Enjoyable hokum
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Sphere is a potent sci-fi blend based on two premises: Firstly, what happens when a group of people whom you know won't get on with each other get trapped in a lift; and secondly a balloon debate - which one's going to die first (apart from those who would be wearing red shirts if they were Star Trek characters that is)! Crichton generates the claustrophobia by having all the action happen at the bottom of the sea somewhere in the Pacific and surrounds it all with technical detail about working at great depths and pressure. This leaves the main characters to do battle with the sphere found in a seemingly alien ship found when a cable-laying ship trips over it. As developments happen, relationships make and break with great speed and some violence before a rather cliched ending. Still I managed to get through the 500 or so pages in just a few hours, thoroughly enjoying the hokum. The only thing that's really deep in this novel is the sea, but don't let that put you off.
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Psychological Sci-fi...
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Sphere is a fine novel of suspense, intrigue, excitement...and psychology.
The main character of the book, Norman Johnson, is a psychologist, and so it is that Sphere changes from being a science fiction novel to a psychological thriller, particularly in its last quarter. This isn't the sort of genre I'd normally read, but I enjoyed this.
The story starts off building slowly, and after 80 pages or so it's flying. There is intrigue and mystery by the bundle as the mysteries of the underwater spaceship and its equally enigmatic sphere are first discovered and then unravelled. The nature of the sphere is never fully explained, and I liked this ambiguity. Certainly we do get answers to many questions as the book draws to a close, but it also leaves some questions - perhaps the "larger" questions - unresolved, being as they are beyond the scope of human understanding. You should find that the answers we are provided with are satisfactory, though.
The second half of the book contains much more excitement, as alien contact is made and the local sea life becomes hostile. But simultaneously Sphere becomes much more psychological at this point, too. The characters start to grate on each other and play games with each other, and it's a race to see which one will turn psychotic first. Will they destroy each other before the sphere does? It's all very intense. However, if you are like me, you will feel almost sad that the sci-fi elements of the story begin to be superseded by the psychological aspects. This book draws a fine line between genre fiction and a simple thriller.
The book has a nice ending which made me smile, and the story, such as it is, is wrapped up logically and clinically. I don't really have any major complaints about it. Overall, I enjoyed this book immensely.
I would say that Sphere is just as good as Jurassic Park, but in a different way. While JP offers breakneck excitement and exhilaration, Sphere offers more subtle thrills and intrigues, and is probably on a slightly deeper level. Both have their merits and attractions. All I'll say is: if you want a good read of any sort, read Sphere.
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I liked it
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I like two kinds of SF books: The big, profound, culturally-grounded Asimovs, and this kind! "This kind" means snappy, fast-paced, well-written books to pick up and read quickly, then forget. Crichton is obviously writing for screenplay consideration, but he does it very well indeed. I couldn't put this down and true to Crichton's style, it read like a movie. A good yarn, well written.
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Under the weather
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I had high hopes for this book.
Four scientists each prestigious in their own field come together for the sake of a navel operation. However, this is know normal operation. They are investigating a spaceship on the ocean floor that is believed to be hundreds of years old.
So the tone is set for an unforgettable adventure, in the darkest waters.
Despite this promising plot, it never really gets moving like it should have done. The characters just aren't well designed. Meaning, somewhat inevitably, conversation between characters becomes tedious, lacking any real depth to make it feel genuine.
There were moments i enjoyed, based on the ideas produced by the main storyline.
In the end, it all just seems to simply written and with a lack of thought.
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Really strange, but pretty enjoyable.
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This book is perhaps the weirdest of michael crichtons' books. The basic idea - anccient spaceship discovered under the ocean - seems straightforward enough. However, it pretty quickly takes on a whole different tone and feel.
Though sections of this book do become repetitive (That squid will annoy you more than anything ever by the end of this), it does provide some decently suprising twists in it. It also brings up a few questions to do with ULFs that are apparently overlooked in any other story that concerns them - it is this that really saves this book, the feeling that the author really put his mind to it and thought it out rather than charging in unprepared as is the impression I get from some thriller writers.
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