Michael Crichton's new novel opens on the threshold of the twenty-first century. It is a world of exploding advances on the frontiers of technology. Information moves instantly between two points, without wires or networks. Computers are built from single molecules. Any moment of the past can be actualized -- and a group of historians can enter, literally, life in fourteenth-century
feudal France.
Imagine the risks of such a journey.
Not since Jurassic Park has Michael Crichton given us such a magnificent adventure. Here, he combines a science of the future -- the emerging field of quantum technology -- with the complex realities of the medieval past. In a heart-stopping narrative, Timeline carries us into a realm of unexpected suspense and danger, overturning our most basic ideas of what is possible.
--front flap
Schmarrn mit männlichen Männern und Quark mit Quanten
2 stars
Hier können Männer noch Männer und Helden sein und sich von Frauen anschmachten lassen. Die Frauen sind zwar auch irgendwie tapfer, aber die Kerle erst!
Na gut, das kennt man.
Die Geschichte wäre allerdings ein bissken weniger blödsinnig gewesen, wäre der Autor nicht so sehr damit beschäftigt, die angebliche Funktionsweise der Zeitmaschinen zu erklären. Natürlich aufgeblähter Blödsinn mit Quanten und Paralleluniversen, der schlicht zu ausführlich ist und zudem sehr an den Haaren herbeigezogen.
Immerhin, ein wenig unterhaltsam war es trotzdem..
Once the action starts, the plot is pretty fun. But this is over a third of the way through. Until then is exposition about the physics of the time travel. This was written in the late '90s, when everything mysterious had 'quantum' in the title. Although the physics explained seems correct, it really has no use toward the story. He should've just left it mysterious.
And, with a little bit of clunky prose as well, I can't recommend this book.
Review of 'Rescate en el tiempo 1999-1357/ Timeline' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Siempre que leo algo de Michael Crichton no me defrauda. Sin desvelar nada de la trama en este libro se mezclan la ciencia ficción con la arqueología medieval de una forma que no defrauda. Por otro parte, la película que hay basada en este libro (Timeline) no merece ni verla, eliminan todo lo que tiene el libro de interés.
Michael Crichton writes realistic, near-future sci-fi and his books just captivate me. I can’t even really say why. This book is about a team of archaeologists excavating and reconstructing a French village from the 1300s. When they discover multiple anomalies with their site — chief among them being a modern eyeglass lens buried there — they are whisked off to the headquarters of the multinational multibillion-dollar corporation that sponsors their dig. There they learn that the company has the ability to go back in time, and that their help is needed to rescue their dig leader from that past. On their trip back, they learn a lot about the history of their site, and they have some adventures of their own
Zu viel öder Männer-Frauen-Quark (Männer müssen reiten und mit dem Schwert umgehen können & die Frau retten, die Frau sagt dann "my hero!" und lässt sich willig schwängern), aber immerhin: Die erste Actionszene auf Basis einer Mehlstaubexplosion, die mir in Buch oder Film begegnet ist.
Timeline starts by providing the reader a quick background in quantum physics research, who the priniciple players are, and that four graduate students learn that this new technology is anything but benign. After the setup, events get werid quick: travellers find a man wandering in the Arizona desert speaking incoherently. At the hospital, orderlies notice that his shirt pattern doesn't line up; an MRI technician discovers blood vessels that don't line up in his fingers. A police officer start to investigate the odd death.
In France, archaeologists are confronted by a map with extraordinary detail that is sent to them by the police officer in Arizona. The company, ITC, providing money for their dig, also seems to have more details regarding the site than they have. Details don't add up, and Professor Johnston, head of the excavation, visits ITC headquarters to investigate. Within 24 hours, his students find a note …
Timeline starts by providing the reader a quick background in quantum physics research, who the priniciple players are, and that four graduate students learn that this new technology is anything but benign. After the setup, events get werid quick: travellers find a man wandering in the Arizona desert speaking incoherently. At the hospital, orderlies notice that his shirt pattern doesn't line up; an MRI technician discovers blood vessels that don't line up in his fingers. A police officer start to investigate the odd death.
In France, archaeologists are confronted by a map with extraordinary detail that is sent to them by the police officer in Arizona. The company, ITC, providing money for their dig, also seems to have more details regarding the site than they have. Details don't add up, and Professor Johnston, head of the excavation, visits ITC headquarters to investigate. Within 24 hours, his students find a note from him in the dig, requesting help. The students are flown to ITC headquarters, to enter the past, a world of unknown danger, to attempt a rescue.
I could not help but feel that I've read this book before, that I was reading a book developed from a formula: introduce the technology with hints of danger, show a scene of danger or destruction as a result of usnig the technology, send unwitting folks to use or see the technology, have them fight to survive, and then wrap up with the aftermath. In short, I felt that I had re-read Jurassic Park, but with less excitement, and instead of running from dinosaurs, the heroes ran from people with swords.
I was disappointed, because I expected the police officer that appears in the beginning of the book to uncover more evidence, to expose the goings-on of ITC. Several threads that had a possibility of suspense were forgotten, leaving the reader with disappointment.
I felt that the book ultimately did not deliver on its promises. Many of the characters were under developed. A surprise character shows up later, and the way the character is revealed was hard to believe.
Overall, I feel that I got what I expected. An entertaining, if light, read. And yet I feel let down because the story was formulaic, and because several loose ends were not resolved. This isn't the Chrichton books I recall reading in years past, and ultimately is a book that I'd recommend with reservations.
