What do you think?
Rate this book
Micro
Pub 2012-09-25 560 English HarperCollins US # 1 New York Times bestselling author Michael Crichton reveals a universe too small to see and too dangerous to ignoreIn the locked office of a Honolulu building. three men are found dead. with no sign of struggle except for ultrafine. razor-sharp cuts covering their bodies.In the lush rain forests of Oahu. groundbreaking technology has ushered in a revolutionary era of biological prospecting. Here. seven brilliant graduate students recruited by a pioneering microbiology start-up company are thrust into a hostile wilderness that reveals profound and surprising dangers at every turn. Prey to a technology of radical and unbridled power-armed only with their knowledge of the natural world-they must harness the inherent forces of nature itself to survive.Melding scientific fact with pulse-pounding fict...
541 pages, Paperback
First published November 22, 2011
2165 people are currently reading
17560 people want to read
About the author
Michael Crichton
215 books20.1k followersMichael Crichton (1942-2008) was one of the most successful novelists of his generation, admired for his meticulous scientific research and fast-paced narrative. He graduated summa cum laude and earned his MD from Harvard Medical School in 1969. His first novel,
Odds On
(1966), was written under the pseudonym John Lange and was followed by seven more Lange novels. He also wrote as Michael Douglas and Jeffery Hudson. His novel
A Case of Need
won the Edgar Award in 1969. Popular throughout the world, he has sold more than 200 million books. His novels have been translated into thirty-eight languages, and thirteen have been made into films.
Michael Crichton died of lymphoma in 2008. He was 66 years old.
Michael Crichton died of lymphoma in 2008. He was 66 years old.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 4,053 reviews
August 31, 2017
What a disappointment. I stopped halfway— at the time I really couldn't continue; I've never been irritated by a book before but I did rally round and read to the end of the thing. I'm assuming my irritation was in part because of my expectations—‘an unfinished Crichton novel!’ I thought—what fun! But this isn't Crichton: whoever Mr Preston is, he's a cheap impostor whose prose employs words like 'goop', 'gunk' and 'goo'. Crichton didn't.
But then there's the technology. Crichton's time travel had consequences on a quantum level, and made sense in its own reality-distorted sense. Timeline may have been a mainly historical techno-romp, but at least it had internal consistency. Now lets look at the technology of Micro, ignoring the massively stupid boss character. How can the protagonists shrunken anatomy breathe or digest the oversized molecules they take in—I can't help but feel that the real Michael Crichton would have addressed the fact that the cells in the annoying students' bodies would be a different size to real-world chemicals, or maybe even abandoned the plot as a dead end—one to be stowed away in the office drawer as a failure until... oh, he's dead—wait, look: there's a manuscript marked 'Not to be published ever ever ever' let's publish this... we'll get some guy to finish it.
Back to the plot. As for their exploits—this is no H. G. Wells romp or Conan Doyle jollity; Crichton insisted on factual plausibility in his novels, and in this one there is little plausibility and an absolute mass of expedited expedition extrapolation. Most of it entirely extraordinary and yet necessary to the rather obvious plot. The initial concept is great, and I'm assuming that Crichton's influence got as far as page 30 before it vanished. I'm sorry—the majority of the book is an ill-conceived implausible pratfall of a novel.
For light relief, try adding the adverb 'magically' in front of anything the stranded pillocks manage to do which is vaguely implausible (i.e. almost anything): '...which Peter peeled out of the center of dead grass stems which had magically stayed dry despite the rain', 'Rick magically lit the fire with the windproof lighter' (always take one if you're going to be unexpectedly miniaturised), 'Wait a minute, guys, I've magically found something!' (But will it be useful? Well... yes, actually. Surprise!), 'The mosquito magically thundered off, wobbling in the air.'
Plotting be damned - anything can happen with the right combination of the Crichton name and the appropriate gods to call forth from the (nano) machine...
But then there's the technology. Crichton's time travel had consequences on a quantum level, and made sense in its own reality-distorted sense. Timeline may have been a mainly historical techno-romp, but at least it had internal consistency. Now lets look at the technology of Micro, ignoring the massively stupid boss character. How can the protagonists shrunken anatomy breathe or digest the oversized molecules they take in—I can't help but feel that the real Michael Crichton would have addressed the fact that the cells in the annoying students' bodies would be a different size to real-world chemicals, or maybe even abandoned the plot as a dead end—one to be stowed away in the office drawer as a failure until... oh, he's dead—wait, look: there's a manuscript marked 'Not to be published ever ever ever' let's publish this... we'll get some guy to finish it.
Back to the plot. As for their exploits—this is no H. G. Wells romp or Conan Doyle jollity; Crichton insisted on factual plausibility in his novels, and in this one there is little plausibility and an absolute mass of expedited expedition extrapolation. Most of it entirely extraordinary and yet necessary to the rather obvious plot. The initial concept is great, and I'm assuming that Crichton's influence got as far as page 30 before it vanished. I'm sorry—the majority of the book is an ill-conceived implausible pratfall of a novel.
For light relief, try adding the adverb 'magically' in front of anything the stranded pillocks manage to do which is vaguely implausible (i.e. almost anything): '...which Peter peeled out of the center of dead grass stems which had magically stayed dry despite the rain', 'Rick magically lit the fire with the windproof lighter' (always take one if you're going to be unexpectedly miniaturised), 'Wait a minute, guys, I've magically found something!' (But will it be useful? Well... yes, actually. Surprise!), 'The mosquito magically thundered off, wobbling in the air.'
Plotting be damned - anything can happen with the right combination of the Crichton name and the appropriate gods to call forth from the (nano) machine...
July 26, 2016
I read this about a month ago, and only now have I realized that this needs a better review from me. For a Crichton (or half a Crichton) novel, this really has a low rating. At first I couldn't understand why, because this really has to be one of my favorite novels.
After reading a lot of reviews, I realized that people were rating this book based on their past experience with Crichton's novels. I will be honest and say that this was my first novel of Crichton, so maybe that's the reason for my liking of it.
The problem with unfinished novels is that people tend to judge it even before opening the novel. This is not the first series I've encountered that people bash the book right away just because they've read the author's past novels and they criticize the writing of the one who finished the novel, or in some cases, helped writing (James Patterson).
Before reading this book all I knew about Michael Crichton was that he wrote Jurassic Park, and I've only seen the movie then. I haven't actually read the book so like I said, I wasn't expecting much from the novel. I didn't buy it because of the author, I bought it because the plot seemed interesting to me.
I'm aware that I'm not a hardcore Sci-Fi fan, but I'm starting to become one. I have to admit that Sci-Fi has to be one of my favorite genres now. For me this book contains a lot of realistic Science Fiction. Realistic in a way that if a person were to shrink, the problems faced by the characters in the book were very believable, and that for me was the reason why I loved this book in the first place. I felt like I was one of the characters, and their experiences during their "shrunk adventure" really caught my interest. In fact, I even ordered some more books about people shrinking (Sci-Fi of course).
All I can say is that if you are to read this book, and you've read a lot of Michael Crichton books, I recommend that you try and forget first some of Crichton's work and have an open-mind for this one. I'm sure its not going to be the best for you guys, it might not even make it to your favorites shelf, but I'm sure that one way or another you'd find this novel as a good read.
After reading a lot of reviews, I realized that people were rating this book based on their past experience with Crichton's novels. I will be honest and say that this was my first novel of Crichton, so maybe that's the reason for my liking of it.
The problem with unfinished novels is that people tend to judge it even before opening the novel. This is not the first series I've encountered that people bash the book right away just because they've read the author's past novels and they criticize the writing of the one who finished the novel, or in some cases, helped writing (James Patterson).
Before reading this book all I knew about Michael Crichton was that he wrote Jurassic Park, and I've only seen the movie then. I haven't actually read the book so like I said, I wasn't expecting much from the novel. I didn't buy it because of the author, I bought it because the plot seemed interesting to me.
I'm aware that I'm not a hardcore Sci-Fi fan, but I'm starting to become one. I have to admit that Sci-Fi has to be one of my favorite genres now. For me this book contains a lot of realistic Science Fiction. Realistic in a way that if a person were to shrink, the problems faced by the characters in the book were very believable, and that for me was the reason why I loved this book in the first place. I felt like I was one of the characters, and their experiences during their "shrunk adventure" really caught my interest. In fact, I even ordered some more books about people shrinking (Sci-Fi of course).
All I can say is that if you are to read this book, and you've read a lot of Michael Crichton books, I recommend that you try and forget first some of Crichton's work and have an open-mind for this one. I'm sure its not going to be the best for you guys, it might not even make it to your favorites shelf, but I'm sure that one way or another you'd find this novel as a good read.
November 26, 2011
Do you believe in redemption?
We often abandon authors once they disappoint us, and Michael Crichton never really found his way again after 1990's Jurassic Park. In fact, in his later works Crichton seemed to spiral out of control, so I'd more or less given up on him. And I don't think I was the only one. Thankfully, Crichton's new book Micro could easily be adapted for film, suggesting that he had returned to form before he passed away in 2008.
There will be a temptation to compare Micro to Prey, Crichton's novel about the dangers of nanotechnology swarms with artificial intelligence. Here, it is the people, as opposed to the machines, that are shrunk down to miniature size -- thanks to the power of magnets. However, we might get further comparing it to Jurassic Park. Once they are in the "micro world," our scientists are forced to traverse a rainforest that is crawling with gigantic predators: insects.
The writing is often atrocious and it's easier to forget that characterization and motivation exist than it is to expect either, particularly with our villains. Still, I found it helpful to remember that Micro was an unfinished novel (completed by Richard Preston). I also reminded myself that we would eventually reach that ironic moment in Crichton's techno thrillers where scientists battle the creatures they would normally study in labs.
It would seem that the retreat of scientists to the laboratory is the general inspiration for the novel. In his introduction, Crichton criticizes the scientific community for failing to do field work and for relying on computer models. Crichton suggests that it is difficult to capture the awesome complexity of nature on a computer screen. So, read a book about scientists actually getting their hands dirty as they wrestle with mites, the intelligence of ants, and the chemical weapons of beetles. Actually, anyone that's afraid of insects will be more likely to retreat to the lab than to hike through the rainforest after reading Micro.
Regardless of his aims, Crichton's narrative premise is solid. The insects are often quite spooky, the micro-sized tools that the scientists come up with to survive in the micro world are pretty cool, and the pace is fast. In other words, he's covered all the bases.
Still, Micro is not as good as Crichton's greatest techno thrillers: Congo, Sphere, and Jurassic Park. But having finished Micro, I like to think that Crichton ended his career on a high note.
We often abandon authors once they disappoint us, and Michael Crichton never really found his way again after 1990's Jurassic Park. In fact, in his later works Crichton seemed to spiral out of control, so I'd more or less given up on him. And I don't think I was the only one. Thankfully, Crichton's new book Micro could easily be adapted for film, suggesting that he had returned to form before he passed away in 2008.
There will be a temptation to compare Micro to Prey, Crichton's novel about the dangers of nanotechnology swarms with artificial intelligence. Here, it is the people, as opposed to the machines, that are shrunk down to miniature size -- thanks to the power of magnets. However, we might get further comparing it to Jurassic Park. Once they are in the "micro world," our scientists are forced to traverse a rainforest that is crawling with gigantic predators: insects.
The writing is often atrocious and it's easier to forget that characterization and motivation exist than it is to expect either, particularly with our villains. Still, I found it helpful to remember that Micro was an unfinished novel (completed by Richard Preston). I also reminded myself that we would eventually reach that ironic moment in Crichton's techno thrillers where scientists battle the creatures they would normally study in labs.
It would seem that the retreat of scientists to the laboratory is the general inspiration for the novel. In his introduction, Crichton criticizes the scientific community for failing to do field work and for relying on computer models. Crichton suggests that it is difficult to capture the awesome complexity of nature on a computer screen. So, read a book about scientists actually getting their hands dirty as they wrestle with mites, the intelligence of ants, and the chemical weapons of beetles. Actually, anyone that's afraid of insects will be more likely to retreat to the lab than to hike through the rainforest after reading Micro.
Regardless of his aims, Crichton's narrative premise is solid. The insects are often quite spooky, the micro-sized tools that the scientists come up with to survive in the micro world are pretty cool, and the pace is fast. In other words, he's covered all the bases.
Still, Micro is not as good as Crichton's greatest techno thrillers: Congo, Sphere, and Jurassic Park. But having finished Micro, I like to think that Crichton ended his career on a high note.
February 14, 2012
"Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" meets "And Then There Were None" in this lame attempt at pseudo-science fiction. Now, I'm all for the suspension of disbelief, but a magnetic field that shrinks people and machines down to half an inch, in seconds, without any kind of structural damage? Please. Dinosaurs, time machines, nano bots, no problem. But a shrink ray is going to take a bit more convincing. Shall I add that the idea of having seven grad students in the same lab, all of whom happen to be working on completely unrelated projects that mysteriously are perfectly adapted to a world of insects is implausible? Nah. Setting aside the bad science and even the murderous corporate psychopath as the villain, I still have to say that the characters were flat and uninteresting, the plot was predictable and dull, the death scenes were high in gore and low in suspense and lacked the scientific attention to detail that usually makes Crichton novels so much fun, and the love interest seemed like an afterthought ("Oops, I forgot; we need to throw in a romance, or the book won't sell. Let's see...who's left?"). Considering the book was published after Crichton's death, I'm thinking they should have left well enough alone.
December 11, 2021
Ugh. Even 1 star feels generous. Asimov did it better, Richard Matheson did it best.
July 24, 2025
"Maybe something goes wrong in the interactions between the small atoms in our bodies … "
“… and the large atoms around us”!
On the other hand, any reader aware of basic scientific facts today will realize that this idea is ridiculous! The nature of the strong and electromagnetic forces is only one of the reasons why the science involved with shrinking people two to three orders of magnitude is pure fantasy and to present it as serious science fiction is not only inexcusable, it’s insulting to scientifically informed readers. One simply does not shrink atoms or, under normal temperature and pressure conditions, compress them to distances closer to one another. Another obvious problem – the increasing ratio of surface area to volume as an organism shrinks presents the metabolic problem of ever increasing heat loss. A warm-blooded mammal that was only ½” tall would have to spend all day consuming its own weight in nutrients simply in order to stay alive and keep its own internal furnaces burning. Well, I think you get the idea. The basic premise of the entire novel is ill-conceived. It might have worked for a silly, self-mocking children’s comedy like “HONEY, I SHRUNK THE KIDS!” but a full length serious adult thriller? I don’t think so!
And then to add in the villain trope of the stereotypical, cartoonish, mustache-twirling, über-wealthy, evil, maniacal corporate monster who wishes to weaponize his company’s technology and sell it to the highest bidder (who no doubt will use it in a quest for world domination)? Well, it all becomes just a little over the top and ridiculous.
But, believe it or not … all of that said, if one reads past the impossible science, the real science that MICRO offers is positively fascinating and genuinely interesting – talking being at inaudibly high frequencies because of the shorter wave length that the shrunken folks would produce; amazing sidebar essays on the behaviour of wasps, beetles, spiders and other even tinier critters; the difficulties of drinking when one doesn’t have the strength to break through the surface tension holding a drop of water together; venoms; pheromones; and much, much more. It actually turns what I would have characterized as a one-star laffer (or possibly even a DNF wall-banger) into a readable and moderately enjoyable 3-star read that would have been better presented as a non-fiction popular science book written from the novel perspective of a fictional shrunken scientist!
Paul Weiss
“… and the large atoms around us”!
On the other hand, any reader aware of basic scientific facts today will realize that this idea is ridiculous! The nature of the strong and electromagnetic forces is only one of the reasons why the science involved with shrinking people two to three orders of magnitude is pure fantasy and to present it as serious science fiction is not only inexcusable, it’s insulting to scientifically informed readers. One simply does not shrink atoms or, under normal temperature and pressure conditions, compress them to distances closer to one another. Another obvious problem – the increasing ratio of surface area to volume as an organism shrinks presents the metabolic problem of ever increasing heat loss. A warm-blooded mammal that was only ½” tall would have to spend all day consuming its own weight in nutrients simply in order to stay alive and keep its own internal furnaces burning. Well, I think you get the idea. The basic premise of the entire novel is ill-conceived. It might have worked for a silly, self-mocking children’s comedy like “HONEY, I SHRUNK THE KIDS!” but a full length serious adult thriller? I don’t think so!
And then to add in the villain trope of the stereotypical, cartoonish, mustache-twirling, über-wealthy, evil, maniacal corporate monster who wishes to weaponize his company’s technology and sell it to the highest bidder (who no doubt will use it in a quest for world domination)? Well, it all becomes just a little over the top and ridiculous.
But, believe it or not … all of that said, if one reads past the impossible science, the real science that MICRO offers is positively fascinating and genuinely interesting – talking being at inaudibly high frequencies because of the shorter wave length that the shrunken folks would produce; amazing sidebar essays on the behaviour of wasps, beetles, spiders and other even tinier critters; the difficulties of drinking when one doesn’t have the strength to break through the surface tension holding a drop of water together; venoms; pheromones; and much, much more. It actually turns what I would have characterized as a one-star laffer (or possibly even a DNF wall-banger) into a readable and moderately enjoyable 3-star read that would have been better presented as a non-fiction popular science book written from the novel perspective of a fictional shrunken scientist!
Paul Weiss
August 1, 2013
There should be a law against authors finishing up other authors' books. It never ends well.
But I do not think Richard Preston did all that much damage to the novel. In fact, from the unfinished introduction by Michael Crichton at the beginning of the book, Crichton appears to be in his preachy mode as he was in his most annoying books like his Japanophobic Rising Sun and his rant against the idea of global warming titled State of Fear. The fact that Crichton was already writing an intro may be a hint that most of the book was finished anyways. If this was the case, Preston managed to erase any of Crichton usually annoying rants and toned it down to a straight-forward techno-thriller.
The problem is that it isn't a very good techno-thriller to begin with. To be honest, I think Prey was the last good novel Crichton wrote and Micro did not convince me that the author was due for any kind of revival of creativity before his untimely death. In this unfinished novel, it is impossible to tell where Crichton starts and where he left us. This is probably a nod of admiration in how well Preston merges their styles. Yet Micro never steps off on its own to begin with. One-dimensional evil genius grapples with under-rated if whiny graduate students is as far as any character development goes. As for the plot, it is equal parts, Asimov's Fantastic Voyage, Dr Cyclops, and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, all being better if not as technically knowledgeable as Crichton and Preston. Micro certainly will not sully the reputation of Michael Crichton but it doesn't bode well for a last bow either.
But I do not think Richard Preston did all that much damage to the novel. In fact, from the unfinished introduction by Michael Crichton at the beginning of the book, Crichton appears to be in his preachy mode as he was in his most annoying books like his Japanophobic Rising Sun and his rant against the idea of global warming titled State of Fear. The fact that Crichton was already writing an intro may be a hint that most of the book was finished anyways. If this was the case, Preston managed to erase any of Crichton usually annoying rants and toned it down to a straight-forward techno-thriller.
The problem is that it isn't a very good techno-thriller to begin with. To be honest, I think Prey was the last good novel Crichton wrote and Micro did not convince me that the author was due for any kind of revival of creativity before his untimely death. In this unfinished novel, it is impossible to tell where Crichton starts and where he left us. This is probably a nod of admiration in how well Preston merges their styles. Yet Micro never steps off on its own to begin with. One-dimensional evil genius grapples with under-rated if whiny graduate students is as far as any character development goes. As for the plot, it is equal parts, Asimov's Fantastic Voyage, Dr Cyclops, and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, all being better if not as technically knowledgeable as Crichton and Preston. Micro certainly will not sully the reputation of Michael Crichton but it doesn't bode well for a last bow either.
May 1, 2016
Πέρασα ωραία διαβάζοντας τον Μικρόκοσμο. Εντάξει έχει αρκετά θεματάκια σαν βιβλίο. Η πλοκή είναι λίγο έως πολύ προβλέψιμη και επίσης η υπόθεση από την αρχή δεν στέκει. Π.χ. Ο κακός αντί να σκοτώσει τους ήρωες επιτόπου, αποφασίζει να τους κάνει μικροσκοπικούς –ναι, για να τους σκοτώσει- και φυσικά του ξεφεύγουν και τους χάνει!!! Θέματα έχει και ο αφηγηματικός λόγος, που μόνο λόγο συγγραφέα θυμίζει. Είναι πιο απλός και από 7χρονου.
Παρόλα αυτά τον στόχο του τον πέτυχε. Το διάβασα για να περάσω καλά κ έτσι έγινε. Δεν ένιωσα να κάνει κοιλιά, έχει σασπένς και φυσικά είναι μια συναρπαστική εγκυκλοπαίδεια του μικρόκοσμου, των φυτών και των εντόμων. Στο βιβλίο εμπεριέχονται πλήθος πληροφοριών για τα πάντα στον μικροσκοπικό αυτό κόσμο, δοσμένα όμορφα μέσα στην ιστορία, που προσωπικά δεν με έκαναν να βαρεθώ, αντιθέτως περνούσα καλά διαβάζοντας αυτές τις πληροφορίες. Είναι φανερό ότι ο Crichton έκανε τρελή έρευνα πριν ξεκινήσει την συγγραφή του βιβλίου. Αυτό φαίνεται κ από την τεράστια βιβλιογραφία που χρησιμοποίησε και είναι σημειωμένη στο πίσω μέρος του βιβλίου.
Πέρασα πολύ καλά διαβάζοντας αυτό το βιβλίο και για να πω την αλήθεια δεν το περίμενα. 3.5/5
Παρόλα αυτά τον στόχο του τον πέτυχε. Το διάβασα για να περάσω καλά κ έτσι έγινε. Δεν ένιωσα να κάνει κοιλιά, έχει σασπένς και φυσικά είναι μια συναρπαστική εγκυκλοπαίδεια του μικρόκοσμου, των φυτών και των εντόμων. Στο βιβλίο εμπεριέχονται πλήθος πληροφοριών για τα πάντα στον μικροσκοπικό αυτό κόσμο, δοσμένα όμορφα μέσα στην ιστορία, που προσωπικά δεν με έκαναν να βαρεθώ, αντιθέτως περνούσα καλά διαβάζοντας αυτές τις πληροφορίες. Είναι φανερό ότι ο Crichton έκανε τρελή έρευνα πριν ξεκινήσει την συγγραφή του βιβλίου. Αυτό φαίνεται κ από την τεράστια βιβλιογραφία που χρησιμοποίησε και είναι σημειωμένη στο πίσω μέρος του βιβλίου.
Πέρασα πολύ καλά διαβάζοντας αυτό το βιβλίο και για να πω την αλήθεια δεν το περίμενα. 3.5/5
September 29, 2016
Disappointing. All the characters were so stock. The greedy bad guy did bad things because he's a greedy bad guy. No nuance. No finesse.
August 28, 2012
Eight Things I Learned from Reading Micro:
1. Hawaii must be a wonderland of plant biodiversity, because you can be half an inch tall and still find all of the ingredients for curare in the course of a single morning, not to mention the nut necessary to start a fire so you can cook said curare.
2. The brutality of your death is inversely proportional to how interesting you are as a person. For instance, if you are a brilliant venom expert with strong leadership skills and great personal charisma, your death will be relatively quick and painless, whereas if you are a generic pharmaceutical company employee whose only purpose in life is to share important plot points and get eaten by ants, your death scene will take up half a page and include multiple references to your "viscera."
3. If you are a good-looking female martial arts expert and you're forced to utilize your skills in combat against giant insects, shouting "Yaah!" as you leap at your foe can really work some wonder.
4. If your friend has been envenomated by a wasp and has only minutes before his breathing shuts down, fear not--your superhuman arachnologist skills will allow you to locate the very spider whose venom is needed to concoct an antivenom; milk said venom from said spider; brew up your antivenom; and administer it to your friend, saving his life just in the nick of time.
5. If you are an insufferable little snot with no reason to live except to whine and endanger the lives of everyone on the team with your buffoonery, don't worry--you'll outlive almost everyone else because they are all apparently Mother Teresa reincarnated and would never leave you behind, not even to save themselves, whereas most normal people would have pushed you out of the airplane during the flight to Hawaii.
6. If you decide to flaunt your free-thinking and liberal nature by going for a skinny-dip and enticing your morally-minded friends to follow you like the Jezebel you are, you can bet you're not going to live for much longer.
7. It is apparently possible to write prose like the following and still get published:
[He] tapped on the hatch cover with the tip of his knife, but that didn't work. The hatch was tightly shut and not even the tip of his knife would get it open."Uh, Richard, I really like this scene with the hatch, I do. But I just feel it could use a little more tension." "I know! What if I make more references to the knife tip and how it can't open the hatch?" "Perfect!"
8. You can make boatloads of money--and bring shame to one of the most beloved authors of our time to boot--by writing tripe like something from one of those B-movies from the 70s they always used to show on TBS and then publishing it under some other guy's name.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 11, 2012
That was lame. Good thing Michael Crichton was dead, so he wasn't around for this piece of junk. A lot of Crichton's books have a far-fetched wacky sciency central idea, but he somehow made them interesting and they worked. I only finished it because I have this compulsion to finish books I started. Some language. Maybe 1 1/2 stars if I was generous.
January 28, 2018
Επτά μεταπτυχιακοί φοιτητές στο πανεπιστήμιο του Κέμπριτζ αποδέχονται την πρόταση του Βιν Ντρέικ να επισκεφθούν τις εγκαταστάσεις της εταιρείας μικροτεχνολογίας Νάνιτζεν στη Χαβάη. Μία ημέρα πριν την αναχώρησή τους, ο Πίτερ Τζάνσεν, ένας από τους επτά φοιτητές, λαμβάνει στο κινητό του γραπτό μήνυμα από τον αδελφό του Έρικ, Αντιπρόεδρο της εταιρείας Νάνιντζεν. Το μήνυμα είναι δυο λέξεις όλες κι όλες: "μην έρθεις". Πολύ αργά! Ο Πίτερ και οι συνάδελφοί του είναι ήδη καθ’ οδόν, ενώ ο Έρικ Τζάνσεν έχει πλέον επισήμως εξαφανιστεί.
Είναι ο μικρόκοσμος το περιβάλλον στο οποίο εξελίσσεται το ομώνυμο θρίλερ του M. Crichton. Ένας κόσμος άγριος, κτηνώδης και εχθρικός, όπου η κατανομή των ρόλων είναι αλλιώτικη από ό,τι συνήθως: ο άνθρωπος από θηρευτής γίνεται θήραμα, κι οι βιολόγοι φοιτητές της ιστορίας μας, κατ’ αποτέλεσμα της διαστασιακής αλλαγής τους, γίνονται οι ίδιοι πειραματόζωα.
Μια αγέλη ανθρώπων λιλιπούτειων διαστάσεων, που άλλοτε με γυμνά χέρια, κι άλλοτε με αυτοσχέδια βιολογικά όπλα, θα κληθεί να αντιμετωπίσει τα (φαινομενικά) άκακα πλάσματα του μικρόκοσμου, ώστε, διασχίζοντας το δάσος Οάχου, να φτάσει στην κορυφή του όρους Ταντάλου (η σημειολογία είναι ευκρινής). Σασπένς, αληθοφανείς επιστημονικές εξηγήσεις (από τον μετρ του είδους, τον άνθρωπο που, ανάμεσα σε άλλα, ‘κλωνοποίησε’ δεινοσαύρους) και αίμα, πολύ αίμα.
«Τι έχει η φύση που την κάνει τόσο τρομακτική για το σύγχρονο νου; Γιατί είναι τόσο ανυπόφορη; Επειδή η φύση διακρίνεται για την απόλυτη αδιαφορία της. Δε συγχωρεί, δεν δείχνει ενδιαφέρον. Δεν τη νοιάζει αν θα ζήσεις ή αν θα πεθάνεις, αν θα πετύχεις ή θα αποτύχεις, αν αισθάνεσαι ηδονή ή πόνο. Αυτό για μας είναι ανυπόφορο. Πώς είναι δυνατόν να ζήσουμε σε έναν κόσμο τόσο αδιάφορο απέναντί μας; Γι’ αυτό λοιπόν επαναπροσδιορίζουμε τη φύση. Την ονομάζουμε Μητέρα Φύση, ενώ δεν πρόκειται για γονέα με οποιαδήποτε πραγματική έννοια του όρου. Βάζουμε θεούς στα δέντρα και στον αέρα και στον ωκεανό, τους βάζουμε στα σπίτια μας για να μας προστατεύουν. Έχουμε ανάγκη αυτούς τους ανθρώπινους θεούς για πολλά πράγματα, για καλή τύχη, υγεία, ελευθερία, αλλά πάνω απ’ όλα –πάνω από όλους τους άλλους λόγους- έχουμε ανάγκη τους θεούς για να μας προστατεύουν από τη μοναξιά...».
Αγωνιώδες, συναρπαστικό, από τα βιβλία που έτσι και τα πήρες στα χέρια σου δεν σε αφήνουν να τα αφήσεις. Διαβάζοντάς το, δεν ξέρω γιατί, σκεπτόμουν το ‘Honey, I Shrunk the Kids’. Σε splatter version, βεβαίως.
Είναι ο μικρόκοσμος το περιβάλλον στο οποίο εξελίσσεται το ομώνυμο θρίλερ του M. Crichton. Ένας κόσμος άγριος, κτηνώδης και εχθρικός, όπου η κατανομή των ρόλων είναι αλλιώτικη από ό,τι συνήθως: ο άνθρωπος από θηρευτής γίνεται θήραμα, κι οι βιολόγοι φοιτητές της ιστορίας μας, κατ’ αποτέλεσμα της διαστασιακής αλλαγής τους, γίνονται οι ίδιοι πειραματόζωα.
Μια αγέλη ανθρώπων λιλιπούτειων διαστάσεων, που άλλοτε με γυμνά χέρια, κι άλλοτε με αυτοσχέδια βιολογικά όπλα, θα κληθεί να αντιμετωπίσει τα (φαινομενικά) άκακα πλάσματα του μικρόκοσμου, ώστε, διασχίζοντας το δάσος Οάχου, να φτάσει στην κορυφή του όρους Ταντάλου (η σημειολογία είναι ευκρινής). Σασπένς, αληθοφανείς επιστημονικές εξηγήσεις (από τον μετρ του είδους, τον άνθρωπο που, ανάμεσα σε άλλα, ‘κλωνοποίησε’ δεινοσαύρους) και αίμα, πολύ αίμα.
«Τι έχει η φύση που την κάνει τόσο τρομακτική για το σύγχρονο νου; Γιατί είναι τόσο ανυπόφορη; Επειδή η φύση διακρίνεται για την απόλυτη αδιαφορία της. Δε συγχωρεί, δεν δείχνει ενδιαφέρον. Δεν τη νοιάζει αν θα ζήσεις ή αν θα πεθάνεις, αν θα πετύχεις ή θα αποτύχεις, αν αισθάνεσαι ηδονή ή πόνο. Αυτό για μας είναι ανυπόφορο. Πώς είναι δυνατόν να ζήσουμε σε έναν κόσμο τόσο αδιάφορο απέναντί μας; Γι’ αυτό λοιπόν επαναπροσδιορίζουμε τη φύση. Την ονομάζουμε Μητέρα Φύση, ενώ δεν πρόκειται για γονέα με οποιαδήποτε πραγματική έννοια του όρου. Βάζουμε θεούς στα δέντρα και στον αέρα και στον ωκεανό, τους βάζουμε στα σπίτια μας για να μας προστατεύουν. Έχουμε ανάγκη αυτούς τους ανθρώπινους θεούς για πολλά πράγματα, για καλή τύχη, υγεία, ελευθερία, αλλά πάνω απ’ όλα –πάνω από όλους τους άλλους λόγους- έχουμε ανάγκη τους θεούς για να μας προστατεύουν από τη μοναξιά...».
Αγωνιώδες, συναρπαστικό, από τα βιβλία που έτσι και τα πήρες στα χέρια σου δεν σε αφήνουν να τα αφήσεις. Διαβάζοντάς το, δεν ξέρω γιατί, σκεπτόμουν το ‘Honey, I Shrunk the Kids’. Σε splatter version, βεβαίως.
August 7, 2015
I was really happy to discover a last Michael Crichton book, but what a disappointment. This is not Crichton. It's like a high school student wrote it. As a writer, I'm putting it in my will that nobody can finish any unfinished books of mine after seeing what they've done with this. What a shame. I can see where the new author kicked in writing this & it is not good.
January 18, 2012
Michael Crichton was an idea guy and apparently a busy man. So far, two books have been published with his name on them after his death. The first, Pirate Latitudes, was completed by Crichton, though the writing is uneven and thus it was probably edited after his death.
Micro is another story. Clearly, the writing style in the first third of the book is Crichton's, with emphasis on the "gee whiz" scientific aspects of the story that so often (and welcomely) permeates his books. The last two thirds, a pure adventure story, is clearly Richard Preston's, and departs from Crichton's usual precise but affecting style.
While this is not necessarily a bad thing, the book leaves one flat, primarily because there are so many protagonists (7) that we're supposed to like and relate to, but one by one, they are killed off until the least likely of them survives. It's hard to believe Crichton would not have allowed the brother of an early (apparent) casualty in the book to survive, but he dies unceremoniously, and this is disconcerting. Crichton knew better, I think, than to do this.
Preston, whose main experience is in dramatizing non-fiction, can get away with this sort of thing in his books because his stories usually have the added fantastical and sometimes nonsensical elements of factuality that readers often happily exchange for drama. After all, truth is stranger than fiction.
That being said, I wish Crichton himself had finished this novel because his dramatic instincts are apparently better than Preston's. Clearly, this book began as a way to update two movie classics: Fantastic Voyage, and The Incredible Shrinking Man, past due, now that CGI capabilities make the apparent miniaturization of humans easy.
But Crichton would have, I hope, in subsequent passes to his manuscript, edited the villian into a more believable person and given the quest of the little people a bit more tension and rising action. As it is, the antagonist is the most cardboard villian since Snidely Whiplash, and the events of the story seem scattershot, with no increasing tension beyond the de rigeur ticking clock, employed long ago to great effect in Fantastic Voyage.
I don't think this book will stand alongside Crichton classics such as Jurassic Park and Andromeda Strain, but it was an acceptable, quick read, a literary cotton candy: sugary, but not much there.
We miss you, Mr. Crichton. RIP.
Micro is another story. Clearly, the writing style in the first third of the book is Crichton's, with emphasis on the "gee whiz" scientific aspects of the story that so often (and welcomely) permeates his books. The last two thirds, a pure adventure story, is clearly Richard Preston's, and departs from Crichton's usual precise but affecting style.
While this is not necessarily a bad thing, the book leaves one flat, primarily because there are so many protagonists (7) that we're supposed to like and relate to, but one by one, they are killed off until the least likely of them survives. It's hard to believe Crichton would not have allowed the brother of an early (apparent) casualty in the book to survive, but he dies unceremoniously, and this is disconcerting. Crichton knew better, I think, than to do this.
Preston, whose main experience is in dramatizing non-fiction, can get away with this sort of thing in his books because his stories usually have the added fantastical and sometimes nonsensical elements of factuality that readers often happily exchange for drama. After all, truth is stranger than fiction.
That being said, I wish Crichton himself had finished this novel because his dramatic instincts are apparently better than Preston's. Clearly, this book began as a way to update two movie classics: Fantastic Voyage, and The Incredible Shrinking Man, past due, now that CGI capabilities make the apparent miniaturization of humans easy.
But Crichton would have, I hope, in subsequent passes to his manuscript, edited the villian into a more believable person and given the quest of the little people a bit more tension and rising action. As it is, the antagonist is the most cardboard villian since Snidely Whiplash, and the events of the story seem scattershot, with no increasing tension beyond the de rigeur ticking clock, employed long ago to great effect in Fantastic Voyage.
I don't think this book will stand alongside Crichton classics such as Jurassic Park and Andromeda Strain, but it was an acceptable, quick read, a literary cotton candy: sugary, but not much there.
We miss you, Mr. Crichton. RIP.
Read
December 7, 2011M.C. wrote facinating fiction while alive--will see how he does with the handicap of death. Optimistic. Ok, no longer optimistic. It started interesting but lacked M C's attention to scientific detail and storytelling ability. I have read books like this where a loved author started it and someone else finished. Sometimes good, rarely great. In this instance, not so great. An ok read but disappointing to to its anchestry and my hopes. A book contract was fulfilled, some money was made, library funds spent on a book attributed to a great author--a pity.
December 3, 2011
This was awful! The premise is stupid. The writing is bad,the characters are flat. The only thing that sells this novel is Crichton's name. Unfortunately, the other guy probably wrote it.
September 25, 2021
Not Crichton’s nest but to be fair it was an unfinished draft found after his death and finished and polished by another. The science is pretty much unexplained leaving the reader with a large believability gap to hurdle. The micro condensing is a bit of a gray area. It was addressed and shown to be a problem but no real solution was given.
The story concept is well portrayed but very much in the fantasy realm.
The story concept is well portrayed but very much in the fantasy realm.
April 4, 2023
A very informative novel about the flora and fauna of Hawaii, where the story is set. The book reminded me of the movie 'Honey, I Shrunk the Kids'. In the novel it was very interesting to know about bombardier beetles, millipedes, centipedes, wasps, mites, some spiders, mynas, ants, bats and some trees and plants. There was no dearth of infotainment. It was a different kind of novel. Sci-fi is not always about space adventures and stories set in the future.
I have some grouches about the book as well. Michael Crichton is not that good a writer and it showed in this book. Often it felt like reading a book written by an amateur. Yes, Richard Preston finished this book which was left unfinished by Crichton due to his sudden demise but I won't blame Preston. Most of the book was written by Crichton and not Preston. I have previously read a book by Preston named The Cobra Event, a very solid book with top notch writing. So I know Preston is a very good writer.
I have some grouches about the book as well. Michael Crichton is not that good a writer and it showed in this book. Often it felt like reading a book written by an amateur. Yes, Richard Preston finished this book which was left unfinished by Crichton due to his sudden demise but I won't blame Preston. Most of the book was written by Crichton and not Preston. I have previously read a book by Preston named The Cobra Event, a very solid book with top notch writing. So I know Preston is a very good writer.
April 19, 2019
**There are some "kind-of" spoilers, but if you've read any Crichton, you won't be surprised. Just FYI**
I opened this book yesterday, and finished it before I went to bed. I couldn't put it down. The concept was intriguing, and the glimpse into the micro-world was pretty cool. Like all Crichton books, it's graphic and descriptive in its violence. It has some language, for sure. And there's even a giant boob. The dialogue was often cheesy and predictable, but some of it was great. Of course, nearly everyone dies in graphic, terrible ways, as is usual with Crichton's plot lines.
It was begun by Crichton , but finished for him posthumously by Richard Preston. I have no idea how to compare their styles, and I don't know if Preston's vision changed Crichton's intent at all. So, no commentary on that.
One of the problems I have with Crichton novels is their tendency to have a reallyfastbeginning and a reallyfastending. It's like he can't wait to get to the meat of the plot, so he takes very little time to fully establish characters. He still does a decent job in a few words, but it takes quite awhile for me to care about any of them. (There are some interesting twists in who Crichton kills off in this one, though, which was pretty nice. My accuracy in calling the deaths failed about half the time in this book! And I actually cared about a few of them...) Also, there's a transition scene that I found myself thinking "Where the heck did THAT come from so suddenly? Jeez..." I had to re-read it to make sure I hadn't accidentally skipped a page or two.
He takes his time in the middle, building up some great tension on fantastic detail, then it's like he realizes, "Hey - I'm running out of pages. Better wind this up quick." And boy, does he! Still, the ending to this book was far more satisfying than the ending of "Sphere" or "Congo". (Frankly, those two books sucked, in my opinion. Could have been amazing, but weren't.)
Ever since I read and loved "Jurassic Park," I tend to pick up his novels with anticipation, even though I've been disappointed more often than I enjoyed myself. I loved "Jurassic Park" a LOT, and still can't stop grabbing a Crichton novel when I see them. I think I love his attention to scientific detail, the depth of research obvious in his books, and the craziness of the adventures that seem somehow believable.
This was classic Crichton, much more in line with "The Lost World" than any other of his books, I think. It was good, but not GREAT. I still really liked it, however. Hence, the 4-stars.
I opened this book yesterday, and finished it before I went to bed. I couldn't put it down. The concept was intriguing, and the glimpse into the micro-world was pretty cool. Like all Crichton books, it's graphic and descriptive in its violence. It has some language, for sure. And there's even a giant boob. The dialogue was often cheesy and predictable, but some of it was great. Of course, nearly everyone dies in graphic, terrible ways, as is usual with Crichton's plot lines.
It was begun by Crichton , but finished for him posthumously by Richard Preston. I have no idea how to compare their styles, and I don't know if Preston's vision changed Crichton's intent at all. So, no commentary on that.
One of the problems I have with Crichton novels is their tendency to have a reallyfastbeginning and a reallyfastending. It's like he can't wait to get to the meat of the plot, so he takes very little time to fully establish characters. He still does a decent job in a few words, but it takes quite awhile for me to care about any of them. (There are some interesting twists in who Crichton kills off in this one, though, which was pretty nice. My accuracy in calling the deaths failed about half the time in this book! And I actually cared about a few of them...) Also, there's a transition scene that I found myself thinking "Where the heck did THAT come from so suddenly? Jeez..." I had to re-read it to make sure I hadn't accidentally skipped a page or two.
He takes his time in the middle, building up some great tension on fantastic detail, then it's like he realizes, "Hey - I'm running out of pages. Better wind this up quick." And boy, does he! Still, the ending to this book was far more satisfying than the ending of "Sphere" or "Congo". (Frankly, those two books sucked, in my opinion. Could have been amazing, but weren't.)
Ever since I read and loved "Jurassic Park," I tend to pick up his novels with anticipation, even though I've been disappointed more often than I enjoyed myself. I loved "Jurassic Park" a LOT, and still can't stop grabbing a Crichton novel when I see them. I think I love his attention to scientific detail, the depth of research obvious in his books, and the craziness of the adventures that seem somehow believable.
This was classic Crichton, much more in line with "The Lost World" than any other of his books, I think. It was good, but not GREAT. I still really liked it, however. Hence, the 4-stars.
January 29, 2012
I have to admit, I was concerned. The reviews of “Micro” seemed so lackluster that I was almost afraid to read it. I wondered if it would taint the memory of an author I really admire. Sure, I knew the reigns were handed off to Richard Preston—a notable author in his own right—but as an author myself, I also know how difficult it would be to pick up someone else’s work and not only finish it, but do it in a way that would please that author’s fans. An author’s voice is unique. To duplicate it would be like trying to duplicate someone’s handwriting. So how well did Preston do?
I think he did a fantastic job. “Micro” is a page-turner in every sense of the word. It has lots of fascinating cutting-edge science, plenty of action and intrigue, surprises, a villain you can despise, a scientific team working to solve problems—in short, all the things you expect from a Michael Crichton book. And yet, it was unique enough to stand on its own. To me, it felt like “Jurassic Park” on a microscopic scale. I mean that as a complement, of course, as “Park” was one of my favorite Crichton books.
My only criticism would come early in the book. One of the characters reacts to a death in the family in a way that felt, to me, a little unauthentic. I can’t imagine a real person acting the way he/she acted in similar circumstances. However, I also realize that his/her responses were part of the setup for the amazing stuff that comes later. And I can overlook a lot for what comes later. It is awesome.
“Micro” is a worthy addition to the Crichton canon. Well done, Mr. Preston!
I think he did a fantastic job. “Micro” is a page-turner in every sense of the word. It has lots of fascinating cutting-edge science, plenty of action and intrigue, surprises, a villain you can despise, a scientific team working to solve problems—in short, all the things you expect from a Michael Crichton book. And yet, it was unique enough to stand on its own. To me, it felt like “Jurassic Park” on a microscopic scale. I mean that as a complement, of course, as “Park” was one of my favorite Crichton books.
My only criticism would come early in the book. One of the characters reacts to a death in the family in a way that felt, to me, a little unauthentic. I can’t imagine a real person acting the way he/she acted in similar circumstances. However, I also realize that his/her responses were part of the setup for the amazing stuff that comes later. And I can overlook a lot for what comes later. It is awesome.
“Micro” is a worthy addition to the Crichton canon. Well done, Mr. Preston!
May 29, 2013
I read this in one sitting today. Then I realized that there would be no more new Michael Crichton books after I finish his other posthumous novel, and what a sad finality to have to finally read what Crichton was reportedly working on when he was battling cancer. Now I'll simply have to make do with rereading his previous books. The choice of Richard Preston, the guy who wrote the harrowing The Hot Zone and oh-yes-yes Cobra Event and whose pedigree includes being a brother to don't-get-me-started Douglas Preston of Preston/Child fame, to finish Crichton's book is perfect. Micro is classic Crichton, the quintessential man vs. natural world theme, the always man "vs." nature and not "with," a distinctive statement by Crichton, strong intelligent women characters, and lots and lots of infodump, which is always a good thing no matter what critics and writing teachers say. And if you are into infodumps, there's the mother lode, Arthur Herzog's Heat, dry as the paper it's written on but still manages to be charming. After reading Micro, I've learned numerous life-saving biochem techniques (viable or not) should someone shrink me to around half an inch in size while I'm having a great time in the middle of a forested area in a volcanic island like Hawaii.
October 12, 2017
I really really liked it.
February 14, 2012
3.5 stars out of 5.
This book can be summed up in one gif -
Disclaimer: A little suspension on disbelief is required by the reader to read Micro (or any other MC book, for that matter).
Nanigen is a robotics company which recruits seven graduate students (each from a different field) as part of its research team. Nanigen is light-years ahead in its technology, seeing as how its scientists have come up with a "tensor generator" which is able to shrink humans to micro sizes. Teams have been successfully shrunk and sent into the forests to study micro-organisms, most of which have never even been identified by mankind till now.
As it turns out, the CEO of Nanigen is a bad, bad man. Because of a scandal that one of the graduates uncovers, the CEO, in his rage, shrinks the graduates and abandons them in the forest teeming with predetors of all sizes. The seven of them have to survive against all odds and return back to normal size somehow before the "micro-bends" (a suddenly manifesting disease that causes internal hemorrhaging which eventually leads to death) gets them.
A classic Crichton book. I can honestly say I'll never be able to look at the world around me the same way again. We never usually pay attention to all the tiny creatures in and around us - the millions of bacteria inside us, the pretty butterflies flitting around, the centipedes, millipedes and ants crawling everywhere, the strange unnamed worms or mites we (I) carefully step around - in our day-to-day life but Crichton brings them to attention in a horrifyingly gripping way (I had to put down the book many times because I was too grossed out to continue!). Let me just tell you now - The ants that you see scurrying around minding their own business are NOTHING like the cute and friendly ants you saw in "Honey, I shrunk the kids", when you are their size.
*shudder*
But it's not all bad, too. Crichton also offers us a glimpse into how the world works from the very heart of it. There is one scene in particular where one of the characters plays with a paramecium - that's a protozoan, usually invisible to the naked eye; I thought that was pretty cool :)
Unfortunately, in the end, I was able to give this book only 3.5 stars. For me, the major let down was . Also, all the deaths in book felt forced. It's like the characters all died just for the sake of dying - none of the deaths had any purpose.
The ending, as well, fell a bit flat but unlike to the destination, the journey was amazing :) Recommended.
This book can be summed up in one gif -
Disclaimer: A little suspension on disbelief is required by the reader to read Micro (or any other MC book, for that matter).
Nanigen is a robotics company which recruits seven graduate students (each from a different field) as part of its research team. Nanigen is light-years ahead in its technology, seeing as how its scientists have come up with a "tensor generator" which is able to shrink humans to micro sizes. Teams have been successfully shrunk and sent into the forests to study micro-organisms, most of which have never even been identified by mankind till now.
As it turns out, the CEO of Nanigen is a bad, bad man. Because of a scandal that one of the graduates uncovers, the CEO, in his rage, shrinks the graduates and abandons them in the forest teeming with predetors of all sizes. The seven of them have to survive against all odds and return back to normal size somehow before the "micro-bends" (a suddenly manifesting disease that causes internal hemorrhaging which eventually leads to death) gets them.
A classic Crichton book. I can honestly say I'll never be able to look at the world around me the same way again. We never usually pay attention to all the tiny creatures in and around us - the millions of bacteria inside us, the pretty butterflies flitting around, the centipedes, millipedes and ants crawling everywhere, the strange unnamed worms or mites we (I) carefully step around - in our day-to-day life but Crichton brings them to attention in a horrifyingly gripping way (I had to put down the book many times because I was too grossed out to continue!). Let me just tell you now - The ants that you see scurrying around minding their own business are NOTHING like the cute and friendly ants you saw in "Honey, I shrunk the kids", when you are their size.
*shudder*
But it's not all bad, too. Crichton also offers us a glimpse into how the world works from the very heart of it. There is one scene in particular where one of the characters plays with a paramecium - that's a protozoan, usually invisible to the naked eye; I thought that was pretty cool :)
Unfortunately, in the end, I was able to give this book only 3.5 stars. For me, the major let down was . Also, all the deaths in book felt forced. It's like the characters all died just for the sake of dying - none of the deaths had any purpose.
The ending, as well, fell a bit flat but unlike to the destination, the journey was amazing :) Recommended.
August 29, 2020
“Micro” comes from the brilliant mind of Jurassic Park writer, Michael Crichton. This novel was the last one Mr. Crichton worked on before his untimely death, and in fact, he passed before it was finished, which is where Richard Preston steps in.
A group of young scientists, working in the finest scientific laboratories in Boston, are invited to Hawaii as part of a recruitment project by start-up entrepreneur Vincent Drake. Here, the group is asked to be part of next-level scientific discovery project hemmed by Drake, as he seeks to develop micro robots that would be able to explore parts of the Hawaiian biosphere that have as of yet been unable to be explored by humans. Jumping at the chance, the group are soon learning about Drake’s powerful technologies and advanced scientific machines. However, the group soon realizes that Drake has a far more sinister plan, manufacturing miniature aircraft and weaponry, and that Drake will go to extreme levels to keep his discoveries a secret.
Crichton has a way of writing scientific, intelligent novels that are both interesting and completely readable. There is no heavy scientific text or concepts, and Crichton is able to bring the important scientific facts to a readers’ level, as he did with “Jurassic Park” (another one of Crichton’s novels that I thoroughly enjoyed).
Right from the onset, this novel pulls you in. Maybe I’m showing my age, but I was a bit nostalgic for “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids!” (props to Canadian Rick Moranis) during Crichton’s “little people, big world” scenes. That being said, the novel was not at all silly as you might assume, and was every bit as entertaining as you would expect from a scientific novel of Crichton’s.
The characters were honest and exceptionally brilliant, and the story was well-told and well-researched. I think I was able to tell where Mr. Preston took over, as I noticed a small difference in the storytelling (but not enough to make any difference to the level of enjoyment) .
I have just started to read Crichton (although obviously, I’ve been familiar with his work for many years) , and every novel I read continues to surprise me with its realism and the ability to engage a reader so completely. Although it isn’t a light read by any means, “Micro” is a highly entertaining one!
A group of young scientists, working in the finest scientific laboratories in Boston, are invited to Hawaii as part of a recruitment project by start-up entrepreneur Vincent Drake. Here, the group is asked to be part of next-level scientific discovery project hemmed by Drake, as he seeks to develop micro robots that would be able to explore parts of the Hawaiian biosphere that have as of yet been unable to be explored by humans. Jumping at the chance, the group are soon learning about Drake’s powerful technologies and advanced scientific machines. However, the group soon realizes that Drake has a far more sinister plan, manufacturing miniature aircraft and weaponry, and that Drake will go to extreme levels to keep his discoveries a secret.
Crichton has a way of writing scientific, intelligent novels that are both interesting and completely readable. There is no heavy scientific text or concepts, and Crichton is able to bring the important scientific facts to a readers’ level, as he did with “Jurassic Park” (another one of Crichton’s novels that I thoroughly enjoyed).
Right from the onset, this novel pulls you in. Maybe I’m showing my age, but I was a bit nostalgic for “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids!” (props to Canadian Rick Moranis) during Crichton’s “little people, big world” scenes. That being said, the novel was not at all silly as you might assume, and was every bit as entertaining as you would expect from a scientific novel of Crichton’s.
The characters were honest and exceptionally brilliant, and the story was well-told and well-researched. I think I was able to tell where Mr. Preston took over, as I noticed a small difference in the storytelling (but not enough to make any difference to the level of enjoyment) .
I have just started to read Crichton (although obviously, I’ve been familiar with his work for many years) , and every novel I read continues to surprise me with its realism and the ability to engage a reader so completely. Although it isn’t a light read by any means, “Micro” is a highly entertaining one!
September 3, 2022
This wasn't bad - it definitely doesn't have the same level of polish I feel like Crichton's other novels have had-and I don't mean that as a slight against Preston- I've enjoyed his books too- I can't imagine how hard it must be to finish someone else's work.
This really wasn't I was expecting even though it's right there in the title. There were some fun things being done with the concept- some terrifying things - but I think I had to suspend too much belief to really get into it.
It read at a quick pace though and I enjoyed it more than not. The characters were good for the most part - though there were sometimes too many to really keep track of or to be super fleshed out.
Again - not bad. Probably more like 3.5 stars. Looking forward to more of Crichton's work.
This really wasn't I was expecting even though it's right there in the title. There were some fun things being done with the concept- some terrifying things - but I think I had to suspend too much belief to really get into it.
It read at a quick pace though and I enjoyed it more than not. The characters were good for the most part - though there were sometimes too many to really keep track of or to be super fleshed out.
Again - not bad. Probably more like 3.5 stars. Looking forward to more of Crichton's work.
November 2, 2018
My first and so far last Michael Crichton Novel was "Jurassic Park". Now I've read "Miro". Again, the author(s) explore(s) a part of new technology and the dark sides of it. But as expected from Crichton he did it in a highly realistic and intelligent way. The book definitely is a page-turner with a lot of surprises! I especially liked the descriptions of the Hawaiian fauna and flora, the green hell the students suddently found themselves in. A lot of fun, definitely to be recommended.
May 13, 2025
Wander around the Hawaiian jungle with me, as we follow a group of grad students from Boston who get way in over their heads.
What I loved 😍
This is B-Movie, SciFi horror at its best. What a fun read! It's silly, it's scary, it's action-packed - everything that you expect out of a Crichton novel. It's also well-researched and really informative, including a full citation list at the end for all the information about bugs and plants that really brought the book to life.
The characters are diverse, but frankly, campy and ridiculous. There's a woman, Erika, who is really into beetles and sleeping around. Karen King, a badass spider lady, who regularly saves the day. Peter, Rick, Amar, Jenny, and Danny round out the group. They're all a variety of very intelligent scientists and they are interesting to read because they use the world around them to survive. They're up against Vin Drake, the supervillain CEO of Nanigen (InGen but for robots), and its fun to root for them to survive.
What could have been better 🤔
There is a romance subplot that comes basically out of nowhere. I feel like that could have been entirely excluded and I would have liked the way the two characters ended up much better.
I also felt like this book was a touch too long; there's a lot of great detail but also a lot of repetition and ridiculous plot moments that save the day. Even though it was an easy read, after a while it gets to be like...okay now what? I
Let’s Talk About Scares! 👻
Let's level set here - I do not like bugs.
I particularly do not like wasps, centipedes, and spiders.
There are so many wasps, centipedes, and spiders in this book. 😭 10/10 terrifying, would not recommend the Hawaiian jungle.
Beyond the Boo! 🧠
As with much SciFi horror, and particularly Crichton, in the end, the lesson is about using science ultimately intended for good for evil, motivated by profit. What was originally a great invention, trying to discover lifesaving drugs and enable more effective medical treatments, is ultimately turned on its head and becomes weapons. Vin Drake is motivated by the capitalistic drive for profit, profit, profit - the downfall of humanity.
What I loved 😍
This is B-Movie, SciFi horror at its best. What a fun read! It's silly, it's scary, it's action-packed - everything that you expect out of a Crichton novel. It's also well-researched and really informative, including a full citation list at the end for all the information about bugs and plants that really brought the book to life.
The characters are diverse, but frankly, campy and ridiculous. There's a woman, Erika, who is really into beetles and sleeping around. Karen King, a badass spider lady, who regularly saves the day. Peter, Rick, Amar, Jenny, and Danny round out the group. They're all a variety of very intelligent scientists and they are interesting to read because they use the world around them to survive. They're up against Vin Drake, the supervillain CEO of Nanigen (InGen but for robots), and its fun to root for them to survive.
What could have been better 🤔
There is a romance subplot that comes basically out of nowhere. I feel like that could have been entirely excluded and I would have liked the way the two characters ended up much better.
I also felt like this book was a touch too long; there's a lot of great detail but also a lot of repetition and ridiculous plot moments that save the day. Even though it was an easy read, after a while it gets to be like...okay now what? I
Let’s Talk About Scares! 👻
Let's level set here - I do not like bugs.
I particularly do not like wasps, centipedes, and spiders.
There are so many wasps, centipedes, and spiders in this book. 😭 10/10 terrifying, would not recommend the Hawaiian jungle.
Beyond the Boo! 🧠
As with much SciFi horror, and particularly Crichton, in the end, the lesson is about using science ultimately intended for good for evil, motivated by profit. What was originally a great invention, trying to discover lifesaving drugs and enable more effective medical treatments, is ultimately turned on its head and becomes weapons. Vin Drake is motivated by the capitalistic drive for profit, profit, profit - the downfall of humanity.
April 20, 2021
Very imaginative. Incredible tale of determination and survival. I will never, ever, ever look at insects the same way I did before . . .
April 6, 2012
I have no problem proclaiming my love and adoration of the late, great Michael Crichton. Where he has always lacked in characterization and crafting language, he has always told big stories with big ideas. He was first and foremost an ideas man, and much like Jules Verne 150 years earlier, the concepts took center stage while characters and whatnot hung back in the shadows, only peeking out when necessary to the plot.
This is probably my least favorite Crichton novel, and I've read them all (excluding Pirate Latitudes, his other posthuumous release, which I will read next).
For the first 100 pages, I had considerable trouble even remembering who was who in the book. There were seven or eight grad students who end up in the micro-world of Hawaii, and all of them were virtually interchangeable (except for Rick Hutter, whose spiteful attitude anyone could remember). I was also put off by the over-the-top cartoon villain quality of the novel's protagonist Vin Drake. His motivations and modus operandi are among the stupidest things I have recently encountered in a novel. I found his character ridiculous, and (SPOILER) his eventual demise left me quite dissatisfied and wanting more. This man's crimes were poorly planned, ludicrous, and illogical. How the hell did he even get the kids into the magnet room in the first place? Absurd.
There are also some pretty big lapses in logic. I don't need to get into all of them, but they are apparent when you're reading. Further, when someone dies (as they are apt to do in this frightening landscape), no feelings really come out of it, because I wasn't sure who was dying at times, and others I just didn't care. In Crichton's other books this is also a problem, but never more so than here. In fact, in his other novels, you could feel a palpable terror when reading some passages. I found the squid scenes in "Sphere" terrifying, the dangers of the Congo in, well, "Congo" to be spine-tingling, and the dinosaur attacks in the "Park" books riveting. Here, I found a lot of the narration just annoying, and instead of sitting on the edge of my seat, I was fighting the urge to stop reading such a poorly written narrative.
The writing is lazy here. Too many adverbs in the quote tags, too many unnecessary uses of "and" in the lists, redundant vocabulary, poor syntax. This is the English teacher in me speaking, but I am sure any intelligent reader will take notice. Some of the work here is reminiscent of old classmates I had back in college, whose work sucked out loud, and who never deserved to be published. And never were.
So why the two stars, and not one? Well...I love Michael Crichton, and have always considered him a fascinating writer who loved spinning a good high-adventure yarn. Despite the fact Preston finished this one, I still don't want to bash the dead too much. The other reason is, I would only give a one-star reviiew to a book I didn't finish. I finished this, because I just had to see where it was going. I saw that finish line...and I was disappointed, through and through.
This is probably my least favorite Crichton novel, and I've read them all (excluding Pirate Latitudes, his other posthuumous release, which I will read next).
For the first 100 pages, I had considerable trouble even remembering who was who in the book. There were seven or eight grad students who end up in the micro-world of Hawaii, and all of them were virtually interchangeable (except for Rick Hutter, whose spiteful attitude anyone could remember). I was also put off by the over-the-top cartoon villain quality of the novel's protagonist Vin Drake. His motivations and modus operandi are among the stupidest things I have recently encountered in a novel. I found his character ridiculous, and (SPOILER) his eventual demise left me quite dissatisfied and wanting more. This man's crimes were poorly planned, ludicrous, and illogical. How the hell did he even get the kids into the magnet room in the first place? Absurd.
There are also some pretty big lapses in logic. I don't need to get into all of them, but they are apparent when you're reading. Further, when someone dies (as they are apt to do in this frightening landscape), no feelings really come out of it, because I wasn't sure who was dying at times, and others I just didn't care. In Crichton's other books this is also a problem, but never more so than here. In fact, in his other novels, you could feel a palpable terror when reading some passages. I found the squid scenes in "Sphere" terrifying, the dangers of the Congo in, well, "Congo" to be spine-tingling, and the dinosaur attacks in the "Park" books riveting. Here, I found a lot of the narration just annoying, and instead of sitting on the edge of my seat, I was fighting the urge to stop reading such a poorly written narrative.
The writing is lazy here. Too many adverbs in the quote tags, too many unnecessary uses of "and" in the lists, redundant vocabulary, poor syntax. This is the English teacher in me speaking, but I am sure any intelligent reader will take notice. Some of the work here is reminiscent of old classmates I had back in college, whose work sucked out loud, and who never deserved to be published. And never were.
So why the two stars, and not one? Well...I love Michael Crichton, and have always considered him a fascinating writer who loved spinning a good high-adventure yarn. Despite the fact Preston finished this one, I still don't want to bash the dead too much. The other reason is, I would only give a one-star reviiew to a book I didn't finish. I finished this, because I just had to see where it was going. I saw that finish line...and I was disappointed, through and through.
December 2, 2011
This is not a good book. It's even worse than Michael Crichton's "Next". Despite this, I actually quite enjoyed it, probably because it was a quick and entertaining read. No surprises or twists and a very easy plot. The experience can be compared to eating a big mac and drinking a cheap wine with it - it fills you up for the moment while numbing your brain.
It's very difficult to give any sort of synopsis without revealing too much. I had feared the book would be very much like "Prey", but it's not. The tiny little robots in this case are differentely equipped. The setting is the jungle in Hawaii, with eight students lost in it with their varying competenices. It's a bit like "Ten Little Indians" - one by one they die horrible unexpected deaths. This is not a book for the squeamish and particularly not for arachnophobics. Arachnophobia aside, there is a scene involving a centipede that truly reminds me of how much I hate these creatures. They evoke a "kill kill kill" response in me that many seem to have for spiders. I don't mind spiders and I never kill them intentionally. Centipedes though, are seriously disgusting creatures with too many segments and way too many legs. They also move at alarming speed and not always away from you.
And yes, that is what I am left with. A disgusting scene with a centipede. It's ten minutes since I finished the book and it is already fading from memory.
It's very difficult to give any sort of synopsis without revealing too much. I had feared the book would be very much like "Prey", but it's not. The tiny little robots in this case are differentely equipped. The setting is the jungle in Hawaii, with eight students lost in it with their varying competenices. It's a bit like "Ten Little Indians" - one by one they die horrible unexpected deaths. This is not a book for the squeamish and particularly not for arachnophobics. Arachnophobia aside, there is a scene involving a centipede that truly reminds me of how much I hate these creatures. They evoke a "kill kill kill" response in me that many seem to have for spiders. I don't mind spiders and I never kill them intentionally. Centipedes though, are seriously disgusting creatures with too many segments and way too many legs. They also move at alarming speed and not always away from you.
And yes, that is what I am left with. A disgusting scene with a centipede. It's ten minutes since I finished the book and it is already fading from memory.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 4,053 reviews