Prey by Michael Crichton - Ashley's Pre-Reading

On an unrelated note, I am so sorry for leaving you all hanging for the past couple of weeks. I had my comprehensive exams for my Applied Math M.S. (basically final exit exams because I didn't write a thesis) and I was studying nonstop. But, they're over now (I passed!) and so I can blog as fast as I can read now :).

Also, thank you to everyone who entered our giveaway for Pantomime and toured around the Summer Circus! If you didn't win, you should still check it out - it's a very good book with a lot of really good themes that will make you think. Plus a circus and magic and a fantastic world!

So, without further ado, my next book: 


Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Title: Prey
Author: Michael Crichton
Year Published: 2002

Synopsis: In the Nevada desert, an experiment has gone horribly wrong. A cloud of nanoparticles—micro-robots—has escaped from the laboratory. This cloud is self-sustaining and self-reproducing. It is intelligent and learns from experience. For all practical purposes, it is alive.

It has been programmed as a predator. It is evolving swiftly, becoming more deadly with each passing hour.

Every attempt to destroy it has failed.

And we are the prey.

As fresh as today's headlines, Michael Crichton's most compelling novel yet tells the story of a mechanical plague and the desperate efforts of a handful of scientists to stop it. Drawing on up-to-the-minute scientific fact, Prey takes us into the emerging realms of nanotechnology and artificial distributed intelligence—in a story of breathtaking suspense. Prey is a novel you can't put down.

Because time is running out.

Why?: I just took a class on nanotechnology in the spring, so I'm really interested to see what the technology was like back in 2002 and how it could become something that acts on its own. Also, a friend recommended this book and since he really enjoyed it, I figured I should give it a shot.

Expectations: I expect a thriller with a significant amount of scientific backing. I'm thinking that most of the story will sound very real, but it will be obvious that it's fictional. At least I hope. It would be kind of terrifying if everything came across as being very factual. I don't want to be prey to a cloud of nanoparticles.

Judging a book by its cover: This cover kind of reminds me of a swarm of bees. I don't know if I would pick it up off a shelf if I saw it somewhere, since the cover isn't very striking in terms of colors or design. But I might because the stark black and white with red lettering would probably stand out among the colorful books that seem to grace shelves. 


--Ashley