not quite as intense as it had been back in the day, but still worthwhile.

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06/02/09

Joann Muszynski rated it:

Read in June, 2009

recommended to Joann by: no one.
recommends it for: anyone who is more non-fiction/scientifically detail inclined.

Unfortunately, I was unable to finish this book, despite my best efforts to pull through it and finish it out. I was almost there. So... Close... But I was defeated by lack of plot and action.

It's a shame. I love Michael Crichton and he is listed as one of my favorite authors. I will say, however, that there is definitely a growth to his writing. With The Andromeda Strain one of his oldest books and having read NEXT, one of his newest, the blend of scientific fact with gripping st...more

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06/03/08

Emily rated it:

I was completely disappointed in the plot of the book. It was boring and uneventful. I wish the strain would have infected millions of people and started a chain reaction of nuclear holocaust that overtakes the world and plagues man kind for the rest of eternity. Now that's exciting!

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10/29/07

Fraemone rated it:

Read in October, 2007

i love crichton, but this was just crap. feels like he strated out writing it, then lost the plot but kept at it anyway... maybe it was better when he first published it in the 60s or 70s, but today, the idea of a superbug just isn't as original any more

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01/03/09

Luke rated it:

Read in January, 2009

This Michael Crichton bacteriological classic is short, but sweet. One of the few thrillers I've read that came with a series of scientific references appended, the tale is something of a scientific whatisit (as opposed to a whodunnit) with the survival of the earth's populous at stake.

As with most of Crichton's work, this book is complete airport fodder, but it's airport fodder that doesn't make you feel like a moron for reading it. The level of research is undoubted, though I suppo...more

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12/29/08

Aaron rated it:

Read in December, 2008

This book definitely delivers on the promise of "a hair-raising experience." Crichton is a master of creating suspense and holding secrets until a good way into the book.

That said, this was not one of my favorites. While the book started favorably enough, it lost its suspense about 200 pages in. While I thoroughly enjoyed the segues into biological studies, they tended to detract from the main story - so much so that once I was 5/6 through the book, I began to think, "...more

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09/27/08

Emily rated it:

Read in January, 1998

This gets one star because I couldn't even finish the book! I hate that, and usually I'm a finisher even when I don't like reading it! The technical jargon got me easily lost, and the characters were boring.

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06/19/08

Emily rated it:

Read in November, 1998

My mom told me this was one of the most thrilling books she had ever read. I think she is easily thrilled. I was bored out of my mind. Had there been some dionsaurs it would have been a whole lot better.

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05/17/09

Erin rated it:

Read in February, 1998

I read this book a few years ago, but I can still remember the plot and the characters. When a book stays with you like that you know it's good! My love of science and mystery as well as reading lead me to the discovery of The Andromeda Strain- in which scientists must figure why an entire town except two died. My only problem with the book was that all the scientists were male. This is a big deal to a young progressive woman such as myself. However, I came to terms with this problem when I...more

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03/31/08

Miccilina Piraino rated it:

As a child, I was fascinated by Outer Space and this caught my interest as a movie and I wanted to read the book. I loved the idea that there was a disease out there that came from outer space!

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05/30/09

Heather Palmer marked it as to-read

bookshelves: to-read

The United States government is given a warning by the pre-eminent biophysicists in the country: current sterilization procedures applied to returning space probes may be inadequate to guarantee uncontaminated re-entry to the atmosphere.

Two years later, seventeen satellites are sent into the outer fringes of space to "collect organisms and dust for study." One of them falls to earth, landing in a desolate area of Arizona.

Twelve miles from the landing site, in ...more

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12/06/08

Allan rated it:

Read in December, 2008

This book pulls you in right from the start. The beginning is sufficiently creepy to belong to a horror story, but it shies away from that path choosing instead to be a very suspenseful scientific thriller.

I could see how some people wouldn't like this book due to the emphasis on scientific detail. I, however, enjoyed that aspect. It is written such that the layman can understand, yet intellectuals can enjoy the details.

The plot does not revolve around the characters as m...more

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