Michael Crichton
Ballentine Books, New York
1987
Paperback
$7.99 US
There I was again. Sitting in the airport at St. Louis waiting on that airline to find a plane to take me to Madison. I had spent considerable effort trying to keep my layovers at the different airports to a minimum. All to no avail because there I was waiting in St. Louis on a layover from Memphis to Madison. Four hours.
So I buy a personal pizza and spy Crichton's book from his new movie sitting on a shelf while eating it. Despite the fact that I'm not going to get reimbursed for the book, I bought it and started reading.
This is one of Crichton's early works than some I have read earlier. It's interesting that they are just now getting around to making a movie out of it. Maybe that says something. In the past, I have been terribly disappointed in the movies after reading the books. If this holds true for the film based on this book, the film must be a dog.
I must admit that I was drawn in and along for probably the first half of the book. At that point, however, the plot became so predictable to anyone who has read science fiction previously that it bordered on tedious. It's a shame, too. I was really looking forward to this movie. Now, I'll just wait for the film to come out on tape.
Overall, the book is disappointing. It's apparent where the ship is from and the sphere itself is boring. The book is supposed to have over four million copies in print. The movie is supposed to be a major motion picture. Just goes to show you what good marketing can do despite the lack of content. If I hadn't been hard up in the airport for something to read, I never would have paid eight dollars for this book. I don't recommend you do.