Wilson has crafted many books about problematic issues surrounding robotics and technology, so it’s a bit strange that he is writing about the world of micro-organisms and viruses. But his scientific skills and background play perfectly into the narrative. He’s able to convey complex scenarios and situations and make them understandable to the non-scientist, something the late Crichton had a gift for as well. Wilson’s stellar cast of characters makes the story more than just a series of events but a tale that carries weight ... The structure of the novel reads as if the reader has been granted access to a top-secret file that provides an overview of the incident, which follows the exact layout of Crichton’s classic novel. Wilson invokes the best of that story, and updates everything with terrific flair.
Wilson takes one of Crichton’s most durable story structures—a group of specialists ventures into the unknown—and works numerous variations, some small, some devastatingly large, on the theme. The story’s premise (the justification for the existence of this sequel) is rigorously developed, and the story deftly blends science, suspense, and character interaction in a way that will be familiar to Crichton’s fans ... As the story progresses, Wilson reveals the hidden history of the past 50 years and the truth about the international space program. Oh, and the glorious final-sentence cliff-hanger is just beautiful. In every way, this is a wonderful sequel to a classic novel, written in the spirit of Crichton but in Wilson’s own powerful voice. Terrific.
Yes, the end is near — but not for Crichton’s brand. If you thought his death in 2008 was enough to stop another outbreak, you know nothing about extraterrestrial germs or American publishing ... Wilson is a good choice for carrying the master’s work forward. He’s a robotics engineer, a writer of witty books about technology and the author of a ridiculous thriller called Robopocalypse. ... With little genetic decay, Wilson replicates Crichton’s tone and tics, particularly his wide-stance mansplaining. Each chapter begins with a quotation by Crichton selected, apparently, for its L. Ron Hubbard-like profundity ... And the pages — sanitized of wit — are larded with lots of Crichtonian technical explanations, weapons porn, top-secret documents and so many acronyms that I began to worry Wilson had accidentally left the caps lock on ... But who cares? These various lapses may be irritating, but ultimately they don’t derail what is a fairly ingenious adventure.
There’s tension at every level, with one totally unexpected event after another, and ever-larger perspectives opening up. The mode of narration makes the events seem much more plausible, with heavy doses of technical detail (including four pages of heavyweight endnotes), and the whole story presented as a retrospective, created after the event from logbooks, reports, interviews, information from drones. All the action is related from the limited viewpoints of the participants, none of whom know the whole story ... Michael Crichton’s own mantra was that science fiction could mature into science, and that’s almost what is happening here. There’s a shock or a cliff-hanger every few pages, all rigorously controlled. Believe it or not, it’s even better than the original.
While Crichton’s method-writing imprint is all over this book, Wilson adapts his own tricks to the 'Crichton voice' to create another compelling chronicle of imminent existential catastrophe ... The novel’s characters are intriguing if not deep personas ... as the story gains momentum, Wilson’s cast of diverse characters engage the head and heart as they struggle to save humanity, yet remain quite human – for better and for worse ... Too many skimworthy scientific details and documents are meant not to entertain or inform, but to build a veneer of authenticity, which occasionally detracts from the intensifying narrative. Two-thirds of the way into the book, readers know who the villain is and what the anomaly is. What remains is the how and why ... explodes with an unexpected, gripping, cinematic finale, ready-made. Crichton and techno-thriller fans will be entertained, if not awed.
Though Wilson has perfectly captured the suspense of the original, not to mention the aridity of its relentless techno-nonsense, we quickly notice that evolution has been at work in quarters other than the microscopic: Through some adaptive mutation, women have moved beyond the primitive roles of frightened wife and switchboard 'girl' and have evolved into major players ... what we might call the human element here, its intrigues, blunders, and triumphs, keeps things moving—much more so, in fact, than Andromeda’s elaborate, not to say preposterous, carryings-on.
WIlson has taken Michael Crichton’s story and reawakened the terror of that invasion from space but added some interesting twists ... picks up the same chills that Crichton gave us, right from the beginning. Wilson applies an interesting style to his writing. The Andromedia Evolution is, in many instances, written as a report—that is, written after the fact, while at other times the reader is taken right into the story as it unfolds through the points of view of the various characters ... Wilson has constructed a good follow up to Crichton’s Andromeda Strain. It’s a fast read and well-constructed. There are moments in the writing that are more authorial than character driven, but the story is so well told and fast-paced that the viewpoint issues are of little concern ... Crichton fans will not be disappointed.
Wilson confidently captures the voice of the late Crichton ...in this chilling sequel to the 1969 blockbuster The Andromeda Strain ... Wilson, a roboticist himself, employs his expertise to add depth and credibility to the advanced technology the scientists use, trusting the reader to keep up with his technical terminology. Fans of the original techno-thriller won’t be disappointed.
