Prey is a sophisticated techno-thriller centered on a nanotechnology disaster that poses existential threat. While not graphically violent, it features sustained tension, body horror (swarms attacking living tissue), and morally complex characters facing impossible choices. The novel tackles sophisticated scientific concepts but combines them with psychological dread and interpersonal conflict, making it better suited for older teens who can handle both the intellectual content and the creeping horror.
Prey is a novel by Michael Crichton, his thirteenth under his own name and twenty-third overall, first published in November 2002, making his first novel of the twenty-first century. The novel serves as a cautionary tale about developments in science and technology; in this case, nanotechnology, genetic engineering, an...Prey is a novel by Michael Crichton, his thirteenth under his own name and twenty-third overall, first published in November 2002, making his first novel of the twenty-first century. The novel serves as a cautionary tale about developments in science and technology; in this case, nanotechnology, genetic engineering, and distributed artificial intelligence.
The book features relatively new advances in the computing/scientific community, such as artificial life, emergence (and by extension, complexity), genetic algorithms, and agent-based computing. Fields such as population dynamics and host-parasite coevolution are also at the heart of the novel.
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Contains:
[Prey [1/2]](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL28766164W)
[Prey [2/2]](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL28766161W)
Also contained in:
Reader's Digest Condensed Books
