Sphere

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Elizabeth Halpern—a biochemist who is muscular, yet sometimes gentle and caring while simultaneously fierce, combative, and confrontational. She perceives herself as being dominated by the male scientists. I don't know if happens to you, that sometimes if you are reading a novel that it hasn't being made into a film yet (I read the novel like 5 years before to be poorly adapted to a movie) sometimes I imagined some actor or actress to "play" the role of the character in my mind, an amusing thing was by then, in 1993, Sharon Stone was in hype due films like "Basic Instinct" and "Sliver", so when I imagined some actress to fill my image of Dr. Beth Halperin, I thought in Sharon Stone that she eventually got the role! This is the kind of book where I’ll think about the scientific speculations mentioned for a long time to come. Ted: "Hello. This is Ted Fielding, here at the door of the unknown spacecraft which has been discovered--"

Harry isn't that bad. He's actually competent, and when his powers get the best of him, it's because of normal human fears. And it's gratifying to see him survive. Guthrie, Richard (2011). Publishing: Principles and Practice. SAGE. ISBN 9781446249994 . Retrieved 19 June 2017. As interesting as the characters and plot were, there wasn’t anything particularly remarkable about the writing itself. I don’t know how much of it is due to Crichton’s style or to the nature of the sci-fi genre, but the writing was simple and straightforward. None of that flowery, descriptive language that I’m used to reading in fantasy books. On the plus side, it did make for an easier and faster read. Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:Hmmm... I may have gotten a little presumptive towards the end there. I'm sure some very smart people have very good reasons for scoffing at Michael Crichton. Allright, let me adjust my position: if you read Sphere, and have thoughts, positive or negative, about the Essay, please write me. If you know of other works, academic or flippant or otherwise, on the same topic, forward 'em. It happens to be one of my favorite things to discuss.

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. 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. One of the main selling points of Sphere is its atmosphere. The reader feels trapped at the bottom of the ocean with the characters and Crichton sets up the environment perfectly. It's tense, claustrophobic and you literally feel like you're struggling for air down there as Crichton gives you all the facts without info dumping on your ass. He's certainly one of the best authors at doing this. Or was one of the best :(A retail poster for Splinter was clearly designed to capitalise on the success of the original novelisation, featuring pictures of both books, and catching the attention of potential customers with the tag lines, “… Darth Vader lives on…” and “… a spectacular new adventure!” 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 You’re probably thinking, "Oh no, another run-of-the-mill, deep sea exploration novel with corny dialogue and a ho-hum ending." This is not that, by a long shot. What we do have is a team consisting of an astrophysicist, a marine biologist, a zoologist, a mathematician, and a psychologist. As you can imagine, the team is at odds with each other over how to proceed with the discoveries they make in the deep blue sea. It gets kind of hairy because the habitat that they reside in is only set up for them to survive for a few days, and when communication gets cut off to the surface, it becomes a fight for survival. Sphere is not set in space, but it might as well be. It takes the reader deep into the darkest part of the ocean where unfathomable pressure forces threaten to crush and demolish, where the only breathable oxygen is what you bring with you, where the landscape is as alien and inhospitable as anything found in outer space. Ted: "I think everybody knows how I feel. I feel that we should have some brief remarks for posterity."