Not only does Crichton build classic, generic, one level personality types, but he also utilizes the same redundant formula he always does - man advances - man's advance gets out of control and threatens to do him in. In this case he uses nanotechnology as the "fearful antagonist" but he is not technically accurate, or even complete when describing his own pretend version of the technology. The scariest thing about Prey is not the plot (highly predictable) but rather that his portrayal might actually influence people into believing that this is the real nanotechnology of the future, and it is not. The nanotechnology of the future will have amazing benefits, cures for cancer, solutions for environmental issues and food for all (try a Google search). And while any emerging technology has it's cautionary side (remember when human jobs were predicted to be replaced with computers by 1985?). Crichton's tale is merely a fictional account, and a poor one at that.