U.S. best-selling author Michael Crichton, who wrote such novels as "The Andromeda Strain" and "Jurassic Park," and created the popular TV drama "ER," has died at 66, his family said Wednesday.
Crichton, a medical doctor turned novelist whose books have sold more than 150 million copies worldwide, died "unexpectedly" Tuesday in Los Angeles after a private battle with cancer, his family said.
I was saddened by what I saw as a slow descent into hackdom in later years, but I went through a pretty substantial Crichton phase and enjoyed the hell out of many of his books. Here are the ones I've read, with the ones I really liked marked with a star:
- A Case of Need (*)
- The Terminal Man
- Jurassic Park (*)
- Rising Sun (*)
- Disclosure (*)
- The Lost World
- Airframe
- Timeline (*)
- Prey (have to admit that I was put off by the awkward shift from a promising sci-fi theme to a straight-up zombie story)
- State of Fear (first CD of an audio set, which I stopped listening to out of boredom, long before I noticed the political message)
A successful career and a sad loss. As in the case of Orson Scott Card, I wouldn't let some weird political beliefs overshadow the many excellent works he has done.
Russell --
ReplyDeleteYou've never read 'The Andromeda Strain"?
One of his earliest and best novels (and groundbreaking for its use of graphics in the text, although they look a bit dated now).
I tried to *watch* The Andromeda Strain and it put me to sleep. I understand it's considered a great film classic, but... meh.
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