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Topic: Michael Crichton Dies Amid Much Election Frou Frou (Read 6036 times)
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Signe
Terracotta Army
Posts: 18942
Muse.
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Michael Crichton died yesterday. I thought someone should say something. I wasn't a fan of his books but he was quite tall, wasn't he?
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My Sig Image: hath rid itself of this mortal coil.
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Ratadm
Terracotta Army
Posts: 154
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He was one of the first authors I read outside of school and started my love of science fiction. Although I haven't read any of his books recently that's too bad.
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Evildrider
Terracotta Army
Posts: 5521
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Although I didn't think he was an awesome writer he did have some good books. Sad to see him go.
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Oban
Terracotta Army
Posts: 4662
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What an awful title for his next book.
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Palin 2012 : Let's go out with a bang!
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stray
Terracotta Army
Posts: 16818
has an iMac.
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Wow, he was quite tall. That's too bad, he relatively young. Looking at his work, I think the only things I liked from him were ER (  ) and Disclosure. Funny. |
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Evildrider
Terracotta Army
Posts: 5521
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Wow, he was quite tall. That's too bad, he relatively young. Looking at his work, I think the only things I liked from him were ER ( ) and Disclosure. Funny. What no Jurassic Park? hehe Andromeda Strain was a good book... but bad movies. |
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Johny Cee
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Posts: 3454
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Rising Sun is not a good book, but it really summarizes the popular opinion in the US about the Japanese economic juggernaut right before their ten year recession.
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WayAbvPar
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His writing got worse at roughly the same rate that my tastes got more sophisticated, so his later stuff didn't do much for me. I devoured all his early work, though. For a mass market whore, he was definitely more readable than most.
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When speaking of the MMOG industry, the glass may be half full, but it's full of urine. HaemishM
Always wear clean underwear because you never know when a Tory Government is going to fuck you.- Ironwood
Libertarians make fun of everyone because they can't see beyond the event horizons of their own assholes Surlyboi
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Abagadro
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Posts: 12227
Possibly the only user with more posts in the Den than PC/Console Gaming.
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Early books were good. Later books veered into preachy nutbaggery.
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"As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”
-H.L. Mencken
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stray
Terracotta Army
Posts: 16818
has an iMac.
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Wow, he was quite tall. That's too bad, he relatively young. Looking at his work, I think the only things I liked from him were ER ( ) and Disclosure. Funny. What no Jurassic Park? hehe I've only seen like the first 15 minutes actually. One of those big movies that I never got around to. |
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IainC
Developers
Posts: 6538
Wargaming.net
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Wow, he was quite tall. That's too bad, he relatively young. Looking at his work, I think the only things I liked from him were ER ( ) and Disclosure. Funny. What no Jurassic Park? hehe I've only seen like the first 15 minutes actually. One of those big movies that I never got around to. The film and the book are very different. The film is not great apart from the CGI that was jawdropping for its time. The book is a much better told tale. |
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Venkman
Terracotta Army
Posts: 11536
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Wow, sad to hear this. I thought his global warming book was pretty good, definitely a better followup to that terrible nanobot book. But hit or miss, he was still tried to thoroughly research stuff before turning it into sci-fi and trying to wrap a thin narrative around it. I felt like he was sort of like Dan Brown in a way: start with some plausible, make a fun story about it.
Rest in peace.
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Morat20
Terracotta Army
Posts: 18529
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His latter works were utter crap, and rank right there with Terry Goodkind for "I'll shove my politics down your throat in ways I feel are subtle, but which are blatantly obviously, like when I name a pedophile after a journalist who annoyed me and seem surprised when people notice".
His earlier works were really hit or miss, and you could see the paranioa and junk science bits creep out at the edge from practically the beginning.
And frankly, the whole apes with ping-pong paddles was just ridiculous.
But I'll forgive it, because I sat in a theater and watched Jurassic Park. Fuck the story. I saw dinosaurs, and that was worth the decades of crap after.
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ahoythematey
Terracotta Army
Posts: 1729
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Despite having a lot of really tedious books, Michael Crichton was an writer I enjoyed because of the books Sphere and Prey, and the movie Westworld.
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taolurker
Terracotta Army
Posts: 1460
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I've read nearly every book by Crichton, and was upset to hear this.
Also, of all the books I ever see discussed with his name attached, I never see people mention "Eaters of the Dead" which was one of my favorite, most readable books by him. This became the movie 13th Warrior, with Antonio Banderas.
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I used to write for extinct gaming sites
details available here (unused blog about page)
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DraconianOne
Terracotta Army
Posts: 2905
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Westworld was a great film, as was Coma.
And who can forget Runaway with Tom Selleck and Gene Simmons.
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A point can be MOOT. MUTE is more along the lines of what you should be. - WayAbvPar
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Evildrider
Terracotta Army
Posts: 5521
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I've read nearly every book by Crichton, and was upset to hear this.
Also, of all the books I ever see discussed with his name attached, I never see people mention "Eaters of the Dead" which was one of my favorite, most readable books by him. This became the movie 13th Warrior, with Antonio Banderas.
Book was definitly better then the movie in this instance. This is also one of my favorites of his. |
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Ingmar
Terracotta Army
Posts: 19280
Auto Assault Affectionado
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After all the shitty science in his books, I never understood why people listened to the shitty science in his politics.
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The Transcendent One: AH... THE ROGUE CONSTRUCT.
Nordom: Sense of closure: imminent.
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ahoythematey
Terracotta Army
Posts: 1729
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Ohhh shit, I forgot about Eaters of the Dead. What a fucking fantastic book, and surprisingly short given his tendencies to ramble.
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WayAbvPar
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I don't think I ever read Eaters of the Dead. I just got a new library card- maybe I will use to and catch up on some old school Crichton soon.
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When speaking of the MMOG industry, the glass may be half full, but it's full of urine. HaemishM
Always wear clean underwear because you never know when a Tory Government is going to fuck you.- Ironwood
Libertarians make fun of everyone because they can't see beyond the event horizons of their own assholes Surlyboi
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Venkman
Terracotta Army
Posts: 11536
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Westworld was a great film, as was Coma.
And who can forget Runaway with Tom Selleck and Gene Simmons.
Cricton did Runaway? Loved that movie... at the time  |
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ahoythematey
Terracotta Army
Posts: 1729
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Runaway was great to me when I first saw it, but looking back it's a really ridiculous movie.
Still, homing bullets.
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justdave
Terracotta Army
Posts: 462
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Runaway is a captive of its time...Gene Simmons fights Tom Selleck using robotics. In the capsule that is 1984-1987, it will always be awesome. Do not...fuck...with Runaway!
EDIT: Now temporally accurate.
EDIT2: does no one remember Looker? Albert Finney discovers the memory gun?
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« Last Edit: November 06, 2008, 08:39:05 PM by justdave »
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"They started to resist with a crust that was welded with human brain and willpower."
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justdave
Terracotta Army
Posts: 462
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I've read nearly every book by Crichton, and was upset to hear this.
Also, of all the books I ever see discussed with his name attached, I never see people mention "Eaters of the Dead" which was one of my favorite, most readable books by him. This became the movie 13th Warrior, with Antonio Banderas.
I'll have to look that book up...I'm sure I've at least seen the cover, since I've named a bit of code after it, but didn't conciously realize it. |
"They started to resist with a crust that was welded with human brain and willpower."
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schild
Administrator
Posts: 60350
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IMO it's a short story compared to his other stuff, heh.
It's a great book, probably my favorite of his and it's nothing like his other works. That's probably what made it great. Not to shit on the guy but he's nowhere near my favorite writer and if pressed I probably wouldn't list him in my Top 10. But Eaters of the Dead? Just great.
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justdave
Terracotta Army
Posts: 462
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I'm going to have to read it, now. It would be nice to have something of his past 'The Andromeda Strain 'that didn't set off the 'gimmie' book detectors.
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"They started to resist with a crust that was welded with human brain and willpower."
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Hawkbit
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Posts: 5531
Like a Klansman in the ghetto.
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Jurassic Park spoiler:
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Gorky
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Posts: 87
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Jurassic Park spoiler:
No, nothing as interesting as that... |
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Hawkbit
Terracotta Army
Posts: 5531
Like a Klansman in the ghetto.
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What a shame, I had that all built up in my head for so long.  |
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Johny Cee
Terracotta Army
Posts: 3454
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Jurassic Park spoiler:
Crichton's books were basically the forerunner to the X-files: vaguely plausible/minorly unplausible pop science what if stories. Eaters of the Dead is also my favorite. A great spin on the idea that legends/myths have actual historical basis. |
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Teleku
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Posts: 10516
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I read a ton of his books in High School, always tended to enjoy them. Jurassic Park, Sphere, Andromeda Strain, Eaters of the Dead, Congo, all good books IMO. Also read Lost World and Timeline, which were OK (you couldn't defiantly tell he was just cashing a check for Lost World though).
I know none of his newer stuff was good, but still put out a lot of good fun books in his time. Sad to see him go.
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"My great-grandfather did not travel across four thousand miles of the Atlantic Ocean to see this nation overrun by immigrants. He did it because he killed a man back in Ireland. That's the rumor."
-Stephen Colbert
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Rasix
Moderator
Posts: 15024
I am the harbinger of your doom!
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I read a ton of his books in High School, always tended to enjoy them. Jurassic Park, Sphere, Andromeda Strain, Eaters of the Dead, Congo, all good books IMO. Also read Lost World and Timeline, which were OK (you couldn't defiantly tell he was just cashing a check for Lost World though).
I know none of his newer stuff was good, but still put out a lot of good fun books in his time. Sad to see him go.
Same thoughts here exactly. I stopped keeping up with him after the nanobots book which was pretty terrible (although a somewhat entertaining read). I was a big science geek at the time, and I really enjoyed that aspect of his writing. Although thinking back, I'm not sure if I ever read Eaters of the Dead. I will definitely have to see if my mom has a copy of that one. Felt like he had another good book in him somewhere. |
-Rasix
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Strazos
Greetings from the Slave Coast
Posts: 15542
The World's Worst Game: Curry or Covid
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I thought Timeline (the book) was awesome when I was in high school. Same with Terminal Man.
Sue me.
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Fear the Backstab!
"Plato said the virtuous man is at all times ready for a grammar snake attack." - we are lesion
"Hell is other people." -Sartre
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Teleku
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Posts: 10516
https://i.imgur.com/mcj5kz7.png
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I thought Timeline (the book) was awesome when I was in high school. Same with Terminal Man.
Sue me.
I actually did like Timeline (didn't mean to really put it down), but it just didn't have as "perfectly awesome adventure" feeling to it as the past books I named. Still good though. I also did read Terminal Man, thanks for reminding me. I didn't really know what to make of it. The concept was interesting, but I guess it was just sort "hmm" to me, just because it wasn't as epic as any of his other books. I mean, it was basically about a normal guy getting (1970's) computer crap installed into him, going crazy because of it, and running away (and hurting people). It just seemed so.....plain after all the other shit of his I read. |
"My great-grandfather did not travel across four thousand miles of the Atlantic Ocean to see this nation overrun by immigrants. He did it because he killed a man back in Ireland. That's the rumor."
-Stephen Colbert
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