Synopses & Reviews
What if our civilization is more advanced than we know?
The New York Times bestselling author of Daemonthe cyberthriller against which all others will be measured” Publishers Weekly) imagines a world in which decades of technological advances have been suppressed in an effort to prevent disruptive change.
Are smart phones really humanitys most significant innovation since the moon landings? Or can something else explain why the bold visions of the 20th centuryfusion power, genetic enhancements, artificial intelligence, cures for common disease, extended human life, and a host of other world-changing advanceshave remained beyond our grasp? Why has the high-tech future that seemed imminent in the 1960s failed to arrive?
Perhaps it did arrive
but only for a select few.
Particle physicist Jon Grady is ecstatic when his team achieves what theyve been working toward for years: a device that can reflect gravity. Their research will revolutionize the field of physicsthe crowning achievement of a career. Grady expects widespread acclaim for his entire team. The Nobel. Instead, his lab is locked down by a shadowy organization whose mission is to prevent at all costs the social upheaval sudden technological advances bring. This Bureau of Technology Control uses the advanced technologies they have harvested over the decades to fulfill their mission.
They are living in our future.
Presented with the opportunity to join the BTC and improve his own technology in secret, Grady balks, and is instead thrown into a nightmarish high-tech prison built to hold rebellious geniuses like himself. With so many great intellects confined together, can Grady and his fellow prisoners conceive of a way to usher humanity out of its artificial dark age?
And when they do, is it possible to defeat an enemy that wields a technological advantage half a century in the making?
Review
"[O]ne of Mr. Crichton's more un-put-downable novels." Janet Maslin, New York Times
Review
"If you didn't care for Crichton's last two techno-novels Prey and State of Fear it's time to kiss and make up. He's in top form with Next." USA Today
Review
"Crichton has embraced the subject of genetic technology, and the results are as entertaining as anything he has written since Jurassic Park." Dallas Morning News
Review
"[A] satirical thriller that will have readers sitting up in their armchairs and debating the probability of the threats." Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Review
"With stem cells, embryonic research, and predicted miracle cures so much in the news, the topic is great fodder for headlines. As Next proves...it can provide fine material for fiction as well. Crichton is one of the few writers with the brains and the chutzpah to pull it off, and he has done so in spectacular fashion." Philadelphia Inquirer
Synopsis
Is a loved one missing some body parts? Are blondes becoming extinct? Is everyone at your dinner table of the same species? Humans and chimpanzees differ in only 400 genes; is that why a chimp fetus resembles a human being? And should that worry us? There's a new genetic cure for drug addiction—is it worse than the disease?
We live in a time of momentous scientific leaps, a time when it's possible to sell our eggs and sperm online for thousands of dollars and to test our spouses for genetic maladies.
We live in a time when one fifth of all our genes are owned by someone else, and an unsuspecting person and his family can be pursued cross-country because they happen to have certain valuable genes within their chromosomes...
Devilishly clever, Next blends fact and fiction into a breathless tale of a new world where nothing is what it seems and a set of new possibilities can open at every turn.
Next challenges our sense of reality and notions of morality. Balancing the comic and the bizarre with the genuinely frightening and disturbing, Next shatters our assumptions and reveals shocking new choices where we least expect.
The future is closer than you think.
Synopsis
Michael Crichton, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Jurassic Park, comes an astounding, eye-opening look at the world of genetics as it's happening now, told as only Michael Crichton can tell it, with lightening fast pacing and thrilling chases.
Welcome to our genetic world. Fast, furious, and out of control. This is not the world of the future--it's the world right now. Is a loved one missing some body parts? Are blondes becoming extinct? Is everyone at your dinner table of the same species? Humans and chimpanzees differ in only 400 genes; is that why an adult human being resembles a chimp fetus? And should that worry us? There's a new genetic cure for drug addiction--is it worse than the disease?
We live in a time of momentous scientific leaps; a time when it's possible to sell our eggs and sperm online for thousands of dollars; test our spouses for genetic maladies and even frame someone for a genetic crime. We live in a time when one fifth of all our genes are owned by someone else, and an unsuspecting person and his family can be pursued cross-country because they happen to have certain valuable genes within their chromosomes...
Devilishly clever, Next blends fact and fiction into a breathless tale of a new world where nothing is what it seems, and a set of new possibilities can open at every turn.
Synopsis
Welcome to our genetic world.Fast, furious, and out of control.This is not the world of the future—it's the world right now.
Synopsis
The New York Times bestselling author of Daemon and heir to Michael Crichton” (Publishers Weekly) imagines a world in which decades of technological advancements have been suppressedand are about to be unleashed in a massive upheaval that could destroy the planet.
Is Facebook really humankinds most significant technological advance since the moon landing? Or can something more sinister explain the lack of major breakthroughs over the last forty years?
Particle physicist John Grady is ecstatic when his team finally achieves what its been working toward for years: technology that makes antigravity possible. It is Nobel Prizecaliber work, the crowning achievement of a career. He expects celebration. Instead, his lab is locked down by a secret government group. According to the Bureau of Technology Control, his discovery imperils the very existence of the human race.
Naturally, Grady asks why. Consequences, comes the answer: The world isnt ready for disruptive technologies and the unchecked population growth that would result. When he balks, the BTC throws Grady into a highly advanced prison built to hold the worlds most intelligent scientists. With so many geniuses shackled together, can they discover a way out of their island detentionand a way to usher our world out of its artificial dark agewithout endangering the planet for generations to come?
About the Author
Michael Crichton is best known for the novels Jurassic Park and State of Fear. He is also the creator of the television series ER. The first of his controversial novels was published while he was still in medical school.