Eat, Prey, Love
Prey (2002) by Michael Crichton: 7 out of 10: Prey is a 2002 techno-thriller novel by Michael Crichton. Here, Crichton swaps out ancient reptiles for something smaller, more modern, and arguably even more dangerous: self-replicating, artificially intelligent nanobots.
We meet Jack Forman, a laid-off software guy now playing the role of Mr. Mom while his wife, Julia, climbs the corporate ladder at a high-tech firm dabbling in things no one should dabble in. Primarily the development of a new breed of nanotechnology. Apparent cuckold Jack’s domestic life unravels just as odd things happen out in the Nevada desert, where Julia’s company has a remote facility that’s suddenly gone quiet.
At its core, Prey is a cautionary tale. It is part The Happening, part Invasion of the Body Snatchers, with a dash of Black Mirror. It’s a thriller that asks not whether we can create self-replicating intelligent machines, but whether we should, and then promptly answers that question with a “probably not.” As usual, Crichton weaponizes science fiction as a mirror held up to our own overconfident tinkering, delivering great science and philosophy intertwined with a workmanlike narrative.
The Good
The Good: The futuristic science is fun, as is the philosophy in Prey. There were few people on Earth as animated about nanotechnology than Michael Crichton. This comes across on almost every page as he is thrilled to impart his knowledge and theories with us.
Prey has some walloping quotes such as “We think we know what we are doing. We have always thought so. We never seem to acknowledge that we have been wrong in the past, and so might be wrong in the future. Instead, each generation writes off earlier errors as the result of bad thinking by less able minds—and then confidently embarks on fresh errors of its own.”
This has been a mantra of mine for years, nay decades, and I think it applies to a lot more than environmental science. Crichton, being the talent he is, words it so much better than I ever have.
Also, Crichton talks about evolution and the symbiotic relationship between different species and how a parasitic relationship can be mutually beneficial and how both species evolve to depend on each other.
How even the human body is a collection of cells and organisms in this relationship (think gut bacteria) and how much of our senses is feedback from our body rather than our brain. Anyway, the science has won me over.
Even with political institutions and countries, the importance of this symbiotic relationship can not be overstated. It is basically how all trade works through the theory of comparative advantage.
Here is a quote from Prey that illustrates what I liked about the book. “Paul Ewald had studied cholera. What he found was that the cholera organism would quickly change to sustain an epidemic. In places where there were no sanitary water supplies but perhaps a ditch running through a village, the cholera was virulent, prostrating the victim and killing him where he fell from massive overwhelming diarrhea. The diarrhea contained millions of cholera organisms; it would run into the water supply and infect others in the village. In this way the cholera reproduced, and the epidemic continued. But when there was sanitary water supply, the virulent strain could not reproduce. The victim would die where he fell but his diarrhea would not enter the water supply. Others would not be infected, and the epidemic would fade. Under those circumstances, the epidemic evolved to a milder form, enabling the victim to walk around and spread the milder organisms by contact, dirty linens, and so on. Mae was suggesting that the same thing had happened to the swarms. They had evolved to a milder form, which could be transmitted from one person to another.”
This is the good stuff. Prey would make a fascinating nonfiction book about the risks of nanotechnology and other related fields. Unfortunately, it is a thriller with a plot and characters. And it is here that we run into some issues.
The Bad
The Bad: The monster in Prey can change and develop at will. That sounds scary. Also, it sounds strikingly convenient for a certain author writing the book.
The Prey monster is described in activities and actions like an insect swarm, and that is fine, but the nano features of the individual units seem lost in the translation during many of these scenes. The fact that the creatures can pass through most solid matter at the molecular level is lost in the action and author descriptions. A peeve admittedly, but an interesting oversight as the author is more interested in killer ant swarm-type protagonists than an invisible disease or gas.
When Crichton does remember that his monster is smaller than human molecules, it seems to transmute Prey into The Happening for a chapter or two. So, I understand why he went with killer gnats. Still, it ends up being a creature that can be beaten by a stiff breeze occasionally.
The Ugly
The Ugly: Here is a quote from reader notes below. “It really helps that Crichton has not inflicted Paul’s kids on us for quite a few chapters. I would rather deal with swarming insects than those monsters.” Here is another “All I can tell you is that one of the victims was sloppy, anxious and farted a lot and the other was a female who seemed to have a relationship or attachment to the farting guy.”
One does not read Tom Clancy for the characters. If Jack and Cathy Ryan turn out to be entertaining and well-rounded characters, it is a lucky bonus. Michael Crichton is not having such luck in Prey. Our main protagonist is pretty whiny. He admits he was lucky, but things just seem to happen to him. He is very passive.
In fact, outside of “Stupid Sexy Mae” Prey has no likable characters. More to the point, it barely has any characters to begin with. Those that get a description more fleshed out than “sloppy, anxious and farted a lot” are almost universally unlikable.
It is a real problem that threatens to sink the book in places. (I am not kidding about how lucky were to leave those kids permanently by chapter three.)
In Conclusion
In Conclusion: Come for the science and philosophy… put up with the characters and plot. As I stated above, I think Prey might have worked better as a non-fiction book. The plot goes nowhere for long stretches, and the characters are at best pedestrian. Longtime readers will know that I am a soft touch when it comes to nature gone wild thrillers. Even I was bored.
Still a fascinating read overall. Certainly not Crichton’s best, but if you go in looking to be educated rather than entertained, you are bound to have a good time. It is a cautionary recommend as if my comparing the plot of Prey to The Happening was not enough of a clue.
——————————————————————————————————————————————
The introduction before the story is a very well researched and thought out essay by Michael Crichton regarding how nature works and how mankind’s advancements interact with nature in unexpected ways.
It has some walloping quotes such as “We think we know what we are doing. We have always thought so. We never seem to acknowledge that we have been wrong in the past, and so might be wrong in the future. Instead, each generation writes off earlier errors as the result of bad thinking by less able minds—and then confidently embarks on fresh errors of its own.”
This has been a mantra of mine for years, nay decades, and I think it applies to a lot more than environmental science. Crichton, being the talent he is, words it so much better than I ever have.
He talks about advancements in genetic engineering and nanotechnology. At no point during this introduction did I think of giant bunny rabbits. Nor did I think about newscaster Jerry Dunphy sitting behind a desk in his seventies sport coat finest telling us about the bunny menace down under. Nope, never crossed my mind…
Okay, so the opening essay reminds me of the opening of Night of the Lepus alas, as done by a thoughtful and intelligent futurist rather than Ken Brockman welcoming our new overlords. And that quote above is a doozy.
I am giving this introduction praise and a pass. Though I would have loved to see what Michael Crichton could have done punching up the Night of the Lepus script.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Well, we are introduced to our main character. A family man who finds himself in the house husband role (Crichton puts the same family in severe jeopardy in a quick teaser before we start).
I read this book decades ago, probably pretty close to 2002 when it came out. I remember being slightly disappointed in it, but recall no details. But I am a different man now, even though the book has not changed. One never steps into the same river and all that.
What is interesting is that while the nanotechnology as described so far in the book is still pure science fiction. There have been so many other advancements in various fields that descriptions such as the viewing of the live test through satellite tech (that has to be booked) seem anachronistic.
Crichton has his fingers a bit much on the scales for our opening characters. Outside of the kids, it is our, I suppose, hero who is the house husband. But he is not just a house husband; he is a wrongfully terminated house husband who was fighting corruption and has been blackballed. His wife, who might as well be wearing a sign saying “I am having an affair, ask me how?” is not just working late and taking long showers when she gets home after taking off her tight skirt and fuck-me shoes. She is also quick to anger outbursts and in the first chapter, she beats a baby.
Like I said, Crichton is having trouble with subtle so far in Prey. We have are white hat and our black hat, and they are (currently) married to each other. We know she is a liar and probably an abusive, adulterous liar, and we know he is a white knight.
It is not completely unrealistic, mind you (outside of the sainthood firing, which feels performative) We have all come home to a partner we no longer recognize, as Billy Joel has kindly pointed out. And a high-powered woman having affairs after their husband takes the stay-at-home parent role is a cliché for a reason.
So despite a niggle or two, a well-written opening chapter that has me interested.
——————————————————————————————————————————————
The problem futurists have with their work is that all too often it ages like milk. Crichton is not there yet… but he is talking at length about things that will not come to pass and unaware of things that did. It is almost an alternate-future book. A distinct path of science that never came to be.
I actually have personal experience in some things he chats about. particularly neural network technology of the early to mid-nineties. It is not really an issue of him being wrong about how things turned out. It is whether the readers would still be interested in such details of things that never came to pass.
Crichton talks about manufacturing challenges and corporate shenanigans sprinkled with his backhanded sexism that was on full display in, say, “Disclosure”. He clearly has collected anecdotes throughout the years about Silicon Valley and sprinkles those stories liberally in Prey to wonderful effect.
One does not read Tom Clancy for the characters. If Jack and Cathy Ryan turn out to be entertaining and well-rounded characters, it is a lucky bonus. Michael Crichton is not having such luck in Prey. Our main protagonist is pretty whiny. He admits he was lucky, but things just seem to happen to him. He has been very passive so far very passive. Now, this may set up some good character growth. One can hope. I have a feeling this is not Crichton’s strong suit so far.
Crichton’s strong suit, however, is plot, and he throws some nice spanners into the gears of the plot. There are fun and genuine surprises in Prey, and the book’s plot is moving at a good page-turning pace. I am enjoying my read so far, with a few character-related niggles and some eye-rolling at the “new future” Crichton is pitching. Still a good time and not a slog.
——————————————————————————————————————————————
So, our hero is in Nevada at the plant his wife has been hanging out in. Alas, his wife had a car accident, and the mysterious man who was in her car has disappeared. The doctors think she is crazy, and she is refusing an MRI. Astute readers will pick up on what is going on.
It is a shame that the wife is in the hospital because it means Crichton misses out on a great potential scene where our hero confronts his wife at her top-secret lab. Interpersonal drama is not in the cards, at least not yet.
Crichton does a masterful job in these chapters talking about all the information he has about styles of programming and interdisciplinary uses in the art and science of programming without us feeling we accidentally entered a lecture hall. He clearly loves this stuff and can’t wait to tell us all about it. Crichton also does an excellent job of dropping breadcrumbs of the true nature of the threat before we meet the “Black Cloud”
Speaking of housekeeping, Crichton introduces the staff and facility in a better than perfunctory way. It is not brilliant, but it does the job well and, like the science above, never feels like a lecture.
And then we meet the “Black Cloud” a group of growing nanotech items that escaped the lab and are killing the local wildlife. They are clearly a threat. What kind of threat is not completely established just yet. As of now, if the “Black Cloud” has one flaw, it is that it is not really that scary. I mean, I keep thinking of “The Happening” where people were fleeing a summer breeze.
We shall see if Crichton can put together some set pieces with our new monster other than Bob grab the shop vac.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Well, the book’s hero and I have something in common. We both can’t understand why these smarms cannot be defeated by a shop-vac. Prey is a fast read that seems to be getting somewhere at a decent pace.
Characterization and, more importantly, characters we care about seem in short supply, however. I am still not a fan of our protagonist, and the character of his wife and her motivations seem all over the place and then some.
There is a sexy biologist introduced called, I want to say, Mei? (ED: I Iooked it up; her name is spelled Mae), but she is just a sketch at best that my tired eyes are projecting on.
The book is very detailed on the science (and subsequently plausibility) behind the swarm. I really get the sense that there was no one on earth in 2002 that was as excited about this particular science as Crichton was.
His enthusiasm comes across well and helps one plow through the various details, but there is so much plowing and the lack of characters to root for (or against) really hurts the stakes and momentum so far.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Well, we got an action scene and a couple of non-rabbit deaths. Stupid Sexy Mae is still an enigma, though a pleasant and not yet dead one. The wife is out of the hospital and on her way to the facility. There is another person in the group named Ricky, who it is hinted may also be possessed by the creatures. (think Invasion of the Body Snatchers for the vibe)
So, a few notes. I have been complaining about the lack of characterization, and those chickens have come home to roost. All I can tell you is that one of the victims was sloppy, anxious and farted a lot and the other was a female who seemed to have a relationship or attachment to the farting guy.
Crichton’s heavy descriptions of the science are fun, but the characters seem to lack those two-paragraph descriptions that other authors masterfully use. I am reminded of The Rats by James Herbert, where he would practically have a short story of the characters’ life before they were unceremoniously eaten by the titular vermin.
I am not saying that Crichton had to give us the childhood and sex life of his victims, but if he had spent some of the energy and real estate on characters that he did on the science, the scenes would be more effective.
I have two more niggles. They are leaving the confines of the safe space to go to a shack where the Isotopes are held in the hope they can use them to fight the creature. It is a classic MacGuffin mission. alas I think both the reader and author forget why they were there in the first place for much of the scene.
The other niggle is I have no real idea how far the shack was from the compound. It seemed a relatively short distance (50 yards?) and yet some of the action beats seem to make little sense with that fact.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Well, the science has won me over. Evolution and the symbiotic relationship between different species and how a parasitical relationship can be mutually beneficial and how both species evolve to depend on each other now fills my head.
How even the human body is a collection of cells and organisms in this relationship (think gut bacteria) and how much of our senses is feedback from our body rather than our brain. Anyway, the science has won me over.
Even with political institutions and countries, the importance of this symbiotic relationship can not be overstated. It is basically how all trade works through the theory of comparative advantage.
It is a good thing the science is interesting because while we wait for the wife to show up at the site, fuck all is happening plot-wise. They are basically sitting around the table eating like in Alien, but with a lot less interesting conversation and no one has realized that Ricky is an android.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Well, we started off the reading with a giant mound like the one in Marabunta. Crichton talks more termites than fire ants when he does the science, but the idea is the same. Insects working as a group to create amazing architecture.
Later on in the read, we have the insects using other animals like ants raise aphids. Also, the creatures adapting like cholera.
“Paul Ewald had studied cholera. What he found was that the cholera organism would quickly change to sustain an epidemic. In places where there were no sanitary water supplies but perhaps a ditch running through a village, the cholera was virulent, prostrating the victim and killing him where he fell from massive overwhelming diarrhea. The diarrhea contained millions of cholera organisms; it would run into the water supply and infect others in the village. In this way, the cholera reproduced, and the epidemic continued. But when there was sanitary water supply, the virulent strain could not reproduce. The victim would die where he fell but his diarrhea would not enter the water supply. Others would not be infected, and the epidemic would fade. Under those circumstances, the epidemic evolved to a milder form, enabling the victim to walk around and spread the milder organisms by contact, dirty linens, and so on. Mae was suggesting that the same thing had happened to the swarms. They had evolved to a milder form, which could be transmitted from one person to another.”
So we enter the cave that the swarm lives in with a limited number of explosive thermite flares, and a pretty decent action scene begins. Think of the end of Them, perhaps. A helicopter with Paul’s wife shows up, and we end up back at headquarters, but all is not right… And we are right in an Invasion of the Body Snatchers scenario.
The tension is palpable and well done. The book is finally coming together after some stumbles in characterization early on. It really helps that Crichton has not inflicted Paul’s kids on us for quite a few chapters. I would rather deal with swarming insects than those monsters.
One bone to pick with the swarm. It is described in activities and actions like an insect swarm, and that is fine, but the nano features of the individual units seem lost in the translation during many of these scenes. The fact that the creatures can pass through most solid matter at the molecular level is lost in the action and author descriptions. A peeve admittedly, but an interesting oversight as the author is more interested in killer ant swarm-type protagonists than an invisible disease or gas.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
You know my pet peeves from the last reads have only grown now that I have finished the book. Crichton has created these nanobot creatures himself, and we are told they are constantly evolving, and some swarms are evolving differently than other swarms and as I say above, a lot of the science is fascinating.
The problem is, it becomes clear that the nanobots can do (or not do) whatever Crichton needs them to act in a particular scene or action beat.
The creatures themselves ought to resemble carbon monoxide gas and maybe when they are in the body perhaps the toxoplasma gondii parasite so they can control the human subjects.
Maybe I understood the size and nature of the creatures from the initial descriptions of them photographing inside blood vessels of the heart. But by the end of the book, they are killer gnats.
The action beats at the end of the book are not as solid as the ones in the cave. Paul is too clever by half, for one thing. He should be exhausted and frantic, not Batman. (Or in this case, Superman tricking Zod into turning on the red sunlight in the Fortress of Solitude.)
We have a nice goodbye scene with Paul and his wife, and I kind of like that there really are no bad guys here, just people not using their best judgement with powers beyond their control.
I enjoyed the book. A pleasant page-turner with some interesting science woven in that may take one down a wormhole or two. Doesn’t quite stick the landing, and the characters are either horrifying (Paul’s kids), too good to be true (Stupid Sexy Mae), or forgettable (the rest of the cast, including our protagonist.)
Not a strong recommendation and certainly not Crichton’s best work, but I am glad I read it.
——————————————————————————————————————————————