Prey

Rating:
Summary: Okay, but not Great
Review: This was a mildly enjoyable read, but certainly not compelling or breathtaking story (as the flap synopsis would have you believe). The plot is contrived, the characters are not well developed, and there are character imponderables not explained. There is suspense and a fast pace, but they are not well molded. And while there is a plot twist towards the end that is interesting, the story ends abruptly, like a steam engine that just runs out of heat. Not what you would expect from someone of Crichton's caliber.

The story revolves around a nanotechnology project in the Nevada desert. A small research firm is working a Department of Defense contract to develop a battlefield intelligence-gathering system based on a cloud of nanocomponents. These would act in concert, forming a composite lens and communications system that would have a high degree of survivability against conventional enemy countermeasures. To complicate things, "The nanoparticles in the cloud had to be endowed with a rudimentary intelligence, so that they could interface with each other to form a flock that wheeled in the air." (pg. 125) The flocking capability would enhance usefulness as well as survivability. Unfortunately emergence theory came into play during testing and development, which led to rapid evolution towards self-awareness and a survival instinct.

Crichton does a reasonable job of explaining the technical basis underlying the plot. He takes us through nanotechnology, artificial distributed intelligence, flocking behavior, and so forth. This is what saves the book. It's worth reading, but really only for the science in it.

Rating:
Summary: What Did You Expect?
Review: Michael Crichton ain't Shakespeare, but he turns out a pretty good techno-thriller. In "Prey", irresponsible scientists develop a swarm of microscopic "nano" robots that gets loose and turns mean. Hijinks follow. It's a quick and exciting read. Just as "Jurassic Park" looked at the darker side of genetic engineering, so does "Prey" introduce us to nano-technology and give us reason to approach it with caution. You could do worse for beach reading than Crichton's latest thriller.

Rating:
Summary: Great science fiction -- bordering on reality
Review: Very quick read. Great plot. Very interesting nanotechnology subject matter...likely just a few years away given recent advancements in the field. If you're into this stuff and like Michael Crichton's style you won't be able to put this down.

Rating:
Summary: Too Quickly Assembled
Review: As usual, Michael Crichton begins with the most fascinating science and ethical questions of our time, and a great idea for story, and churns out a book in poorly written prose. The characters are two dimensional at best, there are some inconsistencies within the plot, and the rhetorical cliches could only be perfect for, you guest it, a B movie script. Once a gain, a brilliant idea degenerates into scenes better suited for action movies than educated readers.

Rating:
Summary: Good ideas but lackluster characters
Review: I always look forward to a new Michael Crichton book, but this one shows, in my opinion, how hard it is to write a compelling novel about nanotechnology. He gave it a good try overall but the characters are not well-developed enough -- even considering that characters don't have to be all that well developed for thrillers and science fiction.

Better to buy something else -- Jurassic Park if you have not read it -- and get Prey from a library.

Rating:
Summary: Strong story, Incomplete idea
Review: Prey is the first fiction book I've read in a while; a welcome change from having to take notes on every page of similarly-themed scientific works. It explores a nanotechnological disaster, with self-replicating machines working as swarms to overwhelm their creators. Crichton, as always, has done his homework on this one, with several pages of references contained in the back of the book.

The overwhelming theme of the book is man's hubris and our headlong rush into technological achievement. I was reminded several times of Jeff Goldblum's character in Jurassic Park saying "Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they never stopped to think if they should." It was difficult to believe the extent the characters went to in protecting their precious achievement, (SPOILER AHEAD) though explained dubiously by the machines invading human bodies and influencing them biologically.(END OF SPOILER)

Many signs point to "emergence" (see the book by Steven Johnson) being an essential thing to understand for this book. In a nutshell, this is the idea that you can predict the actions and responses of individual agents in a system, but not the agents acting together. As Crichton puts it on page 173:

"The results of these interactions could not be programmed. It just emerged, with often surprising outcomes...For the first time, a program could produce results that absolutely could not be predicted by the programmer. These programs behaved more like living organisms than man-made automatons."

The scientists' solution to this unpredictability was to program the agents as predators--whose single desire is to feed. This consistent goal keeps the pack working together.

As the authors admit in the book The Experience Economy, "Those who decried previous economic shifts...failed to stop the progression of economic value to higher-echelon offerings. It happened despite their protestations." The question is not whether machines will reach this level--it is how we can benefit from that.

Crichton stops short of admitting that or any other further possibilities of this technology, but manages to create a good thriller nonetheless. 4 stars for the story, but the philosophy behind it will require more exploration.

Rating:
Summary: Manic New Age Zombies Possessed By Really Tiny Robots!!!
Review: This is a great book. By about page nine or so it will start to get under your skin and itch (bad pun intended), and you won't be able to put it down until you finish it.

Crichton has really put it all together here, a tight well worked plot, a really terrifying threat, and just the right touch of erotically served up evil to really give you the creeps. The Thomas Dolby song "She Blinded Me With Science" will make the perfect opening score for the movie.

Rating:
Summary: Quick and fun read.
Review: As usual, Crichton goes over the top a bit, but that being expected, I wasn't disappointed with this story, it was a quick read and a page turner and basically a good story. The ending had enough of a twist that it wasn't entirely predictable and the characters were interesting enough. It won't come as a surprise to any that read Crichton that the story involves a situation that could never really happen, but is grounded in enough science and theory to challenge the readers imagination.
This story will undoubtedly be turned into a movie, there is an element of horror possible here and if the movie is done right, it could be pretty scary. I recommend this to any that enjoy science fiction/fantasy type quick reading novels that haven't yet tried out the authors work. If you already like his work, this book is not the mistake that the novel Jurassic Park The Lost World is and is not quite as fantastic as the novel Timeline, if you have any interest in the world of nanotechnology it will be thought provoking at the least.

Rating:
Summary: wee bit over the top, but a good movie script nevertheless
Review: Imagine in one week how planet earth could fall victim to swarms of self-reproducing nanorobots. These micro-flying machines are individually dumb, but making use of the "predator prey" algorithms, form highly intelligent swarms that can attack the existance of the human race. The drama is gripping in a classic "who do you trust" scenario. Can Jack trust his wife Julia? Is she having an affair? Is she even his wife anymore? Can Jack trust the other workers at the plant? Can Jack save his family? You sort of know the end from Crichton's introduction, but you don't really know it, which makes for a very interesting book. The last day stretches out and you feel like you are reading the dramatic events in the time it took for them to occur.

This book is an easy read, but filled with unnecessary profanity. Nevertheless, I highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Good Idea for a Short Story
Review: This would have been a nice idea for a short story but there wasn't enough rising action for a 500-page paperback novel. The first 140 pages had good intrigue with the mysterious behavior of the protagonist's wife toward him and their family, but the middle part of the story was stretched way too thin. It became a formula man-versus-monster sci-fi tale with the nano-particles playing the part of the monster created by the evil government defense contractor. The story picks up speed again in the last 100 pages as if Crichton realized that he had enough filler for the 500 pages needed by the publisher and he could get on with completing the story.

Crichton is good with biological and medical details and he's done his homework on cutting edge computer technology, but some of his technical explanations in the fields of electricity, magnetism and physics fall flat for the reader who truly understands these sciences. The literary quality of this novel is standard for modern fiction: one-dimensional characters who get angry and curse each other a lot in the most common type of profanity; this is how the author shows drama. Good drama and intrigue require more complicated character development. If only Michael had used that 360 pages in the middle for something more constructive.

Michael Crichton has paid his dues as a sci-fi writer. He's written many novels, none of them very good except "Jurassic Park" which made him a star. He can now rest on his laurels knowing that anything he grinds out will be a hit and will probably be turned into a screenplay. If you like shallow sci-fi thrillers that you can speed-read any time and anywhere, you will be well-served by this book.