Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Not Quite Super-Powered Fiction: State of Fear

I would never claim that Michael Crichton’s final novel State of Fear in anyway featured something super-heroic in its themes. Its characters are very human, although a few are overly cipherish, and its threats at least have a basis in world world science. But it is in the choice of the book’s villains that I feel it ranks a nod from this blog.

NERF is an environmental non-profit funded by the multi-millions giving to them by dozens of well-meaning if less than knowledgeable financiers, celebrities, and politicians. The people behind the group are actual extremists, obsessed with their own need to make sure their prophecies are self-fulfilling. So they set about to make the environmental disasters they warned about for years and years come true.

Is that not a great super-villain style organization? I mean seriously, if AIM or Hydra or the HIVE thought up this, they could have done some major damage. I mean really, why didn’t Ra’s Al Ghul think of that?

A great concept with a great story designed to actually make you think. Everyone should give it a read.

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