Sphere

Product Information

Crichton began writing the novel in 1967 as a companion piece to The Andromeda Strain. His initial storyline began with American scientists discovering a 300-year-old spaceship underwater with stenciled markings in English. However, Crichton later realized that he "didn't know where to go with it" and put off completing the book until a later date.

Rating Michael Crichton on his prose, either its subtlety or execution, is sort of pointless... there's no doubt that this man is a shitty prose writer, short on synonyms and prone to spend most of his energy on frenetic descriptions of action. He's basically writing scripts... which is why the man gets the Dan Brown money, but no respect from the smarties.About Us: Sphere". Little Brown Book Group. Archived from the original on 12 October 2007 . Retrieved 16 June 2017. In August 2020, Entertainment Weekly reported that HBO would be developing a television series based on the novel. [4] Reception [ edit ]

During the descent, Levine becomes claustrophobic and is returned to the surface. The other scientists arrive safely at Habitat DH-8. After their arrival and subsequent pressurization to the habitat's exotic-gas environment, the Navy sends a robot to enter the spacecraft first, which locates and opens a panel near the spacecraft door. I did like that this book was focused on Psychology and that it explored the shadow self, but I thought I was going to be on the edge of my seat. Which I was not. I was half asleep. That being said, what I really love about Michael Crichton’s books is that he makes science really fun and explains it in a way that someone who isn’t scientifically inclined, AKA me, can understand and really enjoy it. I could also laugh at science-y jokes like I knew what was going one which made me feel smart and cool. On the surface, confined to a decompression chamber, the trio ponder on what version of their story to tell the Navy. Realizing they could not control the power granted them by the sphere, they decide its knowledge to be too dangerous to be communicated, and resolve to use its power to remove it from themselves and alter their memories, replacing the fantastical experiences with more mundane memories of a technical failure, though it is hinted that Halpern did not do the same. It creates a setting that is on the cusp of reality and stages it with a believable cast of characters. They may not be right for the job, but they use their unique skills and training to make the best of the situation. Barnes: "This is Captain Barnes. We are now about to open the hatch cover. Present with me on this historic occasion are Ted Fielding, Norman Johnson, Beth Halpern, and Harry Adams."

Exterior

This was very fast paced and I never really got bored as it always kept me on edge with new revelations throughout. I gotta say, this novel was written way ahead of its time- 35 years ahead of time to be exact. I’d probably believe it if someone said this was released in the last five years because it still felt super modern.

A group of scientists (namely psychologist Norman Johnson, mathematician Harry Adams, zoologist Beth Halpern, astrophysicist Ted Fielding, and marine biologist Arthur Levine), along with U.S. Navy personnel, travel to a deep sea habitat at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, where an enormous spacecraft has been discovered. Very much yada yada, humanities vs natural sciences and a wasted plot idea with far too less action and twists. Interesting premise that held my attention up until the middle of the book, where improbable things start happening and Crichton failed to make them feel real Although it was sizable cast, each character had such a distinctive and memorable personality. The book to some extent was about how these different personalities would react in a crisis situation, and overall, I think Crichton did a good job fleshing that out. Guthrie, Richard (2011). Publishing: Principles and Practice. SAGE. ISBN 9781446249994 . Retrieved 19 June 2017.Tina Chan—a Navy petty officer and electronics technician who is in charge of communications. She develops a friendship with Halpern, and is one of the longest surviving Navy personnel killed by the manifestations. The story unfolds in a very movie-like way, or at least it kept reminding me of the horror movies I enjoyed in my youth, around the same time this book was published in 1987. Not so much because it was scary, although there were some creepy and tension-filled moments, but because of the story-telling techniques. The main characters all have very distinct and rather cookie-cutter personalities, and they naturally clash with each other in their cramped and isolated environment. There are various twists as the plot unfolds, some of which I found obvious and some of which I didn’t. There’s a sense of tension almost from the beginning that slowly mounts and mounts, and naturally people start dying left and right. Then we end with the typical “is it really over?” style ending in which it’s blatantly hinted that Beth didn’t actually forget about the Sphere. We really can’t be 100% sure about Harry either.

Publication Series: Sphere Science Fiction Classics". isfdb.org. Archived from the original on 19 June 2017 . Retrieved 19 June 2017. I like women villains. I know real women can be any one of sex-obsessed, power hungry, manipulative, hysterical (Crichton literally uses this word), incompetent, and bitter. But why is Beth all of these things? And she never misses a chance to mention she's a woman? Sphere doesn't mess about. It's a full on Sci fi horror. As you know by now, that's so far up my street it's in the front room of my house, sitting on the sofa. It comes with being a huge fan of movies like Terminator, Event Horizon and of course Aliens. This book hits all the right buttons if you're into those type of movies. There is a major spoiler in this book, that I won't comment here, don't worry, but please avoid at all costs to know that spoiler if you choose to read the book, since it's that kind of spoilers that if you already knew it before of reading the book, simply you will ruin all the fun of actually reading the book and making the investigation along with the scientist group. Sphere is, in my opinion, Michael Crichton's most interesting book on two levels. First, the plot: a truly great parable on the endgame of technology, and the long-sought-after dream of Alladin's magic lamp. I don't want to go too deep, but I'll say that it is, in my humble hypothesis, the uncredited inspiration for the excellent show Lost. While the plot is a highlight, I personally keep this book high on my list of favorites, after all these years, because of the Essay, which breaks with/plays off Crichton's typical form: instead of a broken monologue with a human genius, it takes the form of an italicized, nearly stream of consciousness Socratic dialogue with... something. Again, the writing is problematic (Crichton manages to use the word "foam" 23 times or so in two paragraphs) but, even after all these years, the content still stirs me: the subject is consciousness and the power and meaning of the question mark... again I'll let him do the rest. You can (and should) disagree with his analysis, you can shrug aside his monosyllables, but if something in his notion of What Makes Humanity? doesn't stir you, then you are missing out. You have finally and irrevocably left the seventh grade, that painful age of wondering, in favor of a well-fortified adulthood... and as nice as that sounds, you probably left something essential behind.Sphere lost it’s license to produce Star Wars books after Empire, which was instead passed to Futura for Return of the Jedi. However, the company’s output from that galaxy far, far away will live long in the memories, and hearts, of fans of a certain age. Jane Edmunds—a Navy petty officer and data processing technician who serves as the operation's archivist. She is responsible for recording events and transferring the tapes to the submarine at DH-7, which is pre-programmed to return to the surface if not reset before a failsafe 12-hour countdown reaches 0, intended to ensure that at the very least a partial record will survive in case of catastrophe. This book is a combination of psychological thriller and science fiction. It follows a group of scientists as they investigate what is thought to be an alien vessel that crashed on the ocean floor. I don't think Michael Crichton meant Sphere to come out sounding that way, but his characters are so paper-thin there's nothing left of them but their stereotypes. I didn't picture Dustin Hoffman for the role of Dr. Goodman, no offense to Mr. Hoffman, which is an actor that I admired a lot, but I thought in Sean Connery for that character.