Timeline

A Novel

By: Michael Crichton

Narrated by: John Bedford Lloyd

Length: 15 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

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. . . .

©1999 by Michael Crichton (P)1999 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio Publishing, A Division of Random House Inc.

Critic reviews

"COMPULSIVE READING . . . BRILLIANTLY IMAGINED."--Los Angeles Times

"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."--San Diego Union-Tribune

Entertaining Book

In Michael Crichton's Timeline, he uses the principles of quantum physics to take characters back in time to key points in human history. Robert Doniger has created a technology that can travel between multiple, almost identical dimensions to bring people to other times in history. His goal is to create theme parks, and he's invested billions in the technology and in archaeological investigations at sites that will become tourist destinations in his grand scheme. Everything begins to fall apart when some of his scientists travel back in time too many times, leaving clues that are found by the modern-day archaeologists. Professor Edward Johnston pays a visit to Doniger to find out what's going on. He's sent back in time to 13th century France so that he can see for himself, but something goes wrong and he's trapped there. His team is recruited by Doniger to go back and rescue him, and they have 37 hours to do so. Of course, everything goes wrong once they travel back in time and it comes down to the last few seconds before we find out if they get back out.

Like many of Mr. Crichton's other books, Timeline takes a topic of contemporary research and creates an alarmist premise around it. Similar to other books about time travel, this one creates situations that just can't be explained away; no amount of logic applied to it makes sense. In spite of that weakness, Timeline is an exciting romp through history that kept me turning the pages to find out how everything was resolved.

John Bedford Lloyd did a good job with the delivery of the story

Great Fun

More than half way through this and find it a rollicking good trip. I visualize the settings and characters and get totally immersed as I plod away on the treadmill. I only allow myself to listen when working out and I have doubled my time on occasion because I "can't put the book down". I might get skinny reading books this good!

GREAT GREAT

MORE FASINATING LISTENING TO IT THAN IS WAS READING IT. THE READER IS GREAT. THE STORY SO SPELLBINDING.

Glad it was my first!

I'm very happy this was my first audiobook. I enjoyed every minute and it was better than watching a movie. This book has Technology, Science, and History all in one book with a nice fictional twist.

This is a good one!

Wow, I really liked this book! The historical period of the book in medieval France is a time and location that is not always used in many historical novels. The details of the battle scenes were very realistic and held my interest throughout the book. I'm looking forward to another one of these coming out. Great ending too!

Timeline

Great book! Loved it from start to finish.

Narrator varies volume - very annoying

I haven't yet finished this audiobook, so i can't comment on the story line, although so far it has kept my attention. However, the narrator many time uses the volume of his voice rather than the inflection to distinguish between characters. This causes two problems - all the women sound the same (quiet) and all the men sound the same (loud) except for two men who sound different from the others because they "talk" faster. But of course, those two fast, loud talkers sound the same. On top of being confusing because of the volume issue, it is also very difficult to hear. If you are listening on headphones, then you have to turn it up enough to hear the quiet voices, but then it blares in your ear when it is a loud person. Since sometimes a back-and-forth dialogue occurs between a 'loud' character and a 'soft' character, every other sentence can vary, so it isn't something you can just keep adjusting. Even when listening on a stereo it is still very annoying.

Fantastic story

Well researched with great narration. I highly enjoyed this book. Awesome suspense. Don't be swayed by the negative reviews. The narrator did an excellent job.

Quality of Recording Lacking

This recording sounds like it was off of a vinyl record. There is static and as much as 20 second gaps in sound - and not always between chapters.

The story itself is ok - not one Crichton's best, but the science concepts are fascinating.

Awesome story

Michael Crichton was a gifted man. Thank you for this intriguing story! you are missed.