“Nature was not gentle or nice. There was no such thing as mercy in the natural world. You don’t get any points for trying. You either survive or you don’t.” 

Life exists on this planet on several levels. We tend to think of life on the surface and in the ocean with larger mammals, but there are small animals and life on a micro level. They say if you were to examine a meter of earth, you would find so many living things underneath a microscope, and, even then, there may be things you still cannot see that are living there.

I have enjoyed every Michael Crichton book I have read, so I was curious to see how Micro would turn out since he was only partially finished with it when he died. Could someone finish it to the same level as Jurassic Park and Next?

Micro explores what could happen if humans could shrink machines and people down to the micro level. What would the world look like if you were 1 inch tall? What new threats to your life would you face? Insects and birds could consider you food. How would your body operate if you were shrunk? Stronger, weaker, faster?

The book is set in Hawaii with eight graduates students visiting a lab where micro technology is being developed. Microbots could help do precision surgery from inside the body, but could they also be used as weapons? The students stumble upon secrets the CEO doesn’t want out and they are shrunk and sent to face the world as tiny people – will they survive? Can they make it back to the lab to return to full size?

This book is fascinating and the topic is very Crichton-worthy. I don’t quite think it would have completely ended up with the storyline it did if Cricton had finished it instead of someone else. There are a few long-winded passages from characters, there is a slight predictability in the deaths of characters and I think he would have gone into some more in-depth descriptions of some of the wildlife and plants the students encounter.

I would still highly recommend this book to any adult who likes Crichton. It would make a good book club book as there are many interesting topics introduced in the book.