At the beginning Michael Crichton's Congo, a research team looking for blue diamonds deep withing the Congo region has been mysteriously killed - the prime suspect: a possibly new species of gorilla. A new team, including a university professor and his research subject Amy, a gorilla who communicates using American sign language, is quickly dispatched to find answers (and diamonds). Unfortunately for them, they seem to be no match for the cunning and ruthless killing machines they discover.

I recently read and really enjoyed Jurassic Park. Having said that, Congo failed to entertain me in the same way. It's not that it wasn't a good story. The premise is incredibly clever, and the natural history of primates and language development are subjects that I find fascinating. The thing that bogged things down for me in Congo was really all of the technology crud. It was simply too over-the-top for me and didn't really add anything to the story.

It is obvious that Micheal Crichton was a talented and creative writer. Technology plays a big part in both of the books I've read by him, but in Congo the sheer magnitude of scientific data completely overwhelms what could have been a truly fascinating story. I can't say I'd recommend Congo, but if you're interested in trying Crichton on for size, try Jurassic Park. I'll be picking up The Lost World next week and I expect it to be wonderful. ( )

I really loved the concept behind this novel. One of his best. ( )

Michael Crichton has written a fast-paced thriller that takes his reader into the heart of the African jungle. Although the main character, scientist Karen Ross, is not developed to any great depth, the tension-filled plot carries us along and builds suspense to the final chapter. ( )

A good, quick, easy read. Not the best of his works, but if the idea, material, or author appeals to you, so should the book. The material has a slightly more dated feel in regards to technology, which is more than understandable, but outside of that it toys with ideas that I think are always lurking. Is it impossible that something large and undiscovered lives in the still not fully examined jungles and seas? It's a thought both amazing and in some ways terrifying, for if it has managed to allude us, how hard would it be to kill us. The novel takes that idea and runs with it. Nature has in some ways, always gone on without our influence, even as we attempt to tear it asunder. So, what if our ancestors managed in the process to cultivate nature in such a way that it desires nothing but to kill us? ( )

I have come to regard Congo as a sort of dress rehearsal for Jurassic Park. There are significant differences - obviously there are no dinosaurs in Congo, just modified gorillas, and evil corporate greed turns out to end the book rather than set the book in motion; but the lost world aspect of the story, with unpredictable new creatures is the central theme of both stories. Congo is also a lesson on the dangers of writing a "near future" science fiction story - much of the cool technology described in the book was obsolete within a few years of publication, some was obsolete even before the book was actually on the market.

Still, the story remains fun in a kind of King Solomon's Mines sort of way, evoking an H. Rider Haggard or Edgar Rice Burroughs feel with updated technology, and outsiders seeking to exploit Africa's resources not just to plunder gold and treasure for its own sake, but to build high technology computers.

Oddly for a Crichton novel, shortsighted corporate greed doesn't cause the problem - a long gone civilization's attempts to protect their precious resources does. There also isn't the usual anti-technological fear mongering either. On the other hand, reckless corporate greed does cause a huge disaster that wipes out most of the discoveries found in the book, so that it pretty predictable for a Crichton novel.

There really isn't anything particularly noteworthy about this novel, it reads well, the plot is interesting, and the characters are fairly well written, but there isn't anything here that makes this more than a standard techno-thriller. ( )