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    Audiobook13 hours

    Next

    Written by Michael Crichton

    Narrated by Dylan Baker

    3.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    From Michael Crichton, the #1 bestselling author of Jurassic Park and The Andromeda Strain, comes a devilishly clever, breathless tale of a new world where nothing is what it seems, and genetic ownership shatters our assumptions.

    Welcome to our genetic world.

    Fast, furious, and out of control.

    This is not the world of the future—it's the world right now.

    Is a loved one missing some body parts? Are blonds becoming extinct? Is everyone at your dinner table of the same species? Humans and chimpanzees differ in only four hundred genes; is that why a chimp fetus resembles a human being? And should that worry us? There's a new genetic cure for drug addiction—is it worse than the disease?

    We live in a time of momentous scientific leaps, a time when it's possible to sell our eggs and sperm online for thousands of dollars and to test our spouses for genetic maladies. We live in a time when one-fifth of all our genes are owned by someone else—and an unsuspecting person and his family can be pursued cross-country because they happen to have certain valuable genes within their chromosomes....

    The future is closer than you think.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateNov 28, 2006
    ISBN9780061338724
    Author

    Michael Crichton

    Michael Crichton (1942-2008) was the author of the bestselling novels The Terminal Man, The Great Train Robbery, Jurassic Park, Sphere, Disclosure, Prey, State of Fear, Next and Dragon Teeth, among many others. His books have sold more than 200 million copies worldwide, have been translated into thirty-eight languages, and have provided the basis for fifteen feature films. He wrote and directed Westworld, The Great Train Robbery, Runaway, Looker, Coma and created the hit television series ER. Crichton remains the only writer to have a number one book, movie, and TV show in the same year.

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    Reviews for Next

    3.5/5

    1,815 ratings110 reviews

    What our readers think

    Readers find this title to be a mixed bag. Some reviewers were disgusted and disappointed, citing issues with sexism, sexual misconduct, and flawed science. Others found the overarching story compelling, despite the narrative being all over the place. However, many reviewers felt that the book was weighed down by unlikeable characters and pretentious storytelling. The book does provide important insights into the social and political dangers of genetic research. Overall, the book receives mixed reviews, with some positive aspects but also significant flaws.

    What did you think?

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5

      Sep 8, 2023

      Not the standard Crichton fiction action/adventure but I enjoyed it and feel too many gave it a bum rap. The novel is a loosely-knit collection of possible quandaries / anecdotes that illustrate some real and some possible problems within the big picture of genetic research today. Crichton's NF 'Author's Note' about his research for this novel along with his insights and thoughtful conclusions about gene research, gene patents, gene testing, human tissue ownership, unenforceable research bans, & the Bayh-Dole Act (in light of its unintended consequences) are worth the price of admission alone! I recommend this book both as an fun interesting pop lit read and for Crichton's NF research notes.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 1/5

      Sep 8, 2023

      Nothing like Jurassic park. All sexism, gross sexual misconduct including towards minors, plenty of "men's rights activism" type talking points, and a major conflict is founded on absolute nonsense science since human children are not in fact clones of their father (specifically, their father) and that was not news when this was written either. Disgusted and disappointed.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5

      Sep 8, 2023

      Important, informative, and enlightening tale on the social and political dangers of genetic research.
    • 5/5

      Sep 8, 2023

      This book was narrated very well by Dylan Baker. Please listen to the last few chapters; it includes afterthoughts from Michael Crichton and an interview with him.
    • 4/5

      Sep 8, 2023

      Lots of character in this book, way too many to be able to remember without bashing your head into pieces. However, it's the ideas and whole advent of genetic engineering that earns this book my stars. It cautions that with our current society's addiction with patents and copyright infringements, genetics will be the next huge industry that'll control how society functions. Very scary indeed.
    • 2/5

      Sep 8, 2023

      Awful narrator and a slow pace are a double whammy
    • 3/5

      Sep 8, 2023

      Kind of all over the place narratively, but the overarching story kept me going until the end.
    • 2/5

      Sep 8, 2023

      Crichton is my favourite novelist, but this is possibly his worst book, sad to say. I remember buying it off the shelf the week it came out. I think it had the potential for greatness, but it is weighed down a cast of unlikeable stock characters and pretentious storytelling. Had he written in it a more linear fashion, even as an anthology book, it would’ve been more compelling.
      TLDR; this book is very cynical and pretentious.
    • 3/5

      Sep 8, 2023

      I often consider myself a fan of Michael Crichton's books. The mix of science fiction and science fact has always left me feeling satisfied. When I read the dust jacket of Next I thought that this book was going to be really great. In reality this book was more of a chore to get through than I cared for. While I thought the premise was intriguing, a majority of the story's characters were not very interesting, and almost unlikable at times.
    • 3/5

      Sep 8, 2023

      I liked how most of the multiple storylines came together in the end, but some of them were just completely ignored. Additionally, while the individual chapters were intriguing, the book as a whole was a bit disjointed.
    • 2/5

      Nov 9, 2024

      This book was a haphazard mess of far too many story lines. Many of them were just filler and contributed very little to the overall story line, which didn't even really present as an actual story until the final few hundred pages or so, and at that point it was so poorly tied together that the reader was left wondering what they'd just read.
    • 2/5

      Jun 2, 2022

      One of Crichton's weakest.
    • 3/5

      Mar 12, 2022

      it wasn't as bad as I had heard this was - it was educational - made you think about the ridiculousness of gene patenting - however I think the end was rushed and forced. I don't think Crichton tidied up all the business as nicely as he could have.

      Crichton got much more open about his politics since Prey. He's always been political but I just felt he was much more open about it towards the end of his career and in this book more so. Maybe I've just noticed the politics more as I have gotten older, but there just seemed to be some cheap shots in the book that hasn't been in his past works.
    • 5/5

      Jul 1, 2020

      How far will scientists go with genetic testing? This book explores all aspects of this question and spins a tale of a very scary possible future for humans. Michael Crichton is a master at bringing science and adventure together and this book excels in entertainment.
    • 5/5

      Jan 28, 2022

      The Washington Post called it chilling... I reaffirm and confirm it. It is a great adventure of many characters that intertwine, get tangled, and lose themselves in pursuit of the final message.

      I grew fond of Dave; my paternal instinct couldn't let the words harm the character.

      I was fascinated. (Translated from Spanish)
    • 3/5

      Sep 16, 2019

      A genetic based thriller about a possible near future where genetic research and treatments become abused by corporations, the court system, and other areas. The story has multiple POVs that deal with different areas of concern with genetics in a health system, financial, and in our culture. While the idea of exploring a science fiction genetic thriller is a great idea, the execution is poor. The main problem is that the POVs jump back and forth very quickly. Some chapters are shorter then 1 page. There was not near enough time to figure out the characters and their story line. The ideas and the implications behind the book are entertaining. If the author would have just focused on one POV for a longer period of time before moving on, it would have been a much better read.
    • 3/5

      Apr 1, 2019

      Although I like the subject it deals with (genetic manipulation), in this novel I noticed a bit of a muddle with the characters, plot lines that aren't very clear, and an abrupt ending, as if there wasn't enough time. Of course, it is readable, but not much more. I don't recommend reading it, because there are many better books by the same author. (Translated from Spanish)
    • 2/5

      Sep 6, 2018

      A series of genetic experiments, relatively plausible, are converging in their narratives. It is not one of Crichton's best books. It seems a bit tired and sometimes it's hard to understand what the intention is. At times, it feels like there is a lack of a stronger main plot. (Translated from Spanish)
    • 2/5

      Jun 13, 2018

      It's not what I expected based on the synopsis; it talks very little about the story and covers too many scientific topics. For someone like me who doesn't know much about the subject, it made me feel a bit dizzy. (Translated from Spanish)
    • 1/5

      May 23, 2018

      I shoulda heeded the cover copy. "As good as anything since Jurassic Park" or something similar.

      True enough. It was a fast read, quite interesting, for sure, but not exciting in the slightest. Buy it used if you have to read it. DEFINITELY don't pay airport book store prices.
    • 5/5

      May 14, 2018

      Scary that this is actually the world we live in...
      I'd like scientists 'round the globe to grow a pair and be honest all the time...is it that hard?
    • 2/5

      Mar 24, 2018

      This was only the second of Crichton's book that I did not enjoy as much as the others I've read. It wasn't as much of a page-turner and the ending was disappointing. When reading, it felt like I was not sure where the book was heading, not in the way where it was suspenseful, but in a way where it felt all the different stories and characters were disconnected, although the storyline connected them to the issue of trans-gene therapy.

      The ending was anticlimactic.

      However, I still love the "Author's Notes" that Crichten adds to most of his books, discussing the factual issues on which his book is based.
    • 4/5

      Mar 14, 2018

       This book raises a lot of important philosophical questions about the development of other species and our own anthropology.
    • 1/5

      Dec 27, 2017

      I was very disappointed in this book and almost didn't finish it. I was disappointed, because the author Michael Crichton has written some of the best speculative fiction, and I was hoping for something on the order of Jurassic Park or Prey. It was a mess of two incoherent story lines that were based on the ethics of genetic manipulation, but they stretched science and good story telling as to lose credibility.

      If you want to remember Michael Crichton as a good author, don't read this book.
    • 3/5

      Oct 13, 2017

      Decent enough sci-fi tale, involving ape/human hybrids.
    • 4/5

      Mar 1, 2017

      In Next Critchton explored a frightening future in which genetic manipulations interweave existing species and create legal chaos. There are currently prohibitions against this kind of genetic engineering, but this novel illustrates why these sanctions are unlikely to remain in place over the long term. There's lots of action and adventure here, as well as humor, making for an entertaining story.
    • 4/5

      Aug 18, 2016

      A scary (and scattered) smorgasbord of the potential physical, moral and legal horrors in the applications of biogenics, i.e. viruses, DNA, genetics, by scientists, corporations and individuals.

      Next did make me consider things I hadn't thought of but there was too much going, too overwhelming. I think the novel would have been more effective if it had focussed on just one or two scenarios.
    • 4/5

      Mar 23, 2016

      In Next, Michael Crichton delivers another fun, intellectually stimulating read as he explores the topic of today's completely unregulated world of genetic science and genetic engineering. The story takes the reader from the wilds of Borneo to the NIH's primate research campus to corporate labs and boardrooms, where careless researchers and financially-driven biotech CEOs play Russian roulette with the human genome and our collective future. Well researched, with a vaguely drawn line between what is and isn't real, Next tantalizes as it terrifies us with the unimaginable consequences that can, and probably do, occur regularly, when reckless hubris, unbridled greed, out-of-step courts, absentee legislators and human frailties collide. The book's depth, however, does not match its breadth. In his effort to keep the pace of the book galloping forward, Chrichton misses an opportunity to create more multidimensional characters and a far richer reader experience. Still, a fascinating and intriguing read.
    • 3/5

      Apr 29, 2015

      Great science fiction novel, but also has some bleak undertones. One of the main character's outlook on humanity is pretty gruesome -- believing that humans are nothing but lying, thieving monsters. But, that only the good ones can overcome the fight or flight reactions and be compassionate, and caring. Good book.
    • 2/5

      Dec 14, 2014

      I found this book to be frustratingly fragmented, to the point where it was virtually impossible to keep track of all of the characters and to identify (much less follow) the central flow of the narrative. There really is no clearly defined protagonist or antagonist, and I couldn't find any character for whom I felt sympathy. Crichton's point seems to be that the "wild, wild West" of genetic engineering / biotechnology is pure chaos, a world tied into so many legal and ethical knots that it's impossible to disentangle at this moment in time. Everyone involved in this world seems to be portrayed as selfish, ruthless, and avaricious, completely ignoring the consequences of their self-serving actions.

      There's certainly compelling science here, and Crichton makes a strong case for why we need to impose some semblance of order and sanity on this emerging area of technology that is fraught with potential dangers for human society. But this felt more like a polemic than a novel.