Status
Available
Collection
Publication
Ballantine Books (2000), 512 pages
Description
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 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 . . .
Media reviews
''Timeline'' ends with Doniger delivering a caustic denunciation of the ''mania for entertainment'' that pervades American culture, in which jaded consumers increasingly seek an ''authenticity'' of experience that not even the most sophisticated ''artifice'' can offer. (Doniger wants to market
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time-travel as the ultimate amusement-park ride.) The irony, of course, is that few entertainment products are as artificial as Crichton's own work. Like shiny windup toys, his novels are diverting -- they're manically entertaining. (I gobbled up ''Timeline'' in a single sitting.) But like anything mechanical, they just end up repeating themselves. Whatever time Crichton is in, he's always writing the same book. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member StormRaven
Timeline is a basic time-travel story, with the usual Crichton story elements added on to it. The writing is a little weak at points, and the story itself contains some hard to miss plot holes, but I enjoyed it more than some of Crichton's more heralded work since the usual Crichton
The basic premise involves a somewhat unique version of time travel that leads to a relatively standard time traveler story in which denizens of the modern era find themselves in 12th century France. The modern time-travelers are mostly archaeology students, including one "living history" re-enactor, but they prove to be remarkably inept at handling themselves in their new surroundings. Finding themselves dropped in the middle of a war, the travelers are split up, live through a series of adventures until they finally find a way home. On the way, of course, poetic justice is served upon the villains. There is a secondary side plot involving evil corporate greed, and of course, that is punished too, but it doesn't enter into the rest of the story much.
The book is decidedly average. It is a standard, decently executed time-travel story that manages to avoid most potential time travel paradoxes. Even though it describes an unorthodox (and quasi-plausible scientific) means of time travel, it doesn't really bring anything new or that interesting to the time travel story itself. But the story is fundamentally enjoyable, even if it is no better than par for the course.
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anti-technological fear mongering and anti-corporate message is reduced to a minimum.The basic premise involves a somewhat unique version of time travel that leads to a relatively standard time traveler story in which denizens of the modern era find themselves in 12th century France. The modern time-travelers are mostly archaeology students, including one "living history" re-enactor, but they prove to be remarkably inept at handling themselves in their new surroundings. Finding themselves dropped in the middle of a war, the travelers are split up, live through a series of adventures until they finally find a way home. On the way, of course, poetic justice is served upon the villains. There is a secondary side plot involving evil corporate greed, and of course, that is punished too, but it doesn't enter into the rest of the story much.
The book is decidedly average. It is a standard, decently executed time-travel story that manages to avoid most potential time travel paradoxes. Even though it describes an unorthodox (and quasi-plausible scientific) means of time travel, it doesn't really bring anything new or that interesting to the time travel story itself. But the story is fundamentally enjoyable, even if it is no better than par for the course.
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LibraryThing member bragan
A group of historians is recruited by an eccentric billionaire to retrieve the person his company's secret time travel project has left trapped in the fourteenth century.
In fairness, I'm probably not in the best position to pass judgment on this one, as I read most of it in small, exhausted moments
The physics behind the time travel is actually kind of interesting and reflects some real research on the author's part, but unfortunately he doesn't seem to have fully grasped the concepts behind said research, and the logic of it all becomes muddled and fuzzy very quickly. Also, I find that I'm losing patience with the dumb cliche of corporations secretly developing fantastic technologies based on dozens of decades-ahead-of-their-time discoveries that for some inexplicable reason they completely fail to exploit in any sensible way. And while I can't speak to the accuracy of the history, as that's not remotely my field, I do have the strong suspicion that actual historians are likely to roll their eyes a bit at the way their profession is depicted.
Nor are the time travel hijinks all that interesting, as they mostly seem to consist of the main characters getting captured, escaping, being chased, being captured again, escaping again, and so on, punctuated with bouts of various kinds of fighting and, of course, contrived catastrophes in the present that conveniently prevent them from being retrieved too soon. Crichton does seem to want to go for a kind of you-are-there vibe for the historical period, but his attempt to do that consists mostly of throwing in lots of gore and architecture, and it doesn't work particularly well. If anything, he almost gives me the impression that he's just going down a checklist of what readers expect from this kind of story -- Jousting, check! Castles with secret passages, check! -- while failing to weave those elements into much of a plot. The writing isn't that great, either, being full of "As you know, Bob" dialog, among other things.
As I recall, Crichton did write some decently entertaining airplane novels. I know Jurassic Park passed the time very nicely for me on a flight to Philadelphia back in nineteen-ninety-something. But either he rapidly lost his cheesy-but-fun touch, or else I've gotten a lot pickier in the intervening years. Possibly both.
In fairness, I'm probably not in the best position to pass judgment on this one, as I read most of it in small, exhausted moments
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during a particularly action-packed vacation. But, well, I have read books while on vacation that distracted me from the sightseeing and kept me up later than practical for getting that good early-morning start on the next day's activities, and I can say without hesitation that Timeline was not one of them.The physics behind the time travel is actually kind of interesting and reflects some real research on the author's part, but unfortunately he doesn't seem to have fully grasped the concepts behind said research, and the logic of it all becomes muddled and fuzzy very quickly. Also, I find that I'm losing patience with the dumb cliche of corporations secretly developing fantastic technologies based on dozens of decades-ahead-of-their-time discoveries that for some inexplicable reason they completely fail to exploit in any sensible way. And while I can't speak to the accuracy of the history, as that's not remotely my field, I do have the strong suspicion that actual historians are likely to roll their eyes a bit at the way their profession is depicted.
Nor are the time travel hijinks all that interesting, as they mostly seem to consist of the main characters getting captured, escaping, being chased, being captured again, escaping again, and so on, punctuated with bouts of various kinds of fighting and, of course, contrived catastrophes in the present that conveniently prevent them from being retrieved too soon. Crichton does seem to want to go for a kind of you-are-there vibe for the historical period, but his attempt to do that consists mostly of throwing in lots of gore and architecture, and it doesn't work particularly well. If anything, he almost gives me the impression that he's just going down a checklist of what readers expect from this kind of story -- Jousting, check! Castles with secret passages, check! -- while failing to weave those elements into much of a plot. The writing isn't that great, either, being full of "As you know, Bob" dialog, among other things.
As I recall, Crichton did write some decently entertaining airplane novels. I know Jurassic Park passed the time very nicely for me on a flight to Philadelphia back in nineteen-ninety-something. But either he rapidly lost his cheesy-but-fun touch, or else I've gotten a lot pickier in the intervening years. Possibly both.
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LibraryThing member tabascofromgudreads
Horrible, horrible, unreadable stuff. Once the modern folks happen to find themselves in the Middle Ages, there are a couple of half-assed comments on how different things are for them, and about them looking weaker than "normal" middle ages men, and after a few more pages all that disappears and
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the story reads just like a flat, childish fantasy book. Show Less
LibraryThing member LizAnnBowen
I am surprised this novel only received 3.5 out of 5 stars. I am also in shock at those who gave the book a 1, boasting that the book had errors yet failed to cite page numbers or precise instances of these horrendous errors that merit the book a 1.
I would give this book at the very least a 4, as
I read this book while I was digging in Rome. My roommate tossed the book at me and told me as a medieval studies minor I had to read this book. Within three nights, I had the book read, fell in love with 14th century France (or admired the details of war I should say). I would recommend this book for anyone who enjoys fantasy and historical fiction or Crichton in general. If you are looking strictly for a historical account of this time period, well, this is fiction and fantasy, and as such, you have to put on some blinders going into this.
I would give this book at the very least a 4, as
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the breadth covers fantasy and medieval history, the best of both reading worlds. In a nutshell, scientists at the turn of the 20th century find a wormhole back to the 14th century. They lose a professor and soon other scientists and historians into 14th century France where they must fight, love, and try not to screw up history too much (but alas, they have already changed history and just don't know it yet).I read this book while I was digging in Rome. My roommate tossed the book at me and told me as a medieval studies minor I had to read this book. Within three nights, I had the book read, fell in love with 14th century France (or admired the details of war I should say). I would recommend this book for anyone who enjoys fantasy and historical fiction or Crichton in general. If you are looking strictly for a historical account of this time period, well, this is fiction and fantasy, and as such, you have to put on some blinders going into this.
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LibraryThing member lloannna
Not great, not horrible - and not one of Crichton's best works. The medieval details are the high point, the motivations of virtually every character are the weak point. Only about half as good as Jurassic Park. On the other hand, much better than the movie. Three stars because, well, I can think
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of a lot of treatments of similar subject matter that were much worse. And, ones that are much better. Don't start Crichton with this one. Show Less
LibraryThing member mzonderm
Crichton violates the fundamental rule of time travel. His characters take action in the past with no mention of how their actions might change the future. For me, this blaring fault outweighed anything that might have been good about this book.
LibraryThing member Bookmarque
The science this time is barely understandable to me. Somehow they can put people into the past and they can only come back to the present (future of when they are now and when they came from) if they have a locator chip on their person. Time limits are also involved although that seems a little
The villain in this one isn’t very clear either. Some techno-mogul who has aspirations of godhead I guess. He doesn’t care that the historians are stuck in the past. I’m still not very clear on what he intended to do with his discovery. The theme park raises it’s ugly head in this book as it did in J. Park. The idea that people are going on “adventure” vacations and that going into the past to have an “authentic” experience will be what they want next.
One of the historians who gets back to the 14th century likes it so much that he stays. In 20th century life, he was always fooling with jousting and chain mail and languages, so he never quite fit in. In his new time, he’s a hero and somewhat of a mystic. He gets the girl and later in this time, his newly returned colleagues find the abandoned and long forgotten church he is buried in. The likenesses of himself and the ancient courtier they met are easily recognized and the message carved on his stone is uniquely for them. Surreal.
In some ways, Crichton’s writing has progressed and improved. Less dialogue is obvious; he actually describes. But he still has no idea of character development and that will probably never change. People get critical of this but if you read Crichton enough, you find other reasons to read and just accept the fact that his characters are cardboard cut outs.
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silly with people moving into past centuries and all.The villain in this one isn’t very clear either. Some techno-mogul who has aspirations of godhead I guess. He doesn’t care that the historians are stuck in the past. I’m still not very clear on what he intended to do with his discovery. The theme park raises it’s ugly head in this book as it did in J. Park. The idea that people are going on “adventure” vacations and that going into the past to have an “authentic” experience will be what they want next.
One of the historians who gets back to the 14th century likes it so much that he stays. In 20th century life, he was always fooling with jousting and chain mail and languages, so he never quite fit in. In his new time, he’s a hero and somewhat of a mystic. He gets the girl and later in this time, his newly returned colleagues find the abandoned and long forgotten church he is buried in. The likenesses of himself and the ancient courtier they met are easily recognized and the message carved on his stone is uniquely for them. Surreal.
In some ways, Crichton’s writing has progressed and improved. Less dialogue is obvious; he actually describes. But he still has no idea of character development and that will probably never change. People get critical of this but if you read Crichton enough, you find other reasons to read and just accept the fact that his characters are cardboard cut outs.
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LibraryThing member Gwendydd
This book is horrible!! It's hard to even know where to begin....
The science doesn't make much sense, or seem very well-developed, or seem to really have anything to do with anything. A lot of Crichton's other books really make you think about the implications of scientific technology, but here,
The book is really badly written. There are giant plot holes all over the place, the characters are one-dimensional and uninteresting (the one character who does grow or change in the book does so in the course of 2 pages), an editor needed to spend some more time getting rid of redundant sentences, and the dialog is atrocious - Crichton tries to use "medieval-speak", but forgets to do it half the time, and is totally inconsistent about whether characters can understand each other or not. There are all sorts of trite and ridiculously unbelievable situations - I was rolling my eyes and saying "sheesh" all through the book.
There are way too many historical inaccuracies to go into... It is clear that Crichton researched a few medieval topics really well, and then just made assumptions about the rest of it. Clearly, he knows that everything he writes will be a bestseller, and he didn't put any effort at all into this book.
The science doesn't make much sense, or seem very well-developed, or seem to really have anything to do with anything. A lot of Crichton's other books really make you think about the implications of scientific technology, but here,
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it's clear that he just wanted to write a time travel book and so he came up with some dodgy science to make it possible. The book is really badly written. There are giant plot holes all over the place, the characters are one-dimensional and uninteresting (the one character who does grow or change in the book does so in the course of 2 pages), an editor needed to spend some more time getting rid of redundant sentences, and the dialog is atrocious - Crichton tries to use "medieval-speak", but forgets to do it half the time, and is totally inconsistent about whether characters can understand each other or not. There are all sorts of trite and ridiculously unbelievable situations - I was rolling my eyes and saying "sheesh" all through the book.
There are way too many historical inaccuracies to go into... It is clear that Crichton researched a few medieval topics really well, and then just made assumptions about the rest of it. Clearly, he knows that everything he writes will be a bestseller, and he didn't put any effort at all into this book.
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LibraryThing member elimatta
Good basic ideas, but such cardboard characters. Here is a spoiler: the characters get caught, escape, get caught, escape, repeat, repeat, repeat.
LibraryThing member Kivrin22
Read the book, skip the movie. In fact, forget that they even tried to make a movie.
LibraryThing member imota
This is a bad novel. Really bad! If I could, I would give it no star at all.
Yes, the first three chapters promised a great and exciting story. However, my initial excitement gradually gave way to disappointment. In fact, I must congratulate myself on being able to finish reading the novel. It is a
In the end, I didn’t care who was fighting whom and why. I just wanted to finish the book and put an end to my misery.
IMOTA DINAROID
Yes, the first three chapters promised a great and exciting story. However, my initial excitement gradually gave way to disappointment. In fact, I must congratulate myself on being able to finish reading the novel. It is a
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great achievement considering how bad the book is. As I said, the beginning of the book is excellent (an old man is found wandering in the New Mexico desert and talking something incomprehensibly). The police are engaged and the hospital workers become suspicious. However, the story moves in the wrong direction and pretty soon we see laughable, cartoon-like characters, poorly developed plot, and terrible ending. This SF novel is about a time travel: a group of young archeologists (Marek, Chris, Kate and others) are transported back in time to the 1357 France in a time machine. They are on a secret mission to rescue their fellow historian, Professor Johnston, from the medieval Castelgard. Professor Johnston came to this place by using the same time machine built by a secretive corporation (ITC) under the leadership of an ambitious quantum mechanics scientist Robert Doniger. The story plot consists of ridiculous non-stop actions, where sword fighting, captures and miraculous escapes remind us of contemporary video games: shoot them, kill them, smack them… Blood and gore are everywhere, and our young students single-handedly managed to kick-asses of a couple of dozen medieval armed units. Way to go, brothers! In the end, I didn’t care who was fighting whom and why. I just wanted to finish the book and put an end to my misery.
IMOTA DINAROID
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LibraryThing member justine
I liked it, an adventurous romp through time travel, with some real emphaisis on the consequences.
LibraryThing member bookstorebill
A team of archaeologists are transported to France to the year 1357, in an amazing effort to rescue one thier own.
LibraryThing member gregfromgilbert
I enjoyed this but it could have been so much more. The movie based on it was not as good but still worth renting.
LibraryThing member corgidog2
Travel to medieval times from the modern time. A good quick read.
LibraryThing member sjtaunton
This is one of the best thrillers, if not the best thriller I have ever read! It is so amazing how he writes...
Read it! I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Read it! I thoroughly enjoyed it!
LibraryThing member wyvernfriend
When their professor goes missing three students go hunting him to save him. They find themselves in the late middle ages (Crighton needs to be taught the axiom about assuming technology and moving on from there the science bit was extremely boring) fighting among other things a man who has come
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back to join them. Interesting but message heavy. Show Less
LibraryThing member steve_w
Weak science, weak plotting, weak history. A good idea ruined - Crichton just about manages to retain the reader's interest, but don't look too closerly
LibraryThing member edwardsgt
A cracking time travel novel from Crichton, which whilst perhaps not very believable, is enormous fun and keeps you reading until the end, as a bunch of American scientists cope with being parachuted into the Middle Ages in France.
LibraryThing member StefanY
My Internet Book Database of Fiction (www.ibdof.com) review:
Entertaining novel with a good sounding scientific premise (whether it could actually be done or not is definitely up for debate.) Like most Crichton books, his material is extremely well research and presented in a manner that you don't
This is not one of his better novels, but is still a good read. The basic gist of the story is that some scientists create a sort of time travel but one of their scientists gets left in the past and a group of his graduate students are selected to go back and rescue him from medieval times. It is a well paced book and fun to read.
I had some issues with the timeline (ha ha) of the storyline itself. Once again (see my review of Dan Brown's Angels and Demons) the characters in the story accomplish things and travel great distances in impossibly short amounts of time. Even if it physically could be done, the author is not taking into account the weariness that the human body would endure from such hardships. This doesn't take away from the story really, it is just a bit frustrating.
I also found the ending to be a bit predictable. Not bad, but predictable. Otherwise a really nice read.
And before you ask, NO I didn't see the movie. Paul Walker sucks!
Entertaining novel with a good sounding scientific premise (whether it could actually be done or not is definitely up for debate.) Like most Crichton books, his material is extremely well research and presented in a manner that you don't
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question where he got his facts from and if you did, he provides a lengthy bibliography.This is not one of his better novels, but is still a good read. The basic gist of the story is that some scientists create a sort of time travel but one of their scientists gets left in the past and a group of his graduate students are selected to go back and rescue him from medieval times. It is a well paced book and fun to read.
I had some issues with the timeline (ha ha) of the storyline itself. Once again (see my review of Dan Brown's Angels and Demons) the characters in the story accomplish things and travel great distances in impossibly short amounts of time. Even if it physically could be done, the author is not taking into account the weariness that the human body would endure from such hardships. This doesn't take away from the story really, it is just a bit frustrating.
I also found the ending to be a bit predictable. Not bad, but predictable. Otherwise a really nice read.
And before you ask, NO I didn't see the movie. Paul Walker sucks!
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LibraryThing member Omrythea
Weird, but intriguing. Reminded me of Star Trek and teleporting... oh yeah, and The Fly... Still worth the read.
LibraryThing member jopearson56
Another interesting way to travel back in time! And I also sort of liked the approach that really, you can't do anything so significant that you will affect the future while you are back there. I've vacillated several times between 3 and 4 stars, not quite sure why I'm not happy with 4. Crichton
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provided good tension by counting down the time remaining when the time travelers could still return home, and of course, as you'd expect, they pressed their luck and weren't able to make a return attemp until mere seconds remained. Overall, I really enjoyed the story, but I do think it was sort of pat, that one of the travelers, Andre', was so remarkably well-versed in the time period that he even spoke the language fluently. How would he learn that? Chris was a nice bumbling-yet-still-competent character. Kate was a pretty good and competent female character. The professor needed a better role. The villain, from the present but living in the past because of his dastardly deeds, wasn't involved or sly enough. Though it was a good touch that he could hear their communications. I do not think these four, with the possible exception of Andre', would have been able to survive during that time as easily as they seemed to. And because the Lady Claire kept popping up, I expected she'd be a more important character, but she wasn't really. That super-sized knight at the green chapel? Silly. And after all the locals who had not returned from confrontations with him, it's doubtful Kate and Chris could have had the success they did. I complain too much. Crichton created a good historical world and really, I did enjoy the story. Show Less
LibraryThing member astrofiammante
Started to read this, couldn't continue. Will I ever have the inclination to try for a second time?
LibraryThing member andyray
Maybe I'm being spoiled by King, Koontz, and others, but there were times reading this I thought "Will this ever be over?" Not a good thought. The imaginative plot and the science is good, but the characters seem shallow (who cares?) and the action contrived.
LibraryThing member iFool
The author successfully conceived a very plausible time machine using quantum theory to transport the main characters back to medieval times. The plot than turned and trap those characters there and turn the book into a medieval times adventure. A very engaging cross genre work.
Subjects
Awards
Eliot Rosewater Indiana High School Book Award (Nominee — 2003)
Evergreen Teen Book Award (Nominee — 2002)
Best Fiction for Young Adults (Selection — 2001)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1999
Physical description
6.87 inches
ISBN
0345417623 / 9780345417626