The Andromeda Strain
 
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Avon Books Number of pages: 368 Language: English (Original Language) Language: English (Unknown) Language: English (Published) |
That's the scientific supposition that Michael Crichton formulates and follows out to its conclusion in his excellent debut novel, TheAndromeda Strain. A Nobel-winning bacteriologist, Jeremy Stone, urges the president to approve an extraterrestrial decontamination facility, to sterilise returning astronauts, satellites and spacecraft that might carry such 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 US 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, they end up getting more than they asked for. The Andromeda Strain follows Stone and rest of the scientific team mobilised to react to the Scoop crash, as they scramble to understand and contain a strange and deadly outbreak. Crichton's first book may well be his best, with an earnestness missing from his later, more calculated thrillers. --Paul Hughes, Amazon.com
RRP: £5.46
Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review
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 creatures or less, 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.
perfectly conceived
Review date: 2008-08-20 Rating: 10 out of 10
I found this book to be a perfectly conceived techno-thriller/earth bound science fiction story. I have enjoyed some other Crichton, John Wyndham and Arthur C Clarke stuff and often this sort of thing requires large leaps of the imagination to follow the story but I couldn't find any holes in the plot or behaviour of the characters.
Reviews
Still like it
Review date: 2008-07-10 Rating: 8 out of 10
I will be brief, as I cannot compare it to most of Crichtons work, just "Timeline", but later on that.
I red "The Andromeda strain" as a teenager and it stands out in my memory as one of the SF books I really liked. Well, it is neither Stanislaw Lem nor Philip K. Dick, but still was very enjoyable and well writeen (and well translated, 'cause back then I could only read it in Latvian).
Recent attempt to read "Timeline" was a disappointment; it was a translation again, and probably not so good one. It just did not register, seemed like Arthur Hailey, only a bit worse, so I never finished it. Sure, it was better that "The Da Vinci Code", but that is hardly a major achievement.
Disappointing
Review date: 2007-07-25 Rating: 4 out of 10
I have only recenty begun reading Michael Crichton (Next, Prey, Airframe) and have really enjoyed his work. The books are so indepth and backed by vast amounts of research, I never know what is fact or fiction.
Then I read Andromeda Strain and was greatly disappointed. Whilst the idea is fantastic, I found the writing complicated and all the bits of technical data (ie results of blood gases and dna analysis) unnecessarily burdensome and I skipped over numerous pages. The characters were not fully developed and I didn't really identify with any of them. It also seemed as though there was a lot of "background" information that Critchon presumed the reader had knowledge of but didn't. And finally, the ending was wholly anti-climatic.
Considering the decade it was written in, there were a lot of fantastical ideas about human knowledge and techinical capabilites that were really interesting, but overall, I'd say give this book a miss.
Oh My God
Review date: 2003-10-14 Rating: 2 out of 10
What a let down. Supposedly his best book, but it's ending is such a disappointment. I was actually really getting into the story and then it just finishes. I enjoyed it up until the last couple of chapters but the ending really ruined it. It is not as good as other books such as Jurassic Park or Lost World which at least have a catchy finale. If you do read this book skip the last couple of chapters and just make up your own ending, it will be more enjoyable that way!!!!
Fantastic strain of fiction
Review date: 2002-03-26 Rating: 10 out of 10
Could not put this excellent book down a pure joy to read, has you engaged from start to finish. Dr. hall the true hero in this book bringing forward the odd man theory. A must for all sci-fi readers and anybody else with an imagination.
Product Details/Specifications
Authors:
Michael Crichton
Recording label: Avon Books
Manufacturer: Avon Books
EAN: 9780060541811
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey decimal number: 813.54
ISBN: 0060541814
Number of items: 1
Number of pages: 368
Publication date: 2003-11
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: English (Unknown)
Language: English (Published)
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