The Andromeda Strain (Andromeda, #1) in Crazy Challenge Connection

Apr 10, 2022 Keli rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 3-5-stars, ru2022, thriller

Synopsis- Five prominent biophysicists have set up the Wildfire Project, to investigate the frightening possibilities of a biological emergency. They send an urgent warning to the President of the United States, that sterilisation procedures for returning space probes may not be adequate to guarantee uncontaminated re-entry to the atmosphere.

Two years later, Project Scoop sends seventeen satellites into the fringes of outerspace to 'collect organisms and dust for study'. But the real aim of the Synopsis- Five prominent biophysicists have set up the Wildfire Project, to investigate the frightening possibilities of a biological emergency. They send an urgent warning to the President of the United States, that sterilisation procedures for returning space probes may not be adequate to guarantee uncontaminated re-entry to the atmosphere.

Two years later, Project Scoop sends seventeen satellites into the fringes of outerspace to 'collect organisms and dust for study'. But the real aim of the mission is kept secret - they have been sent to discover new biological weapons of war.

Then in the middle of the night, one of the probe satellites from Project Scoop crashes onto the tiny town of Piedmont, in northeastern Arizona. Soon after, all but two of the inhabitants are found dead from a strange disease that dried the very blood in their veins and caused death in minutes...
The Andromeda Strain.

Time is running out for the scientists...they must discover the biological link between the two survivors and trace what is causing the horrifying virus. For they know it is only a matter of time before it will spread through their country, killing millions, and only they have the knowledge to stop it from doing so...

Review- So this is a weird one. Most of the book, about 80% is a proper science fiction story. It has technical jargon, excellent descriptions of high security areas, details of protocols, reasonings given for team selection, etc., all the essentials of a sci-fi. At least, the initial tone felt like a hard sci-fi novel. Then the last bit, the climax, became something very different. I felt transported to a Tom Cruise film for the ending. Throughout it was dotted with these more action thriller moments, but it was only really the end where our protagonist had to run a deadly gauntlet against the clock that it felt silly.

Now I am writing this several months after having read it, so my numbers and recall on specifics might be off, but this is my overall impression and I think it's pretty accurate. I liked it but I didn't love it. I am glad I finally read it. I remember seeing it in the bookshelves when growing up. I'd always intended to read it, but it took me 30 years and a move across an ocean to get it done. I would recommend it to others but it's not Crichton's best.

Rating - Three action packed sci-fi stars. ⭐⭐⭐

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Devoured the book, couldn't put it down.
⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Really liked it, consumed within days
⭐⭐⭐ - Enjoyed a fair bit, better than average
⭐⭐ - Meh
⭐ - Absolute drivel ...more

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Nov 19, 2022 Chelsey rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: 2-star-books, read-in-2022, bad-ending

2 Stars

This was a solid 3 / 3.5 stars until the ending. What a cop out.

I will say I do like Crichton's writing style; he writes dialogue and inner thoughts very well and I like the way he structured the book. I also appreciate his way of explaining scientific terms and figures. While he does use A LOT of scientific language, examples, and data, he does a really good job of explaining it in an easy to understand way afterwards. The story itself was really interesting and I was so curious to se ...more

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Nov 08, 2019 (Mellifluous Grant) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: series-read, scifi-fantasy, michael-crichton

This book had me in its tightening grip for dang near the whole ride. But dammit he lost me in those last 5 pages!! The Andromeda Evolution had best have some dang answers, and frankly I have this fear that Andromeda Evolution is going to be lacking in all the things I loved about Strain, mainly the science. So damn, yes I feel gypped by the impromptu ending, but damn I also loved every other page...

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