Sphere

Rereading this book made me miss Michael Crichton even more. I can't think of another author who combines science, suspense and the woo-woo of the supernatural as well as Crichton, and this book is amazing.A psychologist was hired to write a paper on what would happen if humanity were confronted with aliens--happy to have been paid, Norman finished the paper and went on with his life. Years later, he's asked by the Navy to go on a trip to the bottom of the Pacific to be part of the team Norman had suggested so many years ago.Once he's a thousand feet down in a special habitat for high pressure living, Norman and the crew are taken by submarine to a spaceship that's hidden under coral, and that's not the weirdest part of the story--the ship has been underwater at least 300 years, and the writing on the walls of the strange ship are in English.From explaining living under 30 pressures, to unveiling the purpose of the strange sphere found inside the ship void of any signs of life except for one mummified crew member, Crichton creates a story that's hard to put down, while educating his readers on deeps sea life--black holes--the mysteries of the human imagination--along with a study of the shadow part of our minds, our unconscious. I truly can't think of an author that can cram all of that into one book, and make it hard to put down. What an amazing author.

Well, Michael Crichton is starting to become one of my favorite authors. His plot lines are so creative, and he executes them pretty well. This book was no exception, in my mind, to the standard I have started to hold him to!Throughout this book's journey, I was hooked. I mean, the ideas he comes up with are simply fantastic and so original in my mind. Synopsis: A sphere is found underwater, and a group of qualified people are sent to investigate it. They are in no way prepared for what happens next, and neither was I!I don't want to say too much to give anything away, but the only things that annoyed me out of this book were two things. I thought the women characters were written poorly. Although he made the main woman, Beth, smart, he also made her emotionally unstable and a bit of a sexual object, particularly towards the end of the book, which irritated me. I feel like in real life, Beth would have had much more depth and would never do some of the things he had written. I also found some typos, including switching to first person for a couple of sentences instead of third and switching a character's name once. But I dismissed these irritations due to me really enjoying the plot line.Some of the facts sprinkled into the book were fascinating, and I truly hope they are factual and not something he made up, because I am taking them as truth. Yes, I know I can google it but I am too lazy to do that. Most of the book is set far, far underwater and I feel as if I really learned some things about the deep ocean which was fascinating. For example, the most toxic creatures of the world are water creatures! And this is due to the ocean being an older living environment. Let me just nerd out for a bit over this and the other things I have learned while reading this book.Anyway, off to pick up another book by him, and I highly recommend Sphere! You won't guess the ending, and it will definitely leave you thinking.

This was my first Michael Crichton book and it definitely won't be my last.Packaging 5/5 - No problems with the book once it was deliveredContent 5/5 - Page turner and super easy read!! Book size might be overwhelming but if you're an average reader like me you'll finish it in 2 weeks MAX.

I couldn’t put this book down

I have enjoyed a couple of Crichton’s novels but I did not have the mental state of mind for this baffling, psychological thriller...starts off with interest and then becomes muddled and inconclusive at the end.After reading the last few pages of this 500 page novel a couple times, still couldn’t figure out the gist of it all...guess it may have to do with imagination...can't say for sure...imagine that.

I enjoy Michael Crichton's books. He always takes the reader into a scientific fantasy world. No different here.The book focused on an underwater discovery. I'm sure other reviews may have revealed the discovery but I'll not. Needless to say, Crichton takes the reader exploring the discovery and the implications. The character development is amazing. Right there with Stephen King.Overall I enjoyed the book. Got lost here and there with the scientific parts. Not being able to imagine the world Crichton creates hurts. That's on me though and not Crichton.

This book is a psychological and science fiction thriller. It follows a group of scientists as they investigate what is thought to be an alien vessel that crashed on the ocean floor.Sphere is a first-rate white-knuckle story. The characters were interesting and I found myself caring about them. Psychology professor Norman Johnson was my favorite character here. Johnson’s psychological insights and understanding of group dynamics under pressure played a major role. I couldn't guess or see what was really going on until late in the story. It was a shocker!

"Sphere" is a suspenseful, intelligent adventure novel that holds up over time and with multiple readings. It offers some of Crichton's most interesting psychological insights and, in my opinion, remains his best work. I highly recommend this book.

I read the book originally before I watched the film. Then I got confused. Second reading was much betterAnd now I understand what happened. If you have only seen the film then you have missed out. Like most of the film adaptations of Michael Critchons books they miss a lot of the story out. I'm not saying the films were bad just that the books are much better.

I've never read anything by Michael Crichton before, and this isn't usually my sort of thing. However it's been a long time since I was so gripped by a book. I found it very exciting, thought provoking and actually quite well written. In the last few chapters I was so gripped I literally lost track of time. I'm now sorry that my rollercoaster ride is over. I'm looking forward to reading something else by this author.

One of my favourite authors. The movie was recommended to me by a friend so I thought I'd read the book again before watching. As is always the case the book is much better! I love Crichton's style of writing, his books always have a great flow.

Amazing read with some super tense and surpenseful moments. Really enjoyed this book and would recommend. Great use of mind games and twists overall a enjoyable read

This is my first ever Michael Crichton book ever and I must admit, its different from the books I usually pick up which is Young Adult. However with that being said I'm so glad I gave this book a chance! It has a wonderfully unique set of characters that I love so much! The plot was amazing but to be honest, it's the characters that kept me wanting to know more. I can definitely see myself rereading this in the future!

Very much in the vein of "The Andromeda Strain", this book is quite intriguing and challenges the reader to work out the mystery of the book itself. "Sphere" has a wry sense of humour and features a fairly unlikeable bunch of bickering characters who are (if you'll forgive the pun) very much out of their depth when it comes to dealing with.. well, *whatever* it is that they find at the bottom of the ocean.

An excellent book told from the point of view of a clinical psychologist, giving us extra insight into the characters and the situation they find themselves in, and going on to show that a greater awareness/appreciation for the complexities of the mind, means very little when your terrified, alone and helpless.Highly recommended.

Used book but looks brand new. Great price

Crichton clearly has many good ideas for good adventure movies but his writing is, at best, facile. Shallow characters , unconvincing dialogue, dodgy plot ..just not very well written.

The book was just as I required and I was very pleased with the order

Well written but I felt it lost its way and I found myself skim reading it towards the end. This might be because sci-fi does become dated, and you have to approach it with the context of the time in which it was written.

Crichton's style of prose flows so easily that it is a pleasure to read. If you want something that is exiting and does not take any intellectual capacity he's the guy. The story follows twists and turns and the character development is interesting. I really enjoyed this book and immediately ordered another of his.

Complex, gripping and a real page turner. Well draw characters with lots of twists. The ending did stretch credibility a little but most enjoyable.

This is a book I can read again and again. The suspense, science and psychological impact of events are portrayed simply but effectively. This kind of writing allows you to do exactly what you're suppose to; use your imagination.

Blood on the inside first few pages. Pretty horrible. Just a very unloved book, I'm not sure if I want to read now.