The Terminal Man

He is the Frission-Master, the Techno Thriller, the Tao of Tantalizing Twists and Turns and the Ultimate Grip you by your Lapels writer. He is of course Michael Crichton (rhymes with frighten!!!).

Yesterday, I came across ‘The Terminal Man’ at a book sale. It takes me at least half an hour in deciding which book I should buy (I am sort of a miser!), but when it comes to Michael Crichton- I buy his books blindly. After all, he is the person I aspire to become.

He is the sole reason why I don’t believe in Global Warming, why I love aliens so much (and love to loathe them, when they threaten humanity), why I converted from the religion of Fantasy to the Sect of Science Fiction.

Though, he sticks to the plot- that science has a way to turn awry and some fixed numbers of people have to die as the toll-tax taken by excessive reliance on Science, he still had managed to create variegated themes which would sweep you off your feet with their sheer creativity and tenacity. Although he does not consider them to be the figment of his imagination, he considers them as facts.

Before critiquing ‘The Terminal Man’, I would like to bring to the notice of the readers that this book was written way back in 1972, where people still tinkered with pagers (it was altogether different matter that it wasn’t even introduced inIndiaat that time).

So you may not find the premise of the book too hot as you may have heard the concept but as Mr. Crichton says in the introduction that people are extremely frivolous about it though and you may also find some things in the book that would rock you to your very core.

This book picks up its pace quite slowly. Being well-versed with his other novels, I was a bit disappointed initially, but afterwards the book tends to quicken its pace and we are left with, as correctly said on the front page, an all-too-believable Frankenstein.

Harry Benson is the patient at theUniversityHospital, suffering from Acute Disinhibitory Lesion, the so-called violent mental seizures. So he is operated with a stage three treatment, where a computer is fitted inside his head, countering the seizure pulses with those inducing happiness- thereby keeping the seizure in check.

But, it all goes thoroughly wrong. Henry escapes the hospital and turns into a ruthless and mindless killing machine.

I must say that this book lacks in the magnanimity of ‘JurassicPark’ or the ‘Sphere’. The chase at the end is not entirely spine-chilling neither is the plot painted on a larger canvas. But you should not consider ‘Sphere’ as the reference point while reading this book- this book, like all his other works still have the allure and charm to tightly hold you, so much so as to force you to complete it in one sit.

A nice read overall. I hope you find this article useful.

Well, I have almost completed his entire set of science-fiction (I haven’t read his James Bond type Novels!!), leaving ‘Pirate Latitudes’, ‘The Great Train Robbery’ and ‘Disclosure’. So I have rated all his books as per my liking. Though of course, your opinion may be quite different…

1)      ‘Sphere’

2)      ‘The Andromeda Strain’ and ‘Jurassic Park’

3)      ‘Timeline’, ‘Congo’ and ‘The Lost World’

4)      ‘Prey’ and ‘State of Fear’

5)      ‘Eaters of Dead’

6)      ‘The Terminal Man’

7)      ‘Next’

8)      ‘Airframe’

9)      ‘Rising Sun’

10)  ‘A Case Of Need’