I adore Michael Crichton. He had a miraculous talent for crafting griping, edge of your seat thrillers that entertained readers while also leaving them a bit more educated and better informed for having read them. In short, these were books you really could feel good about reading.
For anyone who has yet to enjoy a Crichton novel and is wondering where to start, here are four of my very favourites. Narrowing down this list to only four titles was indeed a challenge, but I hope they help you pick your next great read.
A satellite falls to earth bearing a terrible passenger – a mysterious microbe that brings terrifying death in its wake. A small group of scientists is pitted in a desperate race against the clock to identify and defeat this microscopic killer before it spreads its deadly touch around the world. The Andromeda Strain is a breathtaking ride that barrels along at breakneck speed from its shocking beginning to its slightly unsatisfying (but still well crafted) resolution.
Something has been discovered at the bottom of the ocean. Something impossibly large, and even more impossibly ancient. What mysteries does the sphere hold? Not only is Sphere a white-knuckle read with heavy lashings of science and philosophy, it’s also a psychological thriller that will leave your head spinning – in the best possible way, of course.
Now, hold your horses. While there are plenty of similarities between the original novel and the popular film adaptation, there are perhaps even more differences between the two. While both are fantastic, the novel contains significantly more advanced mathematics, biology and computer science than the movie does. In fact, I would say that there are more formulas in Jurassic Park than there are dinosaurs, so do keep that in mind if numbers frighten you, or if you have a short attention span like I do.
This is a considerably more cerebral read than the rampaging dinosaur story line might initially suggest. Still, it’s not without its fair share of thrills and chills (and even some spills), and it does have a few brilliant twists that were left out of the movie. Definitely worth a read (even if you do have to skip a few pages).
And now for something completely different. Eaters of the Dead is, to put it simply, pretty darn odd. The set-up is that the text we’re reading is the translated memoirs of an Arab emissary to the land of the Vikings, and comes complete with very realistic-sounding footnotes, editor’s notes and references. To be honest, when I first read this in high school I was completely duped, and was shocked to discover that the book wasn’t in fact based on an ancient manuscript, but was Crichton’s spin on the legend of Beowulf. Like the other books on this list, Eaters of the Dead was adapted into a film (The Thirteenth Warrior with Antonio Banderas), but the two are only vaguely related. I’d stick to the book – it really is something else entirely, and so very unlike Crichton’s other works.
And there you have it – four fantastic novels from one of my favourite novelists. Now, Michael Crichton was obviously a highly intelligent and highly educated individual, and his books do at times feel like they’re hitting you over the head with this fact (“yes, yes, I get it, Michael, you’re smarter than I’ll every be”), but don’t give up! The thrills, chills and spills that are packed into each of these books is absolutely worth the price of admission.
Are you a Michael Crichton fan? Which of his books would you recommend to a new reader? I’d love to hear your thoughts!