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Next
Welcome to our genetic world.
Fast, furious, and out of control.
This is not the world of the future --- it's the world right now.
Is a loved one missing some body parts? Are blondes becoming extinct? Is everyone at your dinner table of the same species? Humans and chimpanzees differ in only 400 genes; is that why an adult human being resembles a chimp fetus? And should that worry us? There's a new genetic cure for drug addiction --- is it worse than the disease?
We live in a time of momentous scientific leaps; a time when it's possible to sell our eggs and sperm online for thousands of dollars; test our spouses for genetic maladies and even frame someone for a genetic crime.
We live in a time when one fifth of all our genes are owned by someone else, and an unsuspecting person and his family can be pursued cross-country because they happen to have certain valuable genes within their chromosomes ...
Devilishly clever, Next blends fact and fiction into a breathless tale of a new world where nothing is what it seems, and a set of new possibilities can open at every turn. Next challenges our sense of reality and notions of morality. Balancing the comic and bizarre with the genuinely frightening and disturbing, Next shatters our assumptions, and reveals shocking new choices where we least expect.
The future is closer than you think. Get used to it.
522 pages, Paperback
First published November 28, 2006
2151 people are currently reading
23926 people want to read
About the author
Michael Crichton
217 books20.2k followersJohn Michael Crichton was an American author, screenwriter, and filmmaker whose prolific career left an indelible mark on popular culture and speculative fiction. Raised on Long Island, he displayed a precocious talent for writing, publishing an article in The New York Times at sixteen. Initially enrolling at Harvard as an English major, he switched to biological anthropology after discovering a preference for scientific study over literature. He graduated summa cum laude and received a fellowship to lecture in anthropology at Cambridge. Later attending Harvard Medical School, he earned his MD but chose not to practice, dedicating himself to writing instead. His medical background profoundly influenced his novels, providing authentic scientific and technical underpinnings that became a hallmark of his work. Crichton began writing under pseudonyms, producing suspenseful thrillers as John Lange, including Odds On, Scratch One, and Easy Go, and as Jeffrey Hudson with A Case of Need, earning him an Edgar Award. His first major success under his own name, The Andromeda Strain, established his signature blend of scientific authenticity, tension, and exploration of technological hazards, leading to its film adaptation. Over his career, he wrote 25 novels, including The Terminal Man, The Great Train Robbery, Congo, Sphere, Jurassic Park, Rising Sun, Disclosure, The Lost World, Airframe, Timeline, Prey, State of Fear, and Next, several adapted into major films, with four additional works published posthumously. Crichton also made significant contributions to film and television. He wrote and directed Westworld, pioneering the use of 2D computer-generated imagery, and later directed Coma, The First Great Train Robbery, Looker, and Runaway. He created the influential medical drama ER, which he executive produced and developed with Steven Spielberg, achieving critical and commercial success. Many of his novels, most famously Jurassic Park and its sequel The Lost World, became cultural phenomena, combining imaginative adventure with grounded scientific speculation, often exploring humanity’s overreach in genetics, biotechnology, and complex systems. His literary style was notable for integrating meticulous scientific detail, suspense, and moral cautionary themes. His works frequently addressed the failure of complex systems—biological, technological, or organizational—demonstrating the unpredictable consequences of human hubris. Employing techniques such as first-person narratives, false documents, fictionalized scientific reports, and assembling expert teams to tackle crises, Crichton created immersive stories appealing to both popular and scholarly audiences. His exploration of genetics, paleontology, nanotechnology, and artificial intelligence revealed both fascination and caution about humanity’s technological ambitions, while his early non-fiction, such as Five Patients and Electronic Life, reflected his scientific insight and forward-thinking approach to computers and programming. Standing 6 feet 9 inches tall, Crichton experienced social isolation in adolescence and later pursued meditation and consultations with psychics, cultivating a lifelong interest in human consciousness and alternative experiences. A workaholic, he approached writing with disciplined ritualistic methodology, often retreating entirely to complete a novel in six or seven weeks. He was married five times, fathered two children, and maintained a wide-ranging collection of 20th-century American art. Crichton engaged in political and scientific discourse, particularly regarding global warming, where he was an outspoken skeptic and testified before the U.S. Senate. He contributed significantly to the discussion of intellectual property, technology, and environmental policy, coining concepts such as the Gell-Mann amnesia effect. Throughout his life, he received numerous awards, including Edgar Awards, a Peabody Award for ER, an Aca
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 3,876 reviews
March 4, 2020
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 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.
Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...
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.
Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...
September 16, 2010
NEXT BY MICHAEL CRICHTON: I’m still trying to figure out how this manuscript landed in the hands of an editor and actually got the go ahead to be published in time for Christmas. I can’t help but think about all those dads that are going to be so disappointed on December 26th when they crack open the book and find a collection of plot lines with confusing characters and stories that seem to go nowhere.
In Prey and State of Fear, Crichton did what he does best in providing a well researched book with a riveting and thrilling plot, thought I felt the latter a little heavy handed with a viewpoint I didn’t necessarily agree with. Compared with Next, I seriously wonder what happened? The book seems barely half finished, even though if runs on for four hundred pages. There are around five to seven plot lines each with their own vague characters that the reader has to struggle to keep straight going on in their own seemingly inane direction. Near the end of the book a few of these plot lines cross over forcefully at the author’s hand, and then the book ends and the reader is left wondering where the rest of the book is. What happened to the basic rule of a story? Instead of a beginning, middle and an end, the reader gets a weak infrastructure of a beginning, with part of a middle which suddenly ends!
Combined with this is the overarching philosophy of this novel (which I hope Crichton doesn’t subscribe to himself) where every person is one who sees life only for personal gain, to be rich, and feel constant pleasure. The women are always bombshells to be used and discarded, while the characters in general will stop at nothing to satisfy their pathetic personal whims.
As for the learning portion of the novel – with Prey it was the risk of nanotechnology, with State of Fear global warming – Crichton is very heavy handed in the risks of gene therapy and engineering, running the gamut from talking (and by this I mean with extensive vocabularies) parrots and orangutans, to the risks of human cloning, to bounty hunters trying to kidnap and steal tissues from innocent people who simply happen to possess the same DNA as a family member who had his cells declared property of UCLA in a court of law. While Crichton is trying to make the blatant point of “Watch out, this is what can happen,” it comes off as over-the-top farce and tomfoolery. And if it wasn’t made clear for you, he ends the novel with his note about how patenting genes is bad, as well as a list of other matters involving gene therapy, followed by a bibliography, just to show he did the work, supposedly
It is sad really, for I’d hoped Next would be the return to the great author who gave us truly brilliant novels like Jurassic Park, Sphere, and The Andromeda Strain, but Next can’t really be considered an actual book now, because of its failure in the rules of a novel on so many levels.
If you liked this review, and would like to read more, go to BookBanter.
In Prey and State of Fear, Crichton did what he does best in providing a well researched book with a riveting and thrilling plot, thought I felt the latter a little heavy handed with a viewpoint I didn’t necessarily agree with. Compared with Next, I seriously wonder what happened? The book seems barely half finished, even though if runs on for four hundred pages. There are around five to seven plot lines each with their own vague characters that the reader has to struggle to keep straight going on in their own seemingly inane direction. Near the end of the book a few of these plot lines cross over forcefully at the author’s hand, and then the book ends and the reader is left wondering where the rest of the book is. What happened to the basic rule of a story? Instead of a beginning, middle and an end, the reader gets a weak infrastructure of a beginning, with part of a middle which suddenly ends!
Combined with this is the overarching philosophy of this novel (which I hope Crichton doesn’t subscribe to himself) where every person is one who sees life only for personal gain, to be rich, and feel constant pleasure. The women are always bombshells to be used and discarded, while the characters in general will stop at nothing to satisfy their pathetic personal whims.
As for the learning portion of the novel – with Prey it was the risk of nanotechnology, with State of Fear global warming – Crichton is very heavy handed in the risks of gene therapy and engineering, running the gamut from talking (and by this I mean with extensive vocabularies) parrots and orangutans, to the risks of human cloning, to bounty hunters trying to kidnap and steal tissues from innocent people who simply happen to possess the same DNA as a family member who had his cells declared property of UCLA in a court of law. While Crichton is trying to make the blatant point of “Watch out, this is what can happen,” it comes off as over-the-top farce and tomfoolery. And if it wasn’t made clear for you, he ends the novel with his note about how patenting genes is bad, as well as a list of other matters involving gene therapy, followed by a bibliography, just to show he did the work, supposedly
It is sad really, for I’d hoped Next would be the return to the great author who gave us truly brilliant novels like Jurassic Park, Sphere, and The Andromeda Strain, but Next can’t really be considered an actual book now, because of its failure in the rules of a novel on so many levels.
If you liked this review, and would like to read more, go to BookBanter.
May 28, 2016
Oops! Finished this yesterday and forgot to review!
I enjoyed this book even though it was a bit spastic. Basically, Michael Crichton learned everything he could about the state of gene research and politics and combined it into a series of fictional stories to make separate points. Some of the stories ended up crossing and some did not. If you read this, don't expect any cohesion, just appreciate the anecdotes within.
I enjoyed this book even though it was a bit spastic. Basically, Michael Crichton learned everything he could about the state of gene research and politics and combined it into a series of fictional stories to make separate points. Some of the stories ended up crossing and some did not. If you read this, don't expect any cohesion, just appreciate the anecdotes within.
August 8, 2022
Michael Crichton has some really cool plots and ideas and definitely delivered. It was an interesting audiobook to listen to but not a new fave. 3.7 stars
November 7, 2021
Science Fiction Thriller published 2006
4 stars for a book that got me thinking about things I know nothing about.
This might be a work of science fiction but what’s scary is that it’s all based on fact.
This book takes a long hard look at the human and animal genome and the lengths we are prepared to go to manipulate it.
But that’s not the scary part, the scary part is how the human genome has become corporatized.
It beggars belief that an intelligent, responsible judge could give ownership of a persons genes to a corporation or a university. As hard as that is to comprehend this has, in reality, happened.
The thriller part concerns a family who are relentlessly persuade by the company who owns the genes of a family member, the grandfather. The intention is to remove, forcefully if need be, body tissue from his grandson.
The legal precedent is because as the company owns the grandfather’s genes and the genes of the grandson and the grandfather are one and the same they are, in law, the property of the company.
Now if that’s not scary I don’t know what is.
This is just a small part of what is a very complex story line
All I can say is that it gave me a lot to think about.
My only problem with the book was the excessive amount of medical and technical information. I had trouble enough reading some of the words let alone understanding their meaning. And there were pages and pages of the stuff.
But that apart, I am in awe of the amount of research the late Michael Crichton must have done in the pursuit of writing this book. The word that comes to mind is ‘dedication’.
It’s a great read but can be a slow slog at times.
4 stars for a book that got me thinking about things I know nothing about.
This might be a work of science fiction but what’s scary is that it’s all based on fact.
This book takes a long hard look at the human and animal genome and the lengths we are prepared to go to manipulate it.
But that’s not the scary part, the scary part is how the human genome has become corporatized.
It beggars belief that an intelligent, responsible judge could give ownership of a persons genes to a corporation or a university. As hard as that is to comprehend this has, in reality, happened.
The thriller part concerns a family who are relentlessly persuade by the company who owns the genes of a family member, the grandfather. The intention is to remove, forcefully if need be, body tissue from his grandson.
The legal precedent is because as the company owns the grandfather’s genes and the genes of the grandson and the grandfather are one and the same they are, in law, the property of the company.
Now if that’s not scary I don’t know what is.
This is just a small part of what is a very complex story line
All I can say is that it gave me a lot to think about.
My only problem with the book was the excessive amount of medical and technical information. I had trouble enough reading some of the words let alone understanding their meaning. And there were pages and pages of the stuff.
But that apart, I am in awe of the amount of research the late Michael Crichton must have done in the pursuit of writing this book. The word that comes to mind is ‘dedication’.
It’s a great read but can be a slow slog at times.
October 5, 2010
I'm giving the five stars not because of how it is written, but what it's about. Crichton was trained as a medical doctor before he was a novelist. And he died of cancer recently at a relatively young age. I am supposing he wrote this book after he was diagnosed. He knew there could be all kinds of ways of treating his disease that have not yet emerged from clinical trials. He was certainly angry at the medical establishment, at the research community, at Big Pharma, and at the government's policies regarding intellectual property rights for genetic discoveries. Crichton's books often have bibliographies, but this one also has an appendix containing his recommendations on legislative reform in the area of genetic research.
As to the book as literature, he interweaves multiple plots that converge here and there. It's a compelling drama of ideas, but it lacks the strong narrative thread. It won't make a good movie without sacrificing a lot of the interesting side issues. There's no single strong main character, no single ominous threat with ticking fuse. Oddly enough, my complaint about some of his more commercially successful books is that the plotting was too simplistic, too lean, as though designed for the movie script to simply fall out. I assumed he listened to CAA too much about how to structure his books because his agents cared not at all about them as literature, only about how much they would fetch for movie rights.
The best Crichton book, by far, is "The Great Train Robbery." Not sci-fi at all, just meticulous research, loads of detail, and great storytelling.
As to the book as literature, he interweaves multiple plots that converge here and there. It's a compelling drama of ideas, but it lacks the strong narrative thread. It won't make a good movie without sacrificing a lot of the interesting side issues. There's no single strong main character, no single ominous threat with ticking fuse. Oddly enough, my complaint about some of his more commercially successful books is that the plotting was too simplistic, too lean, as though designed for the movie script to simply fall out. I assumed he listened to CAA too much about how to structure his books because his agents cared not at all about them as literature, only about how much they would fetch for movie rights.
The best Crichton book, by far, is "The Great Train Robbery." Not sci-fi at all, just meticulous research, loads of detail, and great storytelling.
October 11, 2007
Next by Michael Crichton is a ridiculous, silly book. But I bet a lot of people said the same thing about Brave New World, Dune, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Stranger in a Strange Land, and 1984 when they came out. No, Next can not hold a candle to these science fiction classics, but it is the same kind of book, and it is poignant for its time. The fact is, Crichton writes satire, and the general perception of him does not accept this. Next is both silly and excellent. More importantly, I learned quite a bit from reading it. I did not know that genes can be patented, human tissues can be used in any way by whomever happens to end up with them, and that gene testing results can be hidden in such a way that deaths have been covered up because they were "trade secrets". Crichton shows the extreme possibilities of these insane laws. In Next, a man has a gene that could be a groundbreaking cure, but when the company that has the patent for it is sabotaged and loses all its samples it believes it is within its rights to hire bounty hunters to track down this man's daughter and grandson and surgically take some of their genes since they are the company's property. This is just one story that intersects the others in Next (Oh, by the way, there is a transgenic chimpanzee-human in the book). Will it happen? Probably not. But do we only produce children in test tubes like in Brave New World? Have we colonized the moon like in The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress? And while surveillance gets scarier and scarier are we actually being watched all the time like in 1984? No. Satire, by definition, is trafficking in exaggeration to warn people about where we are going. Crichton might be mentioned more frequently in a list that includes John Grisham and Danielle Steel, then with the likes of Aldous Huxley and George Orwell, but he is a satirical science fiction writer, and a pretty good one. His popularity and high quantity output is making people think he is for thirteen-year-old boys only. He is better than that. Give the man a chance. Start with Next.
May 24, 2024
It is a good thriller by Michael Crichton, who denounces genetic experiments and the privatization of living things. For the author, a pretext to defend several theses, which he exposes at the end of the book:
- Stop patenting genes
- Establish clear guidelines for the use of human tissue
- Let us make laws ensuring that data from genetic experiments is made public
- Avoid bans on research
- Repeal the law that privatizes discoveries made in universities.
It is an excellent idea to denounce these abuses through a novel that keeps us going. On the other hand, it pushes the stopper a little far with a parrot, which speaks for us, and a monkey that we confuse with a little boy.
- Stop patenting genes
- Establish clear guidelines for the use of human tissue
- Let us make laws ensuring that data from genetic experiments is made public
- Avoid bans on research
- Repeal the law that privatizes discoveries made in universities.
It is an excellent idea to denounce these abuses through a novel that keeps us going. On the other hand, it pushes the stopper a little far with a parrot, which speaks for us, and a monkey that we confuse with a little boy.
September 15, 2018
Actually I liked this book. Don't know why majority readers thought this book was overrated. I was hooked from the word go. Well researched book, the author has taken pains to learn about genes and weave a story around it. The book was also interspersed with articles and essays on biotechnology related subjects.
To make it short, the book is about genetic technology and experiments around it including the discovery of various genes with behavioural traits. There are three or four plots in the book which are unconnected. There are greedy tycoons, unethical scientists and immoral health workers and abundant technical jargon thrown in to make the book interesting to the reader.
Simply put a very engrossing book.
To make it short, the book is about genetic technology and experiments around it including the discovery of various genes with behavioural traits. There are three or four plots in the book which are unconnected. There are greedy tycoons, unethical scientists and immoral health workers and abundant technical jargon thrown in to make the book interesting to the reader.
Simply put a very engrossing book.
January 11, 2013
1.5
Next is a very well-researched book. And that’s the only good thing I can say about it.
The characters were too many and too unmemorable; I forgot nearly all of them as soon as they were mentioned. The stuff on stem-cells and genes and biotechnology was excruciatingly boring. The story was over-exaggerated, silly and unintentionally funny. A swearing chimpanzee and a transgenic ape who goes to school?? Are you kidding me??
I’m still trying to figure out why I read Next instead of Jurassic Park...
Next is a very well-researched book. And that’s the only good thing I can say about it.
The characters were too many and too unmemorable; I forgot nearly all of them as soon as they were mentioned. The stuff on stem-cells and genes and biotechnology was excruciatingly boring. The story was over-exaggerated, silly and unintentionally funny. A swearing chimpanzee and a transgenic ape who goes to school?? Are you kidding me??
I’m still trying to figure out why I read Next instead of Jurassic Park...
April 1, 2014
Fast paced story with a ton of subplots that plays like a popular soap opera of your choice. Topics range from legal battles over human tissue (including the right to have bounty hunters go after the descendants of said tissue), transgenic apes, one transgenic parrot (that talk tough if provoked), biotech espionage vs. competitors, gene patenting, and a lot of angry people.
There's some scientific info woven into this tale as well but not too much yet I still learned about some new things like chimeras and how close animals and such are closer to us than we want to admit. Tons of moralistic questions and ones that should concern us as we aren't terribly far from this possible future. Although the book is long the chapters are short with cliffhangers so it flows nicely. The ape kid is one of the best top four characters in this novel.
CHARACTERS/DIALOGUE: B plus to A minus; STORY/PLOTTING: A; HOTNESS OF SAID TOPIC AND FUTURE DISCUSSION: A; NEW WORLD EXPOSURE: B plus; WHEN READ: October to January 2011 (review formatting change 8/23/2012); MY GRADE: B plus to A minus.
There's some scientific info woven into this tale as well but not too much yet I still learned about some new things like chimeras and how close animals and such are closer to us than we want to admit. Tons of moralistic questions and ones that should concern us as we aren't terribly far from this possible future. Although the book is long the chapters are short with cliffhangers so it flows nicely. The ape kid is one of the best top four characters in this novel.
CHARACTERS/DIALOGUE: B plus to A minus; STORY/PLOTTING: A; HOTNESS OF SAID TOPIC AND FUTURE DISCUSSION: A; NEW WORLD EXPOSURE: B plus; WHEN READ: October to January 2011 (review formatting change 8/23/2012); MY GRADE: B plus to A minus.
April 22, 2020
Man Micheal Critchton’s writing is amazing but man was this book just meh.
January 15, 2008
So I was, like, really broke towards the tail end of last month. But, you know, broke or not, I still needed something to read - I was just going to have to content myself with one of those trashy, $7.99 paperbacks. And, lemme tell ya, pickings are slim.
So I got a Michael Crichton book. I'm very ashamed. More so because I actually, well, liked it.
Crichton, I think, resonates so well with middle-of-the-road audiences because his takes on science and technology tend to play to the common man's fear that it's all spiraling out of control. It feeds the idea that scientists are unscrupulous, insane dirtbags.
Next really isn't that different. There's a lot of unscrupulous science going on here. And it's a very didactic book, a lot of exposition, a lot of information, and a clear bias. Just like most other Michael Crichton sci-fi thrillers.
The difference here is that, well, he might actually be right. When you talk about things such as corporate ownership of portions of the genome, patenting of individual genes, ownership of cells being given to someone other than the person those cells came from - this is all stuff that's happening right now. And it's stuff that cannot, in any way, be good.
And, yeah, there are some subplots about transgenic animals. They're fun - mostly because, hey, who doesn't love a talking animal - but they're not what this is about. The concern here isn't even necessarily about the science, it's about the greed that has warped the science.
So, thematically, it's terribly compelling. In actual execution, well... few writers are as talented at the craft of forcing you to turn the page as Crichton, even if what's on the next page is kind of hackneyed.
And that's the problem with the $7.99 mass-market paperback, isn't it? Even when you have interesting themes, they're really just the window dressing for chases, shootouts, mistaken identities, unbelievable coincidences and, yeah, talking monkeys.
So I got a Michael Crichton book. I'm very ashamed. More so because I actually, well, liked it.
Crichton, I think, resonates so well with middle-of-the-road audiences because his takes on science and technology tend to play to the common man's fear that it's all spiraling out of control. It feeds the idea that scientists are unscrupulous, insane dirtbags.
Next really isn't that different. There's a lot of unscrupulous science going on here. And it's a very didactic book, a lot of exposition, a lot of information, and a clear bias. Just like most other Michael Crichton sci-fi thrillers.
The difference here is that, well, he might actually be right. When you talk about things such as corporate ownership of portions of the genome, patenting of individual genes, ownership of cells being given to someone other than the person those cells came from - this is all stuff that's happening right now. And it's stuff that cannot, in any way, be good.
And, yeah, there are some subplots about transgenic animals. They're fun - mostly because, hey, who doesn't love a talking animal - but they're not what this is about. The concern here isn't even necessarily about the science, it's about the greed that has warped the science.
So, thematically, it's terribly compelling. In actual execution, well... few writers are as talented at the craft of forcing you to turn the page as Crichton, even if what's on the next page is kind of hackneyed.
And that's the problem with the $7.99 mass-market paperback, isn't it? Even when you have interesting themes, they're really just the window dressing for chases, shootouts, mistaken identities, unbelievable coincidences and, yeah, talking monkeys.
July 23, 2021
Not much of an ending, but definitely a page-turner. Very well-researched novel.
April 16, 2012
This was not necessarily a bad novel (I still rated it right around average!) but suffice it to say that it is the worst Crichton novel that I have read thus far. I think where Next fails is that Mr. Crichton tried to get too many storylines going in order to have them all running simultaneously in an effort to show a more grand scope to his issues of possible problems with genetic research.
The main problem here is that many of the characters became washed out and meaningless. There is just so much going on with so many different characters that I kept having to reset and figure out who was who and exactly what was going on with them. I think that he had the bones here to craft a really good storyline, but would have benefited tremendously from a heavy dose of self-editing and then expanding the tales of those characters that he felt most essential to keep.
What came out of this book for me was confusing and subsequently, quite boring. Michael Crichton is one of my favorite authors in contemporary fiction however and I am not discouraged enough by one stinker to stop reading his novels.
The main problem here is that many of the characters became washed out and meaningless. There is just so much going on with so many different characters that I kept having to reset and figure out who was who and exactly what was going on with them. I think that he had the bones here to craft a really good storyline, but would have benefited tremendously from a heavy dose of self-editing and then expanding the tales of those characters that he felt most essential to keep.
What came out of this book for me was confusing and subsequently, quite boring. Michael Crichton is one of my favorite authors in contemporary fiction however and I am not discouraged enough by one stinker to stop reading his novels.
April 10, 2022
Boring and idiotic, like a mix of Douglas Adams & Paul Verhoeven parody commercials.
June 4, 2023
Fascinating book that is highly scientific.
A bit confusing at times but still a good book.
A bit confusing at times but still a good book.
November 29, 2008
This was riveting! The book is about all of the possibilities of gene therapy and genetic engineering and it blends fact and fiction in clever ways that leave the reader with the unnerving sense that some of the fictional story lines are probably happening somewhere in the world right now. It also gives a strong sense of just how uncontrolled this field is and what ethical questions arise if a person allows a company to "purchase" their cell line...or a scientist decides to insert human genes into an animal fetus and create a "transgenic" animal...or someone claims to have isolated a particular gene that could cure a disease. The behind the scenes buying and selling of gene patents between universities and/or drug companies is downright scary. It doesn't take too much of a leap of imagination to visualize very muddy ethical lines between a scientific pursuit of knowledge and the pursuit of the almighty dollar. I couldn't put it down!
February 13, 2012
This book was a very random purchase in Hoboken, NJ while waiting over two hours for the next train to upstate New York to visit a friend. I’d read a few books by Michael Crichton and this one was on sale for $7.00 (hard cover) so I grabbed it.
Next delves into scientific advancement. What is wrong, right, and where the line between them is largely overlooked. Medical related, of course, the story follows individuals as they face the consequences of things like genetic engineering, DNA decoding, genetic tampering, and one of the most insane things out there: gene patenting (side note, did you know 5% of the genes that make up who you are are patented and "owned" by companies?)
Are all the things going on in the book true? Most likely not. Could they be? Of course. That is what kept the book interesting to me. In this book I didn't really grow attached to the characters in the pages due to a lack of real character development but I did care about what they were doing to help change (some for the better, some not) the world in which we live.
Next is fast paced with lots of interesting tidbits of information in this sect of science, technology, and patent law. It makes the reality of cures, cloning, and judicial rulings in these matters rather scary. Not a read for everyone but if you like science and can stand an intersting book where you don't fall in love with the characters then I do recommend this book.
Next delves into scientific advancement. What is wrong, right, and where the line between them is largely overlooked. Medical related, of course, the story follows individuals as they face the consequences of things like genetic engineering, DNA decoding, genetic tampering, and one of the most insane things out there: gene patenting (side note, did you know 5% of the genes that make up who you are are patented and "owned" by companies?)
Are all the things going on in the book true? Most likely not. Could they be? Of course. That is what kept the book interesting to me. In this book I didn't really grow attached to the characters in the pages due to a lack of real character development but I did care about what they were doing to help change (some for the better, some not) the world in which we live.
Next is fast paced with lots of interesting tidbits of information in this sect of science, technology, and patent law. It makes the reality of cures, cloning, and judicial rulings in these matters rather scary. Not a read for everyone but if you like science and can stand an intersting book where you don't fall in love with the characters then I do recommend this book.
Want to read
April 29, 2017RTC
So I got this in a book haul and so excited to read this! it may not have many great reviews and here's what I say about those who say they don't like Crichton or give 1-2 star ratings and would think me weird.....
I FREAKING LOVE AND MISS MICHAEL CRICHTON!! the ONLY reason I think sooooo many people gave/give up on him or rate so low is because of all his science talk. yeah, it's boring I get it and I DESPISE science but he still manages to put in a thriller and an actual story and set you up for it in some places. so if you EVER EVER read him, DO NOT QUIT! besides Jurassic Park was classic, Timeline one of my favorite books and movies, and the last one I read was Prey and a good chunk was a set up and BOOOORING as heck BUT the second half was INCREDIBLE and in a good weird way, it was sooooo well written I seriously thought I'd have freaking nightmares from that book! so sad cancer took him in 2008 but glad and ecstatic that there's been other works he'd been working on YEARS back and were found recently so his books still live on past the grave. I don't think I've been more excited to read a Crichton book after reading up on the premise of this story!!!
So I got this in a book haul and so excited to read this! it may not have many great reviews and here's what I say about those who say they don't like Crichton or give 1-2 star ratings and would think me weird.....
I FREAKING LOVE AND MISS MICHAEL CRICHTON!! the ONLY reason I think sooooo many people gave/give up on him or rate so low is because of all his science talk. yeah, it's boring I get it and I DESPISE science but he still manages to put in a thriller and an actual story and set you up for it in some places. so if you EVER EVER read him, DO NOT QUIT! besides Jurassic Park was classic, Timeline one of my favorite books and movies, and the last one I read was Prey and a good chunk was a set up and BOOOORING as heck BUT the second half was INCREDIBLE and in a good weird way, it was sooooo well written I seriously thought I'd have freaking nightmares from that book! so sad cancer took him in 2008 but glad and ecstatic that there's been other works he'd been working on YEARS back and were found recently so his books still live on past the grave. I don't think I've been more excited to read a Crichton book after reading up on the premise of this story!!!
June 29, 2013
Fantastic book. Immensely futuristic even as it shows you what is actually happening today. The fact that transgenic animals have been created for decades was an eye-opener. The book clearly has a viewpoint on genetic engineering and there is an author's note at the end which is a must-read. Highly recommend this to anyone who is looking an intelligent thriller, even though the book is also satire.
May 19, 2018
Michael Crichton revisited the world of genetic engineering in his novel _Next_. Steering away from recreating extinct organisms (namely dinosaurs, as in his _Jurassic Park_ novels), he looked at issues of genetic engineering as well as how the legal world and the culture relates to it, issues that are relevant today. Some parts are scary, though more in a sickening death-and-taxes-that-could-really-happen kind of way than an edge-of-your-seat-oh-my-goodness kind of way.
Lots to dissect in this book; let's look at the two main plots to begin with. One plot revolved around the saga of Henry Kendall, a genetic researcher who years ago mixed his own DNA into chimpanzee DNA. He thought the fetus - as most transgenic fetuses ended up being - would either die in the womb or otherwise die soon afterwards and he would have something for a research project. Owing to a series of events he lost track of the mother, the mother gave birth, and the transgenic animal - the humanzee - survived. Harry, who left the lab, assumed the animal had died but was given a heads up by a former colleague that his humanzee, dubbed Dave, was going to be euthanasized. Bad enough to put down an animal (that was after all the result of an illegal experiment), it got worse; Dave is sentient and can speak. Harry basically smuggled the animal out of the lab and did his best to keep him safe and then give him some kind of life.
The other main plot revolved around a both chilling and perhaps insane saga. It seems a man by the name of Frank Burnett had cancer and underwent some experimental treatment. Frank recovered, but not thanks to the researchers. It turned out that Frank's own body could manufacture powerful cancer-fighting components, and those components were valuable. Without informing Frank what was going on, his doctor/genetic engineering entrepreneur Rick Diehl was obtaining numerous samples from Frank, developing a cell line in the lab for genetic research and later commercial purposes, and building an entire profitable company around this.
This being the day and age it is Frank sues of course. Why can't he get a cut of the immense profits? Don't they at least need his permission? Incredibly, in court Frank, represented by his daughter Alison lost. The company, BioGen, it is ruled owned those cells. Any cells that Frank lost during the hospital are considered waste material and he lost ownership rights to him, and when Rick patented his findings from studying those cells, Frank lost any chance to ever make any profit from that cell line.
Frank was about to give up and go home after losing the court case when an unscrupulous and shady character comes up with a proposal; what if BioGen were to "accidentally" lose all of those cell lines in their labs and off-site storage facilities? If Frank went into hiding, another, second company could come, extract cells from him and this time cut Frank in for a share of the profits.
Well Frank of course agrees, but that is where it gets interesting. Faced with a devastating financial blow, Rick and BioGen need those cell lines. They get a court order for Frank to show up and give more samples - after all, BioGen "owns" Frank's cells - but he is a no show. However, they know that Frank has a daughter and a grandson, and they go after them, hoping to extract cells from them, viewing those cells as "stolen property." Easily the most action-packed of the plotlines, it was quite entertaining.
Crichton does not limit his exploration of the world of genetic engineering, culture, and the law, to these two story lines and has several unrelated or marginally related subplots and one-shot chapters exploring various other issues, including issues relating to patenting entire species of wild animals, when hospitals make a profit from the body parts of deceased patients, and the rights of anonymous sperm donors in a world of DNA testing. Though generally interesting, they didn't always relate to what I viewed as the two main plots and one of these plot lines was better as an intellectual exercise and didn't do much as entertaining fiction.
I found that the book ended a bit too neatly in some ways, as too many seemingly unrelated plotlines converged at the end, including one with a wise-cracking transgenic parrot by the name of Gerard. The writing though overall was good and I liked how he portrayed most of the characters.
Unusually for a work of fiction, Crichton included a list of conclusions he reached from his research for the book. An appendix detailed five suggestions to avoid some of the insanity he had just portrayed, namely stop patenting genes (that one he went into at length), establish clear guidelines for the use of human tissue (particularly with regards to donor rights), pass laws to make sure data about genetic testing is made public (he stated that some researchers have tried to prevent data about patient deaths resulting from genetic therapy getting into the public media, claiming such information is a trade secret), avoid bans on research (he wrote that they can't be enforced anyway), and rescind the 1980 Bayh-Dole Act (legislation which ended up seriously blurring the line between academic research and private industry and producing too many scientists motivated by personal financial interests in their research and results). He also included an extensive bibliography with comments on each book or article.
Lots to dissect in this book; let's look at the two main plots to begin with. One plot revolved around the saga of Henry Kendall, a genetic researcher who years ago mixed his own DNA into chimpanzee DNA. He thought the fetus - as most transgenic fetuses ended up being - would either die in the womb or otherwise die soon afterwards and he would have something for a research project. Owing to a series of events he lost track of the mother, the mother gave birth, and the transgenic animal - the humanzee - survived. Harry, who left the lab, assumed the animal had died but was given a heads up by a former colleague that his humanzee, dubbed Dave, was going to be euthanasized. Bad enough to put down an animal (that was after all the result of an illegal experiment), it got worse; Dave is sentient and can speak. Harry basically smuggled the animal out of the lab and did his best to keep him safe and then give him some kind of life.
The other main plot revolved around a both chilling and perhaps insane saga. It seems a man by the name of Frank Burnett had cancer and underwent some experimental treatment. Frank recovered, but not thanks to the researchers. It turned out that Frank's own body could manufacture powerful cancer-fighting components, and those components were valuable. Without informing Frank what was going on, his doctor/genetic engineering entrepreneur Rick Diehl was obtaining numerous samples from Frank, developing a cell line in the lab for genetic research and later commercial purposes, and building an entire profitable company around this.
This being the day and age it is Frank sues of course. Why can't he get a cut of the immense profits? Don't they at least need his permission? Incredibly, in court Frank, represented by his daughter Alison lost. The company, BioGen, it is ruled owned those cells. Any cells that Frank lost during the hospital are considered waste material and he lost ownership rights to him, and when Rick patented his findings from studying those cells, Frank lost any chance to ever make any profit from that cell line.
Frank was about to give up and go home after losing the court case when an unscrupulous and shady character comes up with a proposal; what if BioGen were to "accidentally" lose all of those cell lines in their labs and off-site storage facilities? If Frank went into hiding, another, second company could come, extract cells from him and this time cut Frank in for a share of the profits.
Well Frank of course agrees, but that is where it gets interesting. Faced with a devastating financial blow, Rick and BioGen need those cell lines. They get a court order for Frank to show up and give more samples - after all, BioGen "owns" Frank's cells - but he is a no show. However, they know that Frank has a daughter and a grandson, and they go after them, hoping to extract cells from them, viewing those cells as "stolen property." Easily the most action-packed of the plotlines, it was quite entertaining.
Crichton does not limit his exploration of the world of genetic engineering, culture, and the law, to these two story lines and has several unrelated or marginally related subplots and one-shot chapters exploring various other issues, including issues relating to patenting entire species of wild animals, when hospitals make a profit from the body parts of deceased patients, and the rights of anonymous sperm donors in a world of DNA testing. Though generally interesting, they didn't always relate to what I viewed as the two main plots and one of these plot lines was better as an intellectual exercise and didn't do much as entertaining fiction.
I found that the book ended a bit too neatly in some ways, as too many seemingly unrelated plotlines converged at the end, including one with a wise-cracking transgenic parrot by the name of Gerard. The writing though overall was good and I liked how he portrayed most of the characters.
Unusually for a work of fiction, Crichton included a list of conclusions he reached from his research for the book. An appendix detailed five suggestions to avoid some of the insanity he had just portrayed, namely stop patenting genes (that one he went into at length), establish clear guidelines for the use of human tissue (particularly with regards to donor rights), pass laws to make sure data about genetic testing is made public (he stated that some researchers have tried to prevent data about patient deaths resulting from genetic therapy getting into the public media, claiming such information is a trade secret), avoid bans on research (he wrote that they can't be enforced anyway), and rescind the 1980 Bayh-Dole Act (legislation which ended up seriously blurring the line between academic research and private industry and producing too many scientists motivated by personal financial interests in their research and results). He also included an extensive bibliography with comments on each book or article.
October 18, 2014
The later few Crichton novels seem to have a higher vision and intent than to only entertain; they also seek to educate and encourage debate. To that end, Next throws light on areas such as the government's policies on intellectual property rights for genetic discoveries, the absurd practice of patenting entire genes (and all uses and interactions that genome may carry out with anything else - in all of mankind) and diseases, what exactly constitutes cell ownership, and the moral grey areas such as the ethics of genetic engineering, stem cell research and genetic therapy. For example, I never thought about the impact that publishing a deceased's genetic information would have on their relatives and descendants with respect to insurance companies using the said info.
The one irksome aspect is the high number of characters that keep getting introduced with plot lines of their own, with some of them made to cross over forcefully at Crichton's hand, who sacrifices pace in the narrative head so that he may bring to light the many different facets of the subject. In one of the interviews included in the ebook version (note: the two interviews and an essay by Crichton are all excellent), Crichton weighs-in: I think there were two considerations. One was that I was unable to overlook the structure of the genome as we are now starting to understand it, and how individual genes interact with other genes, or may seem to be silent, or we don’t really know what they do, or sometimes there are repetitions that are not clear to us, and it struck me as an interesting idea to try to organize the novel in that way, even though it’s not what one ordinarily does. The second thing that was driving me was the notion that there are a great many stories of interest in this area, and they’re all quite different in terms of the legal and ethical problems that are raised in the field, so I wanted to do a number of different stories.
The story, though it moves along quite nicely, doesn't really have a meaty enough middle to it (well, except for Gerard, the talking African grey parrot, who's a riot), and is more a device for the larger intent and theme that Crichton has in mind.
So, as a novel, I wouldn't rate this one too high. But as a book, it's quite a good read.
The one irksome aspect is the high number of characters that keep getting introduced with plot lines of their own, with some of them made to cross over forcefully at Crichton's hand, who sacrifices pace in the narrative head so that he may bring to light the many different facets of the subject. In one of the interviews included in the ebook version (note: the two interviews and an essay by Crichton are all excellent), Crichton weighs-in: I think there were two considerations. One was that I was unable to overlook the structure of the genome as we are now starting to understand it, and how individual genes interact with other genes, or may seem to be silent, or we don’t really know what they do, or sometimes there are repetitions that are not clear to us, and it struck me as an interesting idea to try to organize the novel in that way, even though it’s not what one ordinarily does. The second thing that was driving me was the notion that there are a great many stories of interest in this area, and they’re all quite different in terms of the legal and ethical problems that are raised in the field, so I wanted to do a number of different stories.
The story, though it moves along quite nicely, doesn't really have a meaty enough middle to it (well, except for Gerard, the talking African grey parrot, who's a riot), and is more a device for the larger intent and theme that Crichton has in mind.
So, as a novel, I wouldn't rate this one too high. But as a book, it's quite a good read.
July 5, 2007
It's not very often that I experience self-consciousness while reading a book. This book inspired that kind of feeling in me by its being so poorly crafted that I felt absolutely philistine. I'm not sure if Crichton just had a bad writing streak, or if my tastes in reading have moved on - but his most recent book, Next, was an astounding disappointment.
Next focuses on the potential that present day and up and coming genetic technologies may have upon our society and way of life. A cautionary tale not unlike many of Crichton's other novels, this book was designed to intimidate and bring forward the scarier possibilities that new genetic technologies pose. I was reminded of the multi-cultural movie "Babel" while reading this book, in that the author kept multiple and separate stories narrated in tandem, each story connected one way or another.
Although I remain critical about the worth behind the content and some of the choices that were made to communicate the information in the book, that's not to say that I didn't encounter portions of the book that kept me interested and reading longer than I intended so that I could see around the next corner of the twisting plot. Even though this book didn't cater to my desire for mental stimulation, I certainly can't deny that the book did have some page-turning thriller value with a wide appeal range because of the mixed plot lines ranging from John Grisham-like legal intrigue to some science fiction action. For these reasons, I would suggest that anyone looking for a fast reading 400 page book, this one is it. Just don't expect to come out enlightened by Michael Crichton's musings this time around.
Next focuses on the potential that present day and up and coming genetic technologies may have upon our society and way of life. A cautionary tale not unlike many of Crichton's other novels, this book was designed to intimidate and bring forward the scarier possibilities that new genetic technologies pose. I was reminded of the multi-cultural movie "Babel" while reading this book, in that the author kept multiple and separate stories narrated in tandem, each story connected one way or another.
Although I remain critical about the worth behind the content and some of the choices that were made to communicate the information in the book, that's not to say that I didn't encounter portions of the book that kept me interested and reading longer than I intended so that I could see around the next corner of the twisting plot. Even though this book didn't cater to my desire for mental stimulation, I certainly can't deny that the book did have some page-turning thriller value with a wide appeal range because of the mixed plot lines ranging from John Grisham-like legal intrigue to some science fiction action. For these reasons, I would suggest that anyone looking for a fast reading 400 page book, this one is it. Just don't expect to come out enlightened by Michael Crichton's musings this time around.
February 8, 2024
Picked up Michael Crichton after a long long time. Pleasantly glad to have discovered that his books still evoke the same level of engagement and adrenaline in me.
‘Next’ tells us stories. Horror stories of what might happen if genetic engineering is commercialized. If genes are played as a fiddle by the hunky dory capitalistic techbros. The book is thrilling. It is engaging. I docked out stars because it had so many parallels running that it is difficult for the reader to keep all of them in mind. And the science is a bit off at times (there is NO one gene that codes for one trait or one behaviour - it is extremely COMPLEX) but I think it was partly intentional by the author to make the point that scientists can be wildly unethical in exaggerating their claims and discoveries.
It’s not equal to Jurassic Park in its quality but is still a good read if you are a fan of some racy science fiction thriller.
‘Next’ tells us stories. Horror stories of what might happen if genetic engineering is commercialized. If genes are played as a fiddle by the hunky dory capitalistic techbros. The book is thrilling. It is engaging. I docked out stars because it had so many parallels running that it is difficult for the reader to keep all of them in mind. And the science is a bit off at times (there is NO one gene that codes for one trait or one behaviour - it is extremely COMPLEX) but I think it was partly intentional by the author to make the point that scientists can be wildly unethical in exaggerating their claims and discoveries.
It’s not equal to Jurassic Park in its quality but is still a good read if you are a fan of some racy science fiction thriller.
January 19, 2022
Un libro que me gustó bastante.
No le di las 5 estrellas porque son muchas historias pequeñitas y algunas no llegan a nada o se desinflan o se quedan a la mitad.
Pero como todas son entretenidas, y el libro tiene capítulos cortos que de pronto resultan incluso adictivos, lo hace merecedor de las 4 estrellas.
Me hubiera gustado que fuera un poco más largo o que algunos personajes fueran omitidos, pero en general, si la sinopsis te llama la atención, es 100% recomendable.
Eso sí, no resuelve ningún misterio, y al final todo eso de los chimpancés parlantes se queda en nada. Pero sí hay algo por el estilo (relacionado a los chimpancés) que está un poco mejor desarrollado.
También hay que entender que el libro es del 2006, así que si lo vemos desde esa perspectiva, tiene cierto encanto por todo lo adelantado que estaba a su época.
No le di las 5 estrellas porque son muchas historias pequeñitas y algunas no llegan a nada o se desinflan o se quedan a la mitad.
Pero como todas son entretenidas, y el libro tiene capítulos cortos que de pronto resultan incluso adictivos, lo hace merecedor de las 4 estrellas.
Me hubiera gustado que fuera un poco más largo o que algunos personajes fueran omitidos, pero en general, si la sinopsis te llama la atención, es 100% recomendable.
Eso sí, no resuelve ningún misterio, y al final todo eso de los chimpancés parlantes se queda en nada. Pero sí hay algo por el estilo (relacionado a los chimpancés) que está un poco mejor desarrollado.
También hay que entender que el libro es del 2006, así que si lo vemos desde esa perspectiva, tiene cierto encanto por todo lo adelantado que estaba a su época.
May 1, 2019
It is a scientific thriller that tells about genetics.
Although I'm not familiar with science nor genetics in particular, yet it seems that Crichton did an excellent job in his scientific explanations.
Two main drawbacks in the book-
First of all, you have to be patient because Crichton is overly exaggerating with the scientific descriptions and genealogy articles that appear in each chapter.
Second, the book has many characters, and finally, only at the end of all things, everything connects, so it's a little hard to follow.
Nevertheless, the result is satisfactory in my opinion - it is a fascinating thriller.
Although I'm not familiar with science nor genetics in particular, yet it seems that Crichton did an excellent job in his scientific explanations.
Two main drawbacks in the book-
First of all, you have to be patient because Crichton is overly exaggerating with the scientific descriptions and genealogy articles that appear in each chapter.
Second, the book has many characters, and finally, only at the end of all things, everything connects, so it's a little hard to follow.
Nevertheless, the result is satisfactory in my opinion - it is a fascinating thriller.
December 12, 2008
This is classic Michael Crichton. I love his stories and how he intermingle science within a fictional novel. The story deals with the ethics and stories associated with bio genetics. There is a long cast of characters and the author ties them together in the end (which is probably a little too far fetched). However, it is a great way (for me) to get lost in an amazing world that Michael has a way of putting together. I am sad that he has passed away and will no longer be able to gift the world with his creativity.
November 11, 2024
With all the different scenarios and characters in this work, it definitely became a page turner for me. One day only from start to finish and by the end, I admit I was exhausted. Not just a story about the gene and discovering how it can be manipulated to improve our lives but the misuse in the wrong hands. I remember a saying that is stuck in my head "just because we can, doesn't mean we should" and it certainly applies to the scientists in this story. I thought it was well researched and incredibly well written. Highly recommend this book.
March 2, 2018
This book was recommended to me by my Dad, I'll always read anything he gives me.
I read this a long time ago, I remember it being very scientific, so at times I did struggle to keep up and understand what was going on, but I remember it being brilliant.
A guy working with a monkey trying to find a cure? I will definitely have to re read this but I remember it being good
I read this a long time ago, I remember it being very scientific, so at times I did struggle to keep up and understand what was going on, but I remember it being brilliant.
A guy working with a monkey trying to find a cure? I will definitely have to re read this but I remember it being good
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