Post type: Book review, Date: 26-July-2023, Language: English

Author: Michael Crichton

The Andromeda Strain is an (extra-terrestrial?) life form that is brought back from the upper atmosphere by scouting satellites sent out by the Americans, which crashes in the sleepy town of Piedmont in Arizona. The strain is inhaled by the 50-odd people in the town, who either die due to severe blood coagulation or suicide resulting from maniacal behaviour. Only two are lucky enough to escape this fate: a sick, old man by name Peter Jackson and an infant.

A search party, part of the scientific team investigating the entire incident, rescues the two and recover the satellite as well. In a state-of-the-art (or maybe even futuristic) laboratory complex and testing center, they test out the strain and study its characteristics. If the virus went further out of control, the laboratory complex, which has the shape of an inverted cone, also has a nuclear bomb programmed to detonate to contain the spread and eliminate the strain.

The novel is a fast paced science thriller, with plenty of real scientific information relevant to the storyline presented in an effortless manner. I was surprised at the level of detail of the different characterisation tools such as the x-ray crystallographer and electron microscope given in the book, which were at the bleeding edge of technology in 1950s and 60s.

Some of the theories used such as: (i) the (fictional) odd-man hypothesis, which makes unmarried men more likely to take correct decisions in the event of a dilemma, and (ii) the direct conversion of energy to matter in the metabolism of Andromeda strain, similar to a nuclear reaction, which would make the life form thrive in a thermonuclear event, were really smart in terms of making the plotline logical and coherent.

However, the most interesting thought in this book for me is the messenger theory, which postulates that advanced alien life forms would prefer sending information in living organisms than in the form of information encoded in any kinds of radiations.

Although there is a mention of the organisms introduced into Earth as a messenger by an alien civilization, there is no reference about what this message is, although a guess can be made that it is to give life on Earth an indication of the evolutionary distance between them and an advanced alien civilization.

And, although the name Andromeda is used, it only indicates that the life form is alien and not that it has come from the Andromeda galaxy!

To put it in short, it was a nice reading experience, although it would not be Crichton’s best work. I am looking forward to reading more about the novel online and watching the movies and webseries inspired from this one!