State of Fear

State of Fear
First edition cover
AuthorMichael Crichton
LanguageEnglish
GenreScience fiction,
Techno-thriller,
Dystopian novel
PublisherHarperCollins
Publication date
December 7, 2004
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (hardback & paperback)
Pages641 (798 in special paperback ed.)
ISBN0-00-718159-0
OCLC56759026
Preceded byPrey 
Followed byNext 

State of Fear is a 2004 techno-thriller novel by Michael Crichton, his fourteenth under his own name and twenty-fourth overall, in which eco-terrorists plot mass murder to publicize the danger of global warming. Despite being a work of fiction, the book contains many graphs and footnotes, two appendices, and a 20-page bibliography in support of Crichton's beliefs about global warming. Climate scientists, science journalists, environmental groups, and science advocacy organizations have disputed the views presented in the book.[n 1]

The novel had an initial print run of 1.5 million copies and reached the #1 bestseller position at Amazon and #2 on The New York Times Best Seller list for one week in January 2005. The novel garnered mixed reviews, with some reviewers stating that the book's misrepresentation of facts and controversial stance on the global warming debate distracts from the story. The book is thought to have popularised the Antarctica cooling controversy.

  1. ^ Allen, Myles (2005-01-20). "A novel view of global warming — Book Reviewed: State of Fear" (PDF). Nature. 433 (7023): 198. Bibcode:2005Natur.433..198A. doi:10.1038/433198a. S2CID 12274971. PDF version from climateprediction.net site
  2. ^ "Review of Michael Crichton's State of Fear ". Weather Underground. Archived from the original on 2004-12-30. Retrieved 2007-04-19.
  3. ^ Doran, Peter (July 27, 2006). "Cold, Hard Facts". The New York Times.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Hansen was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "Crichton's Thriller State of Fear: Separating Fact from Fiction". Union of Concerned Scientists.
  6. ^ Borenstein, Seth (2005-02-10). "Novel on global warming gets some scientists burned up". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 2019-03-27.


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