When it comes to authors and directors I like, I rarely ever list any of their works as “Not Worth Consuming”, mainly because I feel like each and every piece – including the less stellar ones – are worth my time. As much as I love Michael Crichton (RIP), Next is probably the one book I’d advise anyone interested in his work to skip.

While it does have the usual Crichton trademarks such as the exhaustive scientific research “translated” into English for those of us that didn’t pay attention in high school biology and the fast-pace thriller sequences, it ultimately feels much more “dumbed down” than any of the previous works. A far cry from The Andromeda Strain or even Jurassic Park, if I do say so.

Not only that, but I kind of feel like it was way more … well, fictionalized than even the stuff about UFOs crashing into the ocean or cloning dinosaurs. You would think with issues like gene patenting and genetic testing – which are incredibly important to us today – that Crichton would have wanted to focus on the science more, but everything just feels so fake.

Another thing is the novel’s structure. Instead of focusing on a single protagonist there are a large cast of characters, each with their own personal story that connects to a larger, overarching story. While this is an interesting dynamic, it produces incredibly short chapters (most are 2-3 pages in the hardcover) that create more confusion than necessary due to the focus flipping from one character to the next. It would have been better even to make a series of short stories and carry each scene from beginning to end instead of swapping back and forth.

While it does pick up a bit near the end, _Next_’s ultimate message is pretty much summed up by Crichton’s notes at the back of the book. Hell, part of the big monologue in one of the last chapters is almost worded exactly like his notes. For shame. Overall, very disappointing considering how good of a writer he was earlier in his career.