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Prey
by Michael Crichton
by Michael Crichton
Prey (2002) by Michael Crichton.
A surprisingly easy read. Before reading _Prey_,) I don't recall having read *any* of Michael Crichton's books as an adult. I'd seen several movies based on his work (_The Andromeda Strain_, _Jurassic Park_, _Sphere_, and _Timeline_), and I knew Crichton created the TV show _ER,_ which my wife has watched religiously over the years.
At first I was a little daunted by the book's 500-plus pages, but Crichton's prose was so easy to read that I just breezed through the entire novel in less than a weekend. While his technological explanations were a little bit repetitive, they successively built on each other, and weren't as obtrusive as the stereotypical "infodumps" in "old-school" science fiction ("Gosh, Doc, how does that work?" "Well, Jimmy, as you already know, the Universal Transmogrifier can easily rearrange matter at the atomic level, using..." [Contemporary reader slips into coma at this point]).
Like a friend who admits to feeling like he's sold out when he listens to Top 40 radio after being exposed to the Canadian progressive rock group Rush, I had to wrestle with (apparently false) guilt at reading what felt like "sci-fi lite." But Crichton does a good job of showing how his "What if?" projections directly affect his three-dimensional characters. Granted, I could see some of the "foreshadowed" clues from a mile away, but Crichton's painting in wide strokes may explain why his novels adapt so easily to the movie format, which doesn't work effectively as often as you'd think. Crichton also pulls some completely unexpected surprises out of his hat in this story, as well.
I discovered that Crichton's work is listed as "Fiction," rather than "Science Fiction," but hopefully that exposes his stories to a much wider audience, instead of relegating it to what some might call the SF ghetto. Some "hard science" advocates will no doubt find something to nitpick about, but I "suspended my disbelief/And I was entertained" (paraphrased, "Mystic Rhythms," _Power Windows_, Rush).
A lot better than I'd hoped it would be, and a pretty easy read. Let's see what *else* young Mr. Crichton is up to...
(20 Dec 2005)
A surprisingly easy read. Before reading _Prey_,) I don't recall having read *any* of Michael Crichton's books as an adult. I'd seen several movies based on his work (_The Andromeda Strain_, _Jurassic Park_, _Sphere_, and _Timeline_), and I knew Crichton created the TV show _ER,_ which my wife has watched religiously over the years.
At first I was a little daunted by the book's 500-plus pages, but Crichton's prose was so easy to read that I just breezed through the entire novel in less than a weekend. While his technological explanations were a little bit repetitive, they successively built on each other, and weren't as obtrusive as the stereotypical "infodumps" in "old-school" science fiction ("Gosh, Doc, how does that work?" "Well, Jimmy, as you already know, the Universal Transmogrifier can easily rearrange matter at the atomic level, using..." [Contemporary reader slips into coma at this point]).
Like a friend who admits to feeling like he's sold out when he listens to Top 40 radio after being exposed to the Canadian progressive rock group Rush, I had to wrestle with (apparently false) guilt at reading what felt like "sci-fi lite." But Crichton does a good job of showing how his "What if?" projections directly affect his three-dimensional characters. Granted, I could see some of the "foreshadowed" clues from a mile away, but Crichton's painting in wide strokes may explain why his novels adapt so easily to the movie format, which doesn't work effectively as often as you'd think. Crichton also pulls some completely unexpected surprises out of his hat in this story, as well.
I discovered that Crichton's work is listed as "Fiction," rather than "Science Fiction," but hopefully that exposes his stories to a much wider audience, instead of relegating it to what some might call the SF ghetto. Some "hard science" advocates will no doubt find something to nitpick about, but I "suspended my disbelief/And I was entertained" (paraphrased, "Mystic Rhythms," _Power Windows_, Rush).
A lot better than I'd hoped it would be, and a pretty easy read. Let's see what *else* young Mr. Crichton is up to...
(20 Dec 2005)
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