A review by talon1010
Sphere by Michael Crichton
2.0
Definitely a weird one. I never got around to Andromeda Strain, so the only other Crichton I've read is Jurassic Park. This one felt quite similar in a lot of ways, but a bit clunkier. I don't know if he doesn't do magic/soft sci-fi that well, or if this just wasn't his best work, but in any case, the action of the climax felt a little melted and undeveloped.
Without spoiling it too badly: the compelling implication of a sci-fi concept in the synopsis... kind of just lays the background. It isn't that the plot develops around and beyond the seed it plants, more like it sets the stage for the story to come, and then the rest of the play happens in the parking lot of the theater. I am happy to work past holdovers from sciences now outmoded, but with or without it, the story is a bit rough.
Without spoiling it too badly: the compelling implication of a sci-fi concept in the synopsis... kind of just lays the background. It isn't that the plot develops around and beyond the seed it plants, more like it sets the stage for the story to come, and then the rest of the play happens in the parking lot of the theater. I am happy to work past holdovers from sciences now outmoded, but with or without it, the story is a bit rough.