The Andromeda Evolution
The Andromeda Evolution book cover

The Andromeda Evolution

Hardcover – Illustrated, November 12, 2019

Price
$7.98
Format
Hardcover
Pages
384
Publisher
Harper
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-0062473271
Dimensions
6 x 1.21 x 9 inches
Weight
1.1 pounds

Description

“ The Andromeda Evolution is both a kick-ass sequel and a loving tribute to one of the greatest science fiction novels ever written. Daniel H. Wilson has taken up Crichton’s mantle and reinvented the techno-thriller, by continuing the tale that invented that genre. This is a meticulously crafted adventure story, packed with action, mystery, wonder, and just enough hard science to scare the hell out of you. So good!” — Ernest Cline, author of Ready Player One “Ingenious…. Wilson is a good choice for carrying the master’s work forward….The episodes set in outer space are particularly thrilling…. Would make Crichton proud.” — Washington Post “Superb…. 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.” — Wall Street Journal “Wilson has perfectly captured the suspense of the original.” — Newsday “Compelling…. An infectious evolution of the Michael Crichton literary legacy…. The cast of diverse characters engage the head and heart as they struggle to save humanity, yet remain quite human …. Explodes with an unexpected, gripping, cinematic finale.” — USA Today “An atmospheric and often terrifying roller-coaster ride with (literally) sky-high stakes that pays plenty of homage to The Andromeda Strain while also echoing the spirit and mood of Crichton's other works…. A thrilling and satisfying sequel to the 1969 classic.” — Kirkus, starred review “Terrific…. Deftly blends science, suspense, and character interaction in a way that will be familiar to Crichton’s fans…. 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.” — Booklist, starred review “Wilson confidently captures the voice of the late Crichton in this chilling sequel to the 1969 blockbuster The Andromeda Strain … [and] employs his expertise to add depth and credibility to the advanced technology the scientists use…. Fans of the original techno-thriller won’t be disappointed.” — Publishers Weekly “An edge-of-your-seat thrill ride.” — Bookreporter Michael Crichton (1942-2008) was the author of the bestselling novels The Terminal Man,xa0The Great Train Robbery,xa0Jurassic Park, Sphere,xa0Disclosure, Prey, State of Fear, Next and Dragon Teeth ,xa0among many others. His books have sold more than 200 million copies worldwide, have been translated into forty 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. Daniel H. Wilson is a Cherokee citizen and author of the New York Times bestselling Robopocalypse and its sequel Robogenesis , as well as ten other books. He recently wrote the Earth 2: Society comic book series for DC Comics. Wilson earned a PhD in Robotics from Carnegie Mellon University, as well as master’s degrees in Artificial Intelligence and Robotics. He has published over a dozen scientific papers and holds four patents. Wilson lives in Portland, Oregon. Daniel H. Wilsonxa0is a Cherokee citizen and author of the New York Times bestselling Robopocalypse and its sequel Robogenesis , as well as ten other books, including How to Survive a Robot Uprising , Guardian Angels & Other Monsters , and The Clockwork Dynasty . He recently wrote the Earth 2: Society comic book series for DC Comics. In 2008, Wilson hosted "The Works," a television series airing on the History Channel that uncovered the science behind everyday stuff. He earned a PhD in Robotics from Carnegie Mellon University, as well as master’s degrees in Artificial Intelligence and Robotics. He has published over a dozen scientific papers and holds four patents. Wilson lives in Portland, Oregon.

Features & Highlights

  • NEW YORK TIMES
  • BESTSELLER
  • Fifty years after
  • The Andromeda Strain
  • made Michael Crichton a household name—and spawned a new genre, the technothriller—the threat returns, in a gripping sequel that is terrifyingly realistic and resonant.
  • The Evolution is Coming.
  • In 1967, an extraterrestrial microbe came crashing down to Earth and nearly ended the human race. Accidental exposure to the particle—designated
  • The Andromeda Strain—
  • killed every resident of the town of
  • Piedmont, Arizona, save for an elderly man and an infant boy. Over the next five days, a
  • team of top scientists assigned to Project Wildfire worked valiantly to save the world
  • from an epidemic of unimaginable proportions. In the moments before a catastrophic
  • nuclear detonation, they succeeded.
  • In the ensuing decades, research on the microparticle continued. And the world thought it was safe…
  • Deep inside Fairchild Air Force Base, Project Eternal Vigilance has continued to watch and wait for the Andromeda Strain to reappear. On the verge of being shut down, the project has registered no activity—until now. A Brazilian terrain-mapping drone has detected a bizarre anomaly of otherworldly matter in the middle of the jungle, and, worse yet, the tell-tale chemical signature of the deadly microparticle.
  • With this shocking discovery, the next-generation Project Wildfire is activated, and a diverse team of experts hailing from all over the world is dispatched to investigate the potentially apocalyptic threat.
  • But the microbe is growing—evolving. And if the Wildfire team can’t reach the quarantine zone, enter the anomaly, and figure out how to stop it, this new Andromeda Evolution will annihilate all life as we know it.

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
30%
(861)
★★★★
25%
(718)
★★★
15%
(431)
★★
7%
(201)
23%
(659)

Most Helpful Reviews

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In a word, "Ugh"

I was very excited to read this realtime "sequel" to "The Andromeda Strain." I never got past the first 100 or so pages, and even then only after falling asleep a dozen or so times. This book has very awkward, amateurish writing that is intended, I'm guessing, to emulate Crichton's style. It fails to do so. That, by itself, would be forgivable. The story itself is dry, bogged down with dull biographical exposition and constant intrusions by the author, who continually reminds you he already knows the ending and is omniscient. You get the feeling the author wants to be perceived as clever rather than tell an immersive story. The action scenes never move faster than about 2 mph because the author continually breaks the tension to insert a remark about the ultimate outcome or even character backstory (had...had...had...had). I was left with the impression the author skimmed "Andromeda Strain" but read nothing else by Michael Crichton. He would have done well to really study the opening scenes of "Congo," which in some ways this novel emulates. But there is really no comparison or even anything exciting here, and this novel fails even as a standalone.
82 people found this helpful
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Disappointed

I loved Andromeda Strain and it not only influenced me to study epidemiology in grad school, but turned me into a lifelong fan of Michael Crichton! So I was so excited to read The Andromeda Evolution! Huge disappointment! The plot was weak and the characters were undeveloped. I’m sorry to say, this author is no Michael Crichton!
47 people found this helpful
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Everything I hoped for!

I remember when this book was announced that skeptics foresaw nothing more than a cash grab; but I ordered it anyway. I am happy to report that the book is everything I could hope for! Wilson reproduces the style of The Andromeda Strain so effortlessly that I soon forgot that I wasn't reading Crichton.

The book is a worthy successor to The Andromeda Strain, building on the foundation of the earlier book and expanding the scope nicely. At the same time, it's like a "Secret History of the Space Program": international space exploration has proceeded exactly as we know it, but the real behind-the-scenes reasons for events are wrapped up in the secrets of Andromeda. As a space fanatic, I loved how well the events of the story tied in to the events of history.

While the book is a sequel to The Andromeda Strain, it also has the feel -- in the best ways -- of a Michael Crichton Greatest Hits medley. There are echoes of Cell, Congo, and Sphere as well, and they work well. There's even a bit of Jurassic Park here: no dinosaurs, but a surprising relationship between two characters that provided much of the human warmth of the book.

The plot is almost an inversion of the first book: where The Andromeda Strain takes place almost entirely inside a claustrophobic underground lab with only a few scenes in the field, In The Andromeda Evolution, an international team follows the infection to the sweeping jungles of Brazil -- plus the International Space Station! But the danger is as great, and the stakes are the same: the life or death of the whole human race.

To say more would be to risk spoilers of so, so many excellent plot turns. But I will say that the ending is even more tense than the nuclear countdown of the first book!

I will be reading more of Mr. Wilson's work. And I'm glad I didn't listen to the skeptics on this one!
27 people found this helpful
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A disappointment

I loved the original ANDROMEDA STRAIN so was excited when I read about this book. But I was really disappointed. I like stories about viruses out of control, like the original story. But this story was just so totally farfetched I had difficulty getting through it. There are a few chapters that are interesting, but overall I cannot recommend this book.
14 people found this helpful
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Non-Stop Crichton!!!

I was given this book as an early Christmas gift. I loved it!! A real tribute to Michael Crichton. I couldn’t stop reading it! I remember reading the Andromeda Strain when I was in school. This novel is an outstanding sequel!! Well done Daniel Wilson!! P.S. This would make a great movie!!!
4 people found this helpful
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Feels like this has been done before

As a fan of the original book when I saw this before I hopped a lone flight I knew that I needed to read it.

The story is just okay, I was expecting much better. Overall my biggest disappointment was that I came out of this feeling like the evolution in the title was too similar to the protomolecule from the Expanse series.

I felt that the military characters were one dimensional and used in a typical trope of being overly rigid obstructionists. There were several plot points that were quite far fetched but discussing would be a spoiler.

In summary it just didn't feel like a continuation of the original book and that is what I was wanting to read. If it was not attempting to tie into that book I would have rated it higher; However if it was not tied into the original book I also probably would have never picked it up.
4 people found this helpful
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Starts great, but gets too technical

Interesting concept, adventurous plot, but the author gets too engrossed in technology and real nomenclature of machines about 2/3rds through. I could barely finish. Once you find out who's the bad guy, who really cares?
3 people found this helpful
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As Good as the original

I was a fan of Daniel Wilson’s from Robopocalypse and I was THRILLED when I found out he wrote this sequel. He is an incredibly creative, inventive writer and I really loved his take on this. Here’s to hoping they let him write more sequels. Would be cool to see what else he can do
3 people found this helpful
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Some good twists but not so great writing and really big physics errors

I appreciate that the author worked pretty hard to invent an interesting plot to extend Crichton's classic. In other words, it's not just, Oh no! The Andromeda Strain is here again and now it's attacking Jersey City!

So I won't spoil the plot. And the diverse characters are OK to good, with a few surprises. One outsider to the team is a fairly awful emotion-wringer, or is supposed to be, and it doesn't work for me at all. Trite.

And I found Wilson's imaginings of the operation of the various military teams and their communications to be unexciting. These views of crack teams with the CO barking out staccato commands under stress are intended to show us civvies how our these well trained guys and girls perform their mission under dynamic circumstances. And the trail of terse commo exchanges and documents can itself be dramatic and even thrilling if done with expertise. Wilson tried, but this was just lacking.

Now .. the science. For a guy with pretty good science-adjacent credentials -- graduate degrees in AI and robotics -- he makes some pretty big whoppers in his use of Newtonian physics and orbital mechanics . And this is relevant in a large portion of the book, not just some throwaway scene. The errors and inconsistencies were large enough that they made me stop reading and consider who was wrong, me or him. It was him. We're not talking numerical values that are off a bit, we are talking about acceleration vectors that are 180 degrees off, or present/absent randomly. Well, and orbital translations that would be impossible in the real world. And, at one crucial plot point, the holy grail of all space travel, a reactionless drive, is casually thrown in with no further comment!

Guys like (insert heavenly choir sound here) Asimov, Heinlein, Clarke and many others sweated to get this stuff right more than 60 years ago. It just annoyed me in a very science-y novel to have these gross science mistakes. And many/most of the mistakes were not needed to make the plot work. They could have been worked-around. They were just big goofs.

So, a so-so book, bit too long, OK plot, very average writing, missing a credible explanation of workings of the main antagonist (the strain) (I recall Crichton fudged this also), and inexplicable basic physics errors. Two stars.
2 people found this helpful
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Disappointing

Much more fiction than science . So far beyond belief that it lacks what made the original so compelling - - believability .
2 people found this helpful