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Book Review of Timeline

Timeline
reviewed on + 106 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1


My favorite Michael Crichton book; the movie was awful, the book is wonderful.

A fast-paced, well-researched novel that seems to continue the Crichton tradition of blending scientific content with a rousing action-adventure story.

Michael Crichton is a scientist and a storyteller. Not everyone will grasp the science of the possibilities of quantum physics, time travel or parallel universes called multi-verses, but it is not required.

I enjoyed the mental challenge, and began to second guess the probabilities, but all one has to do to enjoy the book is simply suspend disbelief and get involved with delightful characters who are comprised of a variety of people ranging from charming to egocentric, devilishly cruel, and intriguing as they find strength within themselves they didn't know they had facing an impossible challenge.

How do you find a missing colleague who inserted a message for help in a 600 year old document, keep your head on (literally), and get home? Imagine being transported to a ancient world that is as real to you as a telephone only to find that the world is as you imagined, but very different and laden with more pitfalls than you thought. And then the transport device that took you into the past is gone.

The intellectual discussions about the valorous knights and battles (1357 Dordogne in South France) fade as the reality of being in this world kills and threatens those who enter.

Crichton's events are based in historical information. All of his books have a solid foundation and are careful researched. Timeline is no exception. He researches the background thoroughly, in this case the Middle Ages and Quantum Theory. Proof of it is the extensive bibliography given at book's end.

Highly recommend!