Product Description

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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #38449 in Books
• Published on: 2006-11-28
• Released on: 2006-11-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 448 pages

Amazon.com Review
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?

What's coming Next? Get a hint of what Michael Crichton sees on the horizon in this short video clip: high bandwidth or low bandwidth

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.

From Publishers Weekly
Bestseller Crichton (Jurassic Park) once again focuses on genetic engineering in his cerebral new thriller, though the science involved is a lot less far-fetched than creating dinosaurs from DNA. In an ambitious effort to show what's wrong with the U.S.'s current handling of gene patents and with the laws governing human tissues, the author interweaves many plot strands, one involving a California researcher, Henry Kendall, who has mixed human and chimp DNA while working at NIH. Kendall produces an intelligent hybrid whom he rescues from the government and tries to pass off as a fully human child. Some readers may be disappointed by the relative lack of action, the lame attempts to lighten the mood with humor (especially centering on an unusually bright parrot named Gerard), and the contrived convergence of the main characters toward the end. Still, few can match Crichton in crafting page-turners with intellectual substance, and his opinions this time are less likely to create a firestorm than his controversial take on global warming in 2004's State of Fear.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review
"NEXT is populated with blood-pressure-raising villains who will keep you turning the pages." -- Forbes

Customer Reviews

Another Crichton warning shot
Yes the plot is a little hard to follow, and too many characters are involved. I can understand those criticisms better than some knee-jerk liberals still sniping here at the author about his priceless expose of the so-called global warming crisis in 'State of Fear.' Which brings me to the point--most of Crichton's books do carry an agenda. But the agenda is not so much the topic dealt with in the books (global warming, genetics, etc.). I believe Crichton's mission is to deliver high impact warnings about the abuse of these sciences; the corruption of these sciences; the transformation of these sciences into multi-billion dollar profit ventures that are exploited by the greedy and powerful. The author has consistently been true to a science fiction platform, warning us about the impact of these fast-moving sciences on our everyday lives. NEXT is just such a book. Yes, there were too many characters, but I must admit that every single little chapter gripped me by the throat and provoked serious thought about what is happening in genetic engineering and where we are headed. And yes, he scared me. And I loved it.
Good work, Mr. Crichton, four stars only--plot could have been tighter.

Simply Awful
I have been a big fan of Crichton's since first reading "Jurassic Park". I really enjoyed "State of Fear" and bought "Next" with the usual anticipation I bring to most of Crichton's work. I just finished the novel this afternoon, and I can't believe this was written by the same author as the previous novels. "Next" is not so much a coherant, linear story as it is a series of incidents revolving around a similar topic. In machine gun style you are rapidly hit with 2-3 page chapters each dealing with a different aspect of genetic research. You are also introduced to so many bland and undefined characters that confusion is bound to set in. I gaurantee even folks giving this novel a positive review asked themselves "Okay, who is this guy again" or "What was this person doing earlier in the book?" As a reader you are dropped in and out of these forgettable characters lives at such a rapid pace it is difficult to keep up with who is doing what to who and why. The only "characters" that are easy to distinguish are the half monkey/half human boy named Dave, and the extremely annoying talking Parrot who can quote old movie lines and do elementary level math.....(yes you read that right). The whole premise of the novel is taken to such an absurd level, that any interest built up over the first 100 pages soon dissipates with the "talking" animals. I will still buy Crichton's novels in the future, but this was a genuine A+ clunker.

I just do not appreciate being spoon fed an idea, message, or moral
Michael Crichton is an author whose meticulous research on his subject matter and readability has made him one of my favorite "pop authors." His work will most likely never win a Pulitzer, but continues to be literature that appeals to many readers and very likely will always make great screenplays. In the relatively recent past, however, Crichton has begun to use his talents and his goodwill as much for purposes of political activism as for entertainment. `Next' is the next attempt to send a message to his unsuspecting readers and perhaps even to influence public opinion. His previous novel, `State of Fear,' was the first.

In `Next,' Crichton explores biotechnology and the practice of venture capitalist-financed biotech firms to patent the human genome. Like his previous works, `Next' is contemporary science fiction. "Next" is the story of an evil biotechnology firm, BioGen, and it chief executive officer, Rick Diehl, who is equal parts absurdity, malevolence, and incompetence. A sociopathic financier, Jack Watson, has designs on wresting BioGen, and its valuable patents from Diehl who is in the process of divorcing his wealthy benefactor wife. (Diehl's wife is playing more than racquet sports with her club tennis pro.) At the center of the battle is a likable but nearly helpless fellow, Frank Burnet, who lost ownership of his own cell tissue through a series tests after his recovery from cancer. His daughter, Alex, is his attorney as he tries to sue the University of California for the rights to his own body. Life gets complicated for these characters when BioGen is sabotaged and loses all of the cell lines for Burnet's genes.

Other, secondary storylines are woven through the Biogen/Burnet conflict, and they include, among others, the rumor of a wild orangutan that has mastered language, a chimpanzee whose mother's ovum was spliced with the human genes of scientist, and a bird, which has not only communicates but which also has self-awareness and believes itself to be a person. As Crichton dramatizes a world in which a human being does not have ownership of his own tissue and a judicial system that supports such circumstances, each of the storylines merge with similar improbability as life itself emerging from the primordial ooze.

I generally do not appreciate "message books," and this is no exception. I define a message book as one in which the author's message is equally or more important than the story itself. However, it's not the fact that `Next' is a message book that made it below average for Crichton standards. It was more that the entire story just seemed contrived...as opposed to creating living, breathing dinosaurs on a Pacific island west of Costa Rica.

The story was actually far-fetched in a way that the ends seemed to justify the means for Crichton. It was as if Crichton started with a message, and then tried to develop a story, rather than having a story which may have had a moral. It was just backwards. And in the end, all of the bad guys got what they deserved, all of the good guys lived happily ever after, and the reader got to learn what Crichton thought about the direction of biotechnology. As if there were any doubt where Crichton stood about the subject, he cleared up the confusion in his epilogue where he included, "At the end of my research for this book, "I arrived at the following conclusions: 1) Stop patenting genes... 2) Establish clear guidelines for the use of human tissues...," and so forth.

Again, it's not a matter of whether I or anyone else agrees or disagrees with Crichton's opinion relating to biotechnology, or anything else for that matter. I just do not appreciate being spoon fed an idea, message, or moral. I'd rather find it myself if I can. The other thing is, well, the story is just not that good.