Timeline by Michael Crichton Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Timeline
Book Review: 2 stars for science and 5 stars for history
Summary: 3 Stars
Since I read this first about 2000, I have read several other at nearly the same historical period The Potter's Field: The Seventeenth Chronicle of Brother Cadfael/The Pillars of the Earthand a lot more about quantum computers and
quantum gravity. The sci fi is more like fantasy than science,
but the history is pretty good.
The characterization of the executive seems to be a send up of Steve Jobs of Apple and his "style".
I found it an enjoyable read both times.
His history was better than the other historical novel he wrote.
Eaters of the Dead
Book Review: 3.5 Stars
Summary: 3 Stars
Imagine technology being invented that can send people to parallel universes that exist at different points in history, essentially almost the same thing as a trip back in time. Good starting point for an adventure story, eh? Now imagine such technology in the hands of an unstable rich genius combining the merchandising greed of Mike Eisner and the megalomaniacal qualities of Bill Gates. Suddenly it doesn't seem as compelling. Toss in a scholar completely versed in every aspect of the culture they end up visiting (gee, what are the odds?), along with several other personality types. Evil lords, nasty soldiers, ravishing ladies. Chances are you have an idea of the predictability factor by now.
In true Crichton form, (almost) everything is backed up by science - you can tell he's done his homework. Too bad that, in this case, all the science serves as nothing but props for the plot. People talk differently in the past? No problem, invent a device that translates for you. Need a deadline to create some suspense? Have an arbitrary limit on how long the machine can stay in the past, complete with a digital readout counting down the time remaining. At times I wished it had been done as a straight sci-fi story: Crichton bends over backwards to give the impression *this could actually be done,* only to set up a straight adventure story that could (and was probably meant to) become just a standard swashbuckling adventure movie. It's like using a 60-piece symphony to orchestrate a Rolling Stones album.
And yet, familiarity doesn't stop anyone from spinning Beggars Banquet one more time. Despite the overworking tendencies, "Timeline" is an unashamedly fun read. And isn't that what we look to Crichton's fiction for in the first place?
Book Review: A DAZZLING , HIGHLY IMAGINATIVE, AND ABSORBING BOOK...
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is an absolute page turner. It opens with one of the most absorbing first chapters I have ever read. An elderly man is found wandering in the desert, speaking in rhyme. There is something not quite right about him. The hospital to which he is taken discovers that the anomalies do not end with just his speech. Something is very wrong with him.
Highly inventive and compelling, the reader is reeled in hook, line, and sinker, right from the get go. A wholly plot driven book, make no mistake about it, the story revolves around a highly secretive, technological corporation, ITC, headed up by a megalomaniacal, young genius, who is tooling around with quantam physics in a way that has never before been done. Our genius is spearheading a project that is truly cutting edge. Of course, he is not doing this for the betterment of mankind. He is doing it simply because it will ultimately result in mega bucks for him, if all goes according to plan. Alas, the best laid plans often go awry.
Cut to a group of dedicated historians who are involved in an archaeological dig, located along the Dordogne River in France. Their project, the ultimate restoration of a fourteenth century, feudal town, is very generously funded by ITC. Now why would a technological giant such as ITC be funding such a project?
This is the basic premise of the book. The use of quantam physics is applied in such a way as to access the past. Here, a group of historians find themselves with the chance of a lifetime. They can actually enter fourteenth century, feudal France and experience it themselves. There is quite an adventure in store for them.
Their reason for doing so, however, is not research. They are actually on a mission to rescue their chief historian who had ventured into fourteenth century, feudal France, using ITC's technological application of quantam physics. Due to an unfortunate set of circumstances, however, he found himself mired in the fourteenth century and unable to return to the present, as originally planned.
What happens to these intrepid historians wil captivate the reader. Well written and thoroughly researched, those who, like me, love science fiction, as well as historical fiction, will, most likely, enjoy this book. As a devotee of medieval history, I was entranced by the historical detail contained within the novel. I also found the book somewhat reminiscent of the sci-fi television series called "Sliders", in which the concept of quantam physics is utilized in order to slide into parallel universes.
All in all, this well written novel makes for riveting, escapist entertainment. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found that I simply could not put it down!
Book Review: A Delightfully Fun Read...not a literary masterpiece
Summary: 4 Stars
I have followed Michael Crichton's stories since the 1970s, and I have enjoyed the thoughtful AND the playful in him. This book is wonderful entertainment for the reader. Before reading this book, however, the reader needs to be sure what kind of Michael Crichton book they want to read.Every story requires the reader to make a few willful suspensions of disbelief. In the case of Timeline, this is done more roughly than in some of Crichton's other books. Some of this has to do, perhaps, with the paradoxical nature of time travel itself. Nevertheless, the devices used, in terms of plot, are more clunky than one would prefer.
The book does read like a screenplay. In a society where film is such a dominant art form, however, this is not necessarily a bad thing. Would people complain bitterly about those visual artists who related their work to music? It's a matter of personal choice, I suppose.
For me, Timeline was a delightful diversion and excellent entertainment. The book was not pretentious. The point is to give the reader a fast-paced romp through times and places thought inaccessible to us. The power of the book lies in the ability to propose a (fairly) reasonable bridge between the here and the there.
As a historian, I also have to say that I took considerable delight in finding a book that had historians running around in an adventure -- but here is one of those places where Michael Crichton goes a bit too far out on a limb. He has a gift for adding more glamour and pizzazz to professions that (while exciting to those in them), to the outside observer, are as fascinating to watch as moss growing on the side of a tree. But...fine...I don't mind having those of us in my profession polished up and energized a bit.
The time machine envisioned is interesting. Some of the troubles foreseen justly give pause. And some of the historical speculation is fun.
If you are looking for a book that is just that -- fun -- this is an excellent choice. If you are looking for something you will want to tell your friends about so they will think how smart and sophisticated you are...pick another book. A well balanced diet of reading will include a helping of chocolate cake, as well as a heap of broccoli or beef. Timeline is a reader's confection that I enjoyed very much. I recommend it to those who are looking for a playful read.
Book Review: A Disappointment
Summary: 2 Stars
In "Timeline" Michael Crichton takes an idea, "Quantem physics" and develops recent discoveries to their logical, although unlikely, results. In particular, Mr. Crichton talks about, in detail, how recent discoveries in "quantem mechanics" would allow a type of time time traval. First one charactor, unknown to the others, goes back into time to the site of a modern dig. When he appears to send a message through time to them, a rescue mission is sent back. Of course this mission has all kinds of troubles, which is the basis of the story. Sort of.The problem with this story is at least twofold. At least a third of the story is focused on quantem mechanics and how time travel may be possible. It is almost if Mr. Crichton wanted to write a time travel story, but was embarrassed to do it unless he could justify it scientifically. His basis for time travel is no more valid, in my eyes, then any of the other theories for time travel put forward in standard pulp fiction. But, as opposed to writers who know they are writing ficton, Mr. Crichton takes too much time to explain how this could be possible.
Secondly, why did he make this a time travel book anyway? If people from our time, or the future, went back into the past, you can expect certain conflicts. Modern ethics v. Medieval Ethics or Modern Technology v. Medieval Technologies. Often times you can see the same problems as when a person travels to a foreign culture or place. People, without fault, will make embarassing errors or mistakes. None of those themes are found in this book.
The only reason why, it seems, we have time travellers, is so the author can explain in more details the times and customs of France in the past. As such, the action and conflict in the story takes too long to develop. Once it appears, there is alot of action and fighting, chases and conflicts and general adventure. But even these scenes are weakened by some of the wide swings in the charactors whose attitudes and actions change dramatically as the story continues. The book may have mass appeal based on the number of reviews, but it had little to offer me. It wasn't a total loss, but it was close. I have just come to expect more from this author.