The Andromeda Evolution

Written by Michael Crichton and Daniel H. Wilson

Narrated by Julia Whelan

""Both a kick-ass sequel and a loving tribute to one of the greatest science fiction novels ever written."" Ernest Cline, author of Ready Player One.
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.

Half a century ago, a military satellite was knocked out of orbit and fell to Earth in northern Arizona, bringing with it a hostile microbe that nearly wiped out an entire town. The two survivors and the fallen satellite were taken to an underground laboratory code--named Project Wildfire--a top-secret emergency response protocol headed by the nation's most elite scientists, who quickly isolated an extraterrestrial organism they dubbed the Andromeda Strain. With its ability to mutate suddenly and adapt to any environment, the organism threatened to annihilate all human life from the planet.

And then it disappeared.

In the ensuing decades, a group assigned to track and identify any trace of the microbe has seen no sign of Andromeda. But when a bizarre anomaly appears without warning, the team discovers the tell-tale chemical signature of the deadly microparticle. Now, a new generation of Project Wildfire scientists must race to understand the Andromeda Strain and destroy it before it sets off an unprecedented worldwide catastrophe.

The book is a collaboration between CrichtonSun and author Daniel H. Wilson (Robopocalypse).

""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

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperAudio
• Release date: Nov 18, 2019
• ISBN: 9781460781920

Michael Crichton

Michael Crichton (1942-2008) was the author of the bestselling novels The Terminal Man, The Great Train Robbery, Jurassic Park, Sphere, Disclosure, Prey, State of Fear, Next and Dragon Teeth, among many others. His books have sold more than 200 million copies worldwide, have been translated into thirty-eight 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.

Reviews for The Andromeda Evolution

[buffalogr · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not quite as good as the original but still a fun read. Andromeda Evolution is a straightforward thriller, I especially enjoyed the crazy astronaut with a god complex. But, there are some pretty boring parts of the story, too....like when the author describes "intuition." Anyway, done with that series, move on.

[Special Agent Fox Mulder · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Not a bad effort. Expands on the great work of the original. Feels like a Crichton book which is the main thing!

[tobinelliott · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not quite as good as the original, but a truly valiant attempt. There's a lot to love here: Wilson continues Crichton's unique narrative style and manages to sound a hell of a lot like Crichton himself. So, props for that.

He does also manage to build a bit more action into the story than Crichton's penchant for having the eggheads mostly think things through. So, while this is mostly a good thing, he does go a touch overboard (in my opinion) toward the end for that "Hollywood" finish.

I did also enjoy all the callbacks to the original, including Stone's son. Well done.

For all of that, a couple of stars off for the over-exuberant action pieces as mentioned above, as well as the one plot twist involving one member of the Wildfire team (you'll know it when you read it) that left me thinking, oh shit, why why why does a writer always have to rely on that particular plot point?

Seriously. To me, that one part was just so damned cliché, and as far as I'm concerned, it just felt like a lazy decision. I literally groaned when it came up.

Other than that, a decent follow-up.

[coachtim30 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I appreciate the effort and the imagination to resurrect Crichton's 50-year old classic, but the execution of "The Andromeda Evolution" comes up short in many areas. The plot is as thin as the strand of "Strain" that takes center stage in this tepid thriller set in both the Amazon and outer space. Author Daniel H. Porter pays his respects to Crichton's work by referencing it frequently throughout this novel, but his skill as a writer is lacking in character development, plot pacing, and scene interest. The few plot twists were infrequent enough to make plodding through this novel difficult.This reviewer's suggestion is to stick with Crichton's original and leave it at that.

[jthierer_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

One thing that's important to know going in: This one is very very different from its predecessor. So different that I think people who loved the original are not going to love this one and vice versa. While The Andromeda Strain leaned heavily into the science aspect of effort to identify and contain a pathogen, The Andromeda Evolution is a much more straightforward thriller, with our protagonists hacking their way through the jungle, swimming through underground tunnels, and fighting native tribes. Add in an unbalanced astronaut with a God complex and I sometimes forgot what I was supposed to be reading about. The book wasn't bad but it definitely looks to cash in on Crichton's good name rather than being any real continuation of the style or substance of the original.

[benkline · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This reads like Crichton, and its interesting that they made a sequel to his book without any notes from him or anything, and acted like the original Andromeda Strain book was nonfiction and that Crichton was a historian by writing it.... ...but this just kind of falls flat. Its interesting, but somewhat lackluster. It doesn't quite get the charm of Crichton. I also didn't care much for the idea that it was a human behind attempting to repurpose the Andromeda strain.

There is a few logical leaps too that don't make much sense, and the characters are relatively flat and emotionless and 2D at best.

And of course, we get a Marvel-esque ending scene of "....but its still out there.... and calling to someone ELSE...." dun dun dun.... stay tuned everyone!

[bhiggs-822148 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I think I enjoyed the first Andromeda more, but this was a worthy sequel. The scifi concepts got 'bigger' if that makes any sense, and the scale of the book is both somehow very small, and quite large all at the same time. It had a little of everything, which I enjoyed. I also read it incredibly quickly, so I think that's a good sign. If you read Andromeda Strain, also read this.

[evano_21 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Three-and-a-half stars, so I rounded up. A little too talky, way too many acronyms, a couple of twists telegraphed too easily, and that last elevator ride just beggared belief. Still, it had me turning pages, the science was interesting, and it had most of the feel of the original. So... a fun read, but not a classic.

[nyiper · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I had my moments with this...not sure if I was going to keep reading...but I'm very glad I did! The author succeeded in pulling it all together and it really was nicely science-fiction-ey...I HOPE! Now I should go back and re-read The Andromeda Strain.

[breic-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

It doesn't compare to the best Crichton, but probably matches his weaker books. At times, with its over-the-top enthusiasm, it reminded me of a Crichton/Scott Sigler hybrid. The first half focuses on the characters (and fails), and the second half focuses on an increasingly implausible plot (and fails). It gets pretty ridiculous. The jungle scenes seem to have been written by a New Yorker. Still, it is creative, not what I expected, and fun. > I'm a specialist, but my robots aren't. I brought along a universal speech recognizer and extensive gesture-recognition libraries. What's more, the diagnostic speaker on the drone is now connected to a text-to-speech synthesizer> The expanding structure had created a maze of wreckage that was nearly impenetrable. No matter where she wandered, the connection bars on her satellite phone stubbornly refused to budge

[jfe16 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It’s been more than fifty years since the Andromeda particle, an extraterrestrial microbe, threatened the human race with extinction. Project Wildfire valiantly strove to halt the epidemic, succeeding only moments before a catastrophic nuclear detonation. Since that time, Project Eternal Vigilance, deep inside Fairchild Air Force Base, has kept watch for the reappearance of Andromeda while scientists continued their research on the microbe. Lulled by the apparent inactivity of the microbe, authorities have plans to shut down the Vigilance project.And then, deep in the Brazilian jungle, a terrain-mapping drone finds an otherworldly construct . . . and the deadly microparticle.A new Project Wildfire team, activated to investigate the threat, find that the microbe is growing . . . and evolving, threatening to annihilate all life on Earth.With Michael Crichton’s original story, “The Andromeda Strain,” as its foundation, this gripping tale is sure to keep readers mesmerized. As with the original, the narrative resembles a Post Incident Analysis documenting the unfolding events as the team of experts works to contain the microbe. The technology shines, especially as it ties the International Space Station to the space elevator [which is a well-established construct in science fiction]. With its well-developed characters, the plot twists and turns keep the suspense building, as does the short timeline to either succeed or face annihilation. By turns, the narrative is tense, terrifying, and riveting. Overall, it’s dazzling, a worthy sequel to the original.Highly recommended.

[virginia51-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I hope that there will be another book in this series. I really loved reading this sequel to a book written many years before. This can be a scary situation to think that the government and scientists might be keeping things like what happened in this story from us. I loved these characters and how this was written. I loved the intrigue throughout. I received a copy of this book from edelweiss for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.

[bettytaylor56 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

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.