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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
seanml's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Crichton continues his fun classic style: succinct sci-fi thrillers. This one maybe was too succinct at times; very fast paced and at some points simply going through motions, but still a fun time. 7/10.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and War
Minor: Rape
cj13's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic
nadiaherondale's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I loved the science heavy aspect of the book (must be cause I'm a scientist myself) but I can understand that some people might be thrown back by it. To be fair I wasn't expecting much about this book at first, and I felt like the start was a bit too slow compared to the ending which felt a little rushed. I was also a big fan of the characters, it was great to be able to experience what everyone was thinking and how the way they saw what was happening was different.
A time-travel classic in my opinion.
A time-travel classic in my opinion.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Vomit, and War
Minor: Rape
ticktock's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and War
meganpbennett's review
adventurous
challenging
informative
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Timeline is an interesting time travel science fiction novel. It starts with several tangentially connected parts - a man found in the desert, rambling about Quantum Foam, and an archeology dig at a Hundred Years War castle in France - that eventually come together to form the basis of time travel. We have an interesting cast of characters, who all have a specific skill set that helps them when the learn the truth. When they learn that time travel is possible.
Michael Crichton write a remarkably plausible story about time travel, where people have to travel back to the high middle ages to rescue someone who got accidentally stuck, and survive all of the issues of a castle in the middle of the Hundred Years War. Hey, at least there's no Plague, right?
I remember reading this book when I was in high school and ended reading all of the hard science sci-fi books by Crichton, and haven't read it since. I vaugely remembered a few sections, but not much of the bulk of the plot. It's still quite interesting, and the depictions of the high middle ages is one that take into account a more modern historical opinion of the time period, making allowances for the propaganda of the Renaissance.
Michael Crichton write a remarkably plausible story about time travel, where people have to travel back to the high middle ages to rescue someone who got accidentally stuck, and survive all of the issues of a castle in the middle of the Hundred Years War. Hey, at least there's no Plague, right?
I remember reading this book when I was in high school and ended reading all of the hard science sci-fi books by Crichton, and haven't read it since. I vaugely remembered a few sections, but not much of the bulk of the plot. It's still quite interesting, and the depictions of the high middle ages is one that take into account a more modern historical opinion of the time period, making allowances for the propaganda of the Renaissance.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Xenophobia, Blood, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Vomit
elise_reads_books's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
The action was intense! It was neat to learn more about this period of time. However, this kind of story just isn’t my cup of tea.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Gore
Moderate: War
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