Michael Crichton: Sphere

Michael Crichton

Sphere

Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1987

Monika says:

When he is called to a plane crash site in the Pacific psychologist Norman Johnson has no idea what is in store for him. Usually his job is to counsel the survivors and the victims’ families. But this time is different. There is no debris to be seen and he learns after a while that there was no plane crash. He was called in to be part of a top-secret expedition of the US Navy to the bottom of the sea to investigate a space ship that has been buried there for 300 years.

The other members of the expedition are biologist Beth Halpern, astrophysicist Ted Fielding, mathematician Harry Adams and some technicians without importance for the events to come. After the team entered the ship for the first time more and more mysterious things are happening in the deep-sea habitat with dramatic consequences for the expedition. The source seems to be a strange golden sphere that the ship brought back from one of its journeys. Under the eyes of the amazed team emerges a life form who calls himself Jerry. Enthusiasm and excitement soon changes to horror and the people in the habitat become suspicious of each other.

SPHERE was published in 1987, three years earlier than world bestseller JURASSIC PARK. Although the subject is different, the books are similarly structured. Both describe events that take place during a few days and the main characters are scientists who serve as Crichton’s voice, stating his opinions on various issues. As in almost all his other books scientific explanations are woven expertly into the plot.

The characters are two-dimensional which isn’t unusual for Crichton who admits to attaching little importance to characters. Many of his books have been made into movies because they can easily be turned into scripts.

The author’s relation with mathematics doesn’t seem to be a good one. Just like in JURASSIC PARK the mathematician has a thankless part. But Harry lacks the pronounced sarcasm and eccentric flair of his successor Ian Malcolm that lend a special note to the dinosaur thrillers. The ending of SPHERE leaves room for debate. Some will think the solution too simple as if the author ran out of ideas while other will prefer this simple ending. Before you get there you have 400 pages of suspense-filled reading ahead of you. SPHERE is one of Crichton’s less "scientific" books, but nonetheless gripping and entertaining.

See also: Our review of the movie Sphere.

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Monika Hübner

Last changes: 27-04-03