Sphere (novel)

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{{Infobox Book

 | name           = Sphere
 | image          = Image:Sphere novel.jpg
 | author         = Michael Crichton
 | country        = 
 | language       = English
 | cover_artist   =  
 | publisher      = Knopf
 | release_date   = May 12, 1987
 | media_type     = Hardcover 
 Paperback 
 Audio
 | pages          = 385 pages
 | isbn           = ISBN 0394561104 

}} Sphere is a science fiction novel written by Michael Crichton and published in 1987. It was made into the film Sphere in 1998.

The novel follows a psychologist named Norman Johnson, who is called upon by the U.S. Navy to join a team of scientists assembled by the U.S. Government to examine an enormous spacecraft discovered on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. The depth of coral covering the craft proves that it has been lying there for over 300 years, and so could only be of alien origin.

The novel begins as a fairly straightforward science fiction story, but quickly transforms into a psychological thriller, ultimately exploring the nature of the human subconscious.

Plot

In the book, the group of scientists, including psychologist Norman Johnson, mathematician Harry Adams, biologist Beth Halperin, and astrophysicist Ted Fielding, are placed in a deep sea habitat at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean to explore the spacecraft.

To their surprise, they soon discover that the spacecraft is in fact not alien, but an American craft constructed fifty years in the future and apparently sent through time. The team then also discovers a mysterious spherical artifact of clearly extraterrestrial origin, which quickly becomes the focus of their mission and the plot. It is at this point a Pacific storm keeps the scientists on the ocean floor, without any contact with Navy support from the surface for what could be a week or more.

The focus soon becomes trying to open this sphere and find out what it is, what's inside, where it came from, etc., and Harry succeeds in opening it and entering inside. When he returns he has no recollection of what was inside and a terrible headache, and the team cannot figure out how he managed to open it up in the first place.

As they continue to study and theorize, they are contacted by an intelligent, friendly alien life form that calls himself Jerry, apparently from within the spherical alien artifact. But while they struggle to come up with any answers to all their questions, bizarre and increasingly deadly events start to transpire involving sea creatures such as giant squids, sea snakes, and jellyfish, and soon it is apparent they are being manifested by Jerry. One by one their team starts to get killed off in various attacks while the survivors struggle to placate the unthinkably powerful, childlike and temperamental Jerry who seems to have no concept or understanding of death, and finds them a source of amusement.

Now Norman has a suddenly important role as he realizes he has to use psychology to keep the surviving team (now only himself, Beth and Harry) alive by placating Jerry and keeping him from killing them all. But in a shocking twist he discovers that in fact Jerry does not exist, and that in fact the sphere holds the power to allow subconscious thought to become manifested into reality itself, and after entering the sphere, Harry has this power. Harry has started subconsciously manifesting the squid (he mentions he was terrified as a child of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea), Jerry, and other such dangerous visions and dreams come to life, and Norman and Beth have to somehow stay alive before Harry's subconscious kills them all.

Beth and Norman decide to tranquilize Harry with a powerful cocktail of sedatives and painkillers from the first aid box, and after successfully doing so, they wait for contact to be reestablished with the surface. However it is at this point that Norman discovers, much to his horror, that Beth has become psychotic and in fact was also in the sphere like Harry and has the power. He is now at her mercy as she starts planting powerful explosives around the spacecraft and the deep sea habitat in an act of utter self-destruction to kill herself and Norman. Norman escapes and enters the sphere, thus also receiving the power to literally make his thoughts real, and races against the timed explosives to talk Beth out of her suicidal rampage and rescue Harry. Harry regains consciousness at this point and knocks Beth unconscious, and they scramble to the escape sub to the surface just before the explosives destroy the site.

While in decompression the three survivors decide to use their power to literally get rid of it, making it thus that the whole thing never happened and that a leak, causing the release of toxic gas, killed the entire crew as well as the habitat. They agree this could only surely work if they all agree on it together and think it and make it happen, and they do so, however as a final twist to the tale, it is left ambiguous as to whether Beth really accompanied Norman and Harry in giving up the power.

Film

The book was turned into the film Sphere in 1998, directed by Barry Levinson, with a cast including Dustin Hoffman (Norman Johnson, renamed Norman Goodman), Samuel L. Jackson (Harry Adams), Liev Schreiber (Ted Fielding), and Sharon Stone (Dr Beth Halpern, renamed Halperin).ja:スフィア 球体