I was very sorry this morning to learn of his passing.

Crichton may not have been the most gifted of prose stylists, but his burning curiosity and fertile imagination made him a force to be reckoned with in the sci-fi/thriller genres for damn near forty years.

The guy had a knack for conveying a sense of scientific versimilitude in the midst of dramatic silliness. His best works were page-turners which made you want to suspend your disbelief, despite the goofy goings-on.

Personal faves include The Andromeda Strain, which remains one of the most convincingly frightening techno-thrillers I've ever read. Likewise, "Coma" (which Crichton directed but did not write) is a smart, taught, and surprisingly self-assured piece of genre filmmaking -- one which holds up remarkably well. And, of course, works like Westworld, The Great Train Robbery, and Jurrassic Park, are just good, entertaining, unpretentious fun.

Great writer? No. Great storyteller? Without a doubt.

RIP.

I have many of his very good books.

66 is too young. RIP :(

Agreed. Interesting premises for good reads. Rest In Peace.

Loved both the book and movie of The Great Train Robbery. While not all of his books were particularly well-written, even the lesser ones had at least imaginative ideas and were pretty enjoyable.

Most of my favorite Crichton novels have already been hopelessly dated by real life, including The Andromeda Strain, Congo,and Rising Sun.

The only Crichton book that I ever read was Jurassic Park. After I read it, I couldn't wait to see the movie when it hit the theaters.

I agree that 66 years is a bit young to die.

That is sad. He was a interesting writer. My favorite was Prey.

Sad to see him go at such a young age and I regret the last book I read from him was "State of Fear," which was so poorly written and he mistreated his characters so badly that I swore I would never read another one of his books again (I was still hot over his sell out on JP II and JP III).

Maybe I can dig through my books and whip out Rising Sun again...

"Terminal Man" was a good read. I enjoyed the movie too. There's something evil about George Segal and this movie brought it out perfectly.

I was shocked to hear of his passing on the news the other day. He certainly had a knack for writing books that later became movies. The Great Train Robbery was my favorite (book that is).

what? WHAT? WWWWWHHHHHAAAAATTTTT!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!