Reviews

The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton

rainymountainreads's review

3.0

I enjoyed the book overall. The latter half reminded me of Project Hail Mary. I felt however that the ending was rather rushed and so felt somewhat unsatisfactory.

isantelli5764's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Interesting book lots of good ideas but the ending was incredibly anti climactic 

anbe's review against another edition

mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

daveyk's review against another edition

informative mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

will_cherico's review against another edition

challenging tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

I’m always impressed by thrillers that manage to confine their story to one or two settings, and Michael Crichton manages to do it in the context of a series of tests and studies. Crichton’s writing style keeps things exciting with admittedly slightly one sided characters that you can still root for, and most (emphasis on most, not all) of the concepts are explained in a way that’s relatively easy to understand. I love the “nonfiction” framing device, and I’m genuinely impressed at how Crichton is obviously interested in this topic. God what I’d give to have a government this competent. 

re2's review against another edition

slow-paced

5.0

mfranci13's review against another edition

fast-paced

2.5

maggiebook's review

4.0

Well researched as you find with any Michael Crichton book. Interesting story with real world possibilities.
Written in 1969 the book had the potential to be very dated but I didn't get that even though there is a lot of scientific study and technology in the story. There are noticeable 1969 gender issues. All main characters are male, females are only there as assistants, wives or the 'sexy' voice of a automated warning system.
Characters are not really developed. The narrative provides little backstory but this is definitely not a character driven story.
The story keeps you engaged with frequent pauses to provide the enormous research (with 3+ pages of footnotes) Crichton did for the book.
I am a big Michael Crichton fan and this was one book of his I hadn't read. I plan to follow it up with Daniel H. Wilson's (another great Sci-Fi author) sequel The Andromeda Strain Evolution.

oprah_wimpy's review

5.0

I haven't read the book since high school. I thought it might be a fun listen as an audiobook on a recent car ride. And Michael Crichton does not disappoint. This book although aged feels like it was just written recently. It's very wall researched and thrillingly paced. It's hard not to finish it in one sitting. Lovely. 10/10 would definitely read again.

sum1tookmyshoes's review against another edition

challenging dark informative tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

A great, easy read that executes tension in a fantastic manner. Some scenes are quite nail biting moments. My only qualm is that more often than not, it reads like a science text book more than a novel.