The Andromeda Strain discussion

The reason I'm asking is because I loved the Andromeda Strain, however Pirate Latitudes and Micro I really didn't like that much, so I want to ask which Crichton would you recommend apart from AS.

jurassic park, the lost world, Sphere is the bast, congo is wonderful, state of fear....you will like all these....

Jurassic Park!

Tough question! I think maybe Timeline comes close in terms of imagination.

Only read Andromeda Strain, the Jurassic Park novels and Sphere - so my vote would go Jurassic Park/Lost World - didn't enjoy Sphere much because the ending couldn't convince me.

Terminal Man is a personal favorite. As a M.D. he is well within his element with this story.

A surprise for most readers of Crichton is his biography of the artist Jasper Johns. A very well done piece that J.J. collaborated on with Crichton. There is a newer edition than the one I first read that I understand is very well done and comes highly recommended!

My vote goes to Jurassic Park and Timeline.

Jaraissic Park, Rising Sun, Timeline and The Great Train Robbery!

Jurassic Park, Timeline, and (oddly) Airframe.

'Jurassic Park' and 'Timeline' are my personal favorites. Then comes 'Sphere' and i've got 'Next' waiting on my bookshelf.

There is a clean professionalism to all Michael Crichton novels that makes his books a joy for me to read. Should my dom one day punish me by forcing me to read every last Crichton novel, from first to last, my reaction would be (no, not that): "Oh, Goodie!"

Phonetic Pronunciation: KRY-tuhn

THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN is the one to beat, with two movie adaptations (and counting), so I won't sport with your intelligence by listing his obvious many other novels which have been made into excellent movies. Instead, I'll suggest: A CASE OF NEED (Michael writing as Jeffery Hudson), which not only eventually became the terrific James Coburn and Jennifer O'Neill movie THE CAREY TREATMENT, but also spawned the enjoyable Seven-Season QUINCY television show. Beat that, Andromeda! @hg47

P.S. - I was also genuinely freaked-out by PREY.

'Jurassic Park' has been and will always be my favorite of his books.

Without even a split-second of hesitation: 'The Great Train Robbery' is his second best book. Do you know how much research it takes to write a historical period piece like that? And make it a thriller as well? Make it convincing? To write intricate action sequences with finesse and poise, even though you're trying to imagine it taking place in a completely unfamiliar world? Its an astounding piece of fiction.

I really loved Timeline and Jurassic Park. My brother loved Eaters of the Dead.

I liked Prey, but if you did not like Micro you may not like that book either. Otherwise I would agree with a lot of commenters that The Great Train Roberry, and Timeline are great books. I really don't think I've ever read any of his books and been dissapointed though.

This was my favorite book but I am a science geek. Prey and Airframe were both awesome.

I liked State of Fear quite a bit, despite much of his science in it being simply wrong or taken horribly out of context. And I read it fairly soon after its publication so no excuses about later discoveries.

Haven't read Timeline or Terminal Man, but of the Crichton books I've read, Jurassic Park and Andromeda Strain are the two that stand out. Congo and Sphere are just so-so, and Airframe is bloody awful. But Andromeda Strain and Jurassic Park are on my re-read list every few years.

Westworld!

Lost World!

I got through Airframe in about 7 minutes. Loved it. Although not mentioned here, Disclosures was one I found a lot of fun.

'Terminal Man' was way better than the George Segal movie. Darn shame.

I think Sphere was hands down his best. That book was so hard to put down that it was like withdrawing from a drug. Although many years have passed since I read it, it's still one of my favorites.

I loved Sphere so much. Probably one of the most claustrophobic books I have read. I still look over my shoulders when I dive.

Claustrophobia is practically spelled S-C-U-B-A, for short. Burr. :\

Hahhahaha! A point to you sir! The stupid thing is my favourite styles of diving are wreck-diving and night-diving. I guess thats why books like Sphere and The Descent affect me so much.

I can't believe how many people missed out on mentioning disclosure as one of his more interesting novels. As with Airframe, it dealt with people and relationships in a corporate world rather than Sci-fi. Don't miss it!:)

Timeline, Prey and State of Fear.

Prey and Sphere are my favorite ones, Timeline was good too.

T.E. wrote: "Tough question! I think maybe Timeline comes close in terms of imagination."

Second that! Might just be one of my favorite books of all times :)

I loved Prey. It had just enough relatable science so that my poor brain didn't explode!

I have to say Next and State of Fear are both brilliant, but I love ALL of his work so struggle to pick a favorite!

Congo & Sphere are my favorites. The Terminal Man would be my next choice.

I've read all of Crichton's books and would put Sphere and The Great Train Robbery up there with The Andromeda Strain as his three best. He's a great author though, so you really can't go wrong. I'd also note that his books are worth reading even if you've already seen the movie versions. In all cases, the books are better because they have a depth that the movies can't match.

Well said. But really, even for an author as innovative as Crichton was,,I think he was fighting an uphill battle the longer his career went on. We've been in a 'glut' of sci-fi based premises, scenarios, screenplays, novels, and tv shows for a long time now..we're awash in it. The downside being that so many of even his most original concepts were soon 'mined' by dozens of other competitors. Ever notice? Science fiction just isn't rich enough as a genre for him to really stand out as he should--and his position was continually eroding as long as he stuck with SF only. For every 'Sphere' there is a movie like, 'Wavelength'. For every 'Westworld' there's a 'Terminator'. That's why I so greatly admire 'Great Train Robbery' because there's never anything that's going to match the special trait that work has. Same can be said of 'Andromeda Strain'. And I suppose 'Jurassic Park' too (even though he was copying himself). For one author to generate 4-5 truly distinctive plots like that..just extraordinary..

His top 2 books for me are Prey & Jurassic Park.

However don't forget to check out Disclosure & The Great Train Robbery both the books are amongst his early works & very different from his usual techno-thrillers but nevertheless very interesting.

Sphere . All Time fav. The Best was when the mathematecian says that they are gonna die in the ship and gives reasons why. Superb!!!

The two Jurassic Park novels are excellent, especially the first one. Prey is quite interesting too, but it seems a little far fetched in my opinion...

Eaters of the Dead is a fantastic book. Also loved Jurassic Park and Airframe. Hated Lost World.

The Great Train Robbery and Timelineare my favorites. Don't let the crappy Timeline movie keep you from reading the book. Close behind these two are Prey and State of Fear.

Prey was really good and I didn't care for micro neither.

I have read all his books and watched all the good (and bad) movie versions. Timeline is easily my favorite. I read it several times. In many ways it parallels Jurassic Park with megalomanical theme park developers driving the plot. MC must have really disliked Walt Disney. It would be difficult to pick a least favorite. Shpere and Congo were the worst movies based on his work, but the books were good. I enjoyed Pirate Latitudes although it lacked the level of detail readers expect from him. As it was finished and published after he died, this is understandable.

I have read most of MC's books....personal fav is Jurassic Park. Apart from that Timeline was decent but the rest I didn't enjoy. (I have not read Sphere, Congo, The great train robbery and Disclosure)

I've enjoyed reading all the comments. It reminds me of something said by that great philosopher Sly (of the Family Stone) "Different strokes for different folks."

To me The Andromeda Strain, Jurassic Park, and Congo were thoroughly enjoyable. Sphere? It led me on and on toward what I anticipated as great climax. Either Mr. Crichton didn't stick the landing or he did it so subtly that I missed it.

Binary, Congo, Prey and State of Fear

A particularly good Crichton book that is often ignored is Five Patients, which is about medicine during the 1950s/60s. Maybe I appreciate it more because I'm a physician, but I think that most anyone who enjoys fast-paced, intelligent reads would enjoy it.



Dr. Leonardo Noto
Physician, Author, and Owner of "The Health and Medical Blog with a Personality," www.leonardonoto.com

I loved Next as it was his last work before he passed away. and he felt so strongly about the various issues with biological patents and unethical bio-engineering that he had a long list of legislation needed in the books appendix.

I wasn't a huge fan of the storyline of "Next," but I agree that it was worth reading anyway for his insights it biological patent laws (which are truly disturbing and much more important than most people realize).

Dr. Leonardo Noto
Physician, Author, and Owner of "The Health and Medical Blog with a Personality," www.leonardonoto.com

The Eaters of the Dead is a fine book by Crichton.

I liked Timeline a lot, at least the beginning. I thought the layering of the exploration of string theory over a very immersive exploration into the past was well done, but I thought that, towards the end of the book he was writing it with a movie deal in mind.

But my very favorite Crichton book is his travel memoir which is appropriately titled--Travels.