A psychologist gets called in by the US Navy to assist in what he thinks is a crash site, but turns out to be the discovery of a starship in the ocean depths. This starts out making you think it will be a biology/tech thriller, but turns into a psychological one. I enjoyed it, but not as much as Jurassic Park. ( )

I like that you start out thinking this will be a purely technological/biological science thriller, but then it surprises you and turns into a psychological one. It definitely sucks you in; I reached that "can't put it down" point of no return late at night. It doesn't get five stars though, because Chrichton's characterization isn't very good. Pretty much all of the Navy characters are impossible to differentiate. I found it difficult to truly visualize any of the characters except Norman. ( )

I thought the first half of the book was great - interesting, suspenseful, at times unsettling - but once the characters discover the meaning of the sphere I thought it got a little stupid. The navy guys were never fleshed out very well as characters, but even Barnes was treated to a mostly off-screen and faceless death. I just had a hard finding things to like about the book past the beginning, and was anxious to finish it so I could put it down.

The ending was mostly stupid, too - only Beth saved it. ( )

A quick and fun read which follows Crichton's usual method of storytelling. Not as entertaining as Jurassic Park or Timeline but still enjoyable. The author tried to argue the case between a balance of scientific consciousness and the emotional unconsciousness but other than there was not much else to the story. ( )

Sphere is a prime example of book being better than movie.

Now, I must admit that when I was younger, I was they type to go see movies that interested me, and afterward, investigate their original source material, so I saw Sphere first. And I loved it.

I loved it so much that I went out and bought the book, which was the "movie edition cover," which these days I find annoying, but am willing to live with as long as the text is untouched.

I read the book. And I loved it. But in my love for the book, I started to dislike the film. I though, "Gee, Mr. Levinson, couldn't you have been a little more faithful to the book? It would have made an even better film!" I'm not saying that the film itself was bad, as after all, I said earlier that I loved it. I'm just saying that if your movie is nowhere near as good (even if it is good) as the book, then you're doing it wrong.

The book is about an alien craft found deep in the ocean (it's discovered because its tail fin severed a trans-oceanic data cable). A team of scientists is assembled to study the alien vessel. Upon investigation, however, they discover the alien vessel in not alien at all, but some sort of time traveling space ship from the future, crashing into the ocean in the past. There are no survivors, as the ship has been under water for at least 350 years. There is, however, a strange spherical artifact, called "the sphere."

One of the scientists ventures into the sphere, but has no recollection of what went on. Afterward, however, the crew is contacted by a curious entity via the computers who is capable of manifesting any manner of horrors just for his amusement.

The crew must then survive the childlike wrath of the entity, and try to figure out just what's happening.

The thing I enjoyed most about this novel was not that it was a techno thriller, as are most if not all of Crichton's books. I enjoyed, rather, the psychological nature of this book, which does come apparent as you read it.

If you are a fan of either techno or psychological thrillers, or quite possibly any thriller, maybe even Michael Jackson's Thriller, then you may find yourself enjoying Sphere. If you want to maximize your enjoyment, you might want to do as I have done, and watch the movie first. Be ready to hate it, though, once you've read the book. And be ready to be disappointed if you read the book and THEN watch the movie. ( )