Jurassic Park the book....not so good.

[cmccuist]

Originally Posted by JeremyD

+1 - I thought the movie ruined it. I also liked Rising son and coma and Disclosure. Prey was sort of far fetched.

Coma was written by Robin Cook (great book btw).

I also enjoyed Rising Sun and Disclosure. Airframe was my favorite. Congo was pretty good as well.

That book about the underwater sphere, I believe the book was called Sphere - did not like!

[JeremyD]

I meant the movie "coma" which was written and directed by Michael Crichton. That was one where the book and the movie were good.

I also thought he wrote "The Hot Zone" but Richard Preston wrote that.

Airframe was good - very technical.

[Pazuzu]

Anything by Richard Preston is good, but he's not writing fiction, he's writing factual stuff in an accessable way. All of his books are good reads, but the HotZone/Demon in the Freezer are downright SCARY.

[jyl]

I've read 5 or so Crichton books. Andromeda, Terminal Man, Congo, Jurassic, Lost World, Airframe, (and Sphere though I recall nothing about it.)

I think he does a great job of imagining a fascinating situation/thesis and setting it up - so, about the first 1/3 of the book is a fun read. Then the situation begins to unravel, that's the middle 1/3, and is kind of interesting in a "watch the dominos fall" way. But the last 1/3 is usually boring - the resolution is uninteresting and the characters are one-dimensional and passive. Usually the crisis just burns itself out and all the characters do is hang on for the ride.

Of the one's I've read, Airframe was the best, there was actually a mystery involved and it was sustained through the story.

[M.D. Holloway]

The Great Train Robbery was his best...

[jyl]

That reminds me, if you liked "Airframe", then try "Millennium" by John Varley. You will probably like it too, lots of air crash investigation stuff plus some science fiction. Can't tell more w/out spoilering.