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's most unlovable quirks. Like the entrepreneur in Crichton's Jurassic Park, Doniger plans a theme park featuring artifacts 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 marvelously 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 ax into the air." I dare you not to turn the page!

Timeline by Brandon

I absolutely loved Timeline. It's definitely one of Michael Crichton's best books. I love most books about time travel, but this one tops them all. It is very exciting and explains all the scientific stuff very clearly, so that I could understand it. The plot is very good, too. The main idea is that four archeaologists travel int the 14th century and have many adventures. This is great historical fiction and also a great book. I would definitely reccomend it.

Decent, for what it is

I found this book to be a lot like the movie-nothing spectacular, but fun and enjoyable if you take everything at face value. The pseudo-science won't stand up to much scrutiny, and while the history will probably do a little better, I'm sure it too is flawed. However, I didn't read this book for a science lesson or a history lesson. I read it to be entertained, and it did a good job of that.

True, there are quite a few plot holes, but I was able to overlook them and just enjoy the book and the adventures the characters were having. Anyone looking for realism or a strong plot will probably not enjoy this book, but I enjoyed it for what it was and didn't expect too much from it.

Quantum Foam?

Dr. Crichton once again presents scientific theories and thought in such a way that they come across as believable fact...

The premise of this book is dimensional travel. Everything from quantum foam to shroedinger's cat is explained in layman's terms in this book, and in this way, it's a great hitchiker's guide to modern physics.

The plot of the book, however, isn't quite what some of his other works have been. I enjoyed the dimensional travel; I enjoyed the scientific discussions. I found that the motivations of the characters were not well explained, and, the paradoxes inherent to dimensional travel are merely skimmed over. That makes the book lose a point with me.

Still, though, an enjoyable book.

(*)>