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ninjamuse's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, and War
billyjepma's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.75
Does exactly what it says on the cover, which is all I hoped and wanted from it. Crichton is just so good at this stuff—he takes scientific principles and theories, converts them into vehicles for his sandbox-style imagination, and does so while explaining the science in ways that make the reader feel included in the inevitable epiphanies. As a Crichton book, though, it does suffer from some shallow characterizations, especially when it comes to the handful of women in the cast of characters. It's never outright offensive, but the stereotypes are unfortunate.
If you can let the time-travel shenanigans do their thing and go along for the ride, though, there's great fun to be had. Crichton's prose is as solid as ever and strikes an ideal balance between description and momentum. There's rarely a dull moment to speak of. Even though the characters are immensely forgettable, they're just likable enough to get the job done, especially when Crichton leans into the inherent silliness of his "fish out of water" premise. You can see where the story is going from the jump, but the secret to Crichton's success has never been the unpredictability of his plotting. Instead, it's his knack for turning familiar genre trappings into fun "summer blockbusters" that makes him one of those authors I'm always happy to pick up. This was a great start to my summer reading!
If you can let the time-travel shenanigans do their thing and go along for the ride, though, there's great fun to be had. Crichton's prose is as solid as ever and strikes an ideal balance between description and momentum. There's rarely a dull moment to speak of. Even though the characters are immensely forgettable, they're just likable enough to get the job done, especially when Crichton leans into the inherent silliness of his "fish out of water" premise. You can see where the story is going from the jump, but the secret to Crichton's success has never been the unpredictability of his plotting. Instead, it's his knack for turning familiar genre trappings into fun "summer blockbusters" that makes him one of those authors I'm always happy to pick up. This was a great start to my summer reading!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Death, Gore, Sexism, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and War
Minor: Rape and Pandemic/Epidemic
kfquarium's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Violence, Blood, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Misogyny, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Child death, Rape, Sexual content, and Excrement
omair's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Timeline reads like exactly what you would expect a Crichton novel to read. If you know what that means then you probably know how you'll feel about it. If that's not your cup of tea, then you're either going to read this for the practical conversation on time travel and the science behind it, or you're reading it because it explores a less glamorous medieval setting, but also one that is less often written about too.
Normally this would all be appealing to me, but this time it misses. Unlike some of his other work, like Jurassic Park, the generic characters that are our protagonists never rise above their predictableness. Timeline ends up being an easy-enough read, but never feels to capture me and rise above. That's not to say it's a bad book, but it is one that won't linger in the mind. A sad sort of irony for a book about time travel to be one I would likely never revisit.
Normally this would all be appealing to me, but this time it misses. Unlike some of his other work, like Jurassic Park, the generic characters that are our protagonists never rise above their predictableness. Timeline ends up being an easy-enough read, but never feels to capture me and rise above. That's not to say it's a bad book, but it is one that won't linger in the mind. A sad sort of irony for a book about time travel to be one I would likely never revisit.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Vomit, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
Minor: Genocide, Gun violence, Excrement, and Cultural appropriation
angela42's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
3.5
I listened to the audiobook, narrated by John Bedford Lloyd.
Switching between the past and present, this story follows a group of students as they travel back to medieval times (or technically to a parallel universe) to rescue their professor. This book delightfully has a race against the clock. A lot happens in the short timespan this book takes place in. Occassionally, I would need to take a moment to remember that hours are passing, not days.
Even though this book takes place in medieval times, there is of course also the part that takes place in the present, where Crichton gives detailed descriptions of the technology that is being used to send the students to medieval France. I think this might not appeal to all readers, but for me it is one of the things I like a lot about Crichton's writing.
The story takes quite some time to get to the meat of the story, but I didn't mind.
Overall, a very enjoyable Crichton adventure.
A note on the narration: occassionally words would be pronounced in a way that seemed weird to me. Most notably, the narrator mispronounces the name of the author (???) at the start of the audiobook. I also thought trebuchet was pronounced weirdly, but when I looked it up, I learnt that the t at the end of the word being pronounced is actually a pronunciation recognised by the OED.
Switching between the past and present, this story follows a group of students as they travel back to medieval times (or technically to a parallel universe) to rescue their professor. This book delightfully has a race against the clock. A lot happens in the short timespan this book takes place in. Occassionally, I would need to take a moment to remember that hours are passing, not days.
Even though this book takes place in medieval times, there is of course also the part that takes place in the present, where Crichton gives detailed descriptions of the technology that is being used to send the students to medieval France. I think this might not appeal to all readers, but for me it is one of the things I like a lot about Crichton's writing.
The story takes quite some time to get to the meat of the story, but I didn't mind.
Overall, a very enjoyable Crichton adventure.
A note on the narration: occassionally words would be pronounced in a way that seemed weird to me. Most notably, the narrator mispronounces the name of the author (???) at the start of the audiobook. I also thought trebuchet was pronounced weirdly, but when I looked it up, I learnt that the t at the end of the word being pronounced is actually a pronunciation recognised by the OED.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Murder
dunecello's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
Super fun read. I love how so many of our assumptions about the Middle Ages are challenged here. Yeah there are plot holes, inconsistent logic, clichés, but I had a great time reading and that's what matters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Misogyny and War
Minor: Animal death, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Torture, and Pandemic/Epidemic
timlucier's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I really enjoyed Timeline! Having seen the movie a dozen times I decided to read the book and I'm really glad I did. Crichton beautifully captures the student archaeological dig atmosphere, and creates a wonderful medieval adventure. While others have found that the science was explained too much before the action takes place, I found the pacing really nice and everything to be well balanced. I wish there was more!
As an audiobook reader, John Bedford Lloyd was fantastic and I would listen to him again in a heartbeat.
As an audiobook reader, John Bedford Lloyd was fantastic and I would listen to him again in a heartbeat.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore, Mental illness, Violence, and War
Minor: Torture
ulespiegel's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, and War
Moderate: Body horror
Minor: Homophobia and Sexual violence
booktothefuture's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Blood