Sphere by Michael Crichton

Title: SPHERE

Author: Micheal Crichton

Setting: Middle of the South Pacific

Characters: Norman Johnson

Beth

Harry

Theme:

The event that brought the team together was the discovery of a space vessel at the bottom of the ocean. It is clearly not an earthly vessel, since it has been lying down there for at least three hundred years, long before humans had even airplanes. Rather than an underground research lab, the scientists are confined to a U.S. Navy deep-water habitat. When they discover the power of the alien force facing them, they realize that not only they are, but the entire world is, at risk.

The ideas presented are no longer based on concrete scientific grounds -- some of them are as far-fetched as time travel, some even more than that. When scientific data is presented, it is done in a fleeting way. In fact, the leading character falls asleep during one of the explanations, a simple narrative device for sparing a boring lecture from the readers while hinting that this is, after all, real science. No maps, computer scan printouts, or diagrams are included.

Synopsis

The novel is built around an incredible discovery; in the middle of the South Pacific, lying all but buried on the bottom of the ocean, rests a spacecraft of unknown origin. Psychologist Norman Johnson, the author of a secret government paper on "Recommendations for the Human Contact Team to Interact with Unknown Life Forms" (a less than serious paper he wrote primarily for the money) is called to the site, where he is informed that he will be part of a team of scientists sent to study the mysterious craft. Alongside him are an irascible Navy project commander, a brilliant, young astrophysicist/planetary geologist, a complicated female zoologist/biochemist and a noted mathematician/logician -- an unlikely team of deep ocean explorers.

They soon find themselves in an artificial habitat resting alongside the location of the mysterious ship. Their exploration of the site yields more questions than answers, as the ship turns out to be an American spaceship from the future. The truly enigmatic discovery onboard, though, is a giant sphere of unknown composition. As the story unfolds, they find themselves effectively stranded on the ocean floor for a period of some days, and strange and frightening things begin to happen after one scientist somehow enters the sphere. The scientists find themselves in communication with a supposedly alien entity who calls himself Jerry; whoever and whatever Jerry is, he seems to have the power to manifest remarkable physical creations and changes in reality. The habitat and the team inside it soon comes under attack by such dangerous creatures as giant squid and killer jellyfish, but the problems eventually internalize themselves inside the group dynamic, a group that is shrinking in size as time goes by. The mysterious sphere imparts an amazing power to those who enter it, a power that such individuals may not even be consciously aware of wielding.

Ultimately, the last remnants of the research team begin pointing fingers at one another and take steps to ensure their own individual survival in the face of an unquantifiable threat, making this novel a gripping psychological thriller based in a fascinating science fiction environment.

Once the team arrives in the underwater habitat, nonstop action ensues. One emergency after another challenges the crew, and the group dynamic of the team ebbs and flows along with each jarring crisis. Along the way, we see ever more clearly into the minds and ways of thinking of our main characters, and a significant amount of ideas are expressed concerning the human condition. Crichton provides for no obligatory rest areas along the way, as he takes the reader for an incredible ride that had me turning pages hand over fist in anticipation of what was to come. Some of the science is questionable, but Crichton surely makes it all sound more than plausible. The only real problem with the novel is a logical breakdown of sorts in the concluding chapters. Still, the desperate attempts of the remaining explorers to survive, when they cannot even trust one another, make for a riveting reading experience.

Resolution

One beautiful thing that Sphere does include is the message encoding scheme used by the alien. The actual code is included in the book, along with an explanation on how it was cracked -- simple enough for every reader to try his hand in the act of deciphering. A computer is needed, but you don't even have to turn it on: it is the form, not the content that matters.

The characters, for example, are much more complete, even though their personalities are taken to such extremes that they are almost caricatures -- Beth, a caricature of a feminist; Harry, a caricature of a depressed child; and so on. But the characters are definitely better presented.

One redeeming feature of Sphere is the surprising twist at the last few paragraphs. It is so subtly hinted, though, that I have actually missed it on first read.

While it is heavy on dialogue, the story touches on a number of aspects of the human personality while mixing in some profound if problematic science fiction in the process. This is a fast-paced thriller that definitely registers impressively on the suspense meter, particularly during the climactic late chapters. The ending is something of a letdown, but the story leading up to it is gripping and fascinating, and important clues and plot points are presented with much more subtlety and effectiveness than what you will find in the movie adaptation.