Techno thrill me harder This is one of Crichton's best novels, which varied widely in quality, and could be called part of thUnleash the dinosaur mania
Techno thrill me harder This is one of Crichton's best novels, which varied widely in quality, and could be called part of the foundation of the Sci-Fi thriller, aka techno thriller, genre with mainstream media adaptions and many great, new authors following in his footsteps.
Seems fictional, but… Until the first hybrids, most novels of this genre were pure fiction with fantasy or Sci-Fi elements and analysis and criticism of society, until the interdisciplinary approaches came and lead to today's milestones like the works of Suarez, Sakey, and others who create technothrillers that could come true. Or already are, who really knows that?
Luckily the usual Chrichton flaws are avoided in this one In other of his works, Chrichton has the problem of and with telling too slowly, info-dumping, character development, suspense, and especially letting people talk and talk until a pretty constructed and unsatisfying end gives one a short wtf, was that really all, are there no more explanations, moment. But he was a real life physician too, so I would say that rocks the house so much that his stylistic flaws can be forgiven.
Luck with the movie version too Spielberg's adaption took much of the atmosphere of the book and it´s one of the rare cases where both the book and the movie are fine pieces of art. And hey, dinosaurs and genetic engineering, that must be great!
Chrichton is superficially playing with ethical and political ideas in one of his worst novels. Others weren´t really good too, but at least he avoideChrichton is superficially playing with ethical and political ideas in one of his worst novels. Others weren´t really good too, but at least he avoided showing that he didn´t do his homework when dealing with an important topic.
I don´t know why Chrichton integrated climate change activists as a key element without doing his research and invited in this way much true criticism of that one shouldn´t so superficially deal with a very complex and controversial context to boost the sales of a book, especially when writing techno thrillers with a so called scientific background and not unilateral, biased propaganda pieces.
That´s especially ironic because Chrichtons´ intent was to show how good and bad science works, but he didn´t just fail in demonstrating, but used bad and wrong science himself in the book and the discussion around it as an extra.
Without that problem and the chronic weak spots of Chrichtons writing, that are strong in this one, it could have really been an entry point to a more and more important discussion and an entertaining, mind-boggling read. So it´s less than average, nothing I would recommend and I have hardly seen such a bumbling and inept integration of bias and agenda in a fictional work, he didn´t even try to be subtle or manipulative, just, bam, in your face, communist witch hunt style.
If I want my brain to be washed I would at least wish to be ensnared and a bit courted before getting; pseudo, unsatisfyingly, and terribly performed; mind penetrated.
It had so much potential, it could have expanded the Biopunk genre, a whole series would have been possible, but Chrichton failed epically after a proIt had so much potential, it could have expanded the Biopunk genre, a whole series would have been possible, but Chrichton failed epically after a promising beginning.
You certainly know that the human brain memorizes negative and traumatizing experiences much better, because it´s better for survival to avoid them in future, and I still vividly remember reading, being fascinated, reading some articles about genetic engineering inspired by the novel, to start wondering, and to be completely disappointed after reading it.
Well, Chrichton had his 2 to 3 good books and the rest is average to trash, in this case, it´s a hybrid of a good idea, a good first half, and a prime example of how to get completely boring, waste a perfect plot, and leave the reader angry and dumbfounded just thinking:
„Why no more subplots? Why no action, no further development of the genetic enhancement ideas? Why are the premise and the motivation of the main characters so unreliable? How could Chrichton be so popular at his time, was it just the lack of alternatives or did they think in 2007!!! that this is a good novel?“
Don´t read it, it will just disappoint you. Or get it free or cheap and just read the first half.
A, for the characters, tour de force of possible nanotech escalation settings.
It´s like a combination of different tropes surrounding grey goo, all sA, for the characters, tour de force of possible nanotech escalation settings.
It´s like a combination of different tropes surrounding grey goo, all seen in Sci-Fi many times from huge scales to tiny scales, resulting in the reader wondering which scenario might unfold next, what crazy ideas these nanobots will have in the following chapter.
It´ hard to waste a perfect nanotech plot, but Crichton exaggerated a bit, he had the ability to even make molecular assemblers and tiny robots a bit unlikely, not to talk of the standard characterization weaknesses one is used to. That´s sometimes so weird that it´s amazing at the same time, kind of as with movies that are trying to overachieve so much that they are already cult and involuntary parodies. But this one is seriously not. Often it´s unwittingly funny, as Chrichtons´writing tends to be average and stereotypical, and this adds an extra layer of self- satirizing over the whole novel.
I´m often asking myself why there is still no series (I know of) that puts the main focus on nanopunk, but it seems to be the same problem as with biopunk, that´s also still at its infancy. Both have to deal with the problem that it has to go along a pretty hard sci-fi route to fulfill the expectations of readers that are more interested in info dumping, technobabble, and plot driven works, which automatically results in the disinterest of readers of character driven, easy to read works.
There is very much potential in both genres, as real-life genetic engineering and nanotechnology are accelerating parallel to fiction, and the first author establishing a trademark series in this new genre might get immortal with his work. It´s also a simple question of time, the more humans, the more readers, so that each subgenre can slowly become more and more worthwhile until the authors can generate enough income to fully focus on their work.
I couldn´t really say how to do it, as there are already so many Sci-Fi works superficially dealing with the thousands of tropes surrounding both technologies, but as Alastair Reynolds impressively showed with his melding plague and Bacigalup with The windup girl, it´s possible. Of course, the authors would have to be both a specialist and a talented writer, but I see much potential in the collaborative writing of some or many people creating the fiction they want to read, but can´t get.
Very much yada yada, humanities vs natural sciences and a wasted plot idea with far too less action and twists.
I still remember how boredom and disappVery much yada yada, humanities vs natural sciences and a wasted plot idea with far too less action and twists.
I still remember how boredom and disappointment grew, after the first few chapters showed the setting and some suspense was built up and then it got lengthy and neither the psychological inner character plot nor the other big mystery plot made much fun or sense, especially because the logic of motivations and thinking capacities and abilities of the protagonists were… average.
Some seem to see some kind of deeper philosophical meaning in this one, especially towards the end with something one could call a subtle plot twist, but to me, it was a too constructed, not well designed novel. It tried to be mindfu**ing, but the realization was poor.
Possibly, in its time, when there were not much of similar techno- and science-thriller works with Sci-Fi elements for a broader audience, it could have been seen as not so bad because of a lack of alternatives, but especially compared with what today's genre writers produce on a yearly basis and very high level, it sucks. I especially have to laugh about the „psychological thriller“ argument that was used to sell it, because Crichton's characterization and dialogues are so terrible in this one.
Mario the lone bookwolf
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