Review: Sphere by Michale Crichton

Sphere first poked it's head above water in 1987. I find that publication date is immensely important when reading a thriller since generally, the genre relies a lot on technology to move its premise along. Whats quite lovely about Sphere is that even though we read this novel over twenty years after it was written, there weren't really any points where the story dated itself. Crichton built an  empire on being able to somehow keep the techno-thriller genre from falling behind the times.

The premise is simple enough. A group of multi talented scientists are shuttled to the bottom of the ocean to investigate a space craft of some kind that has mysteriously made it's way there. Most startling of all this, is that the ship appears to be loaded with technology far outreaching that of the late 1980's and according to it's log its over 300 years old.

The story moves along at a nice clip. Any time it begins to slow down a new clue or jaw dropping revelation is thrust upon the characters and they have to deal with it. The language of the novel is simple but never boring and this same description can be applied to the science of the story as well. Crichton knows that most of his readers aren't physicists and so he puts as much as he can into plain speaking. The characters talk on a number of subjects related to their personal fields and even though the novel is two decades old, there's still plenty of scientific trivia to pick up while reading.

The story wraps up nicely and there's enough twists and turns to help you get there. I'd never say this novel will change your life but I also can't actively find anything wrong with it. Its sets a great template for how to write a thriller novel. One that would and still is emulated today and probably for years to come.