On Learning From a Master

As a life-long fan of Michael Crichton since “The Andromeda Strain,” I took inspiration from his writing.  He was one of those authors that I don’t have a favorite book.  Some of his work stood stronger than others, and for those that relied on “Jurassic Park” the film, believe me, you’re missing out on the real action in the book.  In comparison, to me, the film makes the dinosaurs more like Flipper, and that’s a statement indeed.  I don’t think I slept well for a week after reading it. 

One of my favorite of his books was “Timeline,” a story about a group traveling back into the medieval history using technological machinery, and in Crichton’s style, everything goes wrong in the first five minutes.  Though it made a weak film, the book is full of action and cliffhangers; almost as horrifying as “Jurassic Park,” but not quite, fortunately. 

When I think of the Gastar novellas, especially the first “Act of Redemption,” a lot of inspiration for the writing style came from “Timeline.”  The chapters frequently ended in cliffhangers, and the character groups make change in the following chapter, and may not.  Also, some of the chapters changed scenes before they ended.  To me, this made for a great format for an action story; to send the reader on a ride with a page-turner, leaving the reader curious for more. 

Like so many, I was saddened by the news of this legendary author’s death.  A great talent left us, but his work stays forever, hopefully to continue to be appreciated through the generations.  Thank you for what you’ve given all of us readers and writers, Mr. Crichton.  You are missed.