Product Description

An old man wearing a brown robe is found wandering disoriented in the Arizona desert. He is miles from any human habitation and has no memory of how he got to be there, or who he is. The only clue to his identity is the plan of a medieval monastery in his pocket. So begins the mystery of "Timeline", a mystery that will catapult a group of young scientists back to the Middle Ages and into the heart of the Hundred Years' War. Imagine the risks of such a journey. Imagine the impossible.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #27942 in Books
• Published on: 2006-08-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 512 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
When you step into a time machine, fax yourself through a "quantum foam wormhole" and step out in feudal France circa 1357, be very, very afraid. If you aren't strapped back in precisely 37 hours after your visit begins, you'll miss the quantum bus back to 1999 and be stranded in a civil war, caught between crafty abbots, mad lords and peasant bandits all eager to cut your throat. You'll also have to dodge catapults that hurl sizzling pitch over castle battlements. On the social front, you should avoid provoking "the butcher of Crecy" or Sir Oliver may lop your head off with a swoosh of his broadsword or cage and immerse you in "Milady's Bath", a brackish dungeon pit into which live rats are tossed now and then for prisoners to eat.

This is the plight of the heroes of Timeline, Michael Crichton's thriller. They're historians in 1999 employed by a tech billionaire-genius with more than a few of Bill Gates' most unlovable quirks. Like the entrepreneur in Crichton's Jurassic Park, Doniger plans a theme park featuring artefacts from a lost world revived via cutting-edge science. When the project's chief historian sends a distress call to 1999 from 1357, the boss man doesn't tell the younger historians the risks they'll face trying to save him. At first, the interplay between eras is clever but Timeline swiftly becomes a swashbuckling old-fashioned adventure, with just a dash of science and time paradox in the mix. Most of the cool facts are about the Middle Ages and Crichton marvellously brings the past to life without ever letting the pulse-pounding action slow down. At one point, a time-tripper tries to enter the Chapel of Green Death. Unfortunately, its custodian, a crazed giant with terrible teeth and a bad case of lice, soon has her head on a block. "She saw a shadow move across the grass as he raised his axe into the air." Try not to turn the page!

Through the narrative can be glimpsed the glowing bones of the movie that may be made from Timeline and the high tech computer game that should hit the market in 2000. Expect many clashing swords and chase scenes through secret castle passages. But the book stands alone, tall and scary as a knight in armour shining with blood. --Tim Appelo

From the Publisher
Imagine the impossible

From the Back Cover
An old man wearing a brown robe is found wandering disoriented in the Arizona desert. He is miles away from any human habitation and has no memory of how he got to be there, or who he is. The only clue to his identity is the plan of a medieval monastery in his pocket.
This mystery will catapult a group of young scientists back to the middle Ages into the heart of the Hundred Years' War.
Imagine the risks of such a journey. Imagine the impossible.
'Timeline combines all the ingredients that make Crichton's books compulsive reading... a brilliantly imagined story'
Iain Pears, Los Angeles Times

'Hollywood's favourite thriller writer evokes the experience of time travel superbly... a rollicking read'
Observer

'A thrilling race against time'
Express

Customer Reviews

Enjoyable but mindless romp
First of all, forget the dreadful film as no book could be that bad. This is an enjoyable but somewhat daft yarn that has also the usual Crichton elements of scientific hokum, goodies, baddies and a race against time. This time there are no dinosaurs or robots gone mad, but time travelling scientists out of their depth in medieval France. It's a clever combination of innocent abroad, historical romp and techno thriller and has the usual cast of 2D characters we expect from (and forgive) Michael Crichton.

This is not a history lesson and it should not be taken as a realistic portrayal of life and conflict between the dastradly English and the noble French. It is, however, an entertaining no-brainer that is ideal fodder for long flights and holidays or when you're in need of a light-weight, enjoyable thriller that will allow your brain to coast along. Great fun but not great history.

DAZZLING...IMAGINATIVE...RIVETING...
This book is an absolute page turner. It opens with one of the most absorbing first chapters I have ever read. An elderly man is found wandering in the desert, speaking in rhyme. There is something not quite right about him. The hospital to which he is taken discovers that the anomalies do not end with just his speech. Something is very wrong with him.

Highly inventive and compelling, the reader is reeled in hook, line, and sinker, right from the get go. A wholly plot driven book, make no mistake about it, the story revolves around a highly secretive, technological corporation, ITC, headed up by a megalomaniacal, young genius, who is tooling around with quantum physics in a way that has never before been done. Our genius is spearheading a project that is truly cutting edge. Of course, he is not doing this for the betterment of mankind. He is doing it simply because it will ultimately result in mega bucks for him, if all goes according to plan. Alas, the best-laid plans often go awry.

Cut to a group of dedicated historians who are involved in an archaeological dig, located along the Dordogne River in France. Their project, the ultimate restoration of a fourteenth century, feudal town, is very generously funded by ITC. Now why would a technological giant such as ITC be funding such a project?

This is the basic premise of the book. The use of quantum physics is applied in such a way as to access the past. Here, a group of historians find themselves with the chance of a lifetime. They can actually enter fourteenth century, feudal France and experience it themselves. There is quite an adventure in store for them.

Their reason for doing so, however, is not research. They are actually on a mission to rescue their chief historian who had ventured into fourteenth century, feudal France, using ITC's technological application of quantum physics. Due to an unfortunate set of circumstances, however, he found himself mired in the fourteenth century and unable to return to the present, as originally planned.

What happens to these intrepid historians will captivate the reader. Well written and thoroughly researched, those who, like me, love science fiction, as well as historical fiction, will, most likely, enjoy this book. As a devotee of medieval history, I was entranced by the historical detail contained within the novel. I also found the book somewhat reminiscent of the sci-fi television series called "Sliders", in which the concept of quantum physics is utilized in order to slide into parallel universes.

All in all, this well-written novel makes for riveting, escapist entertainment. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found that I simply could not put it down!

A DAZZLING, HIGHLY IMAGINATIVE, AND ABSORBING BOOK...
This book is an absolute page-turner. It opens with one of the most absorbing first chapters I have ever read. An elderly man is found wandering in the desert, speaking in rhyme. There is something not quite right about him. The hospital to which he is taken discovers that the anomalies do not end with just his speech. Something is very wrong with him.

Highly inventive and compelling, the reader is reeled in hook, line, and sinker, right from the get go. A wholly plot driven book, make no mistake about it, the story revolves around a highly secretive, technological corporation, ITC, headed up by a megalomaniacal, young genius, who is tooling around with quantum physics in a way that has never before been done. Our genius is spearheading a project that is truly cutting edge. Of course, he is not doing this for the betterment of mankind. He is doing it simply because it will ultimately result in mega bucks for him, if all goes according to plan. Alas, the best-laid plans often go awry.

Cut to a group of dedicated historians who are involved in an archaeological dig, located along the Dordogne River in France. Their project, the ultimate restoration of a fourteenth century, feudal town, is very generously funded by ITC. Now why would a technological giant such as ITC be funding such a project?

This is the basic premise of the book. The use of quantum physics is applied in such a way as to access the past. Here, a group of historians find themselves with the chance of a lifetime. They can actually enter fourteenth century, feudal France and experience it themselves. There is quite an adventure in store for them.

Their reason for doing so, however, is not research. They are actually on a mission to rescue their chief historian who had ventured into fourteenth century, feudal France, using ITC's technological application of quantum physics. Due to an unfortunate set of circumstances, however, he found himself mired in the fourteenth century and unable to return to the present, as originally planned.

What happens to these intrepid historians will captivate the reader. Well written and thoroughly researched, those who, like me, love science fiction, as well as historical fiction, will, most likely, enjoy this book. As a devotee of medieval history, I was entranced by the historical detail contained within the novel. I also found the book somewhat reminiscent of the sci-fi television series called "Sliders", in which the concept of quantum physics is utilized in order to slide into parallel universes.

All in all, this well-written, plot driven novel makes for riveting, escapist entertainment. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found that I simply could not put it down!