This is a review of the audiobook.
I first read The Andromeda Strain way back when I was about 12 years old or so. Back then the YA genre wasn't available for us precocious readers so we graduated from Nancy Drew straight to Stephen King, Micheal Crichton and the like.
There is nothing scarier than something we cannot see. Add in some alien elements and it becomes even scarier. Alien virus from outer space - freaky.
The audio version was not as good as the book, nor was it as good as the movie from what I recall. However, I did enjoy listening to it, it just didn't amaze me.

My mom told me this was one of the most thrilling books she had ever read. I think she is easily thrilled. I was bored out of my mind. Had there been some dionsaurs it would have been a whole lot better.

I really enjoyed listening to this story on audible. Something from outer space lands in Arizona and wipes out a whole city - except for a crying baby and an old man. What is it and can the government figure out how to stop it in time. Another great thriller by Michael Crichton.

I don't get the complaints about Michael Crichton's writing. Take the following complaint about this book:

"It's a boring procedural with flat, uninteresting characters."

Yeah. It's a procedural. That's what Michael Crichton writes. Explorations of a scientific idea. He's an asker of "What If?" What if we were able to recreate dinosaurs. What if we developed nanotech and it got away from us. What if a deadly alien virus came down from a satellite.

I like such stories. When I buy a Michael Crichton, that's what I want to read, and that's what he delivers. Complaining that it's not a character-centric drama is like going to see Transformers and complaining about the lack of a good script.

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Everyone at the end of the book: The world is saved!
Book two:


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I just got my ARC of The Andromeda Evolution in the mail (thank you, HarperCollins!!!!) so, even if it's unnecessary, I'm going to read this

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Note to self: Next time, remember that you don't like books that involve medicine. That took a whole 2 stars off for me.

Definitely fun infectious disease story, though I wish there had been more about the outbreak and less about the science behind it.

To my knowledge The Andromeda Strain is the "hardest" science fiction novel extant - meaning that the science is not simplified. Crichton was an MD who looks to have been a true scientist in that this novel demonstrates that he was far more than a mere rote memorizer of facts. He explains in Acknowledgements:

"This is a rather technical narrative, centering on complex issues of science"

I saw the film on first release ca. 1971 and soon thereafter read the novel. Both are faithful to scientific realism and expect the spectator to run along and keep up. Despite this, the novel can be enjoyed without digging deeply into the science. As a serious thriller it works without the need for a science background. The film is serious in that it is devoid of Hollywood Moments (which are de-rigueur in garden-variety "science fiction" films.)

That said, as a "science kid" the film and book were both like catnip to me. A re-read as an amateur science adult held up very well. No surprise, because science ages well - nothing in the book is "incorrect".

(just as Einstein's General Relativity does not render Newton's Mechanics "incorrect" subsequent advances in the biological sciences enhance what went before. Still, I'd like to see what professional biological scientists think of this novel's scientific integrity)

This is not a film review - but I'll add that the film is one of the most faithful SF adaptations ever done - on par with 2001: A Space Odyssey - which was not a adaptation so much as a multi-year collaboration between Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke - the latter of whom earned a British first-class degree in mathematics and physics.

I’ll offer a setup:

A U.S. government satellite crashes in the desert near Piedmont, New Mexico. Within hours all of the town's inhabitants die - except two survivors — an old man and an infant.

It is feared that the satellite brought back a virulent microbe, so the satellite and survivors are brought to a classified underground laboratory called Wildfire.

Thus we are off and running.

Another one of those great listens, that one can listen to straight through.

This was probably one of the first science fiction books I ever read, and so far the only book by Crichton. My rating is based on my reaction over three decades ago -- I seem to recall there were some parts that felt awkward, like they were written by someone trying to leap across the so-called "generation gap". But my teen self loved the book, so it gets the five stars. I have no idea whether I'd still feel as generous if I were to re-read it, but then I seldom re-read books anyway.

The movie was pretty good too.

3.5

رویدادهای اولیه ی این داستان به پروژه اسکوپ برمیگرده که در این پروژه آمریکا ماهواره هایی رو به مدار زمین میفرسته تا جانداران میکروسکوپی رو جمع آوری کنه و به زمین برگردونه. هفتمین ماهواره در نزدیکی دهکده ای که در آریزونا واقع شده، برخورد میکنه و بعد از اون اهالی دهکده به طرز عجیبی میمیرن
بهرحال این شکل از اولین برخورد با جانداران خارج از کره ی زمین طبیعی تره تا چیزهایی که توی فیلم هایی مثل بیگانه یا برخورد نزدیک از نوع سوم نشون داده میشه. در صورتی که موجودات هوشمندی وجود داشته باشن، اونقدر نباید احمق باشن که همون اول بیان خودشونو نشون بدن
سبک نگارش کتاب خشکه که بخاطر علمی بودنشه. بخش هاییش کلا به شکل گزارش نوشته شده و به همین خاطر برای خوندنش به دانش زیست شناسی حداقلی نیاز هست (فکر میکنم در حد زیست شناسی دبیرستان کفایت میکنه)، با این حال مترجم پانوشت های زیادی رو اضافه کرده و بخش های تخصصی تر رو توضیح داده که دستش درد نکنه
ولی با تمام اینها، داستان کشش خوبی داره و میتونم بگم به جز بخش های علمی، باقی کتاب جذابه

طبق گفته ی مترجم در پیش گفتار، مایکل کرایتون این کتاب رو بر اساس واقعیت نوشته و شرح اتفاقات و حوادثی رو بیان میکنه که در پنج روز رخ داده. مترجم به این نکته اشاره میکنه که اغلب شخصیت های کتاب حقیقی اند و نویسنده باهاشون دیدار و مصاحبه داشته و همچنین به اسناد و مدارک زیادی هم مراجعه کرده. با توجه به جزئیات علمی زیاد، قابل باور هم هست ولی خب این قضیه مزخرفه. حالا مترجم نیست که از خودش دفاع کنه، یا گول کرایتون رو خورده یا این "براساس واقعیت" رو تکرار کرده که به بلوف نویسنده وفادار باشه :))
اینجا خود کرایتون در مورد این موضوع و نوشتنِ کتاب توضیح داده

http://www.michaelcrichton.com/the-an...

و در آخر بگم که به هیچ وجه داستان عامه پسندی نیست. طرفدارهای علمی - تخیلی هم نباید مشکلی با کتاب داشته باشن و اگه از داستانهایی که به موضوعات بیماری همه گیر و اپیدمیک مربوط هستند خوشتون میاد، حتما کتاب رو پیشنهاد میکنم

This book definitely carries a 1970’s overtone. I have seen both versions of the movie and enjoyed it. The older movie was closer to the events in this book. There was much technical jargon in Crichton’s writing. Some was junk food and the rest very informative. I enjoyed the way they referred to the mistakes they made in a foreshadowing style. It was a very interesting read. I would recommend this to my GR readers.

In high school, I read this and everything else of Crichton's that I could get my hands on. I remembered liking it but not much else so I decided to read it again--something I rarely do. In the end, I liked it even more than the first time. For me, this is Crichton at his best, combining scientific research with an interesting plot and a well paced story. This goes along with 'The Great Train Robbery' as my favorite of his books.