I picked this up yet again because I was browsing in Borders and saw Crichton's new book Next and was naturally intrigued, excited and digging out my wallet. However, to my frustration, they only had it in hardcover! Now the only books I have in hard cover are dictionaries, encyclopedias, my European Studies textbooks, other academic material like Shakespeare's Complete Works and Homer's The Iliad blah blah blah - my pleasure readings are all in paperback. Not that I mind paying more for the hardcover version since I really really want to read it, but it will look SO out of place next to my other Crichtons on the shelf (I have all of his fictional works, except for some I gave away or lost...)!Anyway I didn't give it 4 stars (I think some of his other works earn that rating) because even though it was engaging and held my attention to the very end, I felt that the characterisation was a little weak. Characterisation has never really been Crichton's strong point anyway and I beleive that his many fans agree (I'm one of them) that they love him for other reasons. While I could empathise with the shock of a stay-home husband suspecting his wife of having an affair, it just doesn't stick in my head. Neither does the storyline, gripping as it is.
True to Crichton's style, the reader learns a lot about developing technology and the dangers they pose, even if from a fictive point of view. I would never consider Crichton's work science fiction because it is not as derivative and hypothetical but relies very strongly on what is already possible (hard facts) and simply extend the scenario a little bit further. This particular novel explores the possibilities and dangers of nanotechnology. It is not as complicated and littered with footnotes as other works like Jurassic Park and makes for pretty easy and enjoyable reading.
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