An extremely well-researched, interesting story. There seems to be no such thing as a boring Crichton book.

I had high hopes for this book after reading Crichton's 'The Andromeda Strain.' I thought it would be another techno-thriller with the same kind of intriguing ideas and medical realism that would make the plot believeable and far-fetched at the same time. Unfortunately, this was not the case. Perhaps the book is dated in the sense that a man receiving brain implants and receiving shocks in order to stimulate the brain is no longer science-fiction and rather is a reality of today's medicine. Furthermore, the ideas of a war between man and machine are standard Hollywood staples nowadays.

The book sorely lacks characterization and some of the main character's motivations are completely unbelievable. These paper-thin characters are constantly comparing man to computers and are constantly day-dreaming about the ways in which man and machine are the same. Even if I try and place myself in the early 1970's (when the book was published) and pretend that the comparison of man to a computer is a new and exciting revelation I would still have a problem with the ham-fisted ways that Crichton goes about comparing man and machine. Frequently characters refer to thinking as 'processing' and there are several other instances of these obvious comparisons.

The paper-thin characters would be more forgiveable if the book had a strong-plot. I didn't start reading a Michael Crichton book expecting strong characterization; I was expecting a page turner with under-developed but mostly-believable larger than life characters. It fell short in every way. The weak characters were not compensated with an exciting plot. I found myself bored almost the entire way through. Usually with page-turners the plot engages you so much that you are swept up by it and distracts you from the weak characterization, but the weak story just highlighted all of the books other faults.

The plot itself is somewhat ridiculous and the story basically becomes a killer on the loose story. (Don't worry I haven't revealed any more than the book jacket itself). If you look at the book as a killer-thriller it is still boring and clumsily written. Due to the killer's medical condition it diffuses the killer's responsibility and therefore takes all of the emotion out of the book. It becomes a hackneyed morality play in which it could be argued that the doctors are more responsible for the murders than the murderer himself.

Without revealing any specifics, the book culminates in such an unbelievably contrived and easily foreseeable (so foreseeable that the killer himself predicts the ending about 60 pages before it happens), that when it ends you find yourself turning the page and expecting another chapter to add some sort of originality or real meaning to the book.

The ending is so bad that you wish you could unread the last chapter and leave it as a 'bad book that may at-least have a fun ending.' But the ending is so stupid and contrived that it is laughable.

This was one of the worst books that I have ever read. It made me wonder if Crichton had to write this quickly to bank in on the success of The Andromeda Strain.

Anyhow, when I read 'The Andromeda Strain' I thought that I might buy a few more Crichton books to have for rainy days when I just want an easy, fun book. The Terminal Man has made me seriously question Crichton's ability. I will probably read Jurrasic Park someday as it is known as one of his better books, but I certainly won't think of Crichton as a reliable author.

Don't read The Terminal Man. There are so many good books in this world- more good reads than you can read in a lifetime. Don't waste your time on this one.

A typical Crichton thriller; It's a casual airport novel which is fast-paced, has a lot of action, chases, coffee drinking, cigarette smoking and some violence. It seems a bit dated with its talk of the growing omnipresence of computers in our day to day life and an eye on the potential growth in the future along with the drastic growth in their power and functions. As a parallel, it talks of the power of the brain in the scale of a computer and how the two can potentially interact and be made to work together - the brain controls the computer in that the human brain has invented it and operates it, what if the brain were to be controlled by a computer which runs it? That seems to be the crux of the morality of the book. What appealed to me more than this dilemma was the talk of brain functioning and the research behind traumatic brain damage and violent tendencies. It is a topic of major research, especially in sports research as the study of repeated blows to the head and repeated concussions termed Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in boxing, American football and professional wrestling and its effect on the long-term mental health of the sportsmen.

The narrative is pretty fast, doesn't leave much scope for major character development except the main lead and the book suffers from making some obvious revelations in the earlier part of the book which makes a few later actions of the characters quite obvious. Crichton does have a keen eye for writing about medical procedures and terminology (as seen in his hit tv show ER) which he does really well here

It was beauty killed the Terminal Man.

Almost 50-year old techno-thrillers are problematic. They become very accurate Historical fiction.

In places the story was a history of computer technology lesson. The changes in medical science were likewise dramatic. Otherwise, The Real World is a bit behind Crichton's stated Cyborg timeline, despite the popularity of body hacking.

In addition, I received a jolt of Culture Shock. Its always helpful to be reminded how folks attitudes have changed in the past two (2) generations.

Finally, I found the narrative to be rather sterile, despite its medical plot. The look 'n feel of the info-dumps bled over into a wooden narrative. I suspect that 50-years ago folks were more enamored by the tech in the story? They didn't notice the problems in the thriller's plot.

3.5, good, not as good as andromeda strain. Reading is fun?

Δείτε και την κριτική μου στα ελληνικά στις βιβλιοαλχημείες.

The Terminal Man was the first book by Crichton I read this year.
It was the 2nd novel Crichton published under his own name, in 1972, the 13th he wrote in total.

If his 1968 book A Case of Need was a pure medical thriller, this one is a medical thriller with a touch of science fiction.

It has some vibes of Jekyll and Hyde blended with some hints of Frankenstein.

Our protagonist is Harry Benson a computer scientist suffering from violent seizures and periods of blackout.

He has an operation where a microchip will somehow control his seizures.
But instead of lessening his seizures he's able to control them himself, voluntarily, becoming a homicidal maniac.
This is because he is obsessed with a mania: Thinking that computers will take over the world and those responsible should die.

A typical Crichton novel: action packed, interesting scientific information dumps, and extensive bibliography at the end, showing every time his thorough research on the subject matter of the book.

Another thing that I enjoyed in this book are the retro 1970's vibes it has.
It was adapted into screen two years later, in 1974.

I read this in one sitting and it was SO GOOD!! Another super interesting sci-fi story…but with the feel of a medical drama, a psychological thriller, and a forensic files case. It was a very quick read for me because I just had to find out what happened next! The ending left me a bit unsatisfied because I felt that things weren’t tied up as cleanly as I wanted them to be, but the rest of the book was great!

This is a slightly different take on the life long competition bw man & machines. I absolutely love how Crichton weaves his stories around facts, it makes the story sound so compelling. It also perfectly captures in all its irony, the unwillingness of scientists to accept anything other than data, how even the most well laid plans can become a mess, and how ppl who we underestimate almost always win the show.

I luved every bit of this book except the ending which was very anticlimactic.
There was a moral to the stort as well, that when women tell u something, u better listen to them :)

So. Much. Coffee.

A really good example of what made Crichton's early fiction so good. The story is fairly simple compared to his later fiction and much of it is predictable but he also does a superb job of keeping the information dumps interesting, keeps the story moving smoothly, and, unlike his later fiction, he adds morals and themes into the story.

Weak plot with ignorant and outdated views of people with epilepsy. Crichton himself came out and said he felt this was his worst novel and after reading it, I would agree with him.