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Michael Crichton
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Next Audio CD – Unabridged, November 28, 2006

by Michael Crichton (Author), Dylan Baker (Reader)
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 2,385 ratings
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Is a loved one missing some body parts? Are blondes becoming extinct? Is everyone at your dinner table of the same species? Humans and chimpanzees differ in only 400 genes; is that why an adult human being resembles a chimp fetus? And should that worry us? There's a new genetic cure for drug addiction—is it worse than the disease?

We live in a time of momentous scientific leaps; a time when it's possible to sell our eggs and sperm online for thousands of dollars or test our spouses for genetic maladies. We live in a time when one fifth of all our genes are owned by someone else, and an unsuspecting person and his family can be pursued cross-country because they happen to have certain valuable genes within their chromosomes . . .

Devilishly clever, Next blends fact and fiction into a breathless tale of a new world where nothing is what it seems, and a set of new possibilities can open at every turn. Next challenges our sense of reality and notions of morality. Balancing the comic and bizarre with the genuinely frightening and disturbing, Next shatters our assumptions, and reveals shocking new choices where we least expect.

The future is closer than you think. Get used to it.

Performed by Dylan Baker

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Previous page
  1. Print length
    11 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    HarperAudio
  4. Publication date
    November 28, 2006
  5. Dimensions
    5.25 x 1.5 x 5.5 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0060873094
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0060873097
  8. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperAudio; Unabridged edition (November 28, 2006)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Audio CD ‏ : ‎ 11 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0060873094
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0060873097
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.6 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.25 x 1.5 x 5.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 2,385 ratings

About the author

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Michael Crichton

Michael Crichton

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MICHAEL CRICHTON the author of the groundbreaking novels Jurassic Park, The Andromeda Strain, The Great Train Robbery, Disclosure, Prey, State of Fear, Sphere, Congo, Next and Micro 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, most notably Jurassic Park. He directed Westworld, Coma, The Great Train Robbery and Looker, and also 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.

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
2,385 global ratings
"Newish" old stock, goodwill quality
4 Stars
"Newish" old stock, goodwill quality
Book came fast and packaged relatively well. However I had payed for a NEW hardcover copy and instead received a used copy. Book was dusty, scuffed and definitely read previously. Goodwill quality for triple the price.
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Top reviews from the United States

ImageMD
5.0 out of 5 stars Transgenic Dystopia
Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2024
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Nearly two decades have passed since Michael Crichton warned us of the transgenic dystopia emerging from blurring of boundaries between biotechnology, medicine, and politics.
In this fast-reading science fiction, transgenic characters drive the story to absurdity and boundaries of human behavior are obscured. We meet a transgenic speaking parrot, a multilingual orangutan, and a transgenic chimpanzee that attends public school. Added to this cast is a bounty hunter who attempts to retrieve lost human genetic material and doesn’t care which member of a family the cells come from. And let’s not forget an off-label DNA nasal spray that restores cognition but leads to early dementia.
In his afterward, Crichton suggests policies which offer an alternative to an otherwise dark future:
“Stop patenting genes, establish clear guidelines for the use of human tissue,
pass laws to ensure that data about gene testing is made public, avoid bans on research,
and rescind the (1980) Bayh-Dole act”
Yes, this is quite a romp and one of Crichton’s best. But readers are never far from the undertow pulling them into an abyss of unresolved social issues resulting from advances in biotechnology
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JM
4.0 out of 5 stars Putting Ethics before Aesthetics
Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2012
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While many of Crichton's books beg questions regarding ethics and technology, "Next" is probably his most pedantic. An epigraph to the book reads: "This novel is fiction, except for the parts that aren't." And, in fact, the book reads like the strange synthesis of fiction and non-fiction that it is. The sprawling plot is frequently interrupted with journalistic pieces that add both humor and gravity to the narrative by emphasizing the contemporary relevance of the issues at hand in the book. Indeed, this particular work of science fiction, Crichton seems well aware, may very shortly become historical fiction.

The plot--or, I should probably say plots--all revolve around the ethical questions that are born of advancements in bio-technology. What if human-animal hybrids become possible? What if bio-tech firms are able to patent individuals' cells and genes? What if the courts and the public at large are unable or unwilling to face these questions?

This book is not as suspenseful as some of Crichton's other books (I have always liked Crichton's works, but never loved them), in part because it is so consciously didactic, and in part because it introduces so many characters and conflicts that the reader may easily lose sight of the central plot. The last half of the book, however, is certainly a page-turner, and marks where Crichton seems to have decided to narrow his focus on Alex Burnet's attempt to protect herself and her son from the unscrupulous and reckless research company that wants their cells.

Close readers will be disappointed by all of the loose ends that remain after the book's conclusion, but I personally felt that the ethical imperative of the novel compensated for its literary flaws. Crichton raises serious questions and proffers his own well-thought and reasonable answers. We can thank him for trying to help us to understand a future that is already the present.
6 people found this helpful
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T. Briggs
3.0 out of 5 stars Like Crichton, Hated This Mess
Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2010
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What do you say about a scatological story more suited to eschatology than to fiction in which every single human being makes exactly the wrong decision when confronted with choices? But worse, what do you say about a story in which the outcomes of those decisions are people not acting the way experience says they should act? That there are way too many characters in this book to care about is reflected in how shallow each is developed. In one of the three main arcs of no less than ten story arcs is a scientist who unknowingly helped create a talking monkey. Upon learning this he goes to the top secret facility where shazam, his swipey card still works a year after he left the facility. Upon learning that his "offspring" is going to be "terminated" he monkeynaps said simian and takes off for, wait for it, his family's home in La Jolla, where it's pointed out that liberal acceptance would only go so far in accepting a talking monkey into the community. Really? That the reader is asked to believe no one called his cell phone to ask him to return the creature that belongs to the Federal Government or that a SWAT team would not show up at his house to take the animal back, but that the newest member of the family can freely take up a desk at the local elementary school where no one questions why he's throwing poo at his playground bullies is just absurd.

The whole Gerard thing, the talking bird, is reduced to similarly ridiculous plot construction even though this is the only truly likeable character in this idiot's tome. At least he's the only character for which an adequately developed sense of self is conveyed even if the play of bird poop is twice important to the plot

And that is just one plot arc of many that play out without any sense of logical context. And the protagonist of the book, or so it would seem, just seems to disappear with those loose strings sort of being tied up in a court decision, but if the author doesn't care to write a proper ending for what is really his main character why should any of us care?

Like State of Fear, MC does a good job of mixing fact with fiction and defends this by his foreword in which he states the book is true except for the parts that aren't. But unlike State of Fear, the story telling here is boring, predictable and littered with cliches. The ideas in this work would have been nicely suited to the reader if it had been written as an essay about the very real problem of gene patenting. It might even have made a difference and benefitted humanity. But this book as fiction is just a waste of time and talent. And humanity benefits from neither.
14 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent material warning of genetic sciences
Reviewed in the United States on April 16, 2024
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Plotline: warning of science already here, and science to come, and how the law has not caught up to it.
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Top reviews from other countries

Amber
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful quality book
Reviewed in Canada on November 22, 2023
Verified Purchase
Paperback in perfect condition, no bends or tears to the body or pages. Distributor actually shipped earlier then originally stated, so I got the book sooner. Will definitely order from them again.
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Anacrusis
4.0 out of 5 stars Not Crichton's best, but nevertheless, a fascinating and thought-provoking novel
Reviewed in Mexico on August 2, 2023
Verified Purchase
This is not the best book Crichton wrote. Many of his other novels are much better. However, as is often the case, his treatment of the material (in this case transgenic manipulation and therapy) is thought-provoking, and leaves the reader with much to consider. This novel is more relevant today than when it was written, and is similar in theme to Prey. If you're expecting something as good as Jurassic Park, Sphere, Eaters of the Dead, or Congo, you'll be disappointed, however. Regardless, it is an interesting and worthwhile read. I bought the card-cover, and have no complaints about the quality of the edition.
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SJT
5.0 out of 5 stars Thought provoking book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 1, 2024
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Like all of Crichton’s books this really makes you think about technology and what comes next. A super read (as are almost all his books)
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Babbo Natale
3.0 out of 5 stars Average and looks unfinished
Reviewed in Italy on June 25, 2020
Verified Purchase
It is a reasonably good novel but it looks unfinished. There are newspapers clips here and there and one has clearly the feeling that they would have been folded into the narrative as he did in previous novels. It is one of the few stories where I felt like "Ok, I can skip that, and I actually did."
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing sci-fi
Reviewed in India on February 2, 2019
Verified Purchase
An amazing science fiction. Amazon delivery is irreplaceable. The story had a lot of biology/scientific terms referred, so might be a bit difficult for non-science readers... The other thing which can be confusing is the multiple plots and characters mentioned. But if you like Hollywood sci-fi movies, you can give this a try.
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