Best of Michael Chrichton Novels

[Mr Light]

I was home sick this weekend and looking for an exciting book to read, and I fell upon my shelf of Michael Chrichton novels. I read these things endlessly in the 90s, but I haven't touched them since then. Some of them I barely remember, so reading them will be almost new to me. I think Jurassic Park was the first "adult" novel I ever read (this was way before the movie) and I absolutely fell in love with it, reading it over and over again. He does a wonderful job of combining thrilling action sequences with real world science and history. It's great to read fantastical stories that are as plausible as possible. Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child novels strongly remind me of Chrichton.

So, working off 15 year old memories, here's my best to worst ranking of his books:
JURASSIC PARK: even ignoring the movie, this is a classic page-turner that captures the childhood love of dinosaurs. There's so many amazing sequences in here (many of which weren't in the movie).
SPHERE: incredibly engrossing and creepy and terrifying; so much better than the movie suggests.
CONGO: I remember loving this as a kid and being creeped out by the killer gorillas and fascinated by the talking friendly one. (and the movie was terrible as I recall)
TIMELINE: I really loved how 'real world' this time travel adventure was, showing how life and language really was back then.
EATERS OF THE DEAD: I only have vague memories of liking this, again for the real world history. The book, of course, was much better than the movie.
MICRO (with Richard Preston): this would make a great movie, a realistic and scary Honey I Shrunk the Kids.
PIRATE LATITUDES: another great historical thriller. a real life Pirates of the Caribbean.
LOST WORLD: I remember nothing about the novel, just that it was unmemorable and a completely different story from the movie.
GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY: I remember liking this, but I don't remember why.
NEXT: I vaguely remember this one being just okay.
STATE OF FEAR: hilarious right wing propaganda but still a page turner!
PREY: I just remember this being very small and unmemorable.

 

[shivkala]

I read Andromeda Strain and was hugely let down by the ending. I also remember enjoying Congo (the description of the camp's defenses sparked my imagination as a kid), and yes, you are right, it was a terrible movie.

Like you, I have trouble remembering The Lost World, other than it being better than the movie.

 

[Mr Light]

I think I read Andromeda Strain, but I don't remember anything about it or my opinion of it.

 

[HIjol]

I am not sure I could rank the novels of Chrichton in any kind of order, but I do remember a feeling, after reading a relatively small number of his titles, that he was (inadvertently?) writing them also as screenplays. I could see a movie as I read.

 

[Random_Spock]

I am not sure I could rank the novels of Chrichton in any kind of order, but I do remember a feeling, after reading a relatively small number of his titles, that he was (inadvertently?) writing them also as screenplays. I could see a movie as I read.

Same here. That's why I like his writing tbh. It was just pretty realistic.

 

[Non Sync]

The Andromeda Strain
Jurassic Park
Airframe
Timeline
Rising Sun

I think one hallmark of all of his novels is the research he does. It provides a depth that makes the subject more realistic.

 

[Random_Spock]

The Andromeda Strain
Jurassic Park
Airframe
Timeline
Rising Sun

I think one hallmark of all of his novels is the research he does. It provides a depth that makes the subject more realistic.

Definitely. And it makes the interactions more believable.

Really liked Airframe and there was another one I just read, I think it was Disclosure. It was about a woman harassing a man at his job iirc. Very well done.

 

[Mr Light]

yeah that was Disclosure.

I don't think I ever read Terminal Man, was that one any good?

I felt like his later novels were not as good, in fact Timeline is the only one I truly loved after 1990

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Crichton

 

[HIjol]

He generally has the gift of hooking and keeping you hooked...

Like The God Sanders! (No derail, but Lawrence Sanders was IT)

 

[Saga]

i read a lot of his stuff in high school. loved Eaters of the Dead and Congo. tried reading Sphere but couldn't get into it. maybe time to try again. i have copies of Prey and State of Fear...i just haven't got around to reading em yet.

i'd been thinking of getting some of his earlier stuff published under a pseudonym. i forget the name, but they belong to that Hard Case Crime imprint.

 

[HIjol]

i read a lot of his stuff in high school. loved Eaters of the Dead and Congo. tried reading Sphere but couldn't get into it. maybe time to try again. i have copies of Prey and State of Fear...i just haven't got around to reading em yet.

i'd been thinking of getting some of his earlier stuff published under a pseudonym. i forget the name, but they belong to that Hard Case Crime imprint.

"John Lange"

Good News, albeit a little dated:
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/...rime-to-publish-early-crichton-thrillers.html

also, "Jeffery Hudson"

 

[Mr Light]

I'm halfway through Prey right now. It's one of those books that are irresistible page turners as you're reading them, but once it's done you realize it actually wasn't that good it was just the mystery that kept you hooked.

 

[1001001]

I don't think I ever read Terminal Man, was that one any good?

I liked it.

I also liked The Andromeda Strain, Sphere, Airframe, Jurassic Park, and The Great Train Robbery.

Michael Crichton: Master of the 2-Page Chapter.

 

[Scout101]

Jurassic park, Sphere, Congo, Andromeda Strain, Timeline - all great choices.

 

[Enterprise is Great]

Jurassic Park, Congo, Timeline and Sphere

 

[Admiral2]

Honestly, I've always thought of Michael Chrichton as overrated as a writer.

Disclosure is the only one of his books that I could enjoy without reservation, and only because I saw the movie first and could imagine Demi Moore in the part of the boss.

Micro is interesting for the description of the shrinking method, but beyond that it was just deadly serious "Honey i shrunk the kids."

I quit on Next halfway through because I found it DUUULLLLLLL.

Rising Sun, Sphere and Airframe are just OK.

Jurassic Park is a great concept but needed Spielberg to jazz it up in a movie because the ending was a yawn. How do you write a book about dinosaurs mingling with humans and make a boring ending?

I get that the big appeal is his research and attention to detail, but I'm a Tom Clancy devotee. Compared to him Chrichton was a piker when it comes to research and detail.

 

[Gaith]

Loved Jurassic Park and The Lost World as a kid, which compelled me to slog through Airframe and Timeline, both of which were pretty darn dull, though at least the former had a cool dramatic climax; the latter was just a total waste. Maybe I was too young for those, and would enjoy them more now, but they're not exactly on my list.

I used to really dig the movie Sphere, and wouldn't mind watching it again.

 

[Starbreaker]

I've read Jurassic Park, Timeline, and Prey. Jurassic Park is a classic, Timeline is a fun adventure romp with some science thrown in for good measure, and Prey starts off strong but quickly tails into drivel.

 

[Owain Taggart]

I remember loving The Lost World, and I was really hoping the movie version would be just as good. I think the best thing about the movie was the Robert Bakker lookalike.

I have an Uncle who's a paleontologist who was cited as a source for the book. I remember discussing with him about the lookalike and we had quite a laugh because I thought it really was Bakker They just did a really good job.

Timeline was OK, and actually I like the movie quite a bit, maybe even better than the book as it was fun seeing those settlements come to life.

Micro, I didn't care for. I thought it was the silliest thing.

Pirate Latitudes was fun, though felt rather incomplete, though that's understandable since it was only partially completed before his death. It showed a lot of promise though, and I only wish he'd had more time to flesh things out.

 

[Mooch]

I thought Prey was great. I liked Timeline and Airframe and the Jurassic Park ones too. I don't really remember any others I might have read, except The Great Train Robbery (which I didn't like as much).