Rating: 
Summary: one of crichton's best
Review: i read sphere solely because my cousin recommended it to me and knowing that she is not really a science fiction/fantasy/thriller type of person, i think that this must be one hell of a good book to be able to pique her interest. it was and i still think that this is one of his best books yet and i like the way the story weaves around. at the beginning of the story, everybody was psyched by what they assume to be a UFO lying on the bottom of the pacific ocean. i find that crichton managed to convey the atmosphere of the underwater mission very well; it's obvious that he put a lot of effort in researching about it because i still feel that the story is still relevant even after a decade or so. the characters are not that straight forward because one can see and sense their human flaws and that makes them believable. i especially like the character harry, who as a former child prodigy he is totally believable; he's cynical, he's aloof and yet there's an undercurrent of fear that he is inadequate in many ways. i find that the facade that he put up reflects the insecurity that he feels. norman is a nice contrast, of course being a shrink he is able to face most of his fear rationally...well, most of the times anyway... and that is interesting to see. and i admire harry's forwardness in seeing through all the bluster that colonel(?) barnes affects. it is hilarious in a way because it is so unexpected. on the whole, and the ending being what it is,the story is a polished work of art from the man who has captured our interest in jurassic park.
Rating:
Summary: want to see the world through alien eyes?
Review: then you better read this book. a modern novel that has a chance of standing the test of time to rest on a shelf right along with classics by tolstoy, melville and doestosky -- no kidding. chricton does a brilliant job of getting us to understand that there are numerous ways to view any situation and that no perspective is necessarily the correct way -- they're all just different and dependent on the viewer. through the clever use of a crashed alien ship at the bottom of the ocean a group of scientists, psychologists and others encounter an alien presence that forces them to confront their own biases in a most direct way. a book that tunnels into our psyches and leaves us forever changed.the movie wasnt nearly as good as the book and that was to be expected since so much of this sci-fi thriller is dependend on dialogue and imagination.
Rating:
Summary: Don't see the movie
Review: Sphere is indescribable. I just finished the book and I appreciate Crichton's advanced, creative and imaginative thinking. However, unlike Timeline, the ending left me wanting an answer. Being a writer myself, I always know the part that a writer just assumes the reader will discover after some thought. Yet, the novel seems to want to stay ambiguious; you're mind is always searching for a concrete answer. Crichton refuses to give you one. Sphere transcends a "sci-fi thriller" that "keeps you in suspense". It, unlike most else, makes you think. It also confuses the hell out of you, but (to quote my favorite Gladiator) "Are you not entertained?" People forget that Crichton isn't writing to answer long asked theological questions; he's writing to make you think and to entertain. After all those vanishing pages, I would answer a definitive yes.
Rating: 
Summary: Steer clear of Sphere
Review: This book was almost as ridiculous as Disclosure. I usually like Michael Crichton, except when he goes off on his misogynistic tirades about power-hungry women. He should just skip the pop psychology and stick to do what he does best - building suspenseful stories around scientific puzzles. Read Timeline or Jurassic Park for a good Michael Crichton thriller...
Rating: 
Summary: GENIE IN THE SPHERE
Review: The SPHERE's best recommendation is that it is still being read and reviewed 14 years after publication....here goes: Is it an accident that the author began his story with 10 characters, then whittled them down to the mandatory three? This ten-little-Indian story was so obviously "well made" that I saw it coming from the first death. The deaths got so frequent that when the main caretaker, Captain Barnes, disappeared the author never even bothered to explain the cause of death. He was just gone. Did anyone care? I know I didn't. What hurt the tale is that the demise of these poor seven buggers added an extra hundred pages . I gave my stars for Crichton's grapple with the unknown -- the powers conveyed to his three heroes when they dared to enter the sphere. The sphere was a new version of the genie in the bottle. Instead of rubbing three times one just visualized the door opening. The power of the mind to "manifest" material creatures out of the quantum foam is fascinating. The author's explanation that such power lies hidden within all of us leaves much to be added. The screwy ending of using the genie wish to forget everything that happened, also erasing the tapes, kinda' made the whole story irrelevant both to the story characters and to me, one reader. A cop out--big time. This is a modern fairy tale dressed in scientific garb. Nice try, but no cigar!
Rating:
Summary: Sphere
Review: I never liked science fiction until I read Michael Crichton's, Sphere. He did a great job. It was so life like you could almost believe the story really happened. I couldn't put it down. It's an excellent book. I can't wait to see the movie even though the book is always better.
Rating:
Summary: CRICHTON'S BEST YET
Review: I read this book this summer and I think it is his best to this day. A team of scientists set out to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean to examine a spaceship that crashed to the bottom three hundred years ago. There is the calm and wise Norman Johnson, the attractive and determined Beth Halperin, the brilliant and befuddling Harry Adams, and the smart yet annoying Ted Fielding, all under the command of Harold Barnes, a Captain in the U.S. Navy. They quickly gain access and discover the ship operational, and they discover a metallic sphere. But when they are cut off in a storm, they must discover the power of the sphere and confront its great powers. lest everyone get killed. I was genuinely sad when it ended. This book is Crichton's best and it is the best I have ever read, and I have read a lot of books. If you are looking for a white-knuckle ride to terror on the bottom of the ocean, this book is your ticket, and this review is your boarding call. Buy it today, because I guarantee you, you will want to re-read this one. Even if you aren't a fan of Crichton, pick this book up today and start reading. You won't be sorry.
Rating:
Summary: A truly imaginative book
Review: What is the sphere? The key to all your dreams, and all your nightmares. It's the one thing that manifests your dreams, your desires, your fears. Michael Crichton builds this tale of deciet, lies, and control with incredible skill and fluidity. A great book, but I didn't like the movie. If you like Crichton's work, READ THIS!
Rating:
Summary: 5 Star book
Review: If you're into space, excitement, and unbelievable things, you'll love Sphere by Michael Crichton. It has amazing ideas in it that will blow your mind away. Sphere has amazing mathematics that you will defineitely understand. It has great vocabulary, and descibes every moment so that you feel you're right there in the ocean with them. Sphere is about a trip one thousand feet down below the South Pacific Ocean. Why? Because there is a a three hundred year old spaceship resting on the ocean floor. A team of scientists are sent down to investigate on Navy orders. This spaceship is a mile long and is undamaged from the crash in the ocean. What the team finds is beyond their imaginations. Things that haven't even been invented yet! But the spaceship is three hundred years old! Inside the spaceship there is a grooved, metallic shere. The sphere is thirty feet in diameteer. It's not all metal, there's something inside it. Then all of a sudden, the computer inside their habitat starts giving many sets of numbers at different times. Harry (the mathematician and logician) and Ted (the astrophysicist and planetary geologist) start trying to figure the pattern out immediately. Finally, Harry finds it. By finding it, they can communicate with and alien that is probably either inside the sphere or inside the spaceship. The alien's name is Jerry. Norman (the psychologist) finds that Jerry is not only powerful, but also emotional. So what happens if Jerry gets mad? While Ted, Harry, Beth, Norman, and Barnes (the captain) are there, Edmunds (the camerawoman)dies because of some kind of poisonous jellyfish. In her place, Levy (the cook) has to do Edmund's job. She takes the tapes to the submarine, and dies on the way back. Does this have anything to do with the sphere? Maybe Jerry? Read the book to find out. I guarantee, it won't be a waste of your time.
Rating: 
Summary: Sphere
Review: Norman was invited to be a phycologist on a Navy mission, he agrees and flies down there. He specializes in aircraft crashes. This is no aircraft crash. It is a spacecraft crash. He studies it and finds that the sphere gives you the power to make or manifest anything or action you want. But there's a catch- it's evil. He then manifests the action to get rid of the power, and to forget it. I think this is a good book. the charecters are well described altough I don't like the "tesion" between Norman and Beth. (even though norman's married. But the manipulation and betrayal is excellent. I would reccond this book to anyone who likes sci-fi, action, and mystery. Also they must have a slight tolerance for bad language.
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