tin_the_fatty weblog

I borrowed a hardback copy from the local public library. Big heavy and nice to read.

There are a few main characters, in no particular order:-

• A lawyer who turned into a secret agent/special force;
• Another secret agent/special force/lawyer;
• Old rich guy who turned into a jungle surviving expert;
• Two secret agents/special forces who know it all;
• A few faceless nameless eco-maniacs;
• A nameless indo-franco sexy nympho chick who kills;

• California rich chick who also turned into a secret agent/special force.

  The plot reminds me of Tom Clancy’s Rainbox Six: eco-terrorists/biochem-terrorists planning to do great harm to humanity, special agents beat them.

  In TSoF Crichton raised that:-

  1. There is no proof of global warming.
  2. There is no proof of the sea rising.
  3. Ice is thickening at the North Pole.
  4. The Kyoto Treaty was pointless.

1. There are cannibals in the wild, so returning to nature isn’t all it cracks up to be.

   There is no question about higher greenhouse gas content in the atmosphere. There is no question about the big hole in the ozone layer. Global warming may not be happening because of the buffering effect of the atmosphere, but noone knows if and when the buffer will fail, or whether the system will eventually collapse. Despite the possible fallacy of analogues, I am nonetheless going to draw one:- modern medicine is not an excuse for obesity, and obesity is not an answer to possible future food shortage.

   I like Crichton’s conclusion in the Jurassic Park, but am not so keen on his conclusion in the Lost World. I like his conclusion in this book even less. I think Crichton is trying too hard to be controversial in this book.