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katiescho741's review against another edition
2.0
Timeline is a good book, but not as compelling as I thought it was going to be and I didn't enjoy it as much as I expected. I ended up reading for the sake of finishing instead of reading because I wanted to.
Timeline is a combination of science fiction, history and thriller. There's a lot of history and archaeology near the start and so it's worth a read if you're a history nerd like me. If you're not a history nerd it will probably seem very slow going. It does remind us how little we know about the Middle Ages, and shows us how wrong some of our misconceptions are. the language barrier was very interesting.
The rest of the book was okay, but I felt the thriller/chase sequences were formulaic...while reading them I kept thinking there was nothing special about them and you could put them in any other context and they'd be the same, just change "knights" to "gangsters" or "hired goons".
I also found the time travel methods in the book confusing. I have read other time travel stories and the science has always made sense to me, but in Timeline the time travel is mixed with quantum physics and ideas about the multiverse, and it made me think the story was going somewhere it wasn't.
I found the Medieval characters to be a bit flat and I struggled to tell them all apart.
Timeline is a combination of science fiction, history and thriller. There's a lot of history and archaeology near the start and so it's worth a read if you're a history nerd like me. If you're not a history nerd it will probably seem very slow going. It does remind us how little we know about the Middle Ages, and shows us how wrong some of our misconceptions are. the language barrier was very interesting.
The rest of the book was okay, but I felt the thriller/chase sequences were formulaic...while reading them I kept thinking there was nothing special about them and you could put them in any other context and they'd be the same, just change "knights" to "gangsters" or "hired goons".
I also found the time travel methods in the book confusing. I have read other time travel stories and the science has always made sense to me, but in Timeline the time travel is mixed with quantum physics and ideas about the multiverse, and it made me think the story was going somewhere it wasn't.
I found the Medieval characters to be a bit flat and I struggled to tell them all apart.
svdk's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-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
5.0
jurassicreads's review against another edition
4.0
'Timeline' is about the use and debatably the abuse of time travel. This book follows a group of archeological specialists from their journey to a mysterious underground facility specializing in MRI technology, alllllll the way back to 1357 France. Honestly, it's not as big of a jump as it seems when you're talking about time travel. When Professor Johnston sends a distress message to his colleagues in present day France that can be carbon dated to the 14th century, his team scrambles to piece the meaning together.
Surprisingly, this book did not contain as much espionage and sabotage as I was anticipating. Usually when Crichton introduces a mysterious company such as ITC, I try to dig out all the lies they are feeding the public. I feel like this book was really honest in its portrayal of a modern person going back to another time. I know very little about this time in history so I cannot speak to its accuracy, but considering the lengths that Crichton usually went to in order to bring fact into his fiction, I do not doubt that it is an educated portrayal.
Probably the only reason this book did not get a 5-star rating from me is because it's slightly less science-y than other Crichton books. Despite the overall scifi concept, it's mostly set in 1357 France with only 1/10 of the book set in the present day (aka 1999). I'm not really a sucker for historical fiction so it wasn't ENTIRELY what I was here for, but leave it to Crichton to make me fall in love with one of my least favorite genres.
Surprisingly, this book did not contain as much espionage and sabotage as I was anticipating. Usually when Crichton introduces a mysterious company such as ITC, I try to dig out all the lies they are feeding the public. I feel like this book was really honest in its portrayal of a modern person going back to another time. I know very little about this time in history so I cannot speak to its accuracy, but considering the lengths that Crichton usually went to in order to bring fact into his fiction, I do not doubt that it is an educated portrayal.
Probably the only reason this book did not get a 5-star rating from me is because it's slightly less science-y than other Crichton books. Despite the overall scifi concept, it's mostly set in 1357 France with only 1/10 of the book set in the present day (aka 1999). I'm not really a sucker for historical fiction so it wasn't ENTIRELY what I was here for, but leave it to Crichton to make me fall in love with one of my least favorite genres.
belwood303's review against another edition
4.0
I am revisiting some of the books I loved when I was a teenager. I've read all of Michael Crichton's books and I think Timeline was one of my favorite. Maybe not as good as the first time I read it but still gripping and a nice way to spend the evenings.
wolfpackmorgan's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
5.0
sianw1992's review against another edition
3.0
Timeline by Michael Crichton
My Crichton obsession began because of the films that have been adapted from his works, this being one of them. However, I wasn't as impressed as I wanted to be. The constant chopping back and forth between different times was a little confusing. On the whole, it was an alright book, but certainly not Crichton's best.
My Crichton obsession began because of the films that have been adapted from his works, this being one of them. However, I wasn't as impressed as I wanted to be. The constant chopping back and forth between different times was a little confusing. On the whole, it was an alright book, but certainly not Crichton's best.
andieomer's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
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
4.5
allison_reader's review against another edition
1.0
Basically Jurassic Park but in Medieval times & not as good. It’s got the visionary who cares only about making money and underestimates the dangers of the theme park he’s planning, it’s got characters who conveniently have skills that will directly help them in the situations they find themselves in - and it’s interesting reading a pop-novel from 24 years ago and witnessing the ways all of the female characters are handled - every single one of them was described by how attractive they were or weren’t! The same was not done for most of the male characters. And the main female character was really just a shell - other than being good at climbing and being an architect, she had very little personality and pretty much existed for the two male characters to show their character growth & positive personal qualities. Anyway, I’m currently trying to listen to books that hopefully will make my boring data review job more bearable and I thought Michael Crichton was a sure bet but this definitely was not.
doghappy2010's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
medium-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
3.75
scrat1234's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- 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
3.75