Prey

Rating:
Summary: How fast can evolution work?
Review: The decline of respect for science and nature studies in the United States owes much to Michael Crichton. In books such as Andromeda Strain and Jurrasic Park, he portrays Nature as a capricious force, needing only a thoughtless step or touch of greed to launch a cascade of uncontrollable events. This book takes the theme a large step forward by using nanotechnolgy to present yet another threat to humanity.

Jack Forman, unemployed programmer, is a forty-year-old househusband to a wife successful in a new high-tech company. Xymos, inevitably under military contract, is developing a reconnaissance technology using networking nanobots. They've been programmed with predator algorithms to focus on "goals" to achieve their purpose. Also inevitably, they elude control, escaping into the Nevada desert. Their predation skills net them coyotes, rabbits and rattlesnakes - and certain microchips. In the final inevitability, their ultimate prey is humans. Jack, who understands their programming best, is called in as a consultant to show the rest of the research team how to restore control.

From this point Crichton's narrative unfolds like a film script [which, of course, is the intent]. There are deaths, the nanobots, following a contrived Darwinian ideal, evolve well beyond the intent of their original instructions. They develop new skills at a stupendous rate, each step forward presenting a greater threat to Jack and his colleagues. Jack's wife, Julia, arrives at the Nevada site, ostensibly in support. Changes in her recent behaviour suggest, inevitably, she's having an affair with one of the team. What appears to be illicit romance, however, proves something more sinister. Inevitably, Jack is almost alone in his role as combative consultant.

Crichton is always as up-to-date with technology as the literature allows. His extensive bibliography demonstrates his research to anyone's satisfaction. That he can take it a step further only demonstrates his imaginative skills. In line with many of his recent books, his research has left him with little energy for a developed plot. His characters are thin and events predictable. It's a "page turner" to find out What Happens Next, but there's little doubt over the ultimate outcome. Yet, as with most of his works, the conclusion is vague. The reader is intentionally left unsatisfied. This is as much a contribution to the vague disquiet over science and nature among his readers as the topic of the story. While this might be viewed as a call for more and better research, Crichton makes it clear that he considers all science suspect. That's an unfortunate attitude. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

Rating:
Summary: A Programmers Perspective
Review: I'm a programmer so this book peaked my interest and I just had to read it. Not many books have a programmer as their hero. Crichton uses a lot of programmer stereotypes which was kind of funny for someone who knows better. I'm assuming you've already read what the book is about so I'll give you my impression of it.

This book was pretty well written and excellently researched, as you would expect from Crichton. The characters are well developed and have some depth and history. It's a fast read and exciting throughout (unlike the life of a programmer). Like all his books it reads like a movie script, nicely separated into distinct scenes. He spends a lot of time explaining technology but does it in an understandable way. It definitely helps if you know something about computers though.

Near the end of the book things start to get a little unbelievable, but you just have to remind yourself that it is fiction. I thought the speed at which the artificial life evolves was unrealistic, but then I started doing some research with genetic algorithms and found that things really do evolve pretty fast on a computer. You can go through hundreds of generations in less than a second. But there has to be some kind of defined goal the evolution is trying to achieve. The kind of evolution that is achived in this book is pure fantasy. So I wouldn't go out and lock myself in an airtight room just yet.

Anyway, I think it will make a good movie in a couple years. Can't wait to see it. It's not one of the best books I've ever read but I give it 4 stars for being above average.

Rating:
Summary: Good book, better if you're interested in nanotechnology.
Review: This is another great Crichton title, this time about nanotechnology gone bad. A nanotechnology company based in the middle of the desert has developed a swarm of small machines that have the potential to kill.

This time he's writing in the first person which, as other reviewers have commented, adds a new dimension to the book and makes the characters more memorable. The character development is very good, and it's a fairly gripping book in which some parts will keep you reading for hours on end.

However, I only rated this a 4-star book because of the huge amount of scientific information that slows down the book. I think he handled it best in Airframe, where he'd balanced the story and scientific information perfectly. Here it seems to slow down the story, but if you're interested in nanotechnology it's a five-star book.

Rating:
Summary: Prey
Review: The very intersting book named "Prey," A man named Jack lives at home because he has no job. His wife Julia, works at a company called Xymos Corporation. He starts to get suspicious of his wife. She is acting different and she come home late and seems to be more uptight. His sister tells him to straight up tell her what he thinks. He doesnt know what to do. So he decides to work for this company of hers! He wants to see what it is like in her laboratory in Arizona. He goes through many hardships seeing this weird large laboratory in the middle of the desert. What could this company be doing all the way out in the desert?He only was there to exterminite it. But it was more diffucult then he thought. Making friends with only Mae. But Ricky, Julia,and Vince were hiding something. He gets a good scare and sees what crazy project this company is trying to accomplish.Was this project realy worth coming to help for. You will have to see it through his eyes to believe it!

Rating:
Summary: Good technological thriller
Review: Jack Forman used to run a program division at MediaTronics, supervising a group of young and talented computer programmers. After Jack' division's source code had been stolen, his boss Don Gross put him in charge of security. But then Jack found out that certain "irregularities" took place at MediaTronics and, advised by his attorney Gary Marder, resigned from his job and became a "househusband". Now he is coping with all the chores at home, looking after his three children.
Jack's wife Julia works for Xymos Technology, developing technology in what the company calls "molecular manufacturing" or nanotechnology. Since she is the vice president, she is not often present at home.
The plot starts picking up when Julia is severely injured in a car accident, the circumstances of which seem rather mysterious. At the same time, Jack is asked by Tim Bergman to take a consulting job with Xymos. But when Jack joins Xymos at an isolated, sate-of-the-art facility in Nevada, he soon discovers that the technology the company is doing research on is far from flawless...
Perfect suspense combined with lots of technology, this is one of Mr Crichton's most entertaining novels.
George Wilson reading "Prey" is a remarkable performance. I highly recommend this audio book.

Rating:
Summary: Nanobots and nanoplots
Review: Well, MC is allowed to write a so-so book every once in awhile - and this is it. If anything, I would normally be accused of going too easy on Crichton, since he's probably my favorite contemporary author. I've read all of his books, including the John Lange and Michael Douglas pseudonym novels, and I saw some uncharacteristic errors in "Prey."

First, "Prey" is written in first person, and I don't particularly enjoy his first person writing (Case of Need, Rising Sun, etc.). It's not just a style preference - it actually stems from Crichton's intrinsic writing style. As any of his readers know, what makes his writing so amazing is his ability to seamlessly integrate in-depth research into fiction. However, the first person perspective naturally limits a writer's freedom to do this, and in Crichton's writing this tends to lead to awkward inner-reflections and cumbersome bursts of dialogue. While "Prey" manages this far better than say, "Rising Sun," it still limits what is arguably the best reason for reading Crichton to begin with.

Second, this is the one novel where I would surrender to his more ardent critics that the "technology" portion of the novel competed with the plot. In past novels the unbelievably deep science has been woven into the story with amazing clarity, and the technology serves the story itself (Jurassic Park, Timeline). In "Prey," however, I found in more than any other novel that Crichton was using a contrived and cookie-cutter plot as a soapbox to enlighten us on scientific ethics, in this case artificial intelligence. The plot is simple and in my opinion jaded - scientist screw up, release something bad into nature, it needs to be contained...I've already read "The Stand" and "Outbreak." While Crichton normally takes the normal and elevates it to the sublime, in this case he didn't. The plot was nothing more than the obvious outcome of a given situation. The science was also much more complicated than in previous works and I would imagine the average reader will be lost throughout much of it, or at least struggling so hard to understand nanotechnology they'll miss the relevance to the story.

Third, the dialogue is off. Thinking back throughout his works, I realized that Crichton hasn't written many teenagers. This book shows us why. There are sections of the teenagers' dialogue that are literally embarrassing to read. Example: "...I'm trying Dad. But he is a majorly turkey (...)." "I am not! Up yours, weasel poop!" No it's not a typo - "a majorly turkey (...)." I don't know if Crichton (or his editor) has actually spoken to a teenager in the last 25 years, but in my experience no kids - nor any other human being I've ever known - actually talk like this. The teen dialogue is utterly unacceptable.

These are the major problems with the novel, and I feel it's at the bottom of Crichton's efforts. If you're a fan it's definitely worth reading, but for me it just didn't have that special thing that all his other novels have.

Rating:
Summary: Boring!
Review: The first half of this book is exteremly boring. Mostly about the main characters marriage. The second half is extremely dumb.

Rating:
Summary: Yet another great book by Michael Crichton!
Review: This writer continually amazes me. I have virtually every one of his books and have never regreted buying a single one. This one is equally fascinating, both as a dramatic tale and as hard science behind the fiction, for nano-bots are most definitely on the way and, yes, they could spell as much trouble as salvation for us humans. Read the book and you'll see. This book, like all other Crichton books, is up there with sci-fi greats like "Stranger in a Strange Land", "2010", "Puppet Masters", "Mona Lisa Overdrive", "Cryptonomicon", "Snow Crash", "Cyber Hunter", and many more.

Rating:
Summary: Not a Believable Story
Review: I have enjoyed quite a number of Michael Crichton's books (such as Jurassic Park, The Lost World, and Timeline) and I have to say that Prey is one of the worst that he has written. Jurassic Park/The Lost World is based on the history of dinosaur and in a way, it is a believable science fiction. Timeline is based on Quantum Machanic and he has done quite a good job in making it as believable as possible. Being an avid science reader myself, I find that his interpretation of Nanotechnology lacking in many ways. The story is full of flaws and at times, I really wonder why hasn't the author done more research on the subject matter before taking on the challenge (He has spent many years in preparation of the Timeline story according to him).

Nevertheless, if you look not too deep into the details of Nanotechnology, it is quite an engaging storyline. Hence, the 2 stars.

Rating:
Summary: Great read!
Review: I've only read one of Crichton's other books (The Andromeda Strain) so I'm not sure how this compares to his overall work, but I really enjoyed this book. I found it to be a good thriller that had enough "creepiness" to have me thinking about it when I went to bed that night. I read this book in 2 days - it is a page turner and keeps you interested.

Some have said that Crichton does more character development in this one, and I have to agree. The main character is really developed and you get a great picture of his mindset and overall point of view.

Great twists and turns, great story and great action. I gave it 4 out of 5 stars (I reserve 5 stars for definite, cannot miss, must-read books that are perfect in almost every way), and wholeheartedly recommend it. I've been on a reading kick lately, and have read TAS by Crichton, Deception Point and Angels and Demons by Dan Brown, and would recommend this one as being as good as, if not slightly better, than these other titles (although all are worth picking up).