Timeline

A Novel

De: Michael Crichton

Narrado por: 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. . . .

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

Reseñas de la Crítica

"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

A Page Turner

Timeline is a fast-paced science fiction novel which incorporates time travel, historical conflicts during the dark ages (France, 1357) and a group of current day historians and students who are caught dangerously in the middle.

Although slightly “cinematic”, Crichton provides just enough character development, time travel technology and historical reference to keep this book “lightweight” and enjoyable throughout. I especially enjoyed the portrayal of Europe in the 1300s as compared (or actually contrasted) to our current lifestyles. Political affairs, personal interests and greed seem familiar but everyday survival and personal success take on an entirely different meaning. I found it hard to put down towards the finish.

The narration and sound quality were good.

Great historical / science fiction

While this book is definitely meant to be a page turner, it's not a mindless one. The theories that Crichton uses as his premise are fascinating in themselves, and although (as he says in the epilogue) we're still a long way from actually applying them, the plot is close enough to what "might someday be" to make it exciting. The characters are fairly well developed, and the suspense is well-played. I listened to the book in the car on the way to work, and I got so wrapped up in it that I missed my exit on a couple of occasions. This one should definitely be on everyone's list.

'TIME TRAVLERS BEWARE'

I read this book when it first was published. it was a great read, i did not enjoy the audible version. It seemed so contrived, the pacing was off, sometimes our own mental versions of the sounds sights and experiances of the charactors are far better than what the audio director decrees.

Clever!

I loved this story. It was brilliantly written. The narrator was very good, except a couple of the voices were so low volume that I kept having to turn the volume up, then when someone else spoke, it was so loud it blew out my ears. Otherwise, great story and performance.

A decent book

It was a decent listen, However the ending was anti-climactic and a bit disappointing. I was expecting to find the real motive to be more sinister than it was.

Entertaining book, disappointing performance

I enjoyed the story -- fast-moving, entertaining, perhaps a bit far-fetched but, well ... it *is* sci fi. The performance was disappointing, though: the reader uses accents and modulations in tone volume to represent the different characters, and I found this (cheesey) device to be distracting, and often made it difficult to hear/understand. Plan to listen in a quiet place, not (for example) a noisy gym, and try to listen past the performance, it really is a fun book.

Hated for it to end

Great listen! Enjoyed the character development, and felt the narrator captured each uniquely enough to make the story flow quite well. As I said in the headline...Hated for it to end.

Overall a great listen! (spoiler alert)

I really enjoyed the way John narrated this book. He used many different voices which really helped distinguish between the various characters.

I thought the story was very intriguing. Something so unrealistic as time travel (although not *really* time travel) seemed more realistic with the amount of science that was described backing it.

However, there's one part of the book that didn't make sense to me. Spoiler alert starting here:

Michael describes that time travel isn't really possible, and that really they are entering into another universe (one of the many in the multi-verse) to see what it was like at a different time. With the way this is described, changes in a different universe/time would not affect our universe/time. However, in our universe, they found the glasses of the doctor in the archaeological dig site with the note saying "help me". But, this implied they were from a different time... which again, isn't really a different time, but a different (though similar) universe set in a different time. So, they shouldn't really have found the doctor's glasses and note... Am I missing something?

Aside from that issue, I was glued to the audio book the whole way through. Quite a good book and narration!

Fun Listen

I always enjoy a good mixture of real science and fiction. This book kept me listening fairly intently. I'll surely check out more books by Crighton.

Among Crichton's Best!

Where does Timeline rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This has been one of my favorite audiobooks for years - I was very happy to find it on Audible when finding a CD copy was becoming next to impossible!

What did you like best about this story?

"Timeline" is masterfully written. I'm by no means a fan of everything that Crichton has written, but this book expertly transports you to another time and place; it is exhaustively researched, the characters are engaging, and it is a truly thrilling plot.

What does John Bedford Lloyd bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Mr. Lloyd does an excellent job of giving the characters their own voice and personality; even among the community of audiobook narration, it is relatively rare to find someone who can immediately establish numerous characters and bring them to life.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The end, frankly - I won't spoil it, but the very end of the book was wonderfully done. A very poignant, fitting, and moving scene that plays like a movie in your head. (The movie to this book, by the way, was terrible - please don't watch it!)