The Andromeda Evolution

So exactly who am I reviewing? Is it Michael Crichton I can thank for this literary flop, or is it Daniel Wilson? In anticipation of this The Andromeda Evolution, I decided to reread the Andromeda Strain to ensure I was in the proper groove. (surprisingly, not as well composed as I had felt back in the day). It didn’t help. Like many books written these days, it started out strong, but as I continued reading I could literally feel Crichton (or is it Wilson?) rushing through the inconceivably stretched plot line seemingly out of sheer boredom and a desire to finish off this dumpster fire. Obviously, with books like this the reader is expected to suspend disbelief to some degree, but with the Andromeda Evolution, the reader is expected to disregard common sense, and in some cases physics as well. Self constructing living space elevators sent by aliens, small flocks of drones with the ability to speak and translate rare Amazonian tribal languages, space stations crewed by astronauts suffering from a debilitating neurological diseases, human beings able to withstand reentry through the atmosphere while standing on an open platform elevator they were able to use to ascend to the ISS after having magically found a pair of next-gen space suits, space stations with parachutes and high explosives as standard equipment, and on and on… Crichton fell off my radar some time ago, but with the return of what was a very engaging original novel, I figured he was worth another go. Suffice it to say I’ll be letting Crichton and Wilson slip back off my radar, and well off my reading list.

Seemed too far fetched, to disconnected from the original work.

This is the second book in the series but except for the name of the strain of the biohazard and one of the main characters connected to the 1st book there is no relationship between the two interesting plot

This is emphatically not — in any way — a novel by Michael Crichton, even though the publisher has spread Crichton’s name across half the cover and then put it, brazenly, on the title page as well. This book can’t even claim to be based upon any sketches, notes, or napkin scribbles the author made for any kind of sequel to his Andromeda Strain. I confess to buying it with fond hopes, but am saddened (and a bit angry) to say after reading it that it’s a thoroughly bad book; one that (as the reader learns in the closing pages) was in fact apparently a collaborative effort, put together by a writer who was selected after Crichton’s death by his (fifth) wife, whom he had married in his final years. (In an afterword, Sherri Crichton thanks writer Daniel H. Wilson for his “collaborative spirit,� and writes of “collaborat[ing] with� him on it. Wilson was, as it happens, not even born until several years after The Andromeda Strain was published.) And while Mr. Wilson may know something of robotics, he does not possess Crichton’s Harvard medical background; and the Andromeda Strain is, of course, a fictional meditation upon a *biological* crisis, not a robotical one. The book begins with some promise, as Wilson apes some of Crichton’s pseudo-documentary style; but Wilson has, alas, neither Crichton’s literary skills nor his psychological grasp of humans and their limitations. As this lamentable book progresses, it resembles Crichton less and less, and becomes more and more Edgar Rice Burroughs of the feverish “Barsoom" pulp stories, until finally our cartoonish super-hero protagonist is zipping up (and then down) a space elevator to battle a humanoid mutant in outer space. Hmm. Mr. Wilson writes of how his sequel “unfolded along the same fault lines of human hubris� as The Andromeda Strain. He should have quietly refolded those fault lines and instead studied the mirror for the fount of “human hubris.� Avoid.

Refreshing to read hard science fiction done well. Nice plot twist and well written. Worthy of a higher price.

Too scientific and abstract

It was worth reading

If you read Scientific American and do well at Jeopardy, you will really enjoy this book. If you prefer comic books and cartoons, don’t buy it. This story is a sequel to The Andromeda Strain with a different premise. Crichton’s writing style isn’t for everyone but I couldn’t put it down.

I loved the original. Too much detail, some seemingly accurate, some ridiculous. First time I gave up on a book and couldn’t finish it.

Very good follow up to the first book, I loved it. Leaves you definitely wanting more!!!