Reviews

Congo by Michael Crichton

_sequel_'s review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This book started with one of the strongest, most immediately fantastic prologues that I have ever read, and it didn’t lose momentum the entire rest of the book. I found the work around the psychology of Amy the gorilla ominous, and it helped build the spookitude of this story so well because everything the characters said and did relating to her left room for interpretation, and thus gave the reader space to imagine the horrors in the unknown. The introduction of the Pygmies in the jungle was absolutely stunningly written and very, very ominous as well, and I really enjoy the Crichton put s much work int o writing this book based on factual research that he actually frequently cited his sources throughout the story. As the end of the story approached, it really picked up steam and the end was really satisfying, if not as… successful as the reader might hope. I do think the very final bits were a rushed cop-out from an otherwise incredibly written story, though. 

 

Overall, this is the epitome of my kind of science fiction, which bends the barrier between the science fiction and thriller genres, and I definitely recommend it! 

dharris's review

adventurous informative mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

croyalbird13's review against another edition

adventurous informative mysterious fast-paced

4.0

rat10rd's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

dbradshaw's review against another edition

4.0

Exciting, quick read

Enjoyed this books when I first read it years ago and still holds up. At some points the technical aspects get a little confusing, but it might actually add to the ability of the book to not feel too dated technologically.
I would recommend for someone interested in the cross over of science, technology, and adventure.

shelbtastic96's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

impangs's review against another edition

3.0

I shamelessly enjoy much of Crichton's work. I don't worry about the accuracy of any aspect of these novels or how ridiculous the situations may be. This fits neatly into the category of books you read at the beach or on a plane over the course of a few hours. Simple, easy and purely pulp. Certainly not Crichton's best effort (and the movie was absolutely horrid), but it had all the usual elements of a Crichton "thriller". Either these books entertain you or they don't.

jlink17's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative mysterious tense fast-paced

5.0

dunningsk's review against another edition

adventurous tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

Crichton at his best. 

banjo_hammer's review against another edition

Lost interest and decided to read other stuff.  Reads like most other Crichton books I've tried, where the plot is interesting but the characters are meh.