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thekingcrusoe's reviews
104 reviews
The Andromeda Evolution by Michael Crichton, Daniel H. Wilson
3.0
Truth be told, this is one of the more conflicted I've felt after finishing a book in a long while. It's a solid 3 stars, because there a many 4-star moments and scenes, but ultimately the story organization and pacing, prose, and far too many twists and seemingly random/out-of-nowhere moments that don't fit until later into the story hold it back.
First off: the prose. It's not bad by any means, even when compared to Crichton's prose in the original, but there are certain writing styles employed throughout (though mostly in the beginning) that just didn't feel as natural and ended up making the first 50-70 pages of the book feel really jerky and unpolished between bits of boring/disinteresting material interspersed by genuinely intriguing things that I really enjoyed.
In terms of subject matter, it is obvious that Wilson's PhD in robotics played major influence in many elements (one character in particular) and even several major plot-points, and I must admit that was cool and felt really fresh. Additionally, the way the role of Andromeda was expanded and adapted for this story after the (in comparison) smaller scale of the original was also really neat, and did a lot to improve the experience.
In terms of the actual story and plot itself...I'm incredibly mixed. As suggested in the last paragraph, there were many ideas that Wilson brought to the table that were very interesting and had incredible potential, and most of these things ultimately payed. But the ones that didn't just felt so out of place or unsatisfying that I could be really excited in the midst of a 4-star reading experience that in just a page or two could suddenly stop me in my tracks and have me squinting at the page in confusion or skeptical disbelief. One of the things that makes Crichton's novels so magical (even coming from a person who hasn't read a whole lot of Crichton yet) is how real even the wildest of the fiction could still feel. Suspension of disbelief is a little bit hard with this one come the final act especially.
The tone of the story is also rather strange. The first half of the book is rather consistent throughout and I thought it was good, then there's a section nearly 2/3 of the way through that is just straight up horror for a few chapters. I'm not even being facetious with that comment (not is that an insult. This “horror” section was probably the best part of the book!). But then nearly immediately after that short foray into the spooks, the novel evolves into a weird amalgamation of the original tone from the first half and some crazy "The Martian" levels of final act insanity (to be spoilery without actually giving anything away), but without Andy Weir's wit or polish.
Without spoiling the final act, I'll just say that while I could get behind most of the first 2/3 of the book (occasionally slow moments aside), the final 1/3 feels very disjointed. There are more than half a dozen surprise twists throughout the novel, only a couple of which are telegraphed satisfactorily in a way that you might expect from even your most average mystery novel. In the final act alone there are two or three of them, maybe more if you count the regular final-act-revelations, and almost all of them feel hamfisted, forced, or jaw-droppingly stupid as a result of their not being telegraphed as well as they should have been. When the twists land, they REALLY land and greatly increase my enjoyment of "The Andromeda Evolution" overall, but the bad ones really left me scratching my head how they weren't polished at least a LITTLE more.
My biggest complaint with "The Andromeda Strain" was that it ended too soon. It could've gone for a couple dozen pages longer wrapping things up and would've been better off for it, but even so, it was a satisfying and enjoyable read. Similar to its predecessor, "The Andromeda Evolution" ends very abruptly. It boggles my mind how you can spend 350 pages writing a novel of this caliber and then try to wrap it up with as little as was done here (only 10 pages in the “Resolution” section). It...is a serviceable ending, but it needed a hell of a lot more than it got and (final chapter spoilers)? LMAO. Miss me with that shit.
In essence, there are some FANTASTIC ideas on display, and many of them I can fully get behind, but there are also several missteps along the way. What this all boils down to is a novel and a sequel that is absolutely not necessary for a fan of the original "The Andromeda Strain" to read, but one that I'd recommend you do if you have any form of interest in what evolution (pun absolutely intended) could be made to that original story.
I highly respect this book, and Wilson himself for having the sheer amount of balls he did to write a sequel to a Michael Crichton book, and I enjoyed it for what it was. There were some elements that I loved but several other elements that would've been better expanded, left on the cutting room floor, or more fully foreshadowed, depending on the element. I like to imagine how incredible the book would've been - how much more satisfying the climax would've been in particular (it wasn’t bad, just needed polishing) - if Crichton had written the book himself. But for what it is, The Andromeda Evolution wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting it to be. And for that, it will stay on my bookshelf next to all of Crichton’s own work.
First off: the prose. It's not bad by any means, even when compared to Crichton's prose in the original, but there are certain writing styles employed throughout (though mostly in the beginning) that just didn't feel as natural and ended up making the first 50-70 pages of the book feel really jerky and unpolished between bits of boring/disinteresting material interspersed by genuinely intriguing things that I really enjoyed.
In terms of subject matter, it is obvious that Wilson's PhD in robotics played major influence in many elements (one character in particular) and even several major plot-points, and I must admit that was cool and felt really fresh. Additionally, the way the role of Andromeda was expanded and adapted for this story after the (in comparison) smaller scale of the original was also really neat, and did a lot to improve the experience.
In terms of the actual story and plot itself...I'm incredibly mixed. As suggested in the last paragraph, there were many ideas that Wilson brought to the table that were very interesting and had incredible potential, and most of these things ultimately payed. But the ones that didn't just felt so out of place or unsatisfying that I could be really excited in the midst of a 4-star reading experience that in just a page or two could suddenly stop me in my tracks and have me squinting at the page in confusion or skeptical disbelief. One of the things that makes Crichton's novels so magical (even coming from a person who hasn't read a whole lot of Crichton yet) is how real even the wildest of the fiction could still feel. Suspension of disbelief is a little bit hard with this one come the final act especially.
The tone of the story is also rather strange. The first half of the book is rather consistent throughout and I thought it was good, then there's a section nearly 2/3 of the way through that is just straight up horror for a few chapters. I'm not even being facetious with that comment (not is that an insult. This “horror” section was probably the best part of the book!). But then nearly immediately after that short foray into the spooks, the novel evolves into a weird amalgamation of the original tone from the first half and some crazy "The Martian" levels of final act insanity (to be spoilery without actually giving anything away), but without Andy Weir's wit or polish.
Without spoiling the final act, I'll just say that while I could get behind most of the first 2/3 of the book (occasionally slow moments aside), the final 1/3 feels very disjointed. There are more than half a dozen surprise twists throughout the novel, only a couple of which are telegraphed satisfactorily in a way that you might expect from even your most average mystery novel. In the final act alone there are two or three of them, maybe more if you count the regular final-act-revelations, and almost all of them feel hamfisted, forced, or jaw-droppingly stupid as a result of their not being telegraphed as well as they should have been. When the twists land, they REALLY land and greatly increase my enjoyment of "The Andromeda Evolution" overall, but the bad ones really left me scratching my head how they weren't polished at least a LITTLE more.
My biggest complaint with "The Andromeda Strain" was that it ended too soon. It could've gone for a couple dozen pages longer wrapping things up and would've been better off for it, but even so, it was a satisfying and enjoyable read. Similar to its predecessor, "The Andromeda Evolution" ends very abruptly. It boggles my mind how you can spend 350 pages writing a novel of this caliber and then try to wrap it up with as little as was done here (only 10 pages in the “Resolution” section). It...is a serviceable ending, but it needed a hell of a lot more than it got and (final chapter spoilers)
Spoiler
the way that James SOMEHOW lands next to Tupa out of ANYWHERE in Brazil or elsewhere as a possibility from over 30 miles up while fighting if not succumbing to unconsciousnessIn essence, there are some FANTASTIC ideas on display, and many of them I can fully get behind, but there are also several missteps along the way. What this all boils down to is a novel and a sequel that is absolutely not necessary for a fan of the original "The Andromeda Strain" to read, but one that I'd recommend you do if you have any form of interest in what evolution (pun absolutely intended) could be made to that original story.
I highly respect this book, and Wilson himself for having the sheer amount of balls he did to write a sequel to a Michael Crichton book, and I enjoyed it for what it was. There were some elements that I loved but several other elements that would've been better expanded, left on the cutting room floor, or more fully foreshadowed, depending on the element. I like to imagine how incredible the book would've been - how much more satisfying the climax would've been in particular (it wasn’t bad, just needed polishing) - if Crichton had written the book himself. But for what it is, The Andromeda Evolution wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting it to be. And for that, it will stay on my bookshelf next to all of Crichton’s own work.