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.
As far as thrillers go, it was a good one. As far as Michael Crichton goes, it was good, but I've read better. Or, perhaps, I should say I've enjoyed others of his books better. Timeline took longer to start and had a more complex scientific framework than, say, Jurassic Park, and was less of a nail-biter than the posthumous Micro, but all in all it was a grand thrill ride.
The story centers around the complex and intriguing ideas not of time-travel, but of travel between simultaneously existing multiverses. This is a difficult to understand concept and sometimes the continuity was a tad confusing. For example, if the Professor is actually in a different universe, then why did his writing show up in their universe? Is it actually a different universe or are they merely deceived? Am I just not a physicist? That was rather tough for me, never having taken a physics course, to try and wrap my head around a basic introduction to quantum mechanics. However, now I feel like I have a vague idea and will perhaps be spurred to research it more, even if just by asking my two physicist colleagues about it.
The best part about this book was the interactions with the past. I loved how Crichton confronted what he proposed were the actualities of the past as compared to the conjectures historians and archaeologists had made. And, being a historian myself, I sincerely appreciated the emphasis on the importance of the past and the study of the past, and how the academics succeeded splendidly in the past. It was quite a page-turner in that respect, and the twist with the other 20th century person was interesting. It was not the most violent Crichton book I've ever read (try Micro. . .I was literally groaning in disgust whilst reading certain sections). Some of the main characters were difficult to like, too.
However, the main part of the story with which I was most disappointed was the "twist" about splitting. It was not dwelled on enough, and as such did not have the proper impact. The idea was horrible and the implications frightening, but not quite enough to truly freak you out. If the characters in the world had known about it, they might have had more occasion to hurry out of the world.
Ultimately, though, this was a fun read. Importantly, I did not feel like it played to my intellectual weaknesses and dumbed itself down for a general audience, but rather I felt challenged. The pace was excellent, the plot interesting, the details fascinating, and the thrills often and intense. I would definitely recommend this one.
The story centers around the complex and intriguing ideas not of time-travel, but of travel between simultaneously existing multiverses. This is a difficult to understand concept and sometimes the continuity was a tad confusing. For example, if the Professor is actually in a different universe, then why did his writing show up in their universe? Is it actually a different universe or are they merely deceived? Am I just not a physicist? That was rather tough for me, never having taken a physics course, to try and wrap my head around a basic introduction to quantum mechanics. However, now I feel like I have a vague idea and will perhaps be spurred to research it more, even if just by asking my two physicist colleagues about it.
The best part about this book was the interactions with the past. I loved how Crichton confronted what he proposed were the actualities of the past as compared to the conjectures historians and archaeologists had made. And, being a historian myself, I sincerely appreciated the emphasis on the importance of the past and the study of the past, and how the academics succeeded splendidly in the past. It was quite a page-turner in that respect, and the twist with the other 20th century person was interesting. It was not the most violent Crichton book I've ever read (try Micro. . .I was literally groaning in disgust whilst reading certain sections). Some of the main characters were difficult to like, too.
However, the main part of the story with which I was most disappointed was the "twist" about splitting. It was not dwelled on enough, and as such did not have the proper impact. The idea was horrible and the implications frightening, but not quite enough to truly freak you out. If the characters in the world had known about it, they might have had more occasion to hurry out of the world.
Ultimately, though, this was a fun read. Importantly, I did not feel like it played to my intellectual weaknesses and dumbed itself down for a general audience, but rather I felt challenged. The pace was excellent, the plot interesting, the details fascinating, and the thrills often and intense. I would definitely recommend this one.
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