Prey

cybrpnk2 writes with the review below of Michael Crichton's latest book, Prey, which he says is "classic Crichton." Only your thoughts on Crichton can determine whether that's an endorsement or a warning. Read on for the review. Update: 12/07 15:29 GMT by T : The link I originally placed to the movie Them "is some 1996 made-for-TV junk, not the 1950s classic." The link has been updated. Prey author Michael Crichton pages 367 publisher Harper Collins rating Excellent - Among his best reviewer cybrpnk2 ISBN 0066214122 summary The latest sci-fi on nanotechnology from the author of Andromeda Strain and Jurassic Park Michael Crichton has gone full circle and done it again, effectively updating his original sci-fi novel The Andromeda Strain for the 21st century. In his latest book Prey, he has gone from using gigantic T. Rex dinosaurs as the big bad back down to microscopic agents once more. All the classic Crichton trademarks are here -- the race against time, the super-hi tech, the twists in plot and theme. It's his best and in some ways most original novel since Jurassic Park and just as likely to be made into a smash motion picture now that morphing animation is well established. In fact, several scenes in the book almost seem gratuitously tacked on to ultimately make use of some special video effect rather than advance the plot, but that's a minor criticism. Overall this is a great, fun read that's destined to be a SF classic.

In some ways willing suspension of disbelief has to be applied less to the technology depicted and more to the relationships between our protagonists Jake and Julia. They're the typical Silicon Valley couple, all right, but oh how conveniently their relationship advances the plot. He's the between-jobs programming team manager who's specialized in code that models distributed processing and genetic algorithms. She's the cute PR talking head who is lining up funding for the revolutionary Xymos nanobots. He's the cool, loving house-dad that takes care of the cute kids. She's the always-working cold bitch who's having an affair -- isn't she? With the tanned surfing god Xymos exec we hiss at as soon as we meet him? Or is this whole plot line perhaps a little too obvious after being set up by page 18? Maybe Crichton has something a little more twisted in mind for the 350 pages that follow ...

Yep, he sure does, and as fast as helicopters can fly we're at the secretive Xymos desert lab in Nevada where nothing is as it seems. Those swirling little dust devils out there on the parking lot security cameras are considerably more menacing than Taz in a Loony Tunes cartoon, but damned if anybody will give Jack a straight answer about just how ... or especially why. Seems the escaped particles that make up the clouds have been programmed with distributed computing algorithms Jack came up with in his last job -- Xymos wants HIM to tell THEM what's going on. Uh, oh -- Jack used the concept of predator / prey stalking dynamics to keep distributed agents focused on a concrete goal.

Jack's subsequent experiences, experiments, thought processes, and realizations lead the reader into a fascinating exploration of the concept of hive mind. In one sense this is a book about prejudice -- people are the most evolved social mammals on Earth, and as such are always misinterpreting the capabilities, actions and behaviors of a swarm that has neither leaders or followers, only members. As such, Prey is a rare SF book that truly does explore a uniquely alien life form with some very interesting twists. It's also a thought-provoking possible example of Vernor Vinge's technological singularity concept.

It's a good book and it's going to make a great movie. If you just can't wait for the movie, though, no problem. Crichton's three-act structure for Prey follows the well-trod path of a trio of 50s-style sci-fi movie classics: Tremors , Them! , and Invasion of the Body Snatchers . Check 'em out and watch 'em in order after you read Prey for a fun follow-up. To include the tension of Jack and Julia's romantic triangle, watch Casablanca first ... and remember, a kiss is just a kiss, as time goes by.

You can purchase Prey from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.

Comments

"Classic Crichton" ?

[DrTrogg]

I suppose by that you mean that the female character arrogantly and ignorantly intiates a series of "bad things" that the male characters must overcome ?

Lawyer fetish.

[DarkHelmet]

I only like Crichton books where they eat lawyers...

I hope the microbes in this book get some lawyer while he's on the can...

I don't like spoilers, but anyone read this? I must know if there's a lawyer eating involved, and if the book is worth my time.

Thank you, slashdot folks. You have always proven yourselves helpful.

Another hate-filled, bigoted book about our kind!

[Tsar]

The ants in Them.
The rats in Willard.
The bees in The Swarm.
The Borg in Star Trek.
And now the nanites in Prey.

As a Slashdotter, I am grossly offended by hive-minds being consistently portrayed as the bad guys. I hereby call subliminally to all my fellow /.'ers to avoid this book like the Plagu^H^H^H^H^H trash that it is. A civilized society has no place for hivophobia!

Respectfully,
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Re:Crichton isn't really an SF author

[gilroy]

Blockquoth the poster:

if you didn't read Jurassic Park (sp?) and come away with an appreciation for how arrogent engineers (and particularly programmers) can be

Funny, I read Jurassic Park and came away an appreciation of how lame an author can be when he picks up a buzzword (chaos, in JP and nanotech here) but doesn't really have a clue what it means.

BTW, I mean lame in many senses: uncool and "marked by stiffness" and "lacking needful or desirable substance".

Movies

[mikeboone]

It's a good book and it's going to make a great movie.

This is my main complaint with the Crichton books in the past 10 years. All of the ones I read are basically movie scripts "disguised" as books. I read The Great Train Robbery (one of his books from the 70s) a couple years ago, and it was much better writing.

Re:Another hate-filled, bigoted book about our kin

[Xandar01]

But my fellow /.er we must analyze our enemy, get to know our enemy, even love our enemy so that we may thoroughly understand our enemy. Then we destroy the enemy. Not just hurt them, but put hurt them so bad that they don't get back up.

612884 of 630000

Re:Formula for a Chrichton novel...

[Anonymous Coward]

1) Man challenges nature
2) Man appears to be successful in challenging nature
3) Nature awakens and bites man in the ass!
4) ???
5) Profit!!

Re:Women in Crichton Books

[spinlocked]

Crichton is like Lucas, he has some great ideas, interesting twists, and generally strong plots. His character development, particularly of women, barely qualifies as one dimensional.

I thought Princess Leia was pretty three dimensional - especially in that metal bikini outfit. Rrrr.

Re:Prey?

[ThrasherTT]

Ever consider the acronym for Duke Nukem Forever? D(id) N(ot) F(inish)... a sign?

I've been there....

[Denor]

the secretive Xymos desert lab in Nevada where nothing is as it seems.

Don't you hate that? I mean, you go through all the trouble and background checks and retinal scans to get to these cool secretive labs and then, almost immediately, everything goes straight to hell.

Oh well, at least that won't happen this next time. I've got this great job lined up at a place called 'Black Mesa'. I'm pretty sure everything there is on the up-and-up.