Exciting techo thriller about scientists who create a swarm of mico robots using nanotechonlogy for a department of defence project.

This swarm starts to evolve at a rapid pace and cant be stopped. It has now set its sights on its prey us humans. This was good and I did have a fun time with it as its fast paced and full of action. I loved the main character and how he deals with the whole situation. Its a bit techincal with all the science and biology however not overly so for a layman like me. Crichton was the master of this type of thriller and science fiction and whilst not top tier for him its still very good.

This book was mentioned in an invited lecture, I had the fortune to attend today. Professor was reminiscing an old nano conference, where researchers were actually frightened over movie adaptation plans for the novel. Such was the impact of this book, scaring real scientists with science fiction.

Well, I gifted my copy to a friend in Nanotechnology then, which now on retrospection feels like a total evil move.

The work on nanotechnology started innocently enough. But something's gone terribly wrong. A group of scientists have unwittingly created a monster. Microscopic robots that are programmed to hunt and can somehow evolve. When Jack gets a call from his wife's company, he has no idea what's going on. They need him to come and fix some bugs with the code he developed. The code that was used to create these robots. What Jack finds in the desert is more terrifying than he could have ever imagined. And there may be no way to stop it.

Michael Crichton certainly knows how to build suspense. Right from the very beginning this book was compelling and the twists and turns kept it really interesting. Also, it was pretty darn scary. If you're looking for a well-researched thriller, pick this one up. I really enjoyed it and couldn't put it down.

Well, the ending solidifies this book as a warning. LOL.

The preface too - which did a pretty neat job of summarizing a lot of neat points in swift fashion.

Very apt to have read this with the dawn of AI’s prominence on headlines due to light language models taking off. Still, we’re stepping in the exact same terrain laid out in this book. A warning - the same bunch of people at Google warned us about BEFORE we plugged AI into the internet. Which, acting as an AI subconscious can’t be up to any good with what we’ve pumped into it.

Only saving grace is most of it’s virtual… until robotics catches up. Once robotics catches up, say within a few years, decade, twenty years max (AI might help close that gap even faster. The potential seems endless O.o) and we will have the same convergence of technologies that create the ‘singularity’ otherwise known as the point where we throw up are hands and say, ‘we don’t know’

Because we really don’t know what will happen. It’s sheer arrogance to say otherwise and stupidity to dive in anyways, and we will.

Anyways, Prey tackles the same kinda` stuff we’re facing now, except it’s nanotech, distributed systems (which I’ve not heard of) and something else that escapes me right now. The future seems scary, even then. What struck me most was the notion of ‘emergent behaviors’ which I do believe is what we see in AI and will likely continue to see. Something we never intended, yet clearly is happening anyway. Basically, innovation for a machine. And that’s ASSUMING it follows program outlines for genetics/evolution.

I don’t think we can understate the importance of the current times we live in. At least for the shape of humanity. It’s always that way, but truly it feels maybe a little more volatile with such a convergence of breakthroughs and crises that have never happened.

We gotta` be people of right action, and, hopefully, luck is on our side! In fact, I don’t think luck really works any other way.

As for the book I thought it was good. First time out with Michael Crichton and he didn't disappoint. Entertaining and thought provoking!

Dnf @ 50%

Onestà: ho letto l’altra metà della trama da Wikipedia e non migliora. Mi sono salvata da giorni di strazio. Tiè.

This was the closest thing I've found of Crichton's later work that could compare to his early science fiction. It's still not as compelling or entertaining as Sphere or The Andromeda Strain, but it's much better than Timeline or Airframe. Crichton definitely felt compelled to turn his later books into near research papers, loading them with all of the information he came upon in learning about the subject. That, more than anything, is the difference between why this didn't work for me as much as his early books.

A really good hard science fiction novel illustrating the potential danger of nanotechnology would be a welcome addition. Prey is not that novel.

Here’s the plot: Somewhere in the Nevada desert, a hi-tech corporation has been experimenting with nanotechnology swarms. Of course, the little critters get loose and begin evolving into fierce predators. Jack Foreman, an expert in designing computer programs that mimic the behavior of swarming animals, is called in to deal with the swarm. Jack’s wife is a Vice-President at the firm, but she hasn’t clued Jack into the big picture.

I won’t give it away, but the swarm evolves so rapidly – and unbelievably – it’s difficult to sustain belief in the storyline. Actually, it’s impossible. Adding to the disappointment are B-movie characters that blur into the background, their tracks sinking out of sight in the sand of a sluggish plot.

My second (and last for a while) thriller by Michael Crichton.

What I learned:

- Keep your hands off of semi-intelligent nanoparticles, especially when they were programmed with a modified predator-prey-algorithm, unless you want to erase humanity in which case it’s an efficient method.

- Authors should not write program code and include it in their novels. Never. There are two small snippets here and both are utter rubbish and doesn’t make sense at all (that usually applies to film makers too, with the honorable exception of Ex Machina)

- Use thermite to fight termites (or similar creatures). Yes, I got the pun, Mr. Crichton.

Crichton is pretty much the king of speculative science fiction. From dinosaurs, to diseases, to genetic engineering, to, in the case of Prey, nanotechnology. If you read a Crichton book and don't say to yourself, "Damn! Science is scary!", then you missed the point.

This was not my favorite book of his, but it was very good. The thrills, the mystery, and terror all combined for a pretty intense experience. One of my issues with it, though, was how bizarre and out there some of the plot twists were. These did not make it bad by any means, but super confusing and unbelievable (in a few cases it kind of led to some plot holes, too.)

Despite any minor complaints I might have, I can easily recommend this book to someone who likes a good techno-thriller. Also, if you do like Crichton's other works, you really can't go wrong here.

Anche questo romanzo di Crichton si lascia leggere con piacere, seppur non al livello di altri dello scrittore statunitense. Ottima l'idea di base, meno come è stata sviluppata, con qualche americanata di troppo per i miei gusti. In più di un passaggio... ricorda molto il classico della fantascienza "L'invasione degli ultracorpi".
Parte finale un po' troppo tirata per i capelli, resta comunque una lettura gradevole.
Il mio voto: 2,5 stelle.

Compelling and thought provoking. As I was reading it felt like a combination of two other books I read this year: Artificial Wisdom and Jurassic Park. You could image this as a movie or a tv series. Keeps you guessing until the end.

This is a really great, exciting book, but the description made it sound like it was going to start with a cloud of nano robots escaping a lab, and eating everyone, kind of like maybe The Walking Dead, but with a cloud if Nano robots. Spoiler alert, it starts pretty slow with a lot of stuff about a stay at home dad before getting really excitong in the last third. So great book, butbthe desription is very misleading.