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The Andromeda Strain #1
The Andromeda Strain
Some biologists speculate that if we ever make contact with extraterrestrials, those life forms are likely to be--like most life on earth--one-celled or smaller creatures, more comparable to bacteria than little green men. And even though such organisms would not likely be able to harm humans, the possibility exists that first contact might be our last.
That's the scientific supposition that Michael Crichton formulates and follows out to its conclusion in his excellent debut novel, The Andromeda Strain.
A Nobel-Prize-winning bacteriologist, Jeremy Stone, urges the president to approve an extraterrestrial decontamination facility to sterilize returning astronauts, satellites, and spacecraft that might carry an "unknown biologic agent." The government agrees, almost too quickly, to build the top-secret Wildfire Lab in the desert of Nevada. Shortly thereafter, unbeknownst to Stone, the U.S. Army initiates the "Scoop" satellite program, an attempt to actively collect space pathogens for use in biological warfare. When Scoop VII crashes a couple years later in the isolated Arizona town of Piedmont, the Army ends up getting more than it asked for.
The Andromeda Strain follows Stone and rest of the scientific team mobilized to react to the Scoop crash as they scramble to understand and contain a strange and deadly outbreak.
288 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1969
3964 people are currently reading
112183 people want to read
About the author
Michael Crichton
219 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 6,771 reviews
January 12, 2009
liked the beginning, thought the end was unbelievably anticlimatic.
April 14, 2018
The writing was drier than a cracker in the desert...
But I loved the book anyway!
It definitely reads like a scientific/army report but this was such an interesting twist on the classic sci-fi (first contact?). I only recommend it if you already love sci-fi and diseases apocalyptic books.
Left me wanting more... I'll definitely read more from the author!
But I loved the book anyway!
It definitely reads like a scientific/army report but this was such an interesting twist on the classic sci-fi (first contact?). I only recommend it if you already love sci-fi and diseases apocalyptic books.
Left me wanting more... I'll definitely read more from the author!
August 7, 2019
Nine years before Stephen King’s heavy, genre defining smackdown novel The Stand, intelligent tall guy Michael Crichton quietly blew people away with his own hard science Big Bang Theory epidemic story.
Similar to Andy Weir’s brilliant 2011 mega success The Martian, this is hard science fiction told by an actual scientist. But whereas Weir stepped it down for the rest of us with some laugh out loud humor, the good Dr. Crichton put his best bedside manner forward and patiently explained his biological horror story in a way that – made it scarier.
Like a Jonathon Edwards sermon, his straight man delivery creates a technical tension that informs as it terrorizes.
True, some of the overly technical sections dragged and I recalled moments from HS when I daydreamed the lecture away; but Crichton never let his lesson stray too far from the subject at hand – scaring the Heeby Jeebies out of us.
Scared to death.
That’s an actual line from the book and describes one of the hero scientists’ attempts to come to grips with what was going on. Seems an alien organism is making folks die – immediately. An incubation period of a few seconds. A super team of science hotshots that makes Sheldon and Leonard look like middle schoolers takes it down to the line to pull us all from the brink. Or do they?
A +.
Similar to Andy Weir’s brilliant 2011 mega success The Martian, this is hard science fiction told by an actual scientist. But whereas Weir stepped it down for the rest of us with some laugh out loud humor, the good Dr. Crichton put his best bedside manner forward and patiently explained his biological horror story in a way that – made it scarier.
Like a Jonathon Edwards sermon, his straight man delivery creates a technical tension that informs as it terrorizes.
True, some of the overly technical sections dragged and I recalled moments from HS when I daydreamed the lecture away; but Crichton never let his lesson stray too far from the subject at hand – scaring the Heeby Jeebies out of us.
Scared to death.
That’s an actual line from the book and describes one of the hero scientists’ attempts to come to grips with what was going on. Seems an alien organism is making folks die – immediately. An incubation period of a few seconds. A super team of science hotshots that makes Sheldon and Leonard look like middle schoolers takes it down to the line to pull us all from the brink. Or do they?
A +.
December 22, 2023
Interesting and exciting sci-fi thriller! A manmade capsule crashed from space with extraterrestrial organism on it. Unfortunately, the germ is a harmful type that wiped the whole Arizona town but two people made out alive, an old man and an infant. This book is techno-thriller/hard science kind and most of the science, biology and medicine matters were way over my head but I somehow find it a very enjoyable read.
September 17, 2025
An ubiquitous small town in the remote Arizona desert , a pleasant area of the late 1960's such a wonderful place is the setting as startled but curious , often bored people in Piedmont where nothing ever happens it does tonight, they look up in the dark sky something is falling, drifting slowly... down just north of the hamlet. Finding a capsule obviously from outer space..However what should they do, give it to the local doctor the silly man opens the object and promptly expires, as will the rest...the fifty others all except a two- month -old baby and a sixty-nine- year-old man, the whole town succumbs why? When finally discovered , two satellite retrievers don 't come back, Vandenberg Air Force base (the Cape Canaveral of the west coast) sends jets to look around , safely thousands of feet high above the troubles...not good, bodies scattered over the little town and the hungry vultures are having a feast. A SECRET OPERATION Project Wildfire named by the government brings in scientists to test those lucky two and investigate the case, so many gadgets so little time the massive machines give the untrained a huge headache. Must keep the virus from spreading through the country killing millions if not all and tell the citizens nothing they would panic cause riots and looting, butchering each other, everyone for themselves but maybe not...Should they nuke the place...Better hurry this thing is contagious. The stressed four scientists Drs. Jeremy Stone bacteriology, Charles Burton pathology, Mark Hall surgeon and Peter Leavitt microbiologist the victims, the pressure of working and feeling the tension in a hidden government facility more like 1984 than 1969 when this book was published, up to these able four men to save the world... find a cure... now ...how's that for an assignment, volunteering can get rough and you think you have problems? o in the endless number of gifts by the great I really need not say name, Dr. Michael...
Crichton, his books show us he was a master of excitement, the king of high tech thrillers giving pleasure to readers and a little bit of knowledge too, this couldn't hurt we all require facts to make the right decisions. An appropriate novel for the days of the pandemic, who could have guessed that fifty years later the book becomes sadly relevant, the writer knew a plague sooner or later inevitably would cause a global catastrophe...
Crichton, his books show us he was a master of excitement, the king of high tech thrillers giving pleasure to readers and a little bit of knowledge too, this couldn't hurt we all require facts to make the right decisions. An appropriate novel for the days of the pandemic, who could have guessed that fifty years later the book becomes sadly relevant, the writer knew a plague sooner or later inevitably would cause a global catastrophe...
August 1, 2022
الأزمة هى الموقف الذي تتحول فيه
مجموعة من الظروف المقبولة إلى ظروف غير مقبولة بتاتا؛ذلك بعد اضافة عامل معين
وسلالة اندروميدا هي الازمة البيولوجية الاولى..هكذا يجذبنا كريشتون الطبيب-الاديب لرائعته في الخيال العلمي
هي السيناريو الذي يتوقعه علماء عصرنا لأوبئة الالفية الجديدة
الخلية اندروميدا هبطت من الفضاء لتنشر الوباء في الأرض
هنا سنغرق في البذلات العازلة و صناديق القفازات ✒
و الجدران الزجاجية و الايد الميكانيكية
و كل ما هو مذهل في عام 1969 مغلف بطابع علمي ثقيل احيانا
وهنا التنبوء الذي اتضح انه رؤية مستقبلية صحيحة
هنا الخيال العلمي الطبي الموثق الملىء بالمراجع 📍
حتى تكاد تصدقه
مجموعة من الظروف المقبولة إلى ظروف غير مقبولة بتاتا؛ذلك بعد اضافة عامل معين
وسلالة اندروميدا هي الازمة البيولوجية الاولى..هكذا يجذبنا كريشتون الطبيب-الاديب لرائعته في الخيال العلمي
هي السيناريو الذي يتوقعه علماء عصرنا لأوبئة الالفية الجديدة
الخلية اندروميدا هبطت من الفضاء لتنشر الوباء في الأرض
هنا سنغرق في البذلات العازلة و صناديق القفازات ✒
و الجدران الزجاجية و الايد الميكانيكية
و كل ما هو مذهل في عام 1969 مغلف بطابع علمي ثقيل احيانا
وهنا التنبوء الذي اتضح انه رؤية مستقبلية صحيحة
هنا الخيال العلمي الطبي الموثق الملىء بالمراجع 📍
حتى تكاد تصدقه
November 14, 2016
There's a good story in here, somewhere. If Crichton tackled this idea later in his career it would have undoubtedly been a great book. There's just far too much science and not enough thriller.
March 29, 2025
When I was just 20 years old, in 1970, I had a brief yet passionate flame named Rosalie Schreyburt. She burst upon my repessed libido with the dazzling intensity of Fourth of July Fireworks. I took her to see the film they made of this that year, for I had read the book the preceding summer.
Rosalie, if I may flesh out her personality to you, was Woke.
I was still a Kermit.
She wondered out loud to me afterward, over drinks, that it seemed likely that a virus could escape a sealed enclosure and infect humanity (and of course that did happen with COVID).
Rosalie knew the world’s dirty games. I as yet did not. So she told me there was no way she would get serious with this ingénu.
She dumped me.
So it goes.
And yet - and yet - COVID was more than willing to get serious with me, fifty years later!
WHY, oh why, do our favourite novels’ nightmares always come HORRIBLY TRUE?!
And, Even in our love life, yet?
Four Full Stars.
Rosalie, if I may flesh out her personality to you, was Woke.
I was still a Kermit.
She wondered out loud to me afterward, over drinks, that it seemed likely that a virus could escape a sealed enclosure and infect humanity (and of course that did happen with COVID).
Rosalie knew the world’s dirty games. I as yet did not. So she told me there was no way she would get serious with this ingénu.
She dumped me.
So it goes.
And yet - and yet - COVID was more than willing to get serious with me, fifty years later!
WHY, oh why, do our favourite novels’ nightmares always come HORRIBLY TRUE?!
And, Even in our love life, yet?
Four Full Stars.
October 7, 2021
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"Human intelligence was more trouble than it was worth. It was more destructive than creative, more confusing than revealing, more discouraging than satisfying, more spiteful than charitable."
My first Michael Crichton and a great introduction. The Andromeda Strain is a fast paced and highly enjoyable techno-thriller.
The writing style in this one is a little dry and science heavy, but in my opinion that adds to it's authenticity. It really feels like you're receiving a report on actual events. Plus Crichton gets the technical information across in an understandable way, so you'll finish the book feeling like you've learned something.
"The rock, for its part, is not even aware of our existence because we are alive for only a brief instant of its lifespan. To it, we are like flashes in the dark."
The premise is excellent. A space probe returning to the earth's surface, a small town in Arizona, is carrying alien bacteria. Bacteria that is extremely deadly to anything it comes into contact with. I mean this stuff will kill you in three seconds. A crack team is assembled to deal with this and Crichton does some excellent character work in making each member distinct and getting you invested.
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for me, considering the book is fifty years old, it was well ahead of its time and holds up well today. It's about time I read a book by this author and I'll certainly be reading more. A solid four stars.
"Human intelligence was more trouble than it was worth. It was more destructive than creative, more confusing than revealing, more discouraging than satisfying, more spiteful than charitable."
My first Michael Crichton and a great introduction. The Andromeda Strain is a fast paced and highly enjoyable techno-thriller.
The writing style in this one is a little dry and science heavy, but in my opinion that adds to it's authenticity. It really feels like you're receiving a report on actual events. Plus Crichton gets the technical information across in an understandable way, so you'll finish the book feeling like you've learned something.
"The rock, for its part, is not even aware of our existence because we are alive for only a brief instant of its lifespan. To it, we are like flashes in the dark."
The premise is excellent. A space probe returning to the earth's surface, a small town in Arizona, is carrying alien bacteria. Bacteria that is extremely deadly to anything it comes into contact with. I mean this stuff will kill you in three seconds. A crack team is assembled to deal with this and Crichton does some excellent character work in making each member distinct and getting you invested.
[image error]
for me, considering the book is fifty years old, it was well ahead of its time and holds up well today. It's about time I read a book by this author and I'll certainly be reading more. A solid four stars.
January 9, 2015
This book is a good example that sometimes the rating that one gives to one book isn't fault itself of the book but due the timing of when you read it in relation with having read other books of the same author.
All that long introduction is to explain that my very reason to give only 3 stars to this very good book is because I happened to read it after of reading Sphere (see review of that book: HERE), that I find quite similar in the general premise.
Both books have the calling of a expert scientific team to deal with an alien threat.
Beyond that, both books deal differently with the story, it's not like that they are clone books or something.
But the only sin that commit this poor book was to be chosen by me right after of reading Sphere, that it was a book that I loved a lot and I still think very high of it, so when I started to read this other book by Crichton, I got an odd feeling that I was reading again the same book and that I liked more the other book.
I know that this book is older, but it's nobody's fault that I bought it right after Sphere.
I do think that if I decide to read it now, I may enjoy it more, maybe sometime I will.
Anyway, this book is very good, since it has all the right elements that Crichton used to include in his books.
Maybe my only advice here is that I recommend you to read this book, The Andromeda Strain and Sphere too, just please, don't read them one after the other, give them at least 6 months or so, and read something else in between.
Recommended.
All that long introduction is to explain that my very reason to give only 3 stars to this very good book is because I happened to read it after of reading Sphere (see review of that book: HERE), that I find quite similar in the general premise.
Both books have the calling of a expert scientific team to deal with an alien threat.
Beyond that, both books deal differently with the story, it's not like that they are clone books or something.
But the only sin that commit this poor book was to be chosen by me right after of reading Sphere, that it was a book that I loved a lot and I still think very high of it, so when I started to read this other book by Crichton, I got an odd feeling that I was reading again the same book and that I liked more the other book.
I know that this book is older, but it's nobody's fault that I bought it right after Sphere.
I do think that if I decide to read it now, I may enjoy it more, maybe sometime I will.
Anyway, this book is very good, since it has all the right elements that Crichton used to include in his books.
Maybe my only advice here is that I recommend you to read this book, The Andromeda Strain and Sphere too, just please, don't read them one after the other, give them at least 6 months or so, and read something else in between.
Recommended.
December 9, 2019
A returning space probe crash lands in a forgotten American town, unwittingly putting it on the map and sparking a potential dangerous outbreak of a catastrophic deathly virus, of which very few people would be immune from. With the human race facing potential extinction it is up to a select few individuals to save the population, whilst keeping the secret under wraps and themselves alive in the process.
Crichton is an undeniable sci-fi genius yet this release was a little on the dry side for me. Just as in his other work that I have so far read, scientific backing was prominent and seemingly sound. However, given the short length of this book, it dominated the story in the way it failed to do in his other work. I was invested in the scarily realistic premise but the thrills it emitted were short lived when intersected with drier sections that both took away from the story and the emotions surrounding it.
Crichton is an undeniable sci-fi genius yet this release was a little on the dry side for me. Just as in his other work that I have so far read, scientific backing was prominent and seemingly sound. However, given the short length of this book, it dominated the story in the way it failed to do in his other work. I was invested in the scarily realistic premise but the thrills it emitted were short lived when intersected with drier sections that both took away from the story and the emotions surrounding it.
February 27, 2020
This book recounts the five-day history of a major American scientific crisis.
As in most crises, the events surrounding the Andromeda Strain were a compound of foresight and foolishness, innocence and ignorance. Nearly everyone involved had moments of great brilliance, and moments of unaccountable stupidity. It is therefore impossible to write about the events without offending some of the participants.
I decided to reread The Andromeda Strain to get ready for the new sequel, The Andromeda Evolution, by Daniel H. Wilson. Published in 1969, the story is pretty simple: there’s a government project to send satellites into near earth orbit, collect organisms for study, and return the satellites to earth. But after one of the satellites crashes two days early, almost all of the residents of a nearby town are found dead. The government activates Project Wildfire, placing a small group of scientists in a race against time to identify the cause, and find a way to stop it, before it’s too late.
I remember really enjoying this book when I read it 30 years ago. It feels wonderfully realistic, focused in granular detail on the processes of setting up Project Wildfire, the facility, the scientific team. And it is effective with a common theme in Crichton’s books: mistakes made by people doing their best are a vital part of the story.
While the book was ahead of its time in some ways, I have to admit it was not as good as I remember. There’s not much characterization, and pretty much every character is a white dude. While a defense to that could be the book was written in 1969, one of the doctors was changed to a woman for the 1971 movie. Moreover, the after-action report style is realistic, but it removes a certain amount of drama from the story. Crichton would strike a much better scientific explanation/dramatic storytelling balance in many of his later books, especially what I consider to be his masterpiece: Jurassic Park. And the ending is ... abrupt, to say the least.
Hopefully the sequel will take the best parts of this story and update it. I’d still recommend this book, but probably only if you like Crichton and have just never read it.
July 10, 2016
The sixth novel by Michael Crichton but the first published (in 1969) under his own name and the first in which he bent science fiction and suspense together in ways that would propel Crichton to the top of the bestseller lists and into cinemas for the next thirty years, The Andromeda Strain didn't retain many surprises for me, but in its own delightful way, reminded me of a science and technology museum exhibit and the docent giving me a tour: "And here we have a pioneering thriller of technology run amok, where mankind's hubris unleashes terror from a top secret laboratory which only white men can stop. Some of you may recall this theme in Jurassic Park."
Oooh! Aaah!
Divided into four sections representing four days--Contact, Piedmont, Wildfire and Spread--the conceit of the novel is to document a scientific clusterfuck classified top secret. Outside the town of Piedmont, Arizona (pop. 48), an Army lieutenant and private have been dispatched to recover a crashed Air Force satellite. Observing no movement in the town, the men roll into Piedmont and report to Mission Control at Vandenberg Air Force Base lots of bodies in the streets. When Mission Control loses contact with the unit, a reconnaissance jet is dispatched to Piedmont and confirms the dead bodies but at least one civilian who seems to still be alive. Project Wildfire is put on alert.
Dr. Jeremy Stone, a thirty-six year old professor of bacteriology at Stanford and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, is retrieved by MPs from a dinner party he's hosting with his wife. The other members of the Wildfire team are: Dr. Peter Leavitt, a clinical microbiologist experienced in the treatment of infectious disease. Dr. Charles Burton, a professor of pathology at Baylor College of Medicine known as "The Stumbler" for his clumsiness. A Yale anthropologist is in the hospital for an appendectomy and unable to respond, so the last man on the team is Dr. Mark Hall, a surgeon and compromise candidate chosen by virtue of being a single man who fits something called the Odd Man Hypothesis.
An MP hands Dr. Stone a report on Project Scoop, brainchild of the Army Medical Corps tasked with sending satellites into near space to hunt for organisms that might exist there. Any scientific benefits of this project conceal the true aim of Project Scoop: to recover organisms which might be developed into biological weapons. Seventeen orbital satellites weighing thirty-seven pounds have been built and six launched. Scoops I-VI either burned up in the atmosphere or were retrieved with only standard earth organisms. Scoop VII, believed to have been launched February 5, 1967, leaves stable orbit after two and a half days and mysteriously crashes in northeastern Arizona.
Stone and Burton are dispatched to Piedmont by helicopter pilot who has orders, upon Stone and Burton's unlikely demise, to return to Wildfire installation in Nevada where his craft is to be incinerated in midair, with the pilot. Stone and Burton note that the corpses in the street died suddenly, clutching their chests. The victims didn't seem to be in pain. Recovering the Scoop satellite in the clinic of the town doctor, Burton performs a field autopsy on the physician and finds the victim's liquid blood has coagulated into solid. More interesting, they find two survivors: a one-year male infant crying in his crib, and a sixty-seven-year old drunk who collapses in the street.
Meanwhile, Leavitt escorts Hall into the Wildfire installation, a zero contaminant facility buried underneath a functioning U.S. Department of Agriculture station in Nevada. Each of the levels is more sterile than the last and requires extensive decontamination before the visitor is admitted to Level V, where the satellite and the two survivors have been moved. In the event of a containment breach, an atomic device will automatically destroy the facility in t-minus three minutes. Hall is given the only key to cancel the self-destruct sequence and learns the psychology behind the Odd Man Hypothesis, which holds that bachelors are less likely to chicken out and abort the self-destruct if worse comes to worst.
* Helpful tip: When a scientist in a Michael Crichton novel assures you that some awesome new technology is perfectly safe, you don't walk, you run.
The flaws in The Andromeda Strain are numerous and easy to spot if you choose to dwell on them. In the days before integrated workplaces, the name characters are uniformly white and male. Worse, they're driven by archetype. Stone, the 36-year-old Nobel prize winning protagonist (Crichton was 27 years old at the time of the novel's publication) is a Gary Stu, a leader in his field who commands respect and adoration, keeps a steady hand at the wheel and was likely considered a bore by everyone except the author and his mother. The sterile work environment of the book doesn't inject any life into the characters either. For most of the story, I was rooting for the bacteria.
The reasons I enjoyed the novel were manifold. The conceit that extraterrestrials will visit earth in spaceships is turned on its head by Crichton with the eerie possibility that first contact could take place with a plague brought back by astronauts. This concept remains as potent today as it must have been in 1969 and is dealt with cerebrally, with the Wildfire scientists considering they may be destroying a highly advanced form of alien life in their petri dishes. A science dunce, I enjoyed Crichton detailing the various biological responses the human body undertakes to combat pathogens and how we co-exist with bacteria, 97% of which has evolved to pose no health risk to humans.
Crichton's dry, methodical take on the material (there's no room for flirting or even witty banter in the Wildfire installation) lends the book a sense of reality. This makes is more suspenseful and at times, terrifying. I find my inherent paranoia toward military research programs, the hubris of brilliant minds and the violence of scientific discovery to be well bred in Crichton's work. His high concept plots--involving space plagues, dinosaurs, time travel--are effective because I can imagine them being hatched in an undisclosed location where proper security protocols have been overlooked by the lowest bidder. Whoops. The Andromeda Strain is the book that started it all.
Oooh! Aaah!
Divided into four sections representing four days--Contact, Piedmont, Wildfire and Spread--the conceit of the novel is to document a scientific clusterfuck classified top secret. Outside the town of Piedmont, Arizona (pop. 48), an Army lieutenant and private have been dispatched to recover a crashed Air Force satellite. Observing no movement in the town, the men roll into Piedmont and report to Mission Control at Vandenberg Air Force Base lots of bodies in the streets. When Mission Control loses contact with the unit, a reconnaissance jet is dispatched to Piedmont and confirms the dead bodies but at least one civilian who seems to still be alive. Project Wildfire is put on alert.
Dr. Jeremy Stone, a thirty-six year old professor of bacteriology at Stanford and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, is retrieved by MPs from a dinner party he's hosting with his wife. The other members of the Wildfire team are: Dr. Peter Leavitt, a clinical microbiologist experienced in the treatment of infectious disease. Dr. Charles Burton, a professor of pathology at Baylor College of Medicine known as "The Stumbler" for his clumsiness. A Yale anthropologist is in the hospital for an appendectomy and unable to respond, so the last man on the team is Dr. Mark Hall, a surgeon and compromise candidate chosen by virtue of being a single man who fits something called the Odd Man Hypothesis.
An MP hands Dr. Stone a report on Project Scoop, brainchild of the Army Medical Corps tasked with sending satellites into near space to hunt for organisms that might exist there. Any scientific benefits of this project conceal the true aim of Project Scoop: to recover organisms which might be developed into biological weapons. Seventeen orbital satellites weighing thirty-seven pounds have been built and six launched. Scoops I-VI either burned up in the atmosphere or were retrieved with only standard earth organisms. Scoop VII, believed to have been launched February 5, 1967, leaves stable orbit after two and a half days and mysteriously crashes in northeastern Arizona.
Stone and Burton are dispatched to Piedmont by helicopter pilot who has orders, upon Stone and Burton's unlikely demise, to return to Wildfire installation in Nevada where his craft is to be incinerated in midair, with the pilot. Stone and Burton note that the corpses in the street died suddenly, clutching their chests. The victims didn't seem to be in pain. Recovering the Scoop satellite in the clinic of the town doctor, Burton performs a field autopsy on the physician and finds the victim's liquid blood has coagulated into solid. More interesting, they find two survivors: a one-year male infant crying in his crib, and a sixty-seven-year old drunk who collapses in the street.
Meanwhile, Leavitt escorts Hall into the Wildfire installation, a zero contaminant facility buried underneath a functioning U.S. Department of Agriculture station in Nevada. Each of the levels is more sterile than the last and requires extensive decontamination before the visitor is admitted to Level V, where the satellite and the two survivors have been moved. In the event of a containment breach, an atomic device will automatically destroy the facility in t-minus three minutes. Hall is given the only key to cancel the self-destruct sequence and learns the psychology behind the Odd Man Hypothesis, which holds that bachelors are less likely to chicken out and abort the self-destruct if worse comes to worst.
* Helpful tip: When a scientist in a Michael Crichton novel assures you that some awesome new technology is perfectly safe, you don't walk, you run.
The flaws in The Andromeda Strain are numerous and easy to spot if you choose to dwell on them. In the days before integrated workplaces, the name characters are uniformly white and male. Worse, they're driven by archetype. Stone, the 36-year-old Nobel prize winning protagonist (Crichton was 27 years old at the time of the novel's publication) is a Gary Stu, a leader in his field who commands respect and adoration, keeps a steady hand at the wheel and was likely considered a bore by everyone except the author and his mother. The sterile work environment of the book doesn't inject any life into the characters either. For most of the story, I was rooting for the bacteria.
The reasons I enjoyed the novel were manifold. The conceit that extraterrestrials will visit earth in spaceships is turned on its head by Crichton with the eerie possibility that first contact could take place with a plague brought back by astronauts. This concept remains as potent today as it must have been in 1969 and is dealt with cerebrally, with the Wildfire scientists considering they may be destroying a highly advanced form of alien life in their petri dishes. A science dunce, I enjoyed Crichton detailing the various biological responses the human body undertakes to combat pathogens and how we co-exist with bacteria, 97% of which has evolved to pose no health risk to humans.
Crichton's dry, methodical take on the material (there's no room for flirting or even witty banter in the Wildfire installation) lends the book a sense of reality. This makes is more suspenseful and at times, terrifying. I find my inherent paranoia toward military research programs, the hubris of brilliant minds and the violence of scientific discovery to be well bred in Crichton's work. His high concept plots--involving space plagues, dinosaurs, time travel--are effective because I can imagine them being hatched in an undisclosed location where proper security protocols have been overlooked by the lowest bidder. Whoops. The Andromeda Strain is the book that started it all.
December 9, 2018
Last night Trish and I watched the 1971 Robert Wise movie. And while I did like it better than the first time round, I still prefer Crichton's book.
This might be due for a re-read and a proper review in 2019.
In short, a returning space probe brings something with it that instantly kills almost all the people in the small town nearest to the landing site. But what is it? And why are there two survivors?
A team of scientists is put into the Wildfire installation, a zero contaminant facility that's buried in the Nevada desert, and are tasked with sciencing the shit out of it.
Can they do it?
If you think about picking this up, be prepared for a lot of science and a lot of scary.
The book: 4.5 stars
The movie: 7/10
This might be due for a re-read and a proper review in 2019.
In short, a returning space probe brings something with it that instantly kills almost all the people in the small town nearest to the landing site. But what is it? And why are there two survivors?
A team of scientists is put into the Wildfire installation, a zero contaminant facility that's buried in the Nevada desert, and are tasked with sciencing the shit out of it.
Can they do it?
If you think about picking this up, be prepared for a lot of science and a lot of scary.
The book: 4.5 stars
The movie: 7/10
November 14, 2025
It’s weird to think that a popular best-selling novel from 1969 can still have an impact today, but Michael Crichton’s “The Andromeda Strain” is still a rather frightening, fascinating, and fun read, fifty years later.
Crichton was never a stellar wordsmith. He was a much better thinker than he was a writer, but his gift was in taking the latest in socio-political, scientific thinking and shaping an entertaining story around an idea. Oftentimes, these ideas opened the door for conversations on a national scale: genetic engineering (“Jurassic Park”), sexual harassment (“Disclosure”), time travel (“Sphere”, “Timeline”), climate change (“State of Fear”).
Granted, Crichton was not without controversy. His novel “State of Fear” was criticized by many climatologists for its stance on global warming. Crichton took the approach that much of the climate change debate was a global conspiracy by overzealous and militant environmentalists. To what end? I have no idea, as “State of Fear’ was my least favorite Crichton novel, and I don’t recall much about it. It was, however, George W. Bush’s favorite Crichton novel and, sadly, helped to shape his climate change policy. I’m sure if Donald Trump could actually read, this would also be a favorite of his, as it bolsters his ridiculous argument that climate change is a “hoax”.
Despite a few hiccups like that, I still have a fond place in my heart for Crichton. I eagerly awaited every new Crichton novel, and I was saddened by his untimely death in 2008.
Daniel H. Wilson recently wrote and published “The Andromeda Evolution”, a sequel to Crichton’s 1969 novel. It is receiving good buzz, but I hadn’t read ‘The Andromeda Strain” in over 20 years, at least, so I wanted to go back and re-read it.
I’m not a scientist, so I can’t vouch for Crichton’s knowledge in virology, epidemiology, and biology, but I’m pretty sure that the science in his book still holds up. Keep in mind, too, that the book is purposely dated. It extrapolates a first contact scenario involving an alien bacteria and how American scientists would deal with it, given the scientific knowledge of its time.
The story starts with a satellite falling out of orbit and crashing in a very small town in Arizona. When Army scientists arrive in town to collect it, they are shocked to see everyone in town dead. Within minutes, the Army men succumb to whatever killed the townspeople.
A group of hand-picked scientists are quickly rounded up around the country and taken to a state-of-the-art facility in the middle of the Nevada desert. Their job: determine what killed the entire town and how to stop it in case it spreads.
The only clues that these scientists have to work with are the satellite itself and the only two survivors of the town: an old man and an infant.
Crichton’s novel is an edge-of-the-seat knuckle-biter involving a medical mystery and an eventual race against time, but it’s also a subtle examination of the limits of scientific thinking due to human prejudices, irrational fears, and a tendency to disregard out-of-the-box ideas. Sadly, very little of that has changed in fifty years.
Crichton was never a stellar wordsmith. He was a much better thinker than he was a writer, but his gift was in taking the latest in socio-political, scientific thinking and shaping an entertaining story around an idea. Oftentimes, these ideas opened the door for conversations on a national scale: genetic engineering (“Jurassic Park”), sexual harassment (“Disclosure”), time travel (“Sphere”, “Timeline”), climate change (“State of Fear”).
Granted, Crichton was not without controversy. His novel “State of Fear” was criticized by many climatologists for its stance on global warming. Crichton took the approach that much of the climate change debate was a global conspiracy by overzealous and militant environmentalists. To what end? I have no idea, as “State of Fear’ was my least favorite Crichton novel, and I don’t recall much about it. It was, however, George W. Bush’s favorite Crichton novel and, sadly, helped to shape his climate change policy. I’m sure if Donald Trump could actually read, this would also be a favorite of his, as it bolsters his ridiculous argument that climate change is a “hoax”.
Despite a few hiccups like that, I still have a fond place in my heart for Crichton. I eagerly awaited every new Crichton novel, and I was saddened by his untimely death in 2008.
Daniel H. Wilson recently wrote and published “The Andromeda Evolution”, a sequel to Crichton’s 1969 novel. It is receiving good buzz, but I hadn’t read ‘The Andromeda Strain” in over 20 years, at least, so I wanted to go back and re-read it.
I’m not a scientist, so I can’t vouch for Crichton’s knowledge in virology, epidemiology, and biology, but I’m pretty sure that the science in his book still holds up. Keep in mind, too, that the book is purposely dated. It extrapolates a first contact scenario involving an alien bacteria and how American scientists would deal with it, given the scientific knowledge of its time.
The story starts with a satellite falling out of orbit and crashing in a very small town in Arizona. When Army scientists arrive in town to collect it, they are shocked to see everyone in town dead. Within minutes, the Army men succumb to whatever killed the townspeople.
A group of hand-picked scientists are quickly rounded up around the country and taken to a state-of-the-art facility in the middle of the Nevada desert. Their job: determine what killed the entire town and how to stop it in case it spreads.
The only clues that these scientists have to work with are the satellite itself and the only two survivors of the town: an old man and an infant.
Crichton’s novel is an edge-of-the-seat knuckle-biter involving a medical mystery and an eventual race against time, but it’s also a subtle examination of the limits of scientific thinking due to human prejudices, irrational fears, and a tendency to disregard out-of-the-box ideas. Sadly, very little of that has changed in fifty years.
March 24, 2024
Lots of science but also lots of suspense so it was a great balance! Amazing that I never read this one since I seem to have read most of Crichton’s other books.
He certainly had the gift of making science accessible and then taking the next fictional step— whether it be aliens, evolution or some other scientific puzzle.
Now I’m ready for the sequel...
PS- Ended up skipping the sequel— too many less than stellar reviews.
(Reviewed 1/24/20)
He certainly had the gift of making science accessible and then taking the next fictional step— whether it be aliens, evolution or some other scientific puzzle.
Now I’m ready for the sequel...
PS- Ended up skipping the sequel— too many less than stellar reviews.
(Reviewed 1/24/20)
Read
April 30, 2024This book definitely carries a 1970’s overtone. I have seen both versions of the movie and enjoyed it. The older movie was closer to the events in this book. There was much technical jargon in Crichton’s writing. Some was junk food and the rest very informative. I enjoyed the way they referred to the mistakes they made in a foreshadowing style. It was a very interesting read. I would recommend this to my GR readers.
September 23, 2022
Halloween Bingo 2022
This novel is older than I realized when I selected it for this game. Published in 1969, the vast majority of the technologies seem painfully archaic (which is not the book's fault). Also, I generally have a personal rule against fiction books that have diagrams and/or computer printouts. Bibliographies too. It's usually a sign that character development will be unsatisfactory, even for the thriller category. This novel had all three.
Scientific equipment and test methods are described in loving detail, while our [white male] characters remain cardboard cut-outs. They are the epitome of detached experimenters and as a result are pretty boring. There are few dialogs and those that take place are brief and wooden. There are a number of assumptions that we wouldn't make today (probably). The casual decision that an atomic blast would be the sensible way to deal with the contamination site. One scientist thinking that dinosaurs had just grown too big and ponderous to survive. The confident reliance on computers as infallible.
Combine all of that with a lacklustre ending, and this was a difficult read. I can appreciate that it may have been exciting in its time, but we have thankfully moved along. Unless you are interested in the history of science fiction, I would recommend giving The Andromeda Strain a miss. I read this for the Plague & Disease square of my Halloween Bingo card.
This novel is older than I realized when I selected it for this game. Published in 1969, the vast majority of the technologies seem painfully archaic (which is not the book's fault). Also, I generally have a personal rule against fiction books that have diagrams and/or computer printouts. Bibliographies too. It's usually a sign that character development will be unsatisfactory, even for the thriller category. This novel had all three.
Scientific equipment and test methods are described in loving detail, while our [white male] characters remain cardboard cut-outs. They are the epitome of detached experimenters and as a result are pretty boring. There are few dialogs and those that take place are brief and wooden. There are a number of assumptions that we wouldn't make today (probably). The casual decision that an atomic blast would be the sensible way to deal with the contamination site. One scientist thinking that dinosaurs had just grown too big and ponderous to survive. The confident reliance on computers as infallible.
Combine all of that with a lacklustre ending, and this was a difficult read. I can appreciate that it may have been exciting in its time, but we have thankfully moved along. Unless you are interested in the history of science fiction, I would recommend giving The Andromeda Strain a miss. I read this for the Plague & Disease square of my Halloween Bingo card.
September 15, 2020
Scientists! Making things happen! Getting called out of their homes in the middle of the night! Rigorously sanitizing every inch of their bodies! Looking over ASCII-image printouts! Performing exhaustive tests! Debating theories of exobiology! And it's a total blast!
Michael Crichton made microorganisms thrilling for the masses by employing science that isn't laughable forty years later. Is it any wonder he set the entertainment industry on fire when he got his hands on dinosaurs?
Worth noting that the movie is even better; featuring fine performances, tight direction and the wild decision to include a female scientist. So check out either and prepare to turn pages at the speed of propagating germs or stare unflinchingly at the screen as if humanity depended on it. You may never look at anti-bacterial soap the same.
Edited 9/15/2020
Michael Crichton made microorganisms thrilling for the masses by employing science that isn't laughable forty years later. Is it any wonder he set the entertainment industry on fire when he got his hands on dinosaurs?
Worth noting that the movie is even better; featuring fine performances, tight direction and the wild decision to include a female scientist. So check out either and prepare to turn pages at the speed of propagating germs or stare unflinchingly at the screen as if humanity depended on it. You may never look at anti-bacterial soap the same.
Edited 9/15/2020
September 15, 2019
3.5
رویدادهای اولیه ی این داستان به پروژه اسکوپ برمیگرده که در این پروژه آمریکا ماهواره هایی رو به مدار زمین میفرسته تا جانداران میکروسکوپی رو جمع آوری کنه و به زمین برگردونه. هفتمین ماهواره در نزدیکی دهکده ای که در آریزونا واقع شده، برخورد میکنه و بعد از اون اهالی دهکده به طرز عجیبی میمیرن
بهرحال این شکل از اولین برخورد با جانداران خارج از کره ی زمین طبیعی تره تا چیزهایی که توی فیلم هایی مثل بیگانه یا برخورد نزدیک از نوع سوم نشون داده میشه. در صورتی که موجودات هوشمندی وجود داشته باشن، اونقدر نباید احمق باشن که همون اول بیان خودشونو نشون بدن
سبک نگارش کتاب خشکه که بخاطر علمی بودنشه. بخش هاییش کلا به شکل گزارش نوشته شده و به همین خاطر برای خوندنش به دانش زیست شناسی حداقلی نیاز هست (فکر میکنم در حد زیست شناسی دبیرستان کفایت میکنه)، با این حال مترجم پانوشت های زیادی رو اضافه کرده و بخش های تخصصی تر رو توضیح داده که دستش درد نکنه
ولی با تمام اینها، داستان کشش خوبی داره و میتونم بگم به جز بخش های علمی، باقی کتاب جذابه
طبق گفته ی مترجم در پیش گفتار، مایکل کرایتون این کتاب رو بر اساس واقعیت نوشته و شرح اتفاقات و حوادثی رو بیان میکنه که در پنج روز رخ داده. مترجم به این نکته اشاره میکنه که اغلب شخصیت های کتاب حقیقی اند و نویسنده باهاشون دیدار و مصاحبه داشته و همچنین به اسناد و مدارک زیادی هم مراجعه کرده. با توجه به جزئیات علمی زیاد، قابل باور هم هست ولی خب این قضیه مزخرفه. حالا مترجم نیست که از خودش دفاع کنه، یا گول کرایتون رو خورده یا این "براساس واقعیت" رو تکرار کرده که به بلوف نویسنده وفادار باشه :))
اینجا خود کرایتون در مورد این موضوع و نوشتنِ کتاب توضیح داده
http://www.michaelcrichton.com/the-an...
و در آخر بگم که به هیچ وجه داستان عامه پسندی نیست. طرفدارهای علمی - تخیلی هم نباید مشکلی با کتاب داشته باشن و اگه از داستانهایی که به موضوعات بیماری همه گیر و اپیدمیک مربوط هستند خوشتون میاد، حتما کتاب رو پیشنهاد میکنم
رویدادهای اولیه ی این داستان به پروژه اسکوپ برمیگرده که در این پروژه آمریکا ماهواره هایی رو به مدار زمین میفرسته تا جانداران میکروسکوپی رو جمع آوری کنه و به زمین برگردونه. هفتمین ماهواره در نزدیکی دهکده ای که در آریزونا واقع شده، برخورد میکنه و بعد از اون اهالی دهکده به طرز عجیبی میمیرن
بهرحال این شکل از اولین برخورد با جانداران خارج از کره ی زمین طبیعی تره تا چیزهایی که توی فیلم هایی مثل بیگانه یا برخورد نزدیک از نوع سوم نشون داده میشه. در صورتی که موجودات هوشمندی وجود داشته باشن، اونقدر نباید احمق باشن که همون اول بیان خودشونو نشون بدن
سبک نگارش کتاب خشکه که بخاطر علمی بودنشه. بخش هاییش کلا به شکل گزارش نوشته شده و به همین خاطر برای خوندنش به دانش زیست شناسی حداقلی نیاز هست (فکر میکنم در حد زیست شناسی دبیرستان کفایت میکنه)، با این حال مترجم پانوشت های زیادی رو اضافه کرده و بخش های تخصصی تر رو توضیح داده که دستش درد نکنه
ولی با تمام اینها، داستان کشش خوبی داره و میتونم بگم به جز بخش های علمی، باقی کتاب جذابه
طبق گفته ی مترجم در پیش گفتار، مایکل کرایتون این کتاب رو بر اساس واقعیت نوشته و شرح اتفاقات و حوادثی رو بیان میکنه که در پنج روز رخ داده. مترجم به این نکته اشاره میکنه که اغلب شخصیت های کتاب حقیقی اند و نویسنده باهاشون دیدار و مصاحبه داشته و همچنین به اسناد و مدارک زیادی هم مراجعه کرده. با توجه به جزئیات علمی زیاد، قابل باور هم هست ولی خب این قضیه مزخرفه. حالا مترجم نیست که از خودش دفاع کنه، یا گول کرایتون رو خورده یا این "براساس واقعیت" رو تکرار کرده که به بلوف نویسنده وفادار باشه :))
اینجا خود کرایتون در مورد این موضوع و نوشتنِ کتاب توضیح داده
http://www.michaelcrichton.com/the-an...
و در آخر بگم که به هیچ وجه داستان عامه پسندی نیست. طرفدارهای علمی - تخیلی هم نباید مشکلی با کتاب داشته باشن و اگه از داستانهایی که به موضوعات بیماری همه گیر و اپیدمیک مربوط هستند خوشتون میاد، حتما کتاب رو پیشنهاد میکنم
August 23, 2007
This book is all about the tension, not the payoff.
As with most entertainment, this book pulls you in by asking some questions. "What is it?" "How does it work?" "What happened?" While those questions are still being asked, this book is a fairly thrilling read.
If you don't like books that get too technical about things, though, this isn't the book for you. It's full of pages from government documents, computer readouts, and the like. That only helps the book go by quicker, because I just skipped most of that stuff.
For the most part, the book lacks a main protagonist. Even the best candidate for main protagonist isn't given too much to do, and when he is, it's forced.
I guess this book works because of the fear of the unknown. Without that, it would be full of boring descriptions of scientific and medical procedures.
As with most entertainment, this book pulls you in by asking some questions. "What is it?" "How does it work?" "What happened?" While those questions are still being asked, this book is a fairly thrilling read.
If you don't like books that get too technical about things, though, this isn't the book for you. It's full of pages from government documents, computer readouts, and the like. That only helps the book go by quicker, because I just skipped most of that stuff.
For the most part, the book lacks a main protagonist. Even the best candidate for main protagonist isn't given too much to do, and when he is, it's forced.
I guess this book works because of the fear of the unknown. Without that, it would be full of boring descriptions of scientific and medical procedures.
March 25, 2020
As a Crichton fan I am a little disappointed. this one missed the mark for me. I like his dry procedural style and accept his lack of character dimension. The premise is, as always with Crichton interesting. Crichton seem to ask very important what if questions that others don't. Everything is so believable, yes even the one dimensional characters. They're brilliant scientist limited to a specific field. And they serve just as scientist brilliant only in their field. Very functionary! The military bueracracy that goes into containing a deadly outbreak was fascinating at this time of coronvirus. But of course the "wildfire group" sorta failed at containment. This is arguably a 3 or 4 star read but I have two complaints. one a minor gripe another a huge flaw imo. First the grip, Crichton as usual describes very dry scientific processes and even computer code verbatim. I usually take a star off my rating of his work because although I can forgive that part of his style. I understand it's hard for other people to read. And the major flaw imo. is that during the most dramatic parts of the narrative he cuts in and gives post character commentary. Evaporating any suspense what so ever. I understand that this is set in our current timeline and reality. And everything had to turn out alright but In a story involving nukes and a deadly virus. To cut into the suspense to say something like "this is where they knew they made a mistake but it turned out to not be deadly" is a unfortunate literary mistake. Let me think for just a second that a nuke would actually detainate or the virus would become an unstoppable outbreak or even a main character (who i admittly don't care about) would die. Please give me that at least.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 5, 2022
Pues no ha estado mal, hubo momentos algo lentos pero ha sido muy instructivo, un pelín áridos por la información de protocolos y métodos de análisis, pero bien.
El final pues normal no diría que decepcionado pero no fue el típico de película. 7/10
Sinopsis: Un accidente en el espacio desencadena la tragedia.
Cuatro científicos estadounidenses, escogidos por sus logros en microbiología, patología, epidemiología y química electrolítica han sido convocados sin saber por qué y con la máxima urgencia a un laboratorio secreto que el Proyecto Wildfire esconde bajo tierra en el desierto de Nevada. Allí, rodeados por los más sofisticados equipos informáticos y sin poder comunicarse con el exterior, excepto por una línea directa con la oficina de Seguridad Nacional, trabajan para combatir la amenaza de una epidemia mundial. Han de encontrar un antídoto contra un microorganismo desconocido que, inexplicablemente, ha matado a todos los habitantes, excepto a un anciano y un bebé, en un pequeño pueblo de Arizona donde un satélite ha sido recuperado. Pocas piezas les faltan ya para completar el puzzle cuando una rotura en el sello que aísla el laboratorio ha permitido que su adversario microbacteriano salga al exterior. Entonces, su ya desesperada búsqueda de una respuesta médica se unirá a una frenética carrera para impedir el fin del mundo. Con su fuerza narrativa, el suspense y los conocimientos científicos que atesora, La amenaza de Andrómeda coloca al lector ante una trama que une la investigación espacial a los más altos secretos de estado.
# 35. Un libro con una constelación en la portada o en el título. Reto Popsugar 2022.
El final pues normal no diría que decepcionado pero no fue el típico de película. 7/10
Sinopsis: Un accidente en el espacio desencadena la tragedia.
Cuatro científicos estadounidenses, escogidos por sus logros en microbiología, patología, epidemiología y química electrolítica han sido convocados sin saber por qué y con la máxima urgencia a un laboratorio secreto que el Proyecto Wildfire esconde bajo tierra en el desierto de Nevada. Allí, rodeados por los más sofisticados equipos informáticos y sin poder comunicarse con el exterior, excepto por una línea directa con la oficina de Seguridad Nacional, trabajan para combatir la amenaza de una epidemia mundial. Han de encontrar un antídoto contra un microorganismo desconocido que, inexplicablemente, ha matado a todos los habitantes, excepto a un anciano y un bebé, en un pequeño pueblo de Arizona donde un satélite ha sido recuperado. Pocas piezas les faltan ya para completar el puzzle cuando una rotura en el sello que aísla el laboratorio ha permitido que su adversario microbacteriano salga al exterior. Entonces, su ya desesperada búsqueda de una respuesta médica se unirá a una frenética carrera para impedir el fin del mundo. Con su fuerza narrativa, el suspense y los conocimientos científicos que atesora, La amenaza de Andrómeda coloca al lector ante una trama que une la investigación espacial a los más altos secretos de estado.
# 35. Un libro con una constelación en la portada o en el título. Reto Popsugar 2022.
June 14, 2018
3 stars. I’m sure in 1969 this was cutting edge, but it doesn’t quite stack up in 2018, either in terms of suspense, science, or inclusivity. This book fails the Bechdel test so hard, it reminds me of why the Bechdel test was invented. The only women I can remember are a switchboard operator, a nurse, and a (literally, I can't make this up) recorded voice that is described as sensual, almost sexy, UNTIL the male hearer realizes it belongs to a woman in her sixties, at which point he presumably loses interest. Ugh.
Still intriguing though! Read so I could thoroughly immerse myself in the Jurassic Park series.
Still intriguing though! Read so I could thoroughly immerse myself in the Jurassic Park series.
May 22, 2018
“Recent theoretical considerations suggest that sterilization procedures of returning space probes may be inadequate to guarantee sterile reentry to this planet's atmosphere. The consequence of this is the potential introduction of virulent organisms into the present terrestrial ecologic framework.”
That quote represents the basic concept of The Andromeda Strain quite well. A more sensational - and rather crude - short description may be “Bacteria from outer space”, but this makes it seems like a low-brow alien invasion sort of story when, in fact, this book is not strictly sci-fi. It was first published in 1969 and set around the time of writing (late ‘60s). This is the book that puts Crichton on the path of blockbusting bestsellerdom.
1971 movie poster
The Andromeda Strain is a medical/techno/thriller though it is also sci-fi in the sense that it involves an organism from outer space, not to mention various gadgets that seem to be ahead of their time. The plot is straightforward. A satellite falls near a small town called Piedmont in Arizona, most of the townsfolk immediately die of mysterious causes, and the ones that do not die immediately soon commit suicide in bizarre manners; except an old man and a baby who are strangely unaffected. A secret government’s team of scientists and doctors called “Wild Fire”, assembled for such a contingency, is activated to investigate and prevent any more deaths. The Wild Fire lab is located deep underground with four levels, the deeper the level the more stringent the level of security and sterilization, including an anal probe by robots and such. As you would expect in a thriller, things eventually go south. Will this be the end of the human race? .
As mentioned earlier, this is the book that put Michael Crichton on the map, by the time he published Jurassic Park he is practically his own continent. The Andromeda Strain is very tautly written, thrilling and even educational! Crichton is very good at explaining scientific details without dumping the info in huge, incomprehensible blocks. If you are looking for lyricism and deep character development you had better look elsewhere. For the general reader, this is an immensely readable and gripping little novel.
Quotes:
“These considerations lead me to believe that the first human interaction with extraterrestrial life will consist of contact with organisms similar to, if not identical to, earth bacteria or viruses. The consequences of such contact are disturbing when one recalls that 3 per cent of all earth bacteria are capable of exerting some deleterious effect upon man.”
“Physics was the first of the natural sciences to become fully modern and highly mathematical. Chemistry followed in the wake of physics, but biology, the retarded child, lagged far behind. Even in the time of Newton and Galileo, men knew more about the moon and other heavenly bodies than they did about their own.”
“According to Lewis Bornheim, a crisis is a situation in which a previously tolerable set of circumstances is suddenly, by the addition of another factor, rendered wholly intolerable. Whether the additional factor is political, economic, or scientific hardly matters: the death of a national hero, the instability of prices, or a technological discovery can all set events in motion. In this sense, Gladstone was right: all crises are the same.”
Unpopular 2008 TV series adaptation
That quote represents the basic concept of The Andromeda Strain quite well. A more sensational - and rather crude - short description may be “Bacteria from outer space”, but this makes it seems like a low-brow alien invasion sort of story when, in fact, this book is not strictly sci-fi. It was first published in 1969 and set around the time of writing (late ‘60s). This is the book that puts Crichton on the path of blockbusting bestsellerdom.
1971 movie poster
The Andromeda Strain is a medical/techno/thriller though it is also sci-fi in the sense that it involves an organism from outer space, not to mention various gadgets that seem to be ahead of their time. The plot is straightforward. A satellite falls near a small town called Piedmont in Arizona, most of the townsfolk immediately die of mysterious causes, and the ones that do not die immediately soon commit suicide in bizarre manners; except an old man and a baby who are strangely unaffected. A secret government’s team of scientists and doctors called “Wild Fire”, assembled for such a contingency, is activated to investigate and prevent any more deaths. The Wild Fire lab is located deep underground with four levels, the deeper the level the more stringent the level of security and sterilization, including an anal probe by robots and such. As you would expect in a thriller, things eventually go south. Will this be the end of the human race? .
As mentioned earlier, this is the book that put Michael Crichton on the map, by the time he published Jurassic Park he is practically his own continent. The Andromeda Strain is very tautly written, thrilling and even educational! Crichton is very good at explaining scientific details without dumping the info in huge, incomprehensible blocks. If you are looking for lyricism and deep character development you had better look elsewhere. For the general reader, this is an immensely readable and gripping little novel.
Quotes:
“These considerations lead me to believe that the first human interaction with extraterrestrial life will consist of contact with organisms similar to, if not identical to, earth bacteria or viruses. The consequences of such contact are disturbing when one recalls that 3 per cent of all earth bacteria are capable of exerting some deleterious effect upon man.”
“Physics was the first of the natural sciences to become fully modern and highly mathematical. Chemistry followed in the wake of physics, but biology, the retarded child, lagged far behind. Even in the time of Newton and Galileo, men knew more about the moon and other heavenly bodies than they did about their own.”
“According to Lewis Bornheim, a crisis is a situation in which a previously tolerable set of circumstances is suddenly, by the addition of another factor, rendered wholly intolerable. Whether the additional factor is political, economic, or scientific hardly matters: the death of a national hero, the instability of prices, or a technological discovery can all set events in motion. In this sense, Gladstone was right: all crises are the same.”
Unpopular 2008 TV series adaptation
January 29, 2013
I read The Andromeda Strain back in my youth and had fond memories of it. So, I recently grabbed an eBook version to revisit it. I'm not exactly sure from where the fond memories came. It's not that great a book. On the positive side, there are few female characters so Crichton's misogynistic streak is mostly absent, but that's about it.
Dialogue is sparse and flat. Characters aren't much better. Crichton seems more intent on showing off his research than about telling a compelling story. The whole thing is written as a report, which gives it an air of authenticity. Unfortunately, this also makes it like reading a report. In other words, it's somewhat dry and boring. I still found it readable, but I actually kinda like dry and boring. Still, this was too dry and boring, even for me.
The story doesn't have the usual climax. The important thing is the journey, not the destination. But, again, the journey itself isn't exactly gripping.
Dialogue is sparse and flat. Characters aren't much better. Crichton seems more intent on showing off his research than about telling a compelling story. The whole thing is written as a report, which gives it an air of authenticity. Unfortunately, this also makes it like reading a report. In other words, it's somewhat dry and boring. I still found it readable, but I actually kinda like dry and boring. Still, this was too dry and boring, even for me.
The story doesn't have the usual climax. The important thing is the journey, not the destination. But, again, the journey itself isn't exactly gripping.
July 22, 2022
The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton is an excellent novel that communicates the possibilities of epidemiological apocalypse in hard science fiction technobabble. Before Stephen King’s The Stand, Crichton tells of a near possibility that requires little consideration before it explodes into a horrifying nightmare scenario. Because I listened to it as an audiobook, the staid scientific oratory was even more frightening for its emotionless delivery. It reminded me of college lectures where I said to myself, “Why am I here?” because it seemed like everyone around me was nodding their heads as if they understood, and I alone was sitting there with a look of utter confusion on my face. It’s that kind of very REAL horror. Very much not something I should have read during the Covid lockdowns.
May 6, 2018
Perhaps I'm influenced too much by my nostalgic love of the feel of '70's and '80's sci-fi and horror, but I did enjoy this. I'd watched the old movie many years ago, so there were no surprises, but I enjoyed it anyway. It helps that I read this as a real possible event as well, as I think it's highly possible that it will happen (or has already). Great classic sci-fi, in my opinion.
February 4, 2019
I've shared this before and am never hesitant to cop to it: I grew up with an outsized fear of germ warfare. By my youth, the nuclear scare was winding down and just about over so I never feared death by atomic fire from above. But I did fear death from biological agent. Anthrax. Weaponized smallpox. Germ warfare. And I read The Andromeda Strain when I was young, possibly too young. I was in third grade when Jurassic Park hit theaters which led me to Crichton by way of my parents, who checked out dog-eared copies of JP, Eaters of the Dead, and the rest from our public library. I'd usually get the copies to myself for reading on family road trips after they'd finished with them. So I've read more than a few of his titles (and seen their TV/movie adaptations) but over time I've lost a lot of the details. All I remembered about The Andromeda Strain on this second reading was that there were guys in big, bulky biohazard suits. I knew it was about germs, but forgot all about the extraterrestrial origin angle. Germs... FROM SPACE! Spooky!
Crichton occupies an interesting space in sci-fi: too technical to qualify as strictly pulp reading, not technical enough to qualify as hard sci-fi. "Techno-thriller" is the term you'll see bandied about. He gets the germ of the science topic set up (har har!) and then explores the thrilling human dramas that might take place within the general confines of that premise. He's very good at that, the thrills part, the gripping sense of "what happens next?" And the opening of The Andromeda Strain is quite effective as a thriller, given how it's framed not as a wild and extreme "what-if" scenario but rather as a dramatization of real events, comprised of interviews, military files, and fleshed-out details of what may or must have happened, after the fact of some catastrophe.
When the plot is moving fast, this is indeed thrilling. But when the action slows the faults become harder to ignore. All the characters sound alike, wooden and monotone. The minutiae of technical details pulled from classified files and woven into a traditional narrative become dry and easy to gloss over. There is no doubt that Crichton can write effectively, driving readers forward with feelings of suspense and curiosity. But he does not always write consistently, and at the times he runs out of steam his books begin to falter. What's more, in this title he has a tendency to undercut his own suspense with spoilers and commentary about things the characters missed or forgot to take into account.
3 stars out of 5. It passes the time sufficiently well but doesn't have much staying power.
Crichton occupies an interesting space in sci-fi: too technical to qualify as strictly pulp reading, not technical enough to qualify as hard sci-fi. "Techno-thriller" is the term you'll see bandied about. He gets the germ of the science topic set up (har har!) and then explores the thrilling human dramas that might take place within the general confines of that premise. He's very good at that, the thrills part, the gripping sense of "what happens next?" And the opening of The Andromeda Strain is quite effective as a thriller, given how it's framed not as a wild and extreme "what-if" scenario but rather as a dramatization of real events, comprised of interviews, military files, and fleshed-out details of what may or must have happened, after the fact of some catastrophe.
When the plot is moving fast, this is indeed thrilling. But when the action slows the faults become harder to ignore. All the characters sound alike, wooden and monotone. The minutiae of technical details pulled from classified files and woven into a traditional narrative become dry and easy to gloss over. There is no doubt that Crichton can write effectively, driving readers forward with feelings of suspense and curiosity. But he does not always write consistently, and at the times he runs out of steam his books begin to falter. What's more, in this title he has a tendency to undercut his own suspense with spoilers and commentary about things the characters missed or forgot to take into account.
3 stars out of 5. It passes the time sufficiently well but doesn't have much staying power.
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