Timeline

Overview

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. . . . From the Trade Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

"And the Oscar for Best Special Effects goes to: Timeline!" Figure maybe three years before those words are spoken, for Crichton's new novel despite media reports about trouble in selling film rights, which finally went to Paramount is as cinematic as they come, a shiny science-fantasy adventure powered by a superior high concept: a group of young scientists travel back from our time to medieval southern France to rescue their mentor, who's trapped there. The novel, in fact, may improve as a movie; its complex action, as the scientists are swept into the intrigue of the Hundred Years War, can be confusing on the page (though a supplied map, one of several graphics, helps), and most of its characters wear hats (or armor) of pure white or black. Crichton remains a master of narrative drive and cleverness. From the startling opening, where an old man with garbled speech and body parts materializes in the Arizona desert, through the revelation that a venal industrialist has developed a risky method of time-travel (based on movement between parallel universes; as in Crichton's other work, good, hard science abounds), there's not a dull moment. When elderly Yale history prof Edward Johnston travels back to his beloved 15th century and gets stuck, and his assistants follow to the rescue, excitement runs high, and higher still as Crichton invests his story with terrific period detail and as castles, sword-play, jousts, sudden death and enough bold knights-in-armor and seductive ladies-in-waiting to fill any toystore's action-figure shelves appear. There's strong suspense, too, as Crichton cuts between past and present, where the time-travel machinery has broken: Will the heroes survive and make it back The novel has a calculated feel but, even so, it engages as no Crichton tale has done since Jurassic Park, as it brings the past back to vigorous, entertaining life. Agent, Lynn Nesbit. 1,500,000 first printing; Literary Guild nain selection; simultaneous large-print edition and audiobook. (Nov. 16) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information. -- PUBLISHERS WEEKLY.

Author Information

Bio of Michael Crichton

John Michael Crichton, known as Michael Crichton, was born on October 28, 1942 in Chicago, Illinois. He earned his way through Harvard University and Harvard Medical School by writing novels. One of these, The Andromeda Strain (1969), became a bestseller. After graduating summa cum laude, Crichton was a postdoctoral fellow at the Salk Institute in California before becoming a full-time writer and film director. Crichton's carefully researched novels have included Eaters of the Dead (1972), The Terminal Man (1972), The Great Train Robbery (1975), Congo (1980), Sphere (1987), Jurassic Park (1990), Rising Sun (1992), Disclosure (1994), The Lost World (1995) and Airframe (1996). He has also written non-fiction, including Five Patients: The Hospital Explained (1970), Jasper Johns (1977) and Travels (1988). In the late 1960s Crichton also wrote under the names Jeffrey Hudson and John Lange. Awards for Crichton's writing have included Writer of the Year (1970) from the Association of American Medical Writers, and two Edgar Awards (1968 and 1979) from the Mystery Writers of America. Many of Crichton's novels have been made into highly successful films, six of which he directed. He is also the creator and executive producer of the Emmy Award-winning television series ER. In addition to his writing and directorial success, his expertise in information science has enabled him to run a software company and develop a computer game.

Customer Reviews

• Thought Provoking

  Posted January 01, 2007 by Braulio Ochoa, Chandler, AZ

  Michael Crichtons use of technology and real world possibilites creates a scenario thats painfully real. Although the bombast and arrogant nature of the protaganist seems far fetched for a leader of a multibillion dollar company the other characters do their best. The jumpy writing makes sure you pay attention or you'll get lost. Overall a great story.

Additional Info

Imprint

Ballantine Books

Filesize

1.53 MB

Number of Pages

512

eBook ISBN

9780345469915

Awards

• Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Book Award
• Evergreen Young Adult Book Award
• Listen Up Awards
• Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award