Timeline: Crichton’s Best Book is a Wild Medieval Ride

Timeline by Michael Crichton

So if you don’t follow me as I bounce between various writing clubs or aren't from my home town, you didn’t know I spent two months of my summer in good old Dillon Montana. It has a population of about two hundred, terrible internet, and absolutely no night life other than getting wasted. I had to work there surveying the land for the completion of my geology degree. So after eight hour days working in the freak heat wave, I decided I would read a couple my favorite books that I brought with me. One of these books, is what I’m going to review here. The book is Timeline by Michael Crichton.

So what is Timeline about? In the simplest terms it’s about a group of archaeological students who must travel back in time to the Hundred Years War to get their professor back. Their professor went to originally meet with the ITC company and discovered that they were investing into time travel technology. After seeing it he went back in time with professional guides. But something happened and he is now lost. Because the engineers and military personal know nothing about the era they hire his students to go back and find him before it becomes a liability that could expose them.

But once they go back, they find they are in the warring territories of King Sir Oliver and King Arnaut. They are instantly attacked. The student named Chris is separately and incidentally is mistaken for a noble as the others must find the professor and now must also get Chris out of trouble. From there it goes from one giant action scene to the next and story never slows down until the epilogue.

So the good? It’s a great book. It has everything action lovers need. It also parallels a modern story where the scientists have to repair a time machine fulfilling that itch scifi fans love. The story is tense. And oddly enough there is a lot of character development here. Chris grows up from being a frat boy to become a soldier. Kate grows up and learns that everything isn’t easy. Andre finds his place in the world. The historical facts are nice, especially the dialect that is used throughout the tale. And this just fun. It’s just so fun all the very around.

The bad? I personally see no faults with this book but someone I knew book brought up a powerful argument about why he didn’t like it. And he has a point. The book is heavy with science. Michael Crichton goes through the trouble of explaining science behind the time machine and how it all would work in the real world. Before they travel back in time, the lead characters are shown why time travel works and begins weaving through the topics of quantum physics, parallel time lines, alternate realities and all the hypothetical fringe science you can throw a book at. I found it fascinating and the fact this part of the book took up roughly fifty pages or so before the time traveling happened didn’t bother me. But it clearly bothered other people. So if you don’t like science be prepare to skip a few chapters or just skip it.

Overall, this is great. It’s one of the best books out there, and is one of my favorites. Once it’s going it doesn’t hold back on anything. I recommend it to everyone, you don’t like science or adventure.

Overall Rating: Crichton’s Best Book is a Wild Medieval Ride.

Four smoothies out of 4