Sphere

Product Information

I still remember how boredom and disappointment grew, after the first few chapters showed the setting and some suspense was built up and then it got lengthy and neither the psychological inner character plot nor the other big mystery plot made much fun or sense, especially because the logic of motivations and thinking capacities and abilities of the protagonists were… average. As I mentioned, I don’t think this is really a scary story, but there was definitely tension for me as I read it. Part of it was the underwater environment which for some reason tends to creep me out, more so than stories set in space where the atmosphere-related dangers are similar. There was also often a “noooo, don’t do that!” feeling when characters did things that weren’t always necessarily stupid, although sometimes they were, but that I was sure would lead to a bad end.

It creates a setting that is on the cusp of reality and stages it with a believable cast of characters. They may not be right for the job, but they use their unique skills and training to make the best of the situation.The impact of their decisions is not inherently clear. As far as you know, nobody is trying to save the world or prevent some sort of disaster. This is a fact-finding mission where the stakes are subtle, giving the story a chance to breathe. On the surface, confined to a decompression chamber, the trio ponder on what version of their story to tell the Navy. Realizing they could not control the power granted them by the sphere, they decide its knowledge to be too dangerous to be communicated, and resolve to use its power to remove it from themselves and alter their memories, replacing the fantastical experiences with more mundane memories of a technical failure, though it is hinted that Halpern did not do the same. Terribly written characters. Crichton really overdid it on Beth, a woman scientist who has inferiority and self-esteem issues and talk a lot about how men is constantly being sexist towards her. Crichton has managed to make her into a whiny, insecure, overcompensating person on the issue of her gender. Surely a more complex personality can be used as a plot point/portrayal of imperfect woman/whatever he was trying to achieve?! than a caricature of a feminist which obviously is basically the author's negative impression of them

Guthrie, Richard (2011). Publishing: Principles and Practice. SAGE. ISBN 9781446249994 . Retrieved 19 June 2017. I like women villains. I know real women can be any one of sex-obsessed, power hungry, manipulative, hysterical (Crichton literally uses this word), incompetent, and bitter. But why is Beth all of these things? And she never misses a chance to mention she's a woman? In August 2020, Entertainment Weekly reported that HBO would be developing a television series based on the novel. [4] Reception [ edit ] Tina Chan—a Navy petty officer and electronics technician who is in charge of communications. She develops a friendship with Halpern, and is one of the longest surviving Navy personnel killed by the manifestations.I already mentioned the style and mood of the book, I just want to take the topic again to mention that it was a thrilling experience, since you feel that the story is taken very seriously from the scientific angle. I didn't picture Dustin Hoffman for the role of Dr. Goodman, no offense to Mr. Hoffman, which is an actor that I admired a lot, but I thought in Sean Connery for that character. After the success of Star Wars, author Alan Dean Foster wrote a second stand-alone novel, titled Splinter of the Mind’s Eye– a tale of Luke, Leia and the droids, marooned on a remote jungle planet and pursued by Darth Vader. The book was intended as a potential low-budget sequel had the original Star Wars movie been a flop, but instead was launched to feed the insatiable appetite of fans for new content between movies.