“But things are now under control,” Stone said. “We have the organism, and can continue to study it. We’ve already begun to characterize a variety of mutant forms. It’s a rather astonishing organism in its versatility.” He smiled. “I think we can be fairly confident that the organism will move into the upper atmosphere without causing further difficulty on the surface, so there’s no problem there. And as for us down here, we understand what’s happening now, in terms of the mutations. That’s the important thing. That we understand.”
“Understand,” Hall repeated.
“Yes,” Stone said. “We have to understand.”
As last lines go it can hardly be called compelling, particularly when compared to the first line, neither would I put it up against some of the best last lines and passages that I've compiled over in the last lines series and hope to get a win.
What I find interesting, and this is where this post is going to serve as last line and book review, is that I found the book wholly unexceptional. I liked it, don't get me wrong. It was interesting and quick and fun to read, but exceptional? Hardly.
Crichton exceptional means Jurrasic Park or Prey. This didn't make the cut. Neither did State of Fear, sadly, which I felt was preachy and poorly written. Still, what I like about going back and reading thrillers from this era is that it shows me that I'm on the right track. There was nothing in Andromeda Strain that couldn't have written myself in a different way and just as compellingly. There is hope for aspiring authors to do something great, eventually. The Odessa File, The Dogs of War, Red Storm Rising, Digital Fortress, all of these serve to show that authors who went on to great renown and eventually great writing started somewhere. Hopefully I'm starting somewhere near the same place.
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