The Andromeda Evolution By Michael Crichton.....and Daniel H Wilson

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Michael Crichton is my all time favorite author "Techno-thriller" is my favorite genre and I love real science used in a fictional scenario so when I saw a "new" book by Crichton pop up at my local grocery store I was confused since he has been dead for about a decade. Doing some research I found that Daniel H Wilson received Crichton's notes and estate's permission to write a sequel to one of my all time favorites the Andromeda Strain. I dubiously grabbed a copy on Amazon.

If none of you have read a Crichton book you should, He was a Harvard educated Doctor and Scientist turned novelist who wrote books using cutting edge science (at the time) with almost prophetic accuracy.

I remember doing a reread of the Andromeda Strain and having the main character explain all the machines and devices used in their secret underground "wildfire" medical lab and how close it was to a normal hospital operating room, then i remember the book came out in 1969 and it really blew my mind.

Every one of his novels always has some piece of science that is a growing field right now.

The Andromeda Strain in short is a medical science adventure about a group of Doctors and Scientists racing around the clock to prevent the spread of an Alien "virus" that kills on contact, The climax of the story is when the US government is about to Nuke its own facility to stop the spread only to find out that the virus has mutated to only dissolve plastics and has left to our atmosphere. This of course poses more problems for our burgeoning space exploration and satellite operations.


The Andromeda Evolution while expanding on the themes and stories of the first book but it desperately lacks the insight that Crichton possessed so it reads like more of a dull SciFi adventure than a glimpse into the future. It isn't a bad book at all and I enjoyed the story especially it being written in the form of a post-mortem Mission report after the fact as well as bringing the Andromeda Strain and it's author into the world by acknowledging it's existence in the form of first hand interviews.

Basically, A third form of Andromeda is discovered fallen from space in the middle of the Rain forest and a team of Scientists are sent to investigate including an astronaut aboard the ISS, Shit breaks lose and one of the team has ulterior motives. Lots of Gun Fire and running for their lives nothing like the original book that took place in a laboratory and played out like a murder mystery and not an action movie.

I feel that this movie was written specifically to be picked up by Hollywood for a summer blockbuster adaption.

It explores some smart themes (probably from Crichton's notes) about the Fermi Paradox and Human's desire to explore and destroy but in the end it falls flat with a typical action movie adventure plot.


I didn't hate reading it and it didn't make me like the source material any less, i'd give it 2.5/5

Lets just not make anymore Sequels please.
 
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