by Michael Crichton
Another great sci-fi thriller from the
writer of Jurassic Park
Reviewed by: Alan McClymont
About Alan McClymont
Michael Crichton is well known by everyone for writing
such great thrillers as Congo, Jurassic park and The
Andromeda strain. This one doesn't stray far from the
style of any of his previous books. This, however, is
no bad thing. Sticking to the tried and trusted
method of taking a far-fetched scientific theory and
then following that idea through to its logical
conclusion is exactly what he has always done and
exactly what he did here.
I personally am always a sucker for these ideas.
Every time I read any book like this I take the idea
and I agree with it and I believe that if only someone
could prove it to be true then we are only one step
away from this story from becoming reality.
Unfortunately, my scientific knowledge is equivalent
to that of a 12 year old and my memory is only
slightly more sophisticated. So, after a few months I
tend to find myself believing in another theory, the
previous one completely forgotten. I console myself
with the fact that many others must share my
willingness to accept scientific theory.
This surely, however, cannot explain the success of
Crichton's novels. This novel itself is based on the
premise that nano-technology is capable of
transporting people between various alternative
realities (basically, they can travel to any point in
time). A group of scientists have been conducting
experiments but they encounter trouble while in 14th
century France. Suddenly a team of archaeologists are
thrust into a deadly adventure and their knowledge of
what they have always studied as a matter of history
is now a matter of life or death.
As you can probably tell from the quick review that I
have given I find the actual storyline (as good as it
may be) to be much less important than the ideas which
are developed and tested. Crichton does, however use
a wonderful storyline to build his ideas around and
his theories seem to be well researched. The book is
probably his best written adventure since Jurassic
park and no less far-fetched (or believable) than it.
Click here to buy this book, or read more about it at Amazon.com: Timeline
Copyright © by Alan McClymont, 2003
Reviewed by Alan McClymont :
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-- Timeline - by Michael Crichton
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-- Player Piano - by Kurt Vonnegut
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