Sphere

Sphere by Michael Crichton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I had an incredible amount of anxiety heading into this book. I saw the movie adaptation when I was a child and it scared the shit out of me.. we’re talking sleepless nights, nightmares, the whole shebang. You might be wondering what a child was doing watching this movie, to which I respond “its my big brother’s fault”... He is no doubt the reason I saw a lot of movies before I should have.. him and my parents awesome hands-off parenting style.

So I picked up this book expecting shear terror… I was thankfully a bit let down. I didn’t remember details from the movie since I was so young when I saw it, but as I read bits and pieces came back to me.

A team of experts is called to the middle of the Pacific Ocean to investigate a mysterious craft that has crashed and is resting on the ocean floor. It seems to be a space ship and, according to the coral growth around the ship, its been there for over 300 years. While staying in an underwater habitat, the team starts experiencing unexplained events. Do these strange occurrences have to do with the ship and its cargo?

After finishing the book, I understand how I was frightened as a child, but as an adult, it doesn’t inspire fear.. I got the creeps a few times, but I think its safe to say that I wont be having nightmares this time around.. I might even try rewatching the movie… maybe not; I might just let sleeping dogs alone.

I suppose I should get to the actual review of the book.

I quite enjoyed reading this one. It was suspenseful in all the right, non-terrifying, ways and it had me turning pages like a mad woman to find out what the heck was actually going on.

There were a few problems I had, even though I hate to admit it with Michael Crichton being a God among writers. I was left confused about certain elements, I was hoping there would be a bit more in terms of explaining and resolution, but I understand that’s part of the whole story that no one knows what this sphere is or where it comes from. The characters exhibited bizarre behavior that I couldn’t always understand; I’m sure some of it was due to the situation they were in.. tin can on the ocean floor, creepy unknown ship with suspicious cargo, cut off from the rest of the world.. those things could make people do weird things I guess.

Overall, I would say this book is worth a read if you’re looking for a fast paced sci-fi book that’s not too deep and doesn’t require as much thinking as a lot of other books in the genera.

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