Rodrigo Llopis Llopis itibaren Malalagadde, Karnataka 571114, India itibaren Malalagadde, Karnataka 571114, India

The premise is pretty cool: a company creates a little nanotech thing that’s supposed to spy for the army by flying around and making complex camera-like (actually eye-like) structures and then transmitting images. There are some problems in the design and programming, particularly regarding their tendency to be dispersed by the wind. Some of them get out of the compound in the desert where they’re being manufactured, and they take on a life of their own and become completely independent and start killing animals and then people. Of course, since it’s a Michael Crichton book. Anyway, the science in it is pretty cool, with all of the programming/computing stuff, nanotechnology, and even bacteriology. It’s written well and the characters are compelling. The biggest problem comes right at the end, when a virus that is supposed to kill the bacteria living in the swarm kills them on contact. Crichton knows better than that; in fact, he had described viral behavior not too much earlier in the book. He didn’t give any time for incubation or anything, just poof! the swarm contacts the virus and dies. So overall a fun book to read, but the end isn’t satisfying.