RIP: Michael Crichton

[jrderego]

I haven't read much of his work, the Jurassic Park twins, Eaters of the Dead, The Andromeda Strain, and The Great Train Robbery... but those that I did enjoy, Eaters of the Dead and Jurassic Park, I enjoyed immensely.

Mr. Crichton passed away of cancer today.

[DKT]

Huh-wha? 

Oh, man. I had no idea. I really enjoyed some of his books...Eaters of the Dead, Jurassic Park, Rising Sun, the Terminal Man, Sphere, and most of Congo.

[eytanz]

I was never a fan of Michael Crichton - he did create the basis for some enjoyable movies, but I found his books boring to read, and I found his politics despicable. Nonetheless, it's always sad to hear of a man who dies at a relatively young age.

[Boggled Coriander]

Well, this is a surprise.  I went through a heavy Michael Crichton phase as a teenager; haven't picked up any of his books in a few years though.  Still a sucky surprise to hear.

[stePH]

Mostly I thought it was really cool that he was a SF writer whose books were put in the general fiction section of the bookstores rather than the SF section. 

But I also enjoyed most of his stuff (The Lost World being the most notable exception; it read as if it were a novelization of the movie Jurassic Park).

I haven't read any of his stuff after Airframe. 

[H. Bergeron]

Mostly I thought it was really cool that he was a SF writer whose books were put in the general fiction section of the bookstores rather than the SF section.

One of Harlan Ellison's books of short stories actually starts with an introduction by Micheal Crichton.  He said that he originally heard of Ellison because he had published articles pointing at Crichton as an example of what was wrong with contemporary Science Fiction.  Apparently, this surprised the hell out of Crichton, who never even considered himself to be writing Sci-Fi in the first place.


I remember my parents really liking "Andromeda Strain" (the book and the old movie), and reading "Sphere" and "Jurassic Park" while I was in high school.  What a bummer.

[stePH]

One of Harlan Ellison's books of short stories actually starts with an introduction by Micheal Crichton.  He said that he originally heard of Ellison because he had published articles pointing at Crichton as an example of what was wrong with contemporary Science Fiction.  Apparently, this surprised the hell out of Crichton, who never even considered himself to be writing Sci-Fi in the first place.

Most of his stories extrapolated what might be possible based on current scientific knowledge ... I don't see how that fails to qualify.  Even Disclosure and Rising Sun featured advanced computer technology as essential plot elements.  Maybe The Great Train Robbery doesn't qualify; I haven't read it.  Or Airframe; I don't recall anything particularly SFnal about that.  But anyone who thinks Sphere or Jurassic Park aren't SF needs his head candled.

[wintermute]

And The Andromeda Strain. It's got actual aliens in it (albeit very tiny ones), which is about as close as you can get to an official definition of SF.

[DKT]

And Timeline, which is all about time travel or Prey, which is about nanotechnology run amok. 

Most of the stuff I read by him was when I was in HS.  One of the things I appreciated about him was that he was a SF writer who tried to do different things -- like the Great Train Robbery, Rising Sun, Eaters of the Dead, Airframe, and Disclosure.  Even E.R.  Some of them were successful, some of them maybe not (although I believe they all sold pretty well).