State of Fear by Michael Crichton Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of State of Fear
Book Review: A very exciting novel
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is a very good novel in which Michael Crichton does make you think about global warming...even thougth is a novel I found very interesting that it contained footnotes that are proved data refering to global warmig. Amaizing novel!Book Review: A+ social commentary, C- novel
Summary: 3 Stars
A+ social commentary, C- novel
Fans of Michael Crichton know his books are generally highly entertaining techno-thrillers and Crichton is one of the undisputed masters of the genre. Perhaps lesser known is that Crichton's novels often serve as platforms for him to offer social commentary. For example, in "Disclosure" it was sexual harassment. In "Rising Sun" it was the Japanese practice of business-as-war. In "State of Fear" Crichton tackles his most controversial social issue yet: politicized science in the form of radical environmentalism - most notably its portrayal of global warming as scientific fact rather than simply scientific hypothesis.
Several of the reviews posted here suggest that you should either love this book or hate it depending on whether you agree or disagree with Crichton's take on the environmental movement, which he equates as having far more in common with a religious rather than scientific belief system. However, Crichton never claims to give us a book that is a peer-reviewed scientific refutation of global warming. It's a novel with some social commentary, so let's be fair and critique it as such.
Unfortunately, as a novel, it doesn't stand up as one of Crichton's better efforts. In fact, I'd have to say it probably ranks somewhere near the bottom of the 20+ novels he's given us over the years (more on this in a moment).
HOWEVER...
It's a book that still raises some very important, very timely questions, and for that reason alone I think it is worth the price of admission. As a novel, I give it one star. As a thought-provoking invitation to examine the dangers of politicized science, I give it five stars. Hence, my overall rating of 3 stars.
Now personally, I happen to agree with Crichton's take on radical environmentalism and global warming. I think it is politicized science at a level rarely seen since Copernicus and Eugenics, and there are a number of people running around spouting the words "scientific consensus" who demonstrate by even uttering the phrase that they slept through their middle school education where something called the "scientific method" was discussed. Had they paid attention, they would know that hypothesis and observation are what make something a scientific fact - not the number of scientists, actors, pundits, and presidential aspirants that concur. (for more on Crichton's view of so-called "consensus science" read the transcript from his 2003 lecture on the topic:
http://www.michaelcrichton.com/fear/fear_quote01.html)
But regardless of my personal alignment with the author's scientific views and my contention that this is probably Crichton's most thoroughly researched novel, I'll reiterate that it is probably also his most poorly written novel. I simply found the plot a little too implausible, the characters a little too one-dimensional, the dialog a little too stilted, the ending a little too predictable, and the whole story a little too contrived.
In "State of Fear" Crichton gives us a group of hard-core environmentalists who "manufacture" natural disasters to keep their cause viable, and pits them against a handful of honest scientists who must stop the disasters and expose a conspiracy to deliberately suppress scientific evidence that contradicts pet environmental causes. If this strikes you as overblown, overdramatic, and contrived - then you are among good company. I'd venture to say that a majority of the people who read this book will feel the same way.
But in spite of all its deficiencies as a novel, I STILL strongly recommend the book. Why? Because Crichton's primary message is so important. And no, contrary to popular opinion, his primary message isn't the environment or global warming. It is this: Politicized Science is Dangerous. For those that might have missed it (and apparently a number of reviewers did), Crichton even goes so far as to set it off as a special note to readers at the end of the book.
It's a message none of us can afford to ignore, but too many do because they wrongly assume that science is some sort of democratic process where the majority carries the day.
My advice is to get the book. As I mentioned above, although I don't think it is one of Crichton's better novels, I do think it is one of his better commentaries on an issue that is becoming increasingly important: the dangers of politicized science.
Book Review: Action meets "thinker" book
Summary: 5 Stars
Let's put it this way. "State of Fear" put some doubt in the mind of a firm tree-hugger. It has action and makes you think. Thoroughly enjoyed this one.Book Review: Amazing Book!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of the best books I have read recently. It has a compelling story line and cites real life information to add a realism to the reader's experience. I purchased 2 additional copies of this book and sent them to friends as Christmas gifts. I would recommend this book to anyone I know.Book Review: An Agenda posing as novel
Summary: 1 Stars
Crichton seems so determined to convince his readers that global warming is a hoax perpetrated by radical scientists and championed by ignorant reporters and celebrities that he forgets to write a decent story. In between hammering the reader with charts and graphs that dispute any significant rise in temperature across the globe, he has a lawyer, a psernal assistant, and a mysterious gov't. agent running all over the globe, foiling terrorist plots to commit mass murder by artificially invoking 'natural' disasters to prove their position that global warming is a real and imminent threat. I could play along with that idea...if it ha been skillfully written. But, this is written with such a heavy hand against any idea of being eco-friendly, that you expect to see Exxon listed as the publisher. The protagonist is a lawyer, who starts out as a duly concerned proponent of environmental issues. Gradually, he's shown the error of his beliefs as he joins forces with a 'secret' gov't agent that knows that only stupid people believe in global warming. Together, with the help of a personal assistant, they travel all over the globe, thwarting evil environmentalist terrorists as they try to kill lots of people with artificially created disasters. He also wrote in Martin Sheen as an actor who's so full of himself, he doesn't even realize that he's about to be eaten by cannibals until it's too late. While some of these confrontations are not without Crighton's usual skill at weaving action, in the end, it's as if he is so determined to hammer his ideas into your head, that he simply stops writing the story before its done, so he can save room for his overwhelming evidence that global warming is a made-up fantasy.
I'm not smart enough to say whether or not his interpretations of the data are dead-on, but I couldn't help but notice how a lot of alternative energy sources were completely dismissed as impractical or harmful to the environment, when they seem to be working fine in other countries. Even if his assessment is 100% correct, it wouldn't justify charging me the cost of a book to hear it. If you have an agenda, don't try to wrap it up in the form of an action novel, it didn't work in Da Vinci Code, and it doesn't work here.