NO TIME LIKE THE PAST! (Timeline - Michael Crichton)

Member Name: Mauri

Product:	Timeline - Michael Crichton
Date:	20/05/03 (922 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fast Paced, Easy Read

Disadvantages: Lack of depth, The ending

From the outset I must admit that this is the first Michael Crichton that I have read, although I have seen a lot of his work adapted on film. It is difficult to judge how films relate back to their original novels and usually I’m reluctant to compare the two genres directly but judging from the nature of the Crichton adaptations I have seen I suspected his books would be fast paced and at least make some attempt at scientific realism. In the end that was just about what I got.

THE STORY

The book starts off as a Sci-fi/adventure/conspiracy novel. An old man is found wandering in the desert near Santa Fe. Soon after being found he dies mumbling what is thought to be gibberish. When doctors examine the body they are puzzled by many anomalies; organs connected to the wrong part so the body, blood vessels out of place, When it is further discovered that he is a scientist working for a secretive research corporation International Technology Corporation, ITC led by the brilliant young whiz kid, Robert Donigerby (a sort of sinister Bill Gates like figure) suspicions are aroused. The secret project is investigating the manipulation of the principles of Quantum Physics to enable people to travel back in time and we soon conclude that ITC is not doing this purely for the good of scientific research.

At the same time we are introduced to a group of archaeologists and historians excavating a site in the Dordogne in South West France, their research mysteriously funded by ITC! Why would ITC want a 14th century monastery restored? Well it doesn’t take a brain surgeon (or even a Quantum Physicist!) to work out that the historians will soon get a chance of putting their knowledge of the 14th century to the ultimate test, unfortunately as is the case in most stories by Chichton, things don’t quite go to plan…

This is a book that is very much plot led with many twists and turn along the way so I shouldn’t really go
in to much more detail for fear of spoiling it for future readers.

MY OPINION

Crichton has spent a lot of time 'setting the scene' by explaining in quite a lot detail the history of medieval France and the hundred years war. He also attempts to explain the plausible science behind his basic premise of time travel, a much harder task.

Although I’m not a quantum physicist I have some knowledge of physics and even I could tell that the ‘science’ outlined in this book was really no more than pseudo-science. Having said that Crichton has the ability to mix into his tales just enough basic ‘real’ scientific theory to make it believable. This part of the book does make for interesting reading and included diagrams to aid the explanations but I felt that the part dealing with the science probably didn’t need to be so detailed, after all we all accept the reality of time travel in sci-fi novel and films at a drop of a hat, making it ‘plausible’ is simply not necessary.

The ability to formulate complex plots and intellectualising the ideas behind the story are probably Crichton best feature as a writer, his worst feature is characterisation.

The characters in this book are introduced to us as if they were being cast for the movie (which I’m sure they will be in the not too distant future).

We have the ageing Professor Edward Johnston, still a good-looking man, active affable, adored by his juniors and the top man in his field. André Marek a younger scientist is also included, good looking (in a rugged way) bright, and an expert in medieval weaponry( that’s useful). Chris Hughes is the graduate student that always gets into trouble and then of course we have Kate Erickson the young, blonde, attractive female historian…and so on…

I found them all a bit contrived and predictable, they seemed to be there solely for the purpose of pushin
g forward the narrative, you could never get an idea of what they were like beyond their physical descriptions. Is this the kind of book that suffers from the use of two-dimensional characters? Probably not. Once the time travel (or travel into a parallel multiverse time??? I never quite got the hang of that!) has taken place the plot really gets going and the action is kept at such a good pace that the characters soon become incidental and are quickly accepted as part of the story. Despite the pace of the story increasing by this stage paradoxically this is also the stage where for me the book loses its way. There is a major change in narrative and from initially being an interesting if flawed Sci-fi thriller it becomes a historical adventure, which unfortunately doesn’t work as well.

Don’t get me wrong I still enjoyed the second part of the book. Crichton gives us our fair share of jousting, sword play and gruesome deaths although towards the end I was getting a little fed up by the routine capture and escape and re-capture of the main characters! The medieval world is brought to life and again it is obvious that Crichton has done extensive research to enable to write about this period. The areas in the Dordogne are described accurately and I suspect that even some of the historical characters involved actually existed. What slightly spoiled ‘timeline’ it for me was the ending, which I found completely incredible even within the context of such an implausible story.

The author failed to credibly explain the motivation for the whole project and also failed to convince me that the actions of the main protagonist were in character with their actions in the rest of the story. The conspiracy element in the story effectively fizzles out by the end and we are left slightly unsatisfied.

OVERALL

Is ‘Timeline’ worth reading? On balance it is. Despite its flaws it does manage to keep your interest throug
hout and it was quite a page-turner. You are not going to get any great insight in to the human condition or even in to quantum mechanics but lazing around on a beach, the sun beating down and a cool drink by your side this is just about right.

A slightly more coherent ending might have made this into an even better holiday read but I can still give it a fair recommendation…or you could just wait for the film to be made, I’m sure Sean Connery will make a great Prof.

‘Timeline’ is available in paperback (512 pages) published by Arrow;
ISBN: 0099244721 you can buy it from Amzon.co.uk for £5.59 (+p & p).

Thanks for reading and rating this opinion!

© Mauri 2003

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