Next - Michael Crichton

I really enjoyed Michael Crichton's book 'Prey' so it was just natural that I bought next as soon as it was published. Disappointing is surly to strong but honestly, I wouldn't spend that money again on it. It is less the content of the story that disappointed, no the layout of the story is the real problem. It is one of Crichton's favourite topics 'when technology goes wrong'. The base is good, incidents that can happen when gene technology is not monitored/regulated enough. Unlike his other books there's no real storyline in 'Next' - it's a mix of separate stories combined by the main topic about failed gene technology. Topics like ...  Read the complete review

I gave up on Michael Crichton books a while back. His plots became dull, confused and predictable - essentially just endlessly recycling his idea of "when technology goes bad". Then I came across a copy of State of Fear cheap, and was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. So, buoyed by that success, I moved straight on to Next. Sadly, Next proved a disappointment. Its plot centres around biotechnology and its potential effects on the future of the human race. It's obviously a controversial subject and one which you feel Crichton never really gets to grips with from an entertainment point of view, producing a turgid, plodding novel that has plenty in ...  Read the complete review

What an amazing book. It was Michael Crichton at his best, going into way too much detail about the subject matter but never failing to entertain. This could be his most complex and strange book to date (and I won't even go into the talking monkey too much). It is told from multiple perspectives and I am not sure where to begin in trying to explain what the book is about. So I will say it in two words - "The future". I suppose the title gives that away to a certain extent. Michael Crichton proves to the world once more he is so much smarter than we are but is able to explain things in such a way that his adoring readership know what he is talking about ...  Read the complete review

Michael Crichton is a highly successful writer with over 150 million books in print, going back 40 years. He is probably best know as the creator of ER and author of Jurassic Park, which became a hugely successful multi-million dollar movie. However, to his fans Crichton is much more than the creator of Jurassic Park and the release of his latest novels create a rush of both excitement and anticipation as to what it is going to be all about. I therefore couldn't wait to read Next when it was released as hardback in November 2006. In many ways it is similar to many of his other books in terms of covering a very controversial subject head on but in the form of ...  Read the complete review