State of Fear
Finished Michael Crichton’s newest techno-thriller, State of Fear.
It’s the most conspicuous literary defense of Björn Lomborg’s theory of global non-warming. And also the first airport novel, that has more footnotes than plot.
And while the story is definitely biased, preachy and recycles an over-used genre cliche, it’s not a totally awful book. And while the author points out that the environmental movement has twisted data to fit their needs, the same story applies to the opposition as well. Occasionally reads like an amateur lecture, and occasionally lapses into narration so clumsy you wouldn’t expect from an industry veteran. And the main storyline is not resolved properly, and that’s a severe demerit.
And despite the extremely opinionated viewpoint, it’s by no means a black and white book (like eg. Tom Clancy’s tend to be), one truth is not rubbed in at every possible occasion. The reader is rather encouraged to question the common wisdom, with some great examples strewn among the dialogue. The book ends brightly - with couple of chapters on fearmongering as a prevalent state of mind in the post-9/11 world and an appendix describing the author’s views on politicized science. And that appendix, and especially the list of political/scientific figures who believed in eugenics as a social strategy is clearly worth third of the price of admission.
Not a bad book, but definitely not very good either - and I’m sure no-one will pick up the movie option on this one.
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