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1-Page Summary of State of Fear
Overall Summary
The novel State of Fear by Michael Crichton is about a group of people who are trying to stop eco-terrorists. The characters in the book have many exciting adventures, including shootouts and crocodiles. In addition, Crichton uses graphs and footnotes to support his arguments about global warming. He also received an award from AAPG (American Association of Petroleum Geologists) for this work despite the fact that it’s fiction.
The film begins by describing some seemingly unrelated events. First, a researcher dies in Paris under mysterious circumstances. Then, there are purchases of industrial equipment in Malaysia that seem to be related to the Earth Liberation Front (ELF). John Kenner and Sanjong Thapa track ELF while also encountering associates of the National Environmental Research Fund (NERF), including philanthropist Morton, his lawyer Peter Evans, and NERF’s director Nicholas Drake. Drake is preparing for a lawsuit filed by Vanutu against the United States because it blames them for global warming causing rising sea levels that threaten its existence. Drake believes that if he can prove this theory then it will bolster his case against America. However after an incident at one of their banquets where Morton crashes his car but no body was found after they look into things more closely they begin to question whether or not he is even alive anymore as well as how much money has been spent on NERF projects over time which could have been better spent elsewhere like helping people who actually need help rather than trying to save nature when we don’t know if we’re doing any good anyway since sometimes nature just takes care of itself without our interference so what’s the point?
In part 2, the eco-terrorists are planning to create an iceberg by blowing up a portion of Antarctica. Kenner, Sanjong, Evans and Sarah try to stop them but they’re captured by the ELF operatives posing as researchers. They barely escape from being trapped in a deep crevasse. In part 3 and 4, Kenner tells Evans that he thinks Drake is suspicious about his motives and also explains how NERF manipulates scientific research for their own purposes. Meanwhile, Sarah follows one of the scientists who works for ELF into Arizona where they’re testing artificial lightning bolts. The eco-terrorists trap them in this test site but they manage to escape before getting hit by lightning themselves.
Part 5, “Snake,” takes place in McKinley State Park where ELF is planning to trigger a flash flood with the help of artificial lightning. Kenner and his entourage try to stop them but fail. In the aftermath of this event, Sarah recovers from being struck by lightning thanks to Evans resuscitating her. Jennifer has long discussions with Ted Bradley about global warming and its research as well as media manipulation which leads up to Part 6, “Stinger”
Part Six reveals that Drake knew about the attack. Evans attends a conference on global warming, and meets Professor Norman Hoffmann. He believes that perceptions of climate science are controlled by the “politico-legal-media complex” (falsely reported threats), which ultimately leads to false accusations like global warming/climate change being caused by humans. Sarah witnesses blatant media manipulation at this conference, confirming her suspicions of these organizations working together for nefarious purposes.
The final section of the novel, Resolution, takes place on the island of Gareda. The cannibals capture Kenner’s group and they escape with some help from Morton. However, they fail to stop ELF’s tsunami but it is too small to do any damage. As a result, Morton recruits Evans for his new environmental organization that will be based on unbiased research and action as opposed to biased political science. State of Fear ends with Crichton listing all his sources he used when writing this book as well as a message from him called Author’s Message in which he talks about how dangerous politicized science can be if not handled correctly.
