A review by circularcubes
Airframe by Michael Crichton
5.0
I enjoyed this book SO MUCH, y'all, SO MUCH. I am super interested in: man-made disasters, airplane disasters, and pedantic and technical details of how things (especially travel-related things) work. And this book delivers it all, with a hefty dose of drama, uncertainty, double-crossing, and death. If you want to know about how planes work, how autopilot works, and what sorts of things cause flight accidents, then you should totally read this book. Note that this isn't a blanket recommendation - you've gotta love the tiny minutiae of plane technology and the world of commercial flight, and you've gotta have a bit of a morbid streak, especially if plane travel is already something you're uncomfortable with.
I enjoyed this book almost as much as I enjoyed Jurassic Park (a particular favorite of mine), but this is decidedly not Nuanced Literature. Crichton likes his detestable characters and seems to love getting readers to hate them as thoroughly as he does, and the one-dimensional female journalist in this book struck me as a lazily created character. I also never bought into the "dangerous union workers" plot point. These are a fairly minor quibbles, though, and overall it works pretty well with the breakneck speed of the plot.
Final thing: this is a truly terrible cover. Surely they could have done something, anything, that was more visually appealing than this? The book has kind of a terrible name, as well, tbh.
I enjoyed this book almost as much as I enjoyed Jurassic Park (a particular favorite of mine), but this is decidedly not Nuanced Literature. Crichton likes his detestable characters and seems to love getting readers to hate them as thoroughly as he does, and the one-dimensional female journalist in this book struck me as a lazily created character. I also never bought into the "dangerous union workers" plot point. These are a fairly minor quibbles, though, and overall it works pretty well with the breakneck speed of the plot.
Final thing: this is a truly terrible cover. Surely they could have done something, anything, that was more visually appealing than this? The book has kind of a terrible name, as well, tbh.