Timeline: A Novel
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In this thriller from the author of Jurassic Park, Sphere, and Congo, a group of young scientists travel back in time to medieval France on a daring rescue mission that becomes a struggle to stay alive.
“Compulsive reading . . . brilliantly imagined.”—Los Angeles Times
In an Arizona desert, a man wanders in a daze, speaking words that make no sense. Within twenty-four hours he is dead, his body swiftly cremated by his only known associates. Halfway around the world, archaeologists make a shocking discovery at a medieval site. Suddenly they are swept off to the headquarters of a secretive multinational corporation that has developed an astounding technology. Now this group is about to get a chance not to study the past but to enter it. And with history opened up to the present, the dead awakened to the living, these men and women will soon find themselves fighting for their very survival—six hundred years ago.
Praise for Timeline
“Exciting . . . classic adventure . . . [a] swashbuckling novel . . . Crichton delivers.”—USA Today
“More screams per page . . . than Jurassic Park and The Lost World combined . . . The pace will leave many breathlessly grasping for oxygen masks.”—The San Diego Union-Tribune
“One of his best . . . [a] nonstop roller coaster of a novel.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer
“Compulsive reading . . . brilliantly imagined.”—Los Angeles Times
In an Arizona desert, a man wanders in a daze, speaking words that make no sense. Within twenty-four hours he is dead, his body swiftly cremated by his only known associates. Halfway around the world, archaeologists make a shocking discovery at a medieval site. Suddenly they are swept off to the headquarters of a secretive multinational corporation that has developed an astounding technology. Now this group is about to get a chance not to study the past but to enter it. And with history opened up to the present, the dead awakened to the living, these men and women will soon find themselves fighting for their very survival—six hundred years ago.
Praise for Timeline
“Exciting . . . classic adventure . . . [a] swashbuckling novel . . . Crichton delivers.”—USA Today
“More screams per page . . . than Jurassic Park and The Lost World combined . . . The pace will leave many breathlessly grasping for oxygen masks.”—The San Diego Union-Tribune
“One of his best . . . [a] nonstop roller coaster of a novel.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer
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Community Reviews
For me, the most important thing about this book is that it carried me from beginning to end. Sure, there were some parts where I screamed "That's stupid!" at the audiobook, but overall the story was engaging with well-developed characters and a rich world that was obviously well-researched and remained consistent. A few of the characters were dimensionally shallow, but their roles were basically as "foils" anyway, so I didn't deduct for that. Some of the situations seemed slightly contrived and a couple of "dire" circumstances ended with somewhat miraculous solutions, Again, those didn't detract from the overall story of people who traveled back in time and were at significant risk of being stuck there, or killed by locals.
The sci-fi details were satisfying. The time travel machinery seemed plausible (within the context of time travel not being possible in the real world) and the use of archaeologists and historians as main characters was perfect. That single factor reminded me of Connie Willis' excellent Oxford Time Travel series in which expert historians are the logical time travelers.
Best of all to me, (SPOILER ALERT) - one of the characters actually chooses to stay behind and make a life in 14th century Europe. That made total sense to me in the context of the story and that character.
Having travelled in the Loire Valley of France was an additional factor for me which made the imagery come alive. I could easily picture the castles and land along the rivers described in the book so that added one more notch of pleasure from this reading.
On the downside, I felt this was a bit out of the norm for Crichton, compared to Jurassic Park and Sphere. This story seemed to be more of a "risky romp" than a life-threatening prehistoric petting zoo and an underwater horror house. I guess, in some ways, it could be considered refreshing that an author doesn't mind stepping into a parallel path with a solid story based on a good idea. And, like those other Crichton novels, this one would make a good movie.
Lastly, the narrator was excellent. That contributes so much to an audiobook. We've all suffered through good stories read by bad narrators, so it's always nice to enjoy the voice, inflection and appropriate cadence of a good reader.
I liked the premise, though there were a few plot holes, in my opinion. The last few 'hours' within the journey seemed to take a very long time, so the ending stretched out longer than I think was necessary.
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