This is the main area in which the book comes a little off the rails. Like Crichton’s other books, there are plenty of chase and action scenes. There’s also reason to believe that Norman becomes a less and less reliable narrator as the book progresses. At the end of the day, though, Beth’s characterization doesn’t get under my skin too much because she’s not the only woman in the book (the others are sane and competent). It would have made for a more interesting character if her flaws weren’t the usual litany of negative stereotypes. One other note on characterization: Part of me is irritated that Beth, the biologist and only woman on Norman’s team, falls into some ugly and stereotypical shortcomings as the book progresses-she becomes increasingly illogical, nurses a nasty inferiority complex, and holds some warped views of men and women. I can’t tell whether this limitation should be attributed to shortcomings in Crichton’s research, or the fact that he was always a writer with cool ideas more than complex characters. He sounds learned in the sense that he can cite studies and experiments, but he doesn’t seem particularly bright when analyzing folks in real time. I wouldn’t say that Norman’s takes are 100% accurate they seem driven by broad trends in psychology and generic assumptions. Because of this, there’s more on what characters think/feel and their motivation than in other Crichton books as Norman picks them apart at every opportunity. The story is told in close third-person narration following Norman Johnson, a psychologist tasked with evaluating the mental health of the team as they investigate.

While the pacing and mood of the book is similar to Crichton’s others, the subject is stranger than most, and the ending is fairly polarizing. As they poke around the ship, things get weird. There’s no indication what the sphere is, what its purpose is, whether it contains something alive, or is itself alive.

The spaceship is at least 300 years old, and everyone is tense at the possibility of encountering alien life. Sphere follows a small team of scientists and Navy personnel into the sea as they investigate a crashed spaceship in 1,000 feet of water. It’s risky to revisit books you loved as a kid, but given how well Jurassic Park held up, I added Sphere to my summer list. I can’t remember the first time I read them-middle school?-but they’ve survived all the moves and reorganizations of the intervening years. Michael Crichton’s Sphere and Jurassic Park are the oldest books on my shelf.

Sphere michael crichton review