Michael Crichton's Books.

[Isaias]

I need to read one of his books.
I would like you guys to recommend the most thought provoking and the best one to start off. I have narrowed it down to

Jurassic Park,
Lost World,
The andromeda Strain,
Terminal Man,
Congo,
Disclosure,
Timeline,
Airframe,
Prey,
State of Fear.

Opinions?

 

[micah1_8]

I'd start with Andromeda Strain, follow up with Terminal Man, then Look at Jurassic Park, Timeline, and from there you're on your own.

 

[Eagle]

Ditto on Andromeda Strain. A captivating tale.

Coma is not on your list???

 

[apswartz]

My personal favorite was Disclosure - but, that is probably because I like a high-tech dimension to my thrillers.

 

[SCWilson]

I second Andromeda Strain then Terminal Man. One of my favorites is Eaters of the Dead, but then I also enjoyed Beowulf.

 

[Howard Newell]

My personal favorite is The Andromeda Strain, but the most thought provoking would be State of Fear.

 

[kwk285]

Ditto on Andromeda Strain. A captivating tale.

Coma is not on your list???

Coma is Robin Cook.

 

[kwk285]

I have read all of the books that you have on the list. Jurassic Park is probably my favorite on that list.

My two favorites of his you don't have on the list. I really liked Rising Sun and the Great Train Robbery.

 

[BigRich]

Go with Jurassic Park or Andromeda Strain and then go from there.

 

[KenS]

Of all the books you listed, I think I would recommend "Timeline" as a first read. The others are good, but "Timeline" is a quick entertaining read.
Ken.

 

[King of Kailua]

Go with Jurassic Park or Andromeda Strain and then go from there.

I'd stick with these two and maybe The Great Train Robbery. Any further into Crichton and his rags read like cheap Hollywood screenplay pitches to me. Fine if your looking for something to pass the time on a long flight, but not much more.

Like Sci-Fi? There have been a bunch of recently republished P.K. Dick books lately since his posthumous admittance into the library of congress. Some screenplay material in there as well.

 

[DeaconKC]

+ however many on Train, Jurassic and Andromeda.

 

[letterk]

I'd stick with these two and maybe The Great Train Robbery. Any further into Crichton and his rags read like cheap Hollywood screenplay pitches to me. Fine if your looking for something to pass the time on a long flight, but not much more.

Yup. His early work was his best. Try to find some of his early stuff under the pen name John Lange. I also liked Eaters of the Dead. After about 1990 things started to go downhill real fast.

 

[ratcheer]

My favorite was Eaters of the Dead. In fact, it was one of the most enjoyable books I have ever read.

PS - I posted this before I saw the previous post.

Tim

 

[norman931]

I thought Timeline was one of his best, followed by Jurassic Park. Crichton is all about plot; characterization is a little weak.

 

[Lefty]

Looks like a lotta folks liked Andromeda Strain. Enjoyable read.

Might I suggest Audible.com. I have fallen in love with audio books for the past year or so. Download them all and put them on the ipod and "read/listen" whenever you get a chance.

 

[Lefty]

Btw, I was not paid to endorse them...just love em.

 

[kwk285]

Looks like a lotta folks liked Andromeda Strain. Enjoyable read.

Might I suggest Audible.com. I have fallen in love with audio books for the past year or so. Download them all and put them on the ipod and "read/listen" whenever you get a chance.

I am addicted to books on tape/cd. I drive a lot for work. I read maybe 6 books a year but probably listen to 20-30 books a year. I get all my books from the public library.

 

[patrisVII]

Airframe and Eaters of The Dead are my favorites.

His stories are about revisionist/contrarian views of controversial topics for the most part. As such, plotting, and especially characterization, suffer . Often he comes off as preachy and didactic but if you take his novels for what they are, the read can be enjoyable.

FWIW, F. Paul Wilson's recent SIMS is a better controversialist approach than any of Chrichton's work.

 

[JBHoren]

As with all authors, my "sage advice" is to read his works in chronological order.

With some authors this is imperative, because of common characters and their growth/development; with other authors it's just a good idea, because of their growth/development as writers.

As for Timeline, I agree with others: it's one of his best, if not the best.