| Book Review | Sam Milligan |
"State of Fear" by Michael Crichton
"It ain't what you don't know that will hurt you; it's what
you know that ain't so."
-- Ambrose Bierce.
"Everything you know is wrong."
-- Firesign Theatre
I
just finished reading Michael Crichton's State of Fear, a
thriller based on, of all things, global warming. Despite
the subject matter, this book is a real page-turner, and I
highly recommend it to anyone who has read and enjoyed any
of Crichton's other excellent novels. Or to anyone who likes
novels full of intrigue. Or to anyone who likes
well-written, intelligent fiction, especially when it is
based in fact and is well researched, as Crichton's books
always are.
The unlikely protagonists and antagonists of the story are
lawyers and environmentalists, each with their own agendas
and points of view. Peter Evans, a young and enthusiastic
attorney working for the law firm that represents
environmental philanthropist George Morton, finds himself
drawn into a web of intrigue and conspiracy surrounding the
theory of global warming. He is the foil against which
Crichton presents a large amount of technical data, much of
which challenges the popular beliefs about what global
warming really is, and what it is doing to the environment.
You don't have to read very far in the book to realize the
position taken by those providing these facts to Evans, and
it is probably reasonable to assume that this is the
position taken by Crichton himself. Evans is a hard sell, as
most of us might be, given that many of the things he
believes to be true about global warming and climatology in
general, without any detailed knowledge or understanding of
the actual facts, are shown, again and again, to be wrong.
I'm honest enough with myself to admit that I don't like
letting go of my opinions easily, even when what they are
based on has been shown to inaccurate or even completely
wrong, so I could relate to Evans' reluctance to change his
mind concerning the things he believed about global warming.
The real plot device, however, comes from the willingness of
the book's self-styled environmentalists to increase or even
bring about environmental disasters to further their cause.
Drawing on the attitudes and tactics of extremist
organizations like the Earth Liberation Front (ELF), who at
times seem to be more concerned with the environment than
the people who must live in it, Crichton weaves a conspiracy
driven by idealism, power tactics and money that is very
believable. The philosopher and poet George Santayana wrote
that "fanaticism consists of redoubling your effort when you
have forgotten your aim." Several of the antagonists in
State of Fear fit this description very well, and are the
type of "bad guys" that you love to hate, those willing to
do evil things in what they perceive to be a good cause. We
are reminded that the ends do not justify the means.
Be warned, though, that this is a book that requires you to
think, and may cause you to re-evaluate some of the things
you believe, or things that you think you know. While the
characters and situations in the book are fictitious, the
discussion surrounding the topic of global warming is drawn
from today's newspapers and scientific journals, with
numerous opinions from different viewpoints cited.
Throughout all of this science and technical information,
Crichton still manages to make the story about people and
their motivations, once again confirming for me that he
deserves to be one of my favorite authors.