Timeline by Michael Crichton

[lokiju]

Originally posted by: Looney
I read it. I actually liked the movie better.

You really are "Looney"!

 

[Howard]

How did you guys like A Case of Need?

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Originally posted by: jalaram

Originally posted by: GagHalfrunt
Except that in The Hot Zone the virus was NEVER dangerous. It killed not a single person and the panic was over what it could have been, not over what it really was. Crichton's book the thing was a killer, it was about to wipe out mankind and scientists were scrambling to figure out the cure before it was too late, then poof, a miracle occurs and saves them the trouble. Not even close to being the same ending as The Hot Zone. Has an ending like the Andromeda Strain ever occured in the real world? Has mankind ever been spared by a freakish last-minute mutation? Nope, didn't think so. So nothing has shown that Crichton's idea was plausable.

Maybe my memory's going, but I thought that it was a mutation that allowed the virus to escape the rubber seals in the Andromeda Strain. Similarly, the Reston virus became safe for humans when it mutated so that it could become airborn. Also, that virus was a killer, albeit for monkeys (which worried the humans).

God, it's been ages since I read the Andromeda Strain, but I don't think that's the way it happened. The virus got loose instantly when the satellite crash landed in whatever town it was and killed everyone there. At that point it was only killing people, not eating rubber. It mutated soon afterward, I think a jet overflew the area and the pilots air hose and other rubber parts of the plane disintegrated. The virus was taken back to the lab to study and look for a cure where it didn't escape, it ate through rubber seals to get to a lower level of the lab where it threatened to auto-detonate the self-destruct nuke.

In The Hot Zone the monkeys were showing signs of Ebola. The panic was that at that point there were only 2 known strains of Ebola, Sudan and Zaire. Sudan was something like 50% fatal and Zaire was 90%+ fatal. Only later was it learned that it wasn't either of those two. It wasn't a mutation, it was a previously unseen strain that they named Ebola Reston. Nearly 100% fatal in simians and totally harmless to humans. Since the incident in Reston they've isolated a new strain, Ebola Tai. So far it's unclear on how bad it is for humans. Only one person caught it and she survived.

 

[Whitecloak]

Timeline felt like a Dr Who novel to me. Btw, my favorite crichton novel is "A Case of Need" as it is written differently from the forumulaic approach of his other books.

 

[pcnerd37]

I dont see why you guys hate the movie, I thought it was an awsome movie and bought it the day it came out.

 

[FoBoT]

i saw the movie, it was ok/good
i bought the book, but i haven't read it yet

 

[BCYL]

I just finished reading Timeline, I thought the ending was OK, wasn't too bad...

 

[TitanDiddly]

It's a great book. Read 'Airframe' next.

 

[BCYL]

Originally posted by: PhasmatisNox
It's a great book. Read 'Airframe' next.

Already have, twice actually

 

[igowerf]

I thought it was bleh.