digital audio

English language

Published Nov. 28, 2006 by HarperCollins.

ISBN:
978-0-00-725490-3
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OCLC Number:
1007218434

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3 stars (6 reviews)

The Number One international bestselling author of Jurassic Park, Congo and Sphere blends fact and fiction to create a near-future where genetic engineering opens up a whole new world of terrifying, page-turning possibilities… Bonus feature: Includes a special Q&A session between Michael Crichton and Jonathan Burnham, publisher of HarperCollins.

Is your loved one missing some body parts? Are blondes becoming extinct? Is everyone at your dinner table of the same species? It's 2006: do you know who all your children are? Do you know humans and chimpanzees differ in only 400 genes? And why does an adult human being resemble a chimp foetus? There's a new genetic cure for drug addiction – is it worse than the disease? Ever want to design your own pet? Change the stripes on the fish in your aquarium? Ever think to sell your body fat – or donate it to charity? Or sell your …

30 editions

Muddled but important

3 stars

Doesn't feel like a story at all, more a bunch of thoughts about genetic engineering bundled together. It's like the writer had too many ideas and couldn't choose one to stick to. My main problem with this is that there are just way too many characters, some are important to remember for later and some exist in one chapter and are never heard from again. All characters are unlikeable except for Gerald the parrot. On the positive side, I found this an easy read despite the structure. All his ideas both interesting and horrifyingly possible. Many chapters start with a real-world news article about genetic engineering and at the end of the book is a well thought out list of the real worries about the science and what laws could be changed for the better. In the beginning of the book a man is constantly being given blood tests, he …

Review of 'Next' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

A collection of loosely related short stories clumsily cobbled together.

Good:
Raises valid concerns about genetic engineering and US patent law.

Bad:
Most characters appear morally wrong for no good reason. It detracts from valid criticism of corporate wrongdoers if all characters are adulterers & chauvinists.
Ending is unbelievable.
There's almost no narrative structure to the novel.
* It should have been an essay.

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rated it

4 stars
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rated it

3 stars