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omair's review
adventurous
informative
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Timeline reads like exactly what you would expect a Crichton novel to read. If you know what that means then you probably know how you'll feel about it. If that's not your cup of tea, then you're either going to read this for the practical conversation on time travel and the science behind it, or you're reading it because it explores a less glamorous medieval setting, but also one that is less often written about too.
Normally this would all be appealing to me, but this time it misses. Unlike some of his other work, like Jurassic Park, the generic characters that are our protagonists never rise above their predictableness. Timeline ends up being an easy-enough read, but never feels to capture me and rise above. That's not to say it's a bad book, but it is one that won't linger in the mind. A sad sort of irony for a book about time travel to be one I would likely never revisit.
Normally this would all be appealing to me, but this time it misses. Unlike some of his other work, like Jurassic Park, the generic characters that are our protagonists never rise above their predictableness. Timeline ends up being an easy-enough read, but never feels to capture me and rise above. That's not to say it's a bad book, but it is one that won't linger in the mind. A sad sort of irony for a book about time travel to be one I would likely never revisit.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Gore, Death, Misogyny, Murder, and Sexism
Moderate: Alcohol, Vomit, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Kidnapping, and Gaslighting
Minor: Cultural appropriation, Excrement, Genocide, and Gun violence
shieldbearer's review against another edition
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
There were some things I really liked and some things I really didn't. The premise is excellent. You can tell the book is very well researched. however, the weak point really is the characters, except for Lady Claire and Merrick. Kate.. man I really liked some things about her, but she didn't has a much of a presence as I'd have liked, though I do love the way her skills as a climber were so vital to so many sequences. I felt it dragged some with unecessary complications, and I really wish the character dynamics were better fleshed out between everyone. Fuck Chris though, like his development was rushed and hamfisted just so he could get to fuck Kate in the epilogue. I really don't see the point of making Lady Claire pretend to be a boy, though I do appreciate her relationship with Merrick was NOT the main reason he stayed in the past. I also wished the doctor and the cop from the start had a more significant role and didn't end up scapegoated.
Some of my dissatisfaction is from this not being the book I would have written, but I really, really disliked Chris.
Some of my dissatisfaction is from this not being the book I would have written, but I really, really disliked Chris.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War, Murder, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Infidelity, Child death, and Blood
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexism, Confinement, Acephobia/Arophobia, Vomit, Medical content, Torture, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Pregnancy
Minor: Rape
nadiaherondale's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I loved the science heavy aspect of the book (must be cause I'm a scientist myself) but I can understand that some people might be thrown back by it. To be fair I wasn't expecting much about this book at first, and I felt like the start was a bit too slow compared to the ending which felt a little rushed. I was also a big fan of the characters, it was great to be able to experience what everyone was thinking and how the way they saw what was happening was different.
A time-travel classic in my opinion.
A time-travel classic in my opinion.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Death, and Vomit
Minor: Rape
meganpbennett's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Timeline is an interesting time travel science fiction novel. It starts with several tangentially connected parts - a man found in the desert, rambling about Quantum Foam, and an archeology dig at a Hundred Years War castle in France - that eventually come together to form the basis of time travel. We have an interesting cast of characters, who all have a specific skill set that helps them when the learn the truth. When they learn that time travel is possible.
Michael Crichton write a remarkably plausible story about time travel, where people have to travel back to the high middle ages to rescue someone who got accidentally stuck, and survive all of the issues of a castle in the middle of the Hundred Years War. Hey, at least there's no Plague, right?
I remember reading this book when I was in high school and ended reading all of the hard science sci-fi books by Crichton, and haven't read it since. I vaugely remembered a few sections, but not much of the bulk of the plot. It's still quite interesting, and the depictions of the high middle ages is one that take into account a more modern historical opinion of the time period, making allowances for the propaganda of the Renaissance.
Michael Crichton write a remarkably plausible story about time travel, where people have to travel back to the high middle ages to rescue someone who got accidentally stuck, and survive all of the issues of a castle in the middle of the Hundred Years War. Hey, at least there's no Plague, right?
I remember reading this book when I was in high school and ended reading all of the hard science sci-fi books by Crichton, and haven't read it since. I vaugely remembered a few sections, but not much of the bulk of the plot. It's still quite interesting, and the depictions of the high middle ages is one that take into account a more modern historical opinion of the time period, making allowances for the propaganda of the Renaissance.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Death, Blood, War, Xenophobia, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Moderate: Vomit
stefievee's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
The beginning of the book really piqued my interest, but once the characters get into time-travel they start to fall into super cliché, trope-y roles and I was frankly just rolling my eyes by the (very predictable) end We have the self-sacrificing hero whose convenient lifelong obsession with Medieval fighting makes him a natural at jousting and fighting off all the knights that are after him and his companions. Hero guy ends up with the secondary recurring female character in the past timeline, whose main trait is seducing people into doing her bidding. Then there's the whiny guy who keeps getting the group in trouble but also keeps saving the main female character and finally, said main female character who continuously escapes things by climbing because she's a climber, and of course ends up married to now-mature whiny guy and pregnant with his child at the end.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Gore, and Violence
Minor: Animal death and Vomit
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