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Timeline
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Timeline
Unavailable
Timeline
Audiobook (abridged)6 hours

Timeline

Written by Michael Crichton

Narrated by Stephen Lang

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

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Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

In an Arizona desert a man wanders in a daze, speaking words that make no sense. Within twenty-four hours he is dead, his body swiftly cremated by his only known associates. Halfway around the world archaeologists make a shocking discovery at a medieval site. Suddenly they are swept off to the headquarters of a secretive multinational corporation that has developed an astounding technology. Now this group is about to get a chance not to study the past but to enter it. And with history opened to the present, the dead awakened to the living, these men and women will soon find themselves fighting for their very survival--six hundred years ago. . . .


From the Paperback edition.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateJul 4, 2000
ISBN9780375418686
Unavailable
Timeline
Author

Michael Crichton

Michael Crichton (1942-2008) was the author of the ground-breaking novels The Great Train Robbery, Jurassic Park, Disclosure, Prey, State of Fear and Next, among many others. Crichton’s books have sold more than 200 million copies worldwide, have been translated into thirty-eight languages, and provided the basis for thirteen feature films. Also known as a filmmaker and creator of ER, he remains the only writer to have a number one book, movie, and TV show in the same year.

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Reviews for Timeline

Rating: 3.5492745350665054 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

3,308 ratings112 reviews

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I couldn't put this down! As a kid I LOVED the movie, so I was stoked to actually read the book. From my memory the movie follows the book pretty well, although it's been a decade so I could be very very wrong. Timeline combine history, archaeology, and science to make this an action packed historical/ science fiction thriller. Fourteenth century France comes alive for a team of archaeologists. They had no idea that the site they were excavating could still theoretically "exist." When their team lead, the professor, goes missing, the team travels to the headquarters of a multi-billion tech corporation that has been funding their digs. Little do they realize that all their historical knowledge and expertise is about to come into play when they are transported back to France, only this time, it's 600 years earlier and the castles they have been excavating are still standing. Timeline is fast paced and fascinating, the history and science blend together to make a compelling action thriller. I definitely need to re-watch the movie now!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Michael Crichton’s Timeline follows graduate students Chris Hughes, Kate Erickson, André Marek, and David Stern, who must work with ITC, a quantum computing company and the financier of their excavation, to rescue their professor, Edward Johnson, who was transported to the medieval towns of Castelgard and La Roque in 1357. The novel, like much of Crichton’s work, addresses technical details (in this case quantum and multiverse theory), while telling its story. Erickson, Marek, and Hughes must use their expertise to adapt to a world they only partially understand due to gaps in the historical record while Stern remains in the present, offering an opportunity for Crichton to explain the concepts of quantum mechanics and so that he may help rescue them when the technology invariably breaks down, a theme in many of Crichton’s novels.At one point, Robert Doniger describes the commodification of previously-transient ideas, such as history, saying, “The purpose of history is to explain the present – to say why the world around us is the way it is… The future lies in the past – in whoever controls the past. Such control has never been possible. Now, it is. We at ITC want to assist our clients in the shaping of the world in which we all live and work and consume” (pg. 437). This recalls John Hammond’s commodification of genetics in Crichton’s Jurassic Park and the marketing of the past as experience in Crichton’s 1973 film Westworld.Crichton demonstrates a remarkable felicity for scholarship, addressing recent changes in historical understanding of the middle ages. He writes in his acknowledgements section, “Our understanding of the medieval period has changed dramatically in the last fifty years. Although one occasionally still hears a self-important scientist speak of the Dark Ages, modern views have long since overthrown such simplicities. An age that was once thought to be static, brutal and benighted is now understood as dynamic and swiftly changing: an age where knowledge was sought and valued; where great universities were born, and learning fostered; where technology was enthusiastically advanced; where social relations were in flux; where trade was international; where the general level of violence was often less deadly than it is today” (pg. 446). Further, Crichton draws upon David Deutsch, Kip Thorne, Paul Nahin, and Charles Bennett for the science and upon Bart Vranken for the history (pg. 446). In a nice reference to other time-travel fiction, ITC owns a cat named H.G., possibly a reference to H.G. Wells, author of The Time Machine (pg. 141).Richard Donner later adapted this novel to film in 2003 with a screenplay by Jeff Maguire and George Nolfi. The film received generally negative reviews and only recouped $43 million out of an $80 million budget. Worst of all, while Crichton has a relatively gender-balanced cast – even discussing how women in the Middle Ages had more power than most people realize – the film changed many of the women characters to men and reduced the influence of one of the women the graduate students encounter in the past.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I've read many of Michael Crichton's books over the past few years. They have ranged from his old classics of Jurassic Park and even to his more modern books, such as Next,but I haven't encountered a book of his that is like Timeline. For the most part, Crichton's books deal with cutting edge science and technology, but Timeline quickly breaks from the established norm. While it does incorporate some interesting technology, Timeline is a book that focuses on the past, a subject that I haven't seen Crichton write about. This melding of modern technology and historical fact created an interesting smashup that was thrilling and intense. I believe that Crichton has made on of his best books yet.Timeline is probably on of Crichton's most intriguing of stories. It starts off with a mystery. A couple finds a man walking alone in the middle of middle of the desert in a daze and speaking nonsense. He dies in a nearby hospital and is then quickly cremated by the company he works for and his death leaves some unanswered questions. Over in Europe, the lead professor of an archaeology expedition is flown out by the very same company. Soon after, the team of archaeologists make a surprising discovery when exploring the ruins: a message from the professor is found in the sealed chambers of the ruins, asking for help. The truth about his disappearance comes to light when the company, ITC, flies a small group of the archaeologists to the company headquarters. They learn that the professor has traveled back in time to the very place they were excavating through a breakthrough in technology. What transpires after is a thrilling adventure through castles, battles, and puzzles as the group travels back in time and have to fend for their very lives.This mix of technology and history makes for a very interesting story. Crichton has definitely done his research of the Medieval time period and recreated the world, from the details of the castles and tools to the very language, in the book. I felt immersed in the story as the group fought for their lives through Medieval Europe. The idea that they have gone back in time to this period creates a sense of looking at the world from a modern view, while still trying to understand the world as if they lived in it. Crichton created a strong balance of illustrating life in the medieval world, while still merging the high tech world of modern day into a coherent story.From beginning to end, Timeline held my attention. The book definitely had some very interesting twists in its story. I found myself constantly changing what I thought would happen and who was the culprit behind some of the problems the students faced. Crichton does a good job pacing the input of new information to slowly feed the fire of curiosity. Even when the villain is defaced, he keeps the suspense building until the very end. The action flies by at a breakneck pace and it never really feels like the characters get any sort of break. Timeline is a combination of historical fiction and technological thriller. The overarching story deals with the technology of time travel and its implications, but the true action takes place in medieval Europe. Crichton recreates this period with stunning detail, yet takes a different path of using it only as a backdrop for a bigger problem. I truly liked my time reading Timeline and it has ranked itself high in my list of favorite Michael Crichton novels.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Better than the movie.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Surprisly average. Chacters were typical and so was the plot. Nothing of real note.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Synopses on this book abound so I won't bother but it's definitely a compelling, edge of the chair, read. Crichton's usual masterful concoction of suspense, excellent plotting and believability.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This was essentially Jurassic Park with a time machine and a different setting.

    Top-secret, privately-funded tourism project? Check.
    A single-minded, egocentric antagonist? Check.
    An archaeological dig? Check.
    Employees with military backgrounds? Check.
    Helicopter rides? Check.
    An athletic female character? Check.
    Lots of action? Check.

    In fact, I enjoyed this more than Jurassic Park, at least right up until the very end when things fell apart. The conclusion left me feeling disappointed. Still, this was a fun, breezy read.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This was a very fascinating read. Very enjoyable. Was such a nice escape from my reality to this adventure. I had a very hard time putting this down. I am not usually a Michael Crichton reader but I did enjoy this one more than most. He has done some pretty good research for this book and has blended the technology with the middle ages pretty well. It took a few pages but after that I was hooked.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Timeline is a science fiction novel, in which a group of archeologists are able to utilize modern technology and quantum mechanics to travel to the past. In this gripping novel, the scientist are able to visit their archeological site as it was in the period they are trying to reconstruct. However, as is likely when messing with time, things go poorly, and perhaps not everyone will make it out alive.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    "Timeline" falls in class of books which are mass-market thriller, produced by authors like Sidney Sheldons of the world. I say this because apart from Sheldon, I've not really consumed this kind of fiction, so cannot really judge this book relatively. On it's own merit though, book is fairly gripping, tells a really good story, and keeps fast pace. Despite dialogues and actions filling the pages, any detour to describe the period or ambiance isn't distracting and fits well with the narrative.Story is mix of science fiction and history, with key arc being how bunch of historians have to spend few days in 14th century medieval England due to time-travel gone wrong. Their adventures of surviving then ongoing 100 year war, world of knights, peasants, monks, warlords, and era of widespread violence and plundering occupy 70% of the book. Science part of fiction isn't too bad either; of course, it takes a leap from reality at some point.Author had way too many convenient coincidences throughout historians' escapade in past to have them survive and come back. While I can still digest that, what I cannot get my head around is [spoiler] how CEO was killed mercilessly in the end, for no viable reason, and in most unbelievable way to happen in modern corporate.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    this was an awesome book. if you're interested in the time travel type thing, quantam physics type thing. or history or knights or castles or any of these you'll love this book. i tell you i have't been disappointed by crighton yet but i absolutely loved this book. i read it in large print so i'm not sure if its as long as i think it is but definently awesome.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I had to give up early because of the speaker. It sounded bored and with little enthusiasm and I couldn’t listen any longer. Can’t say nothing about the story itself though.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    It was super fun to read this first draft of the film script, a film sadly never made. It's too late now, it should've been made in the 90s, with Schwarzenegger, Slater and I'm not sure who the author had in mind for Kate (Cate Blanchett?). It would've been the epitome of a 90s film, stupid but fun. Don't get me wrong, the book is terrible (with scenes that don't connect, reminiscent of jarring jump cuts in a film to keep it moving quickly, cartoonishly flat characters, plots twists brazenly cliched) but if you just go with it you'll enjoy it.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is a terrific piece of adventure fiction. I am glad that I read it before I saw its movie...which was adequate as an adaptation but unsatisfying in its simplicity.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I enjoyed this but it could have been so much more. The movie based on it was not as good but still worth renting.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    I came across this book on a list of the best time-travel books ever written. The other books on the list have been interesting and enjoyable, leading me to books and authors new to me. But this one is a dud. Dreadful.The characters are one dimensional stereotypes. The plot is inane and contrived. I got halfway through, but choked. There was some interesting stuff about life in the middle ages, and the sci-fi nature of the time travel was reasonably well done, but the rest of the plot is ridiculous. It's like it was written for teen readers. Maybe pre-teens?!So, buyer be aware.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Brain candy, a movie thriller plot with cardboard cutout characters.

    Its interesting to read Crichton's books 20 years after they were written. This one holds up better then Airframe, which I read earlier in the summer, but maybe that's just because I'm not as familiar with the technical concepts that underlie this book.

    Those earbuds that translate languages and allow the team to communicate with each other for over a day's time without running out of batteries - I wish we had that tech today!
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    Frustratingly stupid. This all happened because someone wanted to capitalize on time travel tourism? Fuck off.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Good basic ideas, but such cardboard characters. Here is a spoiler: the characters get caught, escape, get caught, escape, repeat, repeat, repeat.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    A Mad Scientist has built up a corporation to exploit his discovery that people can be squirted into the past, and returned the same way, through wormholes in the quantum foam. Well, not quite. In the schema of this novel, actual time travel is impossible. It is also impossible to transfer physical items any larger than the scale of the quantum foam from one parallel universe to another. It is, however, possible to strip a macroscopic object -- e.g., a human being -- down to its basic information and squirt this string of binary code through a wormhole into an exceedingly similar but different universe, where it will be automatically reassembled because, er, It Is A Fundamental Rule That This Is What Happens. (There are occasional trivial transcription errors, which can accumulate to become serious, so people make only a limited number of "trips".) Further, because some exceedingly similar parallel universes haven't progressed quite as far along the timeline as ours has, you can in effect travel into the past -- as into an area of the French Dordogne which Mad Scientist has been setting up to become -- you've guessed it! -- a sort of theme park.

    Well, maybe. During all of this laying out of the supposedly plausible scientific underpinning of the tale, I confess my disbelief plummeted quite a few times. First, if the past you travel to is in a different universe, how come someone stranded in that universe's medieval France is (as in the early stages of Timeline) able to leave a message that archaeologists can unearth in our universe's modern France? Second, if you destroy me entirely in order to produce a mountain of data that can be used to create an exact duplicate of me, complete with all my consciousness and memories, while that duplicate is to all intents and purposes me, this doesn't alter the fact that my self has died. (To see what I mean, imagine you could produce the duplicate me without destroying the original. Now stand the two of us side-by-side and put a bullet through the brain of one of us. The consciousness of that individual indubitably comes to an end, even though a perfect copy is preserved in the other individual.) Third, while I'm moderately okay about the moderns having earplugs that translate various medieval languages for them, I'm still confused as to how, when they speak, they can be understood by medieval French speakers merely by sticking the occasional "sooth" and "prithee" into their dialogue. Fourth, the whole bit about reassembly on the far side of the wormhole always happening Just Because That's The Way The Multiverse Works seems a complete copout.

    And so on.

    Whatever, our gang of gallant archaeologists is sent back to rescue their stranded colleague and of course immediately everything starts going wrong. The bulk of the novel is made up of them having extraordinarily tedious adventures that seem to have been plotted less for a novel, more for a multiple-choice adventure gamebook. The writing is at best pedestrian, and often enough lurches into the slapdash. One of the main baddies seems to be a dead ringer for Blackadder, albeit with a French accent. We get occasional throwaway lines that seem to presage the bonkers pseudoscience of Crichton's final novel, State of Fear, such as "Even the most established concepts -- like the idea that germs cause disease -- were not as thoroughly proven as people believed" (page 365). Meanwhile, back in the modern day/our own universe, the Mad Scientist is thinking that the easiest way of keeping the whole fiasco from the press might be just to abandon the archaeologists to their fate. Me, I was wondering why the hell he'd sent archaeologists on the rescue mission in the first place: bearing in mind that it doesn't really matter when you set off so long as your arrival point in the past is correct, why didn't he hire a bunch of survival experts and spend a year training them in medieval customs and linguistics, and then mount the rescue of the stranded boffin?

    And so on.

    It was only because I'm working on an essay about time-travel stories that I finished this dreary effort, and only because I got it from the library that it didn't get thrown at the wall a few times.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Not his best, but intriguing. I didn't like his characters in this one very much at all. Poor man can't write romance to save his life. He shouldn't try.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    The first 160 pages of this book are set-up. Tedious details that mostly have no bearing on the rest of the story. Yes, there's some decent stuff in there, but I'd say it could have been covered in 30 pages, 50 max. Once the time travelling starts it's actually quite a good book, if you like that sort of thing. There's action and adventure, a villainous bad guy, a damsel in distress, and a reasonable mystery too. But really, 160 pages is a heck of a hump to get over. I certainly won't be reading it again.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I've read many of Michael Crichton's books over the past few years. They have ranged from his old classics of Jurassic Park and even to his more modern books, such as Next,but I haven't encountered a book of his that is like Timeline. For the most part, Crichton's books deal with cutting edge science and technology, but Timeline quickly breaks from the established norm. While it does incorporate some interesting technology, Timeline is a book that focuses on the past, a subject that I haven't seen Crichton write about. This melding of modern technology and historical fact created an interesting smashup that was thrilling and intense. I believe that Crichton has made on of his best books yet.Timeline is probably on of Crichton's most intriguing of stories. It starts off with a mystery. A couple finds a man walking alone in the middle of middle of the desert in a daze and speaking nonsense. He dies in a nearby hospital and is then quickly cremated by the company he works for and his death leaves some unanswered questions. Over in Europe, the lead professor of an archaeology expedition is flown out by the very same company. Soon after, the team of archaeologists make a surprising discovery when exploring the ruins: a message from the professor is found in the sealed chambers of the ruins, asking for help. The truth about his disappearance comes to light when the company, ITC, flies a small group of the archaeologists to the company headquarters. They learn that the professor has traveled back in time to the very place they were excavating through a breakthrough in technology. What transpires after is a thrilling adventure through castles, battles, and puzzles as the group travels back in time and have to fend for their very lives.This mix of technology and history makes for a very interesting story. Crichton has definitely done his research of the Medieval time period and recreated the world, from the details of the castles and tools to the very language, in the book. I felt immersed in the story as the group fought for their lives through Medieval Europe. The idea that they have gone back in time to this period creates a sense of looking at the world from a modern view, while still trying to understand the world as if they lived in it. Crichton created a strong balance of illustrating life in the medieval world, while still merging the high tech world of modern day into a coherent story.From beginning to end, Timeline held my attention. The book definitely had some very interesting twists in its story. I found myself constantly changing what I thought would happen and who was the culprit behind some of the problems the students faced. Crichton does a good job pacing the input of new information to slowly feed the fire of curiosity. Even when the villain is defaced, he keeps the suspense building until the very end. The action flies by at a breakneck pace and it never really feels like the characters get any sort of break. Timeline is a combination of historical fiction and technological thriller. The overarching story deals with the technology of time travel and its implications, but the true action takes place in medieval Europe. Crichton recreates this period with stunning detail, yet takes a different path of using it only as a backdrop for a bigger problem. I truly liked my time reading Timeline and it has ranked itself high in my list of favorite Michael Crichton novels.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Many might be familiar with Timeline from the movie adaptation with Paul Walker and Gerard Butler -- I saw that movie ages ago when it came out and finally got around to reading the book. I can't really compare it to the movie, because I saw that so long ago, but I thoroughly enjoyed the book. Timeline is about a group of archaeologists who must travel to the fourteenth century (during a time of war) to rescue their professor.Honestly, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. Though I love audiobooks, I'm always wary of committing myself to anything over seven or eight hours, because listening to the same voice for longer than that can get tedious. Thankfully, John Bedford Lloyd is a brilliant narrator and really brought life to the characters and the story. In fact, I enjoyed spending the extra time with this novel and being able to immerse myself in its world.Anybody who likes an adventure story would probably like Timeline. My favorite part about it is that it has a nice mix of historical fiction, mystery/thriller, and science fiction. There's something for everyone, and I love reading a story that is able to successfully bring together a variety of genres. Although, I have to say, some of the science fiction explanation was a little too detailed, making it confusing and leaving quite a few plot holes. It would have been better without the attempt to explain the time travel scientifically, I think. But putting that aside, Crichton has created a solidly entertaining story.There's action, adventure, romance, intrigue, etc. Like I said before, there's something for everyone. It's told from multiple viewpoints, but at no point was I confused or lost. If you enjoy audiobooks, don't let the length scare you -- I had a great time listening to it. However, if you're not an audiobook fan, I think that reading it would be just as satisfying.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is my favorite book by Michael Crichton and was our recent family road trip selection. I had read this book before, but knowing the ending did not detract from the suspense and thrills of this story. Suspense, sci-fi, historical fiction all lumped in one thriller. Loved it!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I liked it only after I turned off any logic
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Example 1: Archelogists in the "present" find the eyeglasses of their missing professor but they're in the dig site. They appear to be very very old! They also find a message written by the professor that dates to the time of the dig.BUT... The time travel scientists make a big deal that time travel isn't possible. They're actually just sending copies of people to alternate universes that happen to be in the 14th century. There is no way for the two timelines to interact.WTF? So how did the professor leave his notes to be found in the future?Point #2: Crichton's time machine sounds like a blow-by-blow description of the old Disneyland Voyage Through Inner Space ride. LOl!!!!!!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Mixed feelings towards this book. I can't say I hated it, but I can surely say it wasn't my favorite book. In fact, I even found it slightly boring. Not because the story overall didn't impress me, but because I spent the entire book thinking that something was amiss. The background scenario was actually pretty good, but it still felt like reading half a book, as if part of the story had been removed so that it could fit within a page limit. I didn't feel "comfortable" reading the book.
    The scientific explanation and theories for time travel were excellent. In fact, they were one of the aspects I actually liked in the book. As for the story itself, well, the whole thing was very visual, but the characters seemed kinda "cold and distant" for me. There wasn't too much charisma in them, they were just there to execute actions. More or less like robots: no feelings, just cold acting.
    The scenario, the Hundred Years War had so much potential. There was just so much going on, but I felt like reading a History book with focus on a small group of people instead of seeing the whole thing. And even the historical figures were actually kinda boring, it was as if the author was trying to prove me that what I read in the books regarding one person being "mean" and the other being "good" was wrong, but he didn't say exactly why. Like I said, "cold and distant actions".
    There was just so much potential for this book. There was so much that could have happened, but did not. There are characters that could have been used in a better way but weren't. It was like reading a book that didn't really want to tell me a story.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I love time travel stories, I love Michael Crichton's novels, and I love learning about history/science, so this book was perfect.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is the ultimate historical fiction lover's book. Modern day archeologists gets sent back in time and must use their knowledge to survive until they can make it back.