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gnoumenon's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.5
treebe's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
mafiabadgers's review against another edition
1.0
First read 09/2024
Basically an infinitely shittier version of Solaris. Crichton has a real talent for inserting pop science in obtrusive, jarring ways, so that you know that it's going to come up as a plot point later on. The protagonist is a psychologist, so naturally everything comes down to psychology in the end—or popular psychology, rather than, say, a nuanced and thoughtful exploration of the analyst's role and their relationship with the analysand(s), which is probably about what you should expect from a self-confessed climate change skeptic. Of the three principal characters are an intelligent, one is a slightly sexist black man with a chip on his shoulder (on account of his blackness as much as his intelligence, both of which have led to deep-rooted insecurity), and another a muscle-bound feminist whose politics spring from her misandry, which springs from her insecurity, which springs from her having been so silly as to have been victimised in the past. This also makes her suicidal. Fortunately, our white male protagonist is unaffected by both his whiteness and his maleness, and is thus able to confront his personal issues and save the day. Some decent, if predictable, moments of tension are not able to make up for the book's failings.
Basically an infinitely shittier version of Solaris. Crichton has a real talent for inserting pop science in obtrusive, jarring ways, so that you know that it's going to come up as a plot point later on. The protagonist is a psychologist, so naturally everything comes down to psychology in the end—or popular psychology, rather than, say, a nuanced and thoughtful exploration of the analyst's role and their relationship with the analysand(s), which is probably about what you should expect from a self-confessed climate change skeptic. Of the three principal characters are an intelligent, one is a slightly sexist black man with a chip on his shoulder (on account of his blackness as much as his intelligence, both of which have led to deep-rooted insecurity), and another a muscle-bound feminist whose politics spring from her misandry, which springs from her insecurity, which springs from her having been so silly as to have been victimised in the past. This also makes her suicidal. Fortunately, our white male protagonist is unaffected by both his whiteness and his maleness, and is thus able to confront his personal issues and save the day. Some decent, if predictable, moments of tension are not able to make up for the book's failings.
mrsori's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Confinement, Gore, Medical content, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Fire/Fire injury
bryce_ndavis's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
jayhoward1988's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The movie definitely made some good changes from the book. But definitely still a good read
bit101's review against another edition
2.0
I've come to the conclusion that Michael Crichton is a lot like the Dan Brown of scifi. He can come up with some very interesting story lines, and they are able to become successful Hollywood movies. But as a writer he is atrocious.
The characters were caricatures. The dialogue and interaction between the characters was supremely annoying. Crichton uses the same technique to explain things over and over and over - one character mentions something and another character says, "what's that?" and the first one then launches into an explanation. Only most of the characters here were highly educated experts in their own fields. So you wind up with things like the main character, a world renown psychologist saying, "a syllogism - what's that?" or the biologist saying, "Medusa? No, never heard of her."
When they make contact with the alien intelligence, Gerry, the only thing the commander wants to ask it is it's last name. After just a couple minutes talking to it, they decide it's vital to talk amongst themselves first and convince Gerry to take a break. So what do they do? Argue about psychology vs. technology, and then all go to bed.
As a computer programmer, I found all of the computer parts cringeworthy. I understand that the book was written in the 80s, but I started programming in the 80s and back then we had keyboards just like today. Every time someone uses a computer in the book, they are described as "pressing buttons on the computer". The first messages from Gerry come in as decimal - containing only numbers 0-9. Then we are told the next message is different - it's in binary! But it's also read out as a string of numbers 0-9. I'm not an expert in biology or psychology, but all the monologues on those subjects seemed similarly off.
Anyway, I made it through, only because there was enough action to keep things moving. I've read some other Crichton stuff ages ago. When I was a kid, it seemed fun, but I think I'm done now.
The characters were caricatures. The dialogue and interaction between the characters was supremely annoying. Crichton uses the same technique to explain things over and over and over - one character mentions something and another character says, "what's that?" and the first one then launches into an explanation. Only most of the characters here were highly educated experts in their own fields. So you wind up with things like the main character, a world renown psychologist saying, "a syllogism - what's that?" or the biologist saying, "Medusa? No, never heard of her."
When they make contact with the alien intelligence, Gerry, the only thing the commander wants to ask it is it's last name. After just a couple minutes talking to it, they decide it's vital to talk amongst themselves first and convince Gerry to take a break. So what do they do? Argue about psychology vs. technology, and then all go to bed.
As a computer programmer, I found all of the computer parts cringeworthy. I understand that the book was written in the 80s, but I started programming in the 80s and back then we had keyboards just like today. Every time someone uses a computer in the book, they are described as "pressing buttons on the computer". The first messages from Gerry come in as decimal - containing only numbers 0-9. Then we are told the next message is different - it's in binary! But it's also read out as a string of numbers 0-9. I'm not an expert in biology or psychology, but all the monologues on those subjects seemed similarly off.
Anyway, I made it through, only because there was enough action to keep things moving. I've read some other Crichton stuff ages ago. When I was a kid, it seemed fun, but I think I'm done now.
bert_wagner's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
3.0
easywriter81's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
sianw1992's review against another edition
5.0
Sphere by Michael Crichton
This was one of those books that I already knew well because I'd seen the film first. But it was one of my favourite books ever! It's been ages since I have read a book with so much ease! I enjoyed the characters, loved the storyline and was excited by the unconventional aliens. To date, this is my favourite Crichton book!