TypicalFish 0 #1 February 8, 2005 Anyone else out there read it? I realize that it is a work of fiction, but I must say it really made me think about "hysteria" in our society. Additionally, I researched some of the claims he made in the book, and for the most part they seem to be true. Thoughts? Matt"I gargle no man's balls..." ussfpa on SOCNET Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dropoutdave 0 #2 February 8, 2005 I hadn't heard of this book before. Just checked out some reviews of it and liked what I heard. The majority of negative reviews seemed to be from people who were expecting a novel like Jurassic Park was. Think I might be ordering this one, cheers for bringing it up. ------------------------------------------------------ May Contain Nut traces...... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
penniless 0 #3 February 8, 2005 What a WEAK plot line. Some super special agent has no backup to save the world except for a lawyer and a woman whom he picks up more or less by chance. Flying in and out of Antarctica as if on a scheduled airline. Attracting lightning with an electronic gizmo in the back of a truck. Trying to give global warning a bad name by triggering a tsunami... I thought it was the worst Crichton book I've read (and I've read most of them). Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PhreeZone 20 #4 February 8, 2005 Plot was think in some areas... but thin in a LOT of areas. What was the whole point of them causing all the issues? To raise money? Its an interesting look into fear, but from a socialigical point of view it misses the mark by a lot. Yeah, the media plays up the "It bleeds, it leads" theme a lot, and yeah a lot of dangers are over stated and hyped at first then never retracted when they are later false.Yesterday is history And tomorrow is a mystery Parachutemanuals.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dropoutdave 0 #5 February 8, 2005 Hmm a few more opinions to consider here. ------------------------------------------------------ May Contain Nut traces...... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 3,106 #6 February 8, 2005 I read it. It's a fun sort of romp through some of the science, although it is a pretty straightforward fictionalization of the premise of Lombord's book. The bibliography in the end of the book is a useful (if one sided) compendium of some of the research on the subject, and his afterword makes some interesting points concerning populism in science. In some ways it's the ultimate climate-change-denier fantasy - "what if all these environmental problems we're seeing are really the doing of some evil environmentalists?" But fun nonetheless; most of his books are radical takeoffs on current trends in science one way or another. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dropoutdave 0 #7 February 8, 2005 Would you say it's worth a read? ------------------------------------------------------ May Contain Nut traces...... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PhreeZone 20 #8 February 8, 2005 If you can read past the pretty shallow plot line at points... yeah its not bad. I stayed up till 1 or 2 a few nights reading it. I saw with in the first 50 pages 3 major things he was trying to foreshadow. The other 2 things I caught it was almost like he was thinking the reader would be too stupid to catch. Oh yeah, also you need to look through the ant-environmental bias of the whole book. Approach it with an open mind and you can find things going 100% opposite everyone of his refrenences, Overall its not his best work, but if you made it through Eaters of the Dead you can make it through this with out an issue and enjoy it.Yesterday is history And tomorrow is a mystery Parachutemanuals.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 3,106 #9 February 8, 2005 >Would you say it's worth a read? Yes. It's not bad. Rabid environmentalists won't like it, but for most other people I think it would be a fun read. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
penniless 0 #10 February 8, 2005 Quote>Would you say it's worth a read? Yes. It's not bad. Rabid environmentalists won't like it, but for most other people I think it would be a fun read. I was disappointed in it. The absurdity of the plot was hard to overcome. Bill, you're an electronics wiz. Tell us how to make a portable electronic device to attract lightning strikes (no, not a kite). Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
penniless 0 #11 February 8, 2005 Quote Overall its not his best work, but if you made it through Eaters of the Dead you can make it through this with out an issue and enjoy it. What about those Viking women in Eaters of the Dead? Didn't he write that when he was a college student? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dropoutdave 0 #12 February 8, 2005 QuoteBill, you're an electronics wiz. Tell us how to make a portable electronic device to attract lightning strikes (no, not a kite). Haha I like the sound of that! What about golfers? They attract lightning. Or a golfer under a canopy covered in tin foil, thats got to work! ------------------------------------------------------ May Contain Nut traces...... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 3,106 #13 February 8, 2005 >Tell us how to make a portable electronic device to attract lightning strikes (no, not a kite). Put a corona generator on a pole. Better yet, put it on a little tower, insulate the tower and apply a +100kV charge to it - it will be the first thing struck. It wouldn't take much energy to do as long as you insulate it well. Another way is to use a very high power laser to ionize a path between a cloud and the ground (you have to protect the laser really well of course.) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
loumeinhart 0 #14 February 10, 2005 for what it's worth, I read his book "Airframe" last year. I couldn't put it down and finished in 4 days. - it's about defective parts on an airliner -very freaky Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DZJ 0 #15 February 10, 2005 Quotefor what it's worth, I read his book "Airframe" last year. I couldn't put it down and finished in 4 days. - it's about defective parts on an airliner -very freakyI love that book. Amazed that he managed to make a story about airliner components gripping! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
happythoughts 0 #16 February 10, 2005 In Florida, lightning research is popular. There are a lot of scientific aspects of it that are worthwhile and it's kind of fun. The method most used is rockets. A rocket with 2,000 feet of copper wire is launched into a thundercloud. It works pretty well. The rocket is retreivable many times. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
penniless 0 #17 February 11, 2005 QuoteIn Florida, lightning research is popular. There are a lot of scientific aspects of it that are worthwhile and it's kind of fun. The method most used is rockets. A rocket with 2,000 feet of copper wire is launched into a thundercloud. It works pretty well. The rocket is retreivable many times. Yes, but that's not the only way the eco-terrorists do it in the book. The have a "gizmo", disguised as a portable radio, that attracts lightning. However since it can be used as a handheld radio without the user realizing there's anything unusual, it (presumably) isn't a high voltage generator or ionization source, both of which would be giveaways. On the whole I thought it was not one of his best. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
