A belated mention from me about Michael Crichton, the best-selling author most famous for writing Jurassic Park, who died a few days ago after battling privately with cancer. Sad news, especially because I devoured a lot of Crichton's work in the early-90s and he was definitely a writer that eased my progression from child to teenage reader.I read Jurassic Park before the Spielberg movie's release (and it's always amused me how the sequels borrowed scenes from that source novel), then went on to read Rising Sun, Disclosure, Sphere (which was much better than the film), The Terminal Man, The Lost World, Congo and The Andromeda Strain.
Like a lot of authors I admire, the science in his stories always sounded very plausible and you felt like you were learning while being entertained. After reading his books, I still believe dinosaurs might someday be resurrected, await the discovery of an ancient spaceship lying dormant in the ocean, and fear us having to deal with an alien contagion.
Beyond his books, I've always liked the sci-fi movie Westworld (which he wrote and directed) and appreciated his scientific input on Twister. While never a massive fan of ER (which he co-created), I do remember seeing it in the mid-90s and being amazed by the realism Crichton's real-life training as a doctor brought to proceedings, too. It undoubtedly made every other medical drama raise their game.
For no discernible reason, I moved onto other writers in the late-90s, so I've not read any of his later work (Airframe, Timeline, Prey, State Of Fear, Next), but I'm certainly glad there are a fair few Crichton stories left for me to soak up and enjoy.
