Prey

Prey 
Michael Crichton 
New York: Harper, 2002 
Courtesy of Teresa Gray

Prey tells the story of a swarm of self‑replicating, rapidly evolving nanobots that turn on their creators. Crichton’s novel merges nanotech, artificial intelligence and evolutionary biology into a collective apex predator. It’s one of the earliest mainstream thrillers to treat distributed programming as an ecological threat. Like other works by the author, Crichton weaves a cautionary tale against scientific hubris, the dangers of rushing new technology development, and the need for robust safety protocols.