Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
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Cloned sheep, genetically altered foods, stem cell lines, mapping the human genome. Michael Crichton wonders "What comes Next?" in his latest techno-thriller.
Crichton is famous for training a skeptic's eye on potential uses and abuses of cutting-edge science and technology.
In Jurassic Park, Crichton posed warnings about what could happen if dinosaurs were once again allowed to roam Earth.
In The Andromeda Strain, he preached caution when dealing with bacteria and biological agents.
In State of Fear, he pondered the dangers of politicizing scientific issues such as global warming. And in Prey, he mulled the hazards inherent in artificial intelligence.
It's heavyweight material, but here's some good news: If you didn't care for Crichton's last two techno-novels -- Prey and State of Fear -- it's time to kiss and make up.
He's in top form with Next, writing with a lighter touch that complements the absurd but not so far-fetched utilizations of gene technologies he cooks up.
Next has no raging hordes of velociraptors, no killer bacteria, no swarms of thinking, reproducing nanoparticles. But there's a lot to like and to scare you.
Crichton mixes real science with creative imaginings.
"This novel is fiction except for the parts that aren't" -- he writes at the beginning of the book.
Reading Next and separating the real from the stuff that's not so real is half the fun.
The book is not so much a novel as a series of intertwined scenarios that all come together in a very neat but open-ended conclusion.
The chapters are short, and they barrel along a path fraught with frightening suppositions and ridiculous but not inconceivable events.
Next's genetic food for thought:
*Human genes are transplanted into orangutans. Soon, the orangutans are swinging through the trees speaking Dutch and German.
*A scientist injects his own genes into a chimpanzee embryo. Result: a transgenic "son" who doesn't fit into the human or ape world.
*A transgenic parrot doesn't just mimic human words, he carries on conversations and helps the kiddies with their homework.
*Revenge-seeking spouses use genetic testing in custody cases. If a husband or wife carries genes for a deadly disease, he or she is viewed by the courts as an unfit parent because of their potential health problems.
*A biogenetic corporation with a patent on a man's cancer-fighting genes claims to own the bodies of the man's family and takes their blood and tissue samples at will. Bounty hunters are sent out to grab his relatives off the streets.
History notes that Josef Stalin was obsessed with creating an army of half-human, half-ape superwarriors.
In the 21st century, Crichton doesn't believe that transgenic creatures are an impossibility. The way he sees it, Planet of the Apes is just an ugly reality waiting to happen.
Next
By Michael Crichton
HarperCollins, 431 pp.
$27.95
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