Timeline: A Novel

Written by Michael Crichton

Narrated by John Bedford Lloyd

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. . . .

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
• Release date: Jul 4, 2000
• ISBN: 9780375418693

Michael Crichton

Michael Crichton (1942-2008) was the author of the bestselling novels The Terminal Man, The Great Train Robbery, Jurassic Park, Sphere, Disclosure, Prey, State of Fear, Next and Dragon Teeth, among many others. His books have sold more than 200 million copies worldwide, have been translated into forty languages, and have provided the basis for fifteen feature films. He wrote and directed Westworld, The Great Train Robbery, Runaway, Looker, Coma and created the hit television series ER. Crichton remains the only writer to have a number one book, movie, and TV show in the same year. Daniel H. Wilson is a Cherokee citizen and author of the New York Times bestselling Robopocalypse and its sequel Robogenesis, as well as ten other books. He recently wrote the Earth 2: Society comic book series for DC Comics. Wilson earned a PhD in Robotics from Carnegie Mellon University, as well as master’s degrees in Artificial Intelligence and Robotics. He has published over a dozen scientific papers and holds four patents. Wilson lives in Portland, Oregon.

Reviews for Timeline

[carol420 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

At times it was difficult to remember that this book was a work of science fiction. Michael Crichton has written an almost believable tale...the dream of almost all history buffs. Imagine the reality of going back in time... to any place in the past... to yesterday or the day before or to important events in your life or in history itself. In this case...we travel to the 14th century.... the Middle Ages. Just imagine what it would be like to experience the past in person. We'd have to be very careful not to alter or change anything in any way or we ourselves could return to an entirely different life or even never have been born...literally cease to exist. Michael Crichton is so talented at allowing his readers to become involved with the promise of that visit to the past, and then teasing us with the possibility that we may be stuck there with no chance of returning to our own present time. Timelineis of course a work of science fiction but rather it was intended to be or not, it's also educational, and written in a way that can be easily understood. The story is a fairly quick read that mixes some scientific truths with delightful fantasy, breath-taking excitement, while creating a delightful tale that will have you wanting to skip meals, skip sleep and read to the very end.

[jackiecraven · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I wouldn't waste my time on Timeline if I weren't such a sci-fi junkie. Leaden figures plod through medieval France, encountering ridiculous adventures. Why do I push on? Because every once in awhile, Crichton treats me with a nugget of fascinating science or history. The best part of the book is the introduction and the bibliography.

[xanaducastle · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

really enjoyed this one. a very interesting take on time travel where there is many different branching time lines. the whole medieval setting was really cool and the characters were solid.

i will say this book was also very graphic with the violence then i was expecting, not that there is anything wrong with that. but just a fair warning for those that never read it. but it was fun and thrilling just like Sphere although i dont put it on the same level as that but it was a good time. my only complaint is that when it shifts between the stuff happening in the medieval and the modern day when things are starting to get really good. it does slow it down a bit but i still think this is great book

[tuckerresearch · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I read The Great Train Robbery as a kid and enjoyed it. I read Jurassic Park before it was made into a film. It was good. (The former as a movie was terrible farce; the latter as a movie was quite good... its sequels were terrible farce.)

So, here is Timeline. It too was made into a movie. A terrible one not worth wasting your time on. Unless you like Billy Connolly. Or you swoon over Paul Walker and/or Gerard Butler in roles before they were huge stars. Or if you think Frances O'Connor should've been a bigger move star. Still, don't watch it.

Now, I read this after finally biting the bullet and reading Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. This is Shakespeare compared to that. Much better writing, explication, character development, pacing, and plot. Brown says rather than shows. Crichton can at least show. Now, this isn't Shakespeare. It's not great literature. It won't be studied in lit classes in 2080. There are some holes in the science plot. (It's an alternate universe in the multiverse, but somehow the same universe?) It is rather a stretch that some history nerds will just say, "Okay, put me in a machine and send me back to the 1300s. I probably won't die." And I still don't get what the company was trying to do with a time machine... a medieval "theme park"? Huh? But, like any Crichton novel, decent science, well-researched history, and characters you care about and want to see win. An entertaining diversion.

[burritapal · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What would it be like to visit the 14th century, in the feudal society of Europe? What was life like during the 100 years war between France and England? Michael Crichton takes a stab at imagining it, using research written about the 14th century and quantum physics. Published in 1999, I read it then, and reread it now in 2020, where, compared to our inferior world under tRump and the coronavirus, midieval life doesn't look as bad as it did before.
ITC is a company based in Black Rock, New Mexico, not far from Los Alamos, that does research into quantum physics. They have found a way to record the human body, shrink it down to the size of smaller than atoms, and then, using quantum foam, to reconstruct the almost equal human copy from one of the multiverses, into an earlier part of the timestream. Like the 14th century, in the community of the Monastery Ste Mere.
A group of grad students and their professor have been excavating this area, employed by ITC without knowing the whole story of ITC's research. Their professor is suddenly whisked away from the excavation site by the founder of the company, to the Black Rock campus. The students carry on their work, but are suddenly notified that the top four research grad students must drop everything, to join the professor in New Mexico. Once there, they are recruited to travel to the monastery they have been excavating, but to the 14th century version of it, where the professor is now stranded.
Crichton knows how to keep the suspense and tension high in his thrillers, and in this book I found myself on the edge of my seat, so to speak, as the students and their professor become embroiled in the local struggle between two feuding nobles, and the clock to return them to their own time is counting down. Even when reading it for the second time! This was so entertaining; I highly recommend it.

[richardderus · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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.

[AlonsoLomas · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Good adventure book. Entertaining, well-written, and makes for a pleasant time while reading. Fun theme of time travel through a time machine. I think there is a movie that, if it doesn't match the book, is very similar, but I can't remember the title. (Translated from Spanish)

[paul_s-289480 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

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.

[mbmackay · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

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.

[stevesbookstuff · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

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!

[Celepau · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very good! I love time travel books!
The existence of technology that allows traveling to a medieval past serves as the impetus for some archaeologists to search for a character lost in time.
The fear of the unknown, the brutality of an era they only read about in books and experienced in excavations. An opportunity to change destiny.
Awesome! (Translated from Spanish)

[normalmostly · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Frustratingly stupid. This all happened because someone wanted to capitalize on time travel tourism? Fuck off.

[Lilix · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An interesting story like all of Michael Crichton's, it's a quick read and has a lot of action. (Translated from Spanish)

[elimatta_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Good basic ideas, but such cardboard characters. Here is a spoiler: the characters get caught, escape, get caught, escape, repeat, repeat, repeat.

[Roberpi · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It's great, you can't stop reading it!!! (Translated from Spanish)

[darthdeverell · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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.

[ecataldi-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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!

[Edd62 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A novel that intertwines technology with adventures, a journey through time to medieval France, the characters’ involvement in the modification of history, and consequently their return and participation in an archaeological excavation, where they find their imprint in a piece of plastic and a rubber band among other things. It is fast-paced and entertaining; I liked it. (Translated from Spanish)

[neverstopreading-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

 Although I love time travel stories, they're rarely done very well. Timeline is not without its flaws, but I think it is one of the better books of the genre.

[Charo88 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Thrilling story. The movie is terrible. The story is nonstop. It became clear to me that living in the Middle Ages was indeed a risky sport. (Translated from Spanish)

[thetreereader · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

For most of my life I’ve wanted to be an archaeologist. Even though that never happened, I haven’t stopped loving history, it is something I’ve loved for as long as I can remember. So when I came across the movie Timeline before I really got into reading, I became slightly obsessed. Is it a good movie? Not really, but for some reason I loved it. When I finally got into reading and found out that the movie was based on a book, I just knew I had to get my hands on it.

It took me awhile to get a copy, but now that I’ve finally read this book I’m a bit disappointed. However, I do feel like a lot of that is my fault. I was super excited to read Timeline, I had high expectations, and I’ve seen the movie too many times to count. I bet if I went into this before watching the movie and not really knowing what to expect, I would have really enjoyed it.

My only real complaint is about Chris. I couldn’t stand him. He was the worst. He is the only problem I could find with the book. Other than him, it is a fun, fast-paced read that I didn’t want to put down.

This was the first book by Crichton that I’ve read, but it wont be the last. I look forward to reading more.

[ashishg_50 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

"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.

[brittanylyn · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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.

[turtlesleap · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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.

[cheryl_in_cc_nv · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Someday I should reread this, now that I'm reading with more care because of wanting to write these GR reviews....

-------------------------
Reread to about 1/4 for the Time Travel Group on GR.  Commented there:

Welp.  My copy finally came in at the library and so I dug right in.  At about 24% I'm kinda wondering if I'm caring, so I'm coming over here, and seeing the references to violence, bruisers, and the so/but formula.  Ah - thanks for letting me know that I can put it down, return it. :)"

Also, the reason I liked Crichton is that I thought I was learning something.  Here, I'm not trusting the accuracy of either the science or the history.  So, indeed, I'm done.

"

[henryjolsen · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

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.

[bethanymoore · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

My favorite Crichton book. Lost in the past, no way to get home, and danger all around. I'm not a huge fan of historical stories, so when this one went back in time, I worried. SO engaging though... I couldn't put the book down until I was done!

[ladyofunicorns · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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.

[areadingmachine · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not one of his best though ten times better than the crappy movie.

Students discover portal being built by rich guy and go back in time to rescue their professor who decided to go walk about. One dickhead brings some explosive and proceeds to get brained with a mace which results in the destruction of the machine so they are trapped in history yayyyyy!!!

Bunch of stuff happens they escape just in time and Billy Connelly is not at all funny.

[jimocracy · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Because this story started so slowly, I almost put this book in my abandoned queue; but I 'm glad I didn't. I enjoyed the story and liked how the authored used quantum theory to make time travel possible. Once the main characters went back in time, there was non-stop action and a gripping plot.