Timeline: A Novel

4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars | 11,322 ratings

Price: 1.99

Last update: 01-28-2025


About this item

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In this thriller from the author of Jurassic Park, Sphere, and Congo, a group of young scientists travel back in time to medieval France on a daring rescue mission that becomes a struggle to stay alive.
  
“Compulsive reading . . . brilliantly imagined.”—Los Angeles Times
 
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 up 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.
 
Praise for Timeline

“Exciting . . . classic adventure . . . [a] swashbuckling novel . . . Crichton delivers.”—USA Today
 
“More screams per page . . . than Jurassic Park and The Lost World combined . . . The pace will leave many breathlessly grasping for oxygen masks.”—The San Diego Union-Tribune
 
“One of his best . . . [a] nonstop roller coaster of a novel.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer

From the Publisher

USA Today says CRICHTON DELIVERS.

The Wall Street Journal says BIG ROLLICKING BOOK.

Chicago Sun-Times says THE PRESENT AND THE LONG-AGO PAST COLLIDE.


Top reviews from the United States

  • Robin Norris
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent quick read, good for history of technology buffs
    Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 1999
    Though some may pick nits with Crichton for not beefing up the suspense, or thickening up the book in general, I found this to be a truely enjoyable and totally readable book. There was just enough of everything to keep me interested, but not too much in any one area to bore me. This is unique achievement for the 'best selling' author crowd, who are usually so full of themselves, and sales worthy, that they are no longer edited.
    Overall, this is an excellent read for the time travel sf fan, and better still for the medieval history buff (with a bit thrown in for those with interest in the possibilities of quantum mechanics ... though not fully based in substantiated evidence, here).
    In telling the story of a group of hapless current day time travelers, who have a bit of a mission gone awry in the mid 1300's in western France, Crichton introduces the reader to lots of nuances of medieval life. You get to find out a bit about English-French relations in the region, the hows and whys of tournaments, lots of bits on the technology of the time (particularly about the uses of water power, a bit about tanning, and quite an interesting bit about gunpowder and early cannons). There are also some interesting tacts on social interrelations between nobility and commoners (including why there actually were knights, why the commoners hated them, and why the knights hated the commoners right back); and there's some interesting little bits about why one should never underestimate the powers or motivations of a woman, regardless of her official position in the schema of things.
    And, for those of you with a streak of malice towards Bill Gates, or anyone who comes off a lot like him, the portrayal and ultimate fate of the Gatesian character, in the 'present' time line of the book, will leave you feeling quite satisfied.
    Crichton is an excellent weaver of story in this novel. I didn't see most twists coming until I was nearly on top of them. (And, I'm usually pretty good at spotting them.)
  • Chris Boswell
    4.0 out of 5 stars fully enjoyed
    Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2025
    If you're looking for a fun read, you can't go wrong. Worth your time and investment. Highly recommend this book.
  • William L. Callaway
    5.0 out of 5 stars Timeline
    Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2025
    Another fantastic book by Michael. He just keeps them coming. I don't know how he comes up with all these stories, but keep it up Michael.
  • captainbars
    3.0 out of 5 stars it's all just hypothetical
    Reviewed in the United States on September 11, 2016
    The movie came on the other night, and I watched it for the 2nd time. My son mentioned that the book was totally different. So, I got the Kindle version to see how different. I've read a few of Crichton's books, and liked them. But, this time, I couldn't help comparing his writing style to Jules Vern. He wrote a backstory for nearly each character, and there were pages of explanations for the time period they were in. Not once, but several times. Ditto with the worm hole machine, that was thick with tech jargon. I did some speed reading over those parts. He did a lot of research for those subjects, and wanted the readers to know it. The plot was good, but I felt as though I was reading a book written in the 19th century. It got off to a very slow start, but just as I thought things would pick up, it slogged down with the stuff going on at ITC. I didn't like the swearing; I got the point that Doniger was a jerk, but it can be done without swearing. (Doniger reminded me of a former boss who had screwed over so many people, he kept a handgun in his desk drawer.) The reader isn't told how the employees explained away the boss' disappearance. Johnston was one dimensional, and it wasn't revealed how the French found their way onto the castle grounds, the night of the battle. I think it was mentioned once, that they were looking for a tunnel, or passageway there, but none of the characters actually told them about it. In the movie, Claire was every bit a lady; in the book, a whore. When she's caught having sex with a man in a position of power, she straightens her shoulders, lifts her head, and falls back on the poor, helpless female excuse. Marek seems to admire her for that. Near the end, there's a thin hint he may like/love/lust for her, but we're not given a clue how she may feel towards Marek. She kissed Marek, Chris, manipulated another man she was intimate with, had sex with a man of the cloth, flirted with others, what's not to like? The movie explored their relationship, but the book is told from Chris and Kate's point of view, so discovering at the end that they married, was more of an afterthought. And Claire was a woman of title with property; why would she marry a man with nothing, when she made it plain she needed security? She was in danger of losing her late husbands holdings, and Marek had nothing to bring to the table. Marek must have known, by marrying her, that he would alter the future. Since he wasn't born into that time, ANYONE he married would change things. Also...if someone were to be left behind in the past, the odds would be too high of ever finding what they did with their life. That part wasn't believable. There are countless numbers of lords and ladies, names unknown, who never left a mark on history. In the end, Johnston, dour as ever, was thinking that Marek really wasn't happy in his chosen life. He doesn't know, yet he's looking at the stone carvings that say otherwise. The crease on the side of Marek's face is creepy, cause de Kere had one. Since he came through the machine that once, we can only hope it was a battle scar. Anyway, it's all just hypothetical.
  • ya
    5.0 out of 5 stars Good quality
    Reviewed in the United States on January 14, 2025
    Good quality exactly as advertised
  • Tripower53
    4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful read
    Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2024
    512 pages

    4 stars

    Following a rather slow start, this book picks up quickly.

    Imagine if we could go on the adventure that awaits a group of archeologists as told in this book! Technology has advanced to the point where a person can be transported back in time.

    The people who travel in this adventure are transported back six hundred years to France. It is a world of strife, kings and knights. The adventure is simply wonderful and well described.

    I very much enjoyed this novel. It is not Michael Crichton at his best, but it is certainly worth reading.
  • Voracious_Reader
    5.0 out of 5 stars Time travel but not really
    Reviewed in the United States on September 19, 2024
    Gripping imaginative story that immerses you in the idea of the multiverse; my third reading and still enthralled! Read it!
  • Maureen H. Ervin
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
    Reviewed in the United States on September 12, 2024
    His books are wonderful and timeless

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