What if there was a virus so lethal, it could kill people as quickly as they took a breath? What if it spared some people from instant death…but drove them hopelessly insane instead? What if the softest acting, deadliest virus ever known to humankind could be spread by no more than a gust of wind—from the remote desert site of its first massacre to the busiest cities in America…and the world? What, if anything, could stop it?
There are no villains in this hot zone. Only the microscopic seeds of Earth’s extinction. It is stealthy, sudden, savage. And we are all susceptible to it…
—back cover
"Andromeda" non è un libro per tutti, visti molti risvolti tecnici (a cui siamo diventati abituati con la pandemia), ma è un thriller con i fiocchi.
Ormai sono passati quasi vent'anni da quando ho letto gli altri libri di Crichton, ma questo non ha fatto altro che ricordarmi quanto l'autore sia bravo a far crescere la suspense da un capitolo all'altro.
Il finale l'ho trovato un pochino... diverso dal resto del testo, ma da pseudo-scrittore-in-erba l'ho trovata una soluzione piuttosto comoda.
Very much hard SF; Chrichton listed the various papers and journals he quoted from in the reference section. This was the first novel published under his own name, and according to the author was inspired by [b:The Ipcress File|171624|The Ipcress File (Secret File, #1)|Len Deighton|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1295903974l/171624.SY75.jpg|2155765]. I finished this while home sick from work.
The main characters are scientists, and make very human mistakes. It was refreshing to see them struggle to figure out the problem. What they think combined with the additional things we know make for very effective tension - the world may end in pandemic at any moment. Quite believable, especially in current circumstances.
Many novels from 50 years ago with a scientific focus can feel dated. This one doesn't (though the 1971 movie will probably feel so). The combination of jargon and suspense make for great tension, but the info dumps here are a bit …
Very much hard SF; Chrichton listed the various papers and journals he quoted from in the reference section. This was the first novel published under his own name, and according to the author was inspired by [b:The Ipcress File|171624|The Ipcress File (Secret File, #1)|Len Deighton|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1295903974l/171624.SY75.jpg|2155765]. I finished this while home sick from work.
The main characters are scientists, and make very human mistakes. It was refreshing to see them struggle to figure out the problem. What they think combined with the additional things we know make for very effective tension - the world may end in pandemic at any moment. Quite believable, especially in current circumstances.
Many novels from 50 years ago with a scientific focus can feel dated. This one doesn't (though the 1971 movie will probably feel so). The combination of jargon and suspense make for great tension, but the info dumps here are a bit overwhelming. The author refined this technique in later novels, with [b:Jurassic Park|40604658|Jurassic Park (Jurassic Park, #1)|Michael Crichton|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1529604411l/40604658.SY75.jpg|3376836] as an excellent example of success. The ending also felt quite sudden.
This 50th anniversary edition also has a plug for Daniel H Wilson's sequel, [b:The Andromeda Evolution|44148860|The Andromeda Evolution (Andromeda #2)|Daniel H. Wilson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1551326815l/44148860.SY75.jpg|68660248]. I do enjoy him as an author, and will probably read this in the near future. I also want to re-watch the original film, and perhaps the 2008 miniseries as well.
