Life! Books - Review of the Week

care bear SG

Nothing to fear but FEAR itself -
Chrichtons thriller about global warming ands up reading like paranoid propaganda!

STATE OF FEAR by Michael Chricton (Harper Collins/603pages)
by Ong Sor Fern

You can always rely on Micheal Chricton to teach you some things in his techno thrillers.
Latest in his new pulp thriller about some very bad environmetalists, you get the very National Geographic nugget that crocodiles in Papua New Guinea can bark like dogs in order to attract the canines for lunch.
Aside from that little gem, however, State of Fear is aptly named for it reads like a paranoid right wing tract. According to the book, global warming is nothing more than thin facts hyped into a scary bogeyman by publicity-hungry green nuts.
The confused plot is chiefly about how a group of radical tree-huggers are out to save the world by any means necessary. That means a convoluted series of terrorist acts aimed at creating a giant lightening storm and a devastating tsunami.
In the light of recent events, the tsunami here looks like a storm in a teacup. Especially because it is one of several tired action setpieces in a book that reads like a stodgy propaganda tract intercut with a bad Jerry Bruckheimer movie.
While Chricton has lacked subtlety, he has never been pedantic. Until now. State of Fear comes complete with a bibliography, an author's message and a manifesto railing against politicising science. Given his transparently obvious biases - everyone is in the wrong, from environmental organizations, to developers and strip miners - it seems particularly, arrogantly, disingenuous of him to declare:"Everybody has an agenda. Except me."
Obscured by his new found environmental zeal, Chricton's usual pulp talents have deserted him. His characters,always the human chess pieces in the technological puzzles of his plots, are even more programmatic and shallow than usual. Everyone spews lectures at the drop of a hat.
Sloppy editing means that Chricton gets away with lazy writing. There are inconsistencies in scenes that an alert editor would have corrected. Chrictons fondness of lengthy dialogues, with three or more characters and no indication of who is speaking, also results in confusing exchanges.
When the story finally grinds to a halt on Pg 567, with the heroes landing in a Los Angeles smog sunset and plotting the dawn of a new scientifically dictated environmentally age, this State if Fear leaves in a state of exhaustion. If you are looking for a thriller about climate change, then your time might be better spent watching the bombastic but entertaining summer blockbluster The Day After Tomorrow. It would take less time too.

the Bear SG

my two bits, this is always present in almost every one of Chricton's books.... never liked his books... it's always been him boasting how much his knows about stuff around and forcing the things he's bragging about into a paper-thin plot...

i would rather read an encyclopaedia... it's less pretentious...

the.raven SG

it really sux so much meh?? I liked Prey

care bear SG

Havent read any of his books besides Jurassic, and that was just because of the movie... cant really comment but her review of it was kinda bad huh...I wouldnt bother picking up this book after reading her review...

Has anyone read it yet? maybe if you have you could put down your two bits worth here on what you thought about it?

the.raven SG

havent read yet. but maybe the reviewer is some kinda anti michael crichton fanatic so she is biased Laughing

care bear SG

More in the News Papers on his book....bad reviews all around....

He's Jurassic to Singaporeans
by Kristina Tom (ST Life 3/2/05)

Readers here are not exactly in a state of excitement over American writer Micheal Crichton's new environmental thriller, State of Fear.

Since its release here on Dec 7 - in time for Christmas stockings - the major bookstores here have been recording modest sales, considering Chrichton's fame.
For example, MPH Distribiutors - which is now the sole distributor of Chrictons books here and supplier Borders, Kinokuniya and its own MPH chain - has sold more than 2000 copies here to date, and expects to sell another 1000 copies in the next two to three months.
Its sales manager, Mr Marcus Frois, estimates the final sales will total 4000 copies compared to the total 5000 copies it sold for Prey,Chrichton's most recent novel before State of Fear.
Prey is about nanotechnology gone wrong, that is, a swarm of intelligent microscopic machines are let loose in a laboratory threatening the lives of scientists who created them.
MPH's own chain of bookstores has sold over 100 copies this past week but the book has not sold nearly as well in other bookstores - fewer than 20 copies were sold in Kinokuniya - and has failed to make the Top 10 bestseller lists at the other major bookstores in town.
Such sales figures for State of Fear are not spectacular for a writer with this much global recognition. "Jurassic Park was phenomenal - that was history," says Mr Frois.
But since then, non of Chricton's books have been able to match Jurassics landmark success, in either sales or recognition.
To date, Singaporeans have bought more than 12,000 copies of the book, a number that puts State of Fear's projected sales to shame.
Still, more frugal minded readers who are hoping to rent State of Fear maybe
disappointed, as Life checks with popular rental hubs, Sunny Bookshop at Far East Plaza and EMF in Holland Village show that all the copies they currently have are currently out, and there are no current plans to order more.
Before State of Fear hit bookstores here last December, book distribiutors here were waiting with bated breath for any word on details of the book.
"They were very hush-hush on the storyline and cover,"Mr Frois recalls. Still, current sales figures here are not doing justice to all that suspense. Sales took a few weeks to pick up after it was first released, with the book finally debuting on Jan 6 on the Straits Times Life Bookseller List at the no 10 spot. It has since hovered near the bottom of the list.
Loyal fans are keeping the book on the bestseller list."His books are always a compelling read for science fanatics," says Mr Ong Sei Wei, 27, a financial analyst.
But not all fans are as optimistic about Chrichton's new offerings. "I loved Shereand read all his book afer that," says Mr Andrew Tan, 26, a product Specialist. "The last book I read was Prey, but it was so boring, I couldnt finish it".
Chrichton just might be going the way of the dinosaur.