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David McK (3562 KP) rated Micro in Books

Jan 30, 2019  
Micro
Micro
Michael Crichton | 2012
4
7.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Finished by Richard Preston, this is the novel that Michael Crichton was working on at the time of his death in 2008.

I have to say that, of late, I have actually been disappointed by most of Crichton's more recent novels, with the possible exception of <i>Prey</i>. Unfortunately, I was also pretty disappointed by this: I felt that I was never really engaged with any of the characters, so their plight never really had any impact on me - without giving too much away, and in a pretty superficial sense, I think this novel could be pretty much described as <i>The Borrowers</i>, set in nature.

For me, <i>Jurassic Park</i> (by far) still remains Crichton's seminal work.
  
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David McK (3562 KP) rated Jurassic Park (Jurassic Park, #1) in Books

Jan 28, 2019 (Updated Oct 1, 2022)  
Jurassic Park (Jurassic Park, #1)
Jurassic Park (Jurassic Park, #1)
Michael Crichton | 1990 | Fiction & Poetry
10
8.3 (34 Ratings)
Book Rating
The first of the late Michael Crichton books that I've read, and this is still the best.

While the film of the same name is very good, it's really only a watered down version of the story contained within here, with several of the characters (most notably Alan Grant and John Hammond) undergoing a personality/trait change between print and screen. Presumably for reasons of cost and running time, the film also leaves out some of the dinosaurs and events of the books (eg the Pterodactyl lodge, although that is later used in the film Jurassic Park III).

For me, this was further proof of what I've always found: that films based on books are never quite as good as the source material.
  
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Erika Kehlet (21 KP) rated Micro in Books

Feb 21, 2018  
Micro
Micro
Michael Crichton | 2011
2
6.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
I really wanted to like this book, but the dialog was so painful I almost didn't finish it. The descriptions and action scenes felt too choppy. There were more continuity issues and contradictions than I can count (for one, thing, if you are out of visual range of something, you can't look back in the next sentence and see what said something was doing!) and by the time we're 90% into the book I KNOW who Karen is and there is no reason to refer to her or any other character by their full names anymore, at least not so frequently.

The basic idea was good - and it had the potential to be an entertaining, if far-fetched, techno-thriller, but I couldn't recommend this even to die-hard Michael Crichton fans.
  
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David McK (3562 KP) rated Extinction in Books

Aug 11, 2024 (Updated Aug 11, 2024)  
Extinction
Extinction
Douglas Preston | 2024
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I remember, back in the mid to late 90s, reading both 'Relic' and it's sequel 'Reliquary', and quite enjoying the both of them.

(The movie 'Relic', on the other hand, was a bit of a dud).

They're the only 2 novels by Douglas Preston I'd ever read, until I decided to give this one a go based on both the premise (extinct animals being brought back to life) and the blurb.

I knew it wouldn't be a 'Jurassic Park' (which is name-checked) scenario; wasn't quite sure what it would be. What I got was an enjoyable enough read that put me in mind of something from the late Michael Crichton: I also have to say that, whilst I didn't get either the specifics nor who was behind it (or the reason), I did see what was coming from just over roughly the halfway mark!