Michael Crichton: Three Complete Novels: The Andromeda Strain; The Terminal Man; The Great Train Robbery

by Michael Crichton

Book Overview

Years before Jurassic Park, Michael Chrichton was known as The New York Times bestselling master of the techno-thriller. The three mesmerizing super-sellers in this collection--including his first... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0517084791
• ISBN13: 9780517084793
• Release Date: March 1993
• Publisher: Wings
• Length: 688 Pages
• Weight: 1.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 2.0" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

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Well Worth the Money

Three great stories in one. I must admit Terminal Man was required reading in highschool. My biology teacher was really excited about the technolgy in this story. The Andromeda Strain and Terminal Man simply wont have the same impact on a new reader today as it did in the 70's. The real treat in this trilogy is the Great Train Robbery. I actually had the book for several years before I even bothered to read this story. I guess the title didnt grab me. The Andromeda Strain and Terminal Man were both very popular. Its a shame the Train story never quite took off like the other two. In my opinion, it's a superior story.

Three classic techno-thrillers in a bargain package

I bought this hardcover collection from the bargain section of my local bookstore a few years ago, mostly because I had been looking for a copy of The Great Train Robbery, but had not seen it available for sale separately. (I already owned a favorite, well-worn, read-many-times paperback of The Andromeda Strain from my teenage years, so I thought that getting that classic book in hardcover was an added bonus. Maybe, maybe not, as it turned out.) [Warning: Slightly picayune, geeky detail follows!] My one slight peeve with this reprint collection is that, as originally printed, The Andromeda Strain included as supporting documents in the text a lot of realistic-looking computer printouts, teletypes, and such. Some of the more graphic/pictorial of these were photo-reproduced in their original form for this reprint. But others... Decades ago, typewriters and similar equipment often did not have a separate key for the numeral one (1). You produced that character by simply typing a lowercase L (l). Now, in this reprint, they have modernized some of those teletype memos (presumably to make them look more like contemporary email and thus less antique) by setting them in modern type, and sometimes have put portions of them in UPPERCASE to make them look computerish. So NOW the lowercase typewriter "el"s -- many of which were really, in context, supposed to represent "one"s -- are now not only in a modern sans serif font (i.e. not a "typewriter" font), which would make them look no longer like numerals anyway, but are also printed as uppercase L!! Totally wrong. A minor thing, perhaps, but I think it slightly lessens the effectiveness and realism of these supporting details. They should either have either left these printouts completely alone and just photo-reproduced them (so WHAT that it looks like 1970s technology), OR taken the care and thought to properly "translate" them, letters AND numbers in proper context, to modern equipment. [End of picayune complaint. You may now remove your propeller beanies.] This collection includes three of Crichton's classic novels: THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN Crichton's first novel, and still one of his best. One of the books that first established the techno-thriller genre. Yes, some aspects of it are showing their age a bit, but it still reads well. Suspense never goes out of style! A tiny, isolated Arizona town is exposed to a re-entering space capsule containing a lethal micro-organism from Earth orbit. A team of scientists races time to determine the organism's properties and how to combat it, in a secret high-security facility built for just such an occurrence. This facility is equipped with a nuclear warhead to sterilize the area in case whatever bug is being studied there escapes. (A risky method in many ways, even apart from Cold War nuke paranoia.) There are many interesting plot elements, including the suspense of possible wide-scale public exposure to the mystery organism; the government security p

Terminal Man, nostolgic but still relevant

Although the Terminal Man is a little dated (1972), it was definitely a fun book. I have worked in a university hospital most of my working life-in fact the U of M is mentioned in passing in the book-and started my career in neurology. It was fun revisiting the medical world of the 70s. Some of the tests and equipment that the character Benson underwent bring back memories. Some have changed considerably since that time, and some are no longer used. The lounging chair in which Mr Benson had air forced into his spine to enlarge and visualize his ventricles was called the pneumoenchephologram. So passe is that exam these days, that when I asked a medical student if he had ever heard of it, he was honestly puzzled by the reference . Interesting too were the "futuristic" devices that the author predicted in the book. Some of them or variants of them are in fact available now, small implantable batteries for pacemakers that can last for years for one. In other cases, what is available is actually better. At the time of the action of Terminal Man, the now ubiquitous CAT scan had only just begun to appear as cutting edge technology in it's first generation form called the ACTA scan. The MRI, if it existed at all, was probably still in experimental form if not still on the drawing board. The concept of what might more easily be described as a brain "defibrillator" which is surgically implanted to stop intractable seizures is now being attempted as a course of treatment. They have also been tried as a treatment depression. Most interesting is the notion of interfacing living tissue with computer wires to effect behavior-in Crichton's book violent behavior-is now being done successfully according to recent information in Scientific American-in the latter case muscular movement. If nothing, else, Michael Crichton captures that sense of the boundless possibilities of expanding computer technology. I think he also brings to the forefront the moral and ethical issues that are bound to arise as science moves more and more into the arena of behavior, effecting what we believe we are as human beings. As in so many of Crichton's books, disaster follows when the hubris of science attempts to control nature, and simply having good intentions is not always adequate insurance that such disasters will not occur. As we face genetically altered plants and animals, genetically altered human beings, cloning and other types of human dictated changes in nature, these issues will come up more and more frequently. How we as a society, even as a world wide species, will greatly effect the world we and our children live in the future. Amazing book; still relevant.

Three Great Books In One

This collection houses Michael Crichton's first three novels in one convenient place. The Andromeda Strain was his first book, and it is a sci-fi thriller involving a virus found in space. Also destroys the alien stereotype! It is one of the best books of modern science fiction, and is considered by many to be his best book. The Terminal Man was his second novel, and while actually being one of his weaker books, it is better than most stuff by other writers. People who don't believe that you can put computer chips in people's brains, read this book and prepare to be amazed. The Great Train Robbery is one of MC's finer works. It is set in Victorian London and involves a master criminal trying to rob a train (duh). Anyways, it is a very good book, and in it simple things like stealing a key are made exciting because of Crichton's writing style. Think Sherlock Holmes from the criminal's point of view.Buy this if you haven't read these books, but if you have then just find a Crichton you haven't read.