SCIENCE FICTION REVIEW: Micro - Michael Crichton and Richard Preston

Release Date: 12/04/12

SYNOPSIS:

An instant classic in the vein of Jurassic Park, this boundary-pushing novel has all the hallmarks of Michael Crichton's greatest adventures with its combination of pulse-pounding thrills, cutting-edge technology, and extraordinary research Three men are found dead in a locked second-floor office in Honolulu. There is no sign of struggle, though their bodies are covered in ultra-fine, razor-sharp cuts. With no evidence, the police dismiss it as a bizarre suicide pact. But the murder weapon is still in the room, almost invisible to the human eye. In Cambridge, Massachusetts, seven graduate students at the forefront of their fields are recruited by a pioneering microbiology start-up company. Nanigen MicroTechnologies sends them to a mysterious laboratory in Hawaii, where they are promised access to tools that will open up a whole new scientific frontier. But this opportunity of a lifetime will teach them the true cost of existing at the cutting-edge! The group becomes prey to a technology of radical, unimaginable power and is thrust out into the teeming rainforest. Armed only with their knowledge of the natural world, the young scientists face a hostile wilderness that threatens danger at every turn. To survive, they must harness the awe-inspiring creative -- and destructive -- forces of nature itself.


REVIEW:

I’ve been a fan of Michaels writing for years, enjoying such classics as Jurassic Park, Timeline, Andromeda Strain and Rising Sun to name a few. So after hearing about his death I was a little hesitant to pick up any new titles as I knew of at least one that was half finished and worried that it wouldn’t reach the standard that I’d come to expect.

Sadly for me, this title feels more like a title that’s just grabbed idea’s that have gone before and been rehashed to create a title that for me, should have been left on the shelf as there was nothing new with the Crichton Magic left sadly in the grave. Add to this substandard characters, poorly phrased sequences and a lack of anything new which all in left me a very unhappy reader. If you must read this, borrow it from the library, you’ll be pleased you did.