Review of Sphere
See review page at The Bookshelf

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I’ve always had a difficult time trying to pin a single label on Michael Crichton’s novels. All of his works include this strange mix of horror, science fiction, action-adventure, psychology, and thriller. All I know is I always end his novels wishing I could continue for even a few more pages. Without a doubt, Crichton’s masterful Sphere is no exception.

Sphere takes place 1,000 feet underwater in a Navy habitat where a startling discovery draws 5 unlikely candidates—a psychologist, a physicist, a brilliant mathematician, a biologist, and an overly gung-ho Navy Commander—into a situation where their lives depend solely on each other’s whims.

The main culprit in this story is a sphere that resides in a presumably alien spaceship found at the bottom of the ocean. The ship is monstrous and, according to the coral growth around it, at least 300 years old.

Chances are you have already heard of Sphere. Having been published 20 years ago, the novel barely pre-dates Crichton’s extremely well-known Jurassic Park. In addition, in 1998, the book was adapted to film by director and producer Barry Levinson. Despite a strong cast featuring Dustin Hoffman, Samuel L. Jackson, and Sharon Stone, the movie was more or less a flop (garnering only 5.5 stars on IMDb).

So, if you feel an overwhelming desire for more, you could try the movie. Chances are, however, you’d be better off with another one of his novels like The Andromeda Strain, Timeline, or Prey.

Returning to the novel at hand, Sphere is captivating and perfectly balances Crichton’s wit with his characteristically detailed knowledge of the book's subject. Without any noticeable fault (keep in mind that I am not a physicist, psychologist, mathematician, or biologist), Crichton juggles a little bit of black hole theory, a touch of time travel paradox, and a barrage of excitement into around 400 pages of thought-provoking fun.

All in all, Sphere is worth the time to read and makes a fine addition to The Bookshelf. Although the novel is intended and marketed to adults, it should also be perfectly suited for most teens. Regardless, I must warn that there is one scene of questionable nature that makes me hesitant to recommend it for anybody under 13.

Sphere was originally released by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. (a division of Random House, Inc.) in 1988. It has since reached international acclaim with over 4 million copies currently in print. The paperback version of the book can be purchased at a cover price of $7.99 at all major book stores and online at Amazon.com.

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Feel free to post your own review of the book or just discuss!

As a guy who has two copies of Sphere on his bookshelf, I admit that I am a fan of Michael Crichton. Although Sphere is an entertaining read, it is far overshadowed by other works of Michael Crichton, such as The Andromeda Strain, The Terminal Man, Timeline and A Case of Need. It is certainly a worthy read, but only after you enjoy some of Crichton's other works.

I love M.C.

Sphere was the first book I read by him actually.

I read it in a hurry though because I had to get Reading Points for it. But I remember being kind of blown away by it all. I remember literally getting goosebumps when they discovered the sphere and the part with the what where they? Jelly fish? Yeah I think so.

For some reason when I read it, I was reminded of Alien and that Mars movie where they go inside that white room with the aliens and stuff. Haha yeah...>.>;

The movie was a let down though...

After that I read Time Line which I loved.

But then I got distracted with HP so...I haven't read anything else by him.

Yes, Yes Yes!!! I LOVED that book! My teacher read it to me this year and I was litteraly sitting on the edge of my chair the whole time. The ending was one of the best endings of any Book I have ever read(along with Harry Potter books ). I'm reading "Time Line" now but I don't like it as much as Sphere though so far...

I just finished reading it. It gets a 5 all the way. It was a beautifully written book that I would label as mind-bender phychology. Although I have only read a total of two Crichton books (Jurrasic Park and Sphere) I see he likes the witty mathematition characters. While I was reading, my brother told me what happened in the movie, especially the Jelly Ffish rain on Edmunds. He said that really freaked him out, and that takes a lot.

My dad recorded the film, and we watched it as a family and I thought it was fantastic. Seeing how much I enjoyed the film, my dad looked upstairs and saw that he had the book, having read it years ago. So I read it, and it was good, but I have to say I thought the film was better. It was still really well-written and I enjoyed it. The end, where they forget the sphere was better in the book though.

I have to say I have never really been able to get into this book. It was recommended by a friend so I got a copy but couldn't get past the first few pages. Normally I can persevere with a book but like with The Shack, I just found my mind wandering when trying to read it. Now it is sitting gathering dust on a pile of books in the corner of the room. I will definately try to read it again. Perhaps I am not in the right frame of mind to read it, sometimes you have to think a certain way to really understand and enjoy a book.