Congo • Sphere • Eaters of the Dead

Congo: The story had a lot of promise but ended up limping all the way through. It felt like things never really got started. 2/5

Sphere: The best Crichton book I've read so far. 5/5

Eaters of the Dead: I appreciate that Crichton was experimenting, but it just didn't turn out very well. The story is somewhat interesting, but the dry writing style takes away more than it adds. 2/5

In short, I recommend skipping this collection and just getting Sphere.

Congo - The similarities to the movie include mean Gorillas, Diamond mines, and the Aferican jungle. Some lip service is paid to the story line. The book is much better.

Sphere - Surprisingly close to the movie and to me I understood the book much better than the movie. Great question of what would you do if you had increadible power linked to your subconscience as well as your conscience will?

Eaters of the Dead - Movie retitled to The 13th Warrior. An interesting rewrite of Beowulf. It is from the point of view of a literate outsider observing and participating in the great epic.

I've read most of his books, and this man can make some of the most intersting storylines. It is amazing how much work and studying goes into his stories. Some of his books are not that good, but you have to admire how hard he worked to write an interesting story.

Excellent story and made into an excellent movie, The 13th Warrior.""