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Timeline

A Novel

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Timeline

Written by: Michael Crichton
Narrated by: John Bedford Lloyd
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About this listen

In an Arizona desert a man wanders in a daze, speaking words that make no sense. Within twenty-four hours he is dead, his body swiftly cremated by his only known associates. Halfway around the world archaeologists make a shocking discovery at a medieval site. Suddenly they are swept off to the headquarters of a secretive multinational corporation that has developed an astounding technology. Now this group is about to get a chance not to study the past but to enter it. And with history opened to the present, the dead awakened to the living, these men and women will soon find themselves fighting for their very survival—six hundred years ago. . . .

©1999 by Michael Crichton (P)1999 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio Publishing, A Division of Random House Inc.
Adventure Fantasy Science Fiction Suspense Fiction Heartfelt
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What the critics say

"COMPULSIVE READING . . . BRILLIANTLY IMAGINED."--Los Angeles Times

"EXCITING . . . CLASSIC ADVENTURE . . . [A] SWASHBUCKLING NOVEL . . . CRICHTON DELIVERS."--USA Today

"MORE SCREAMS PER PAGE . . . THAN JURASSIC PARK AND THE LOST WORLD COMBINED. . . . THE PACE WILL LEAVE MANY BREATHLESSLY GRASPING FOR OXYGEN MASKS."--San Diego Union-Tribune

What listeners say about Timeline

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A Crichton's Great. Balanced Insight into the Past

Some hate Crichton for no reason. His prose is a little plain, but highly effective. He was trained to be a doctor, and his writing shows clarity and purpose.

The story is strong, but acts more like a survey of the past. The events are good enough. The characters are actually great; very realistic, and subtle. My major gripe is how one character dies at the end. It seemed rushed. However, the well crafted, bittersweet epilogue more than makes up for it.

People are used to loud and energetic protagonists, but they are simply not that. They are college students and academics. I found myself at home among the educated introvert. L

Some have complained that they escape too many close calls. Wrong again. They survive many dangerous, but easily survivable scenarios. It's realistic. They aren't on the knife's edge all the time. Crichton was a doctor, he would know.

Loved it as a teen, still like it as an English Literature student. Though now I can see its flaws, I can also see it's deep merit and appreciate the many months of highly accurate research that must have gone into this. You can learn from Crichton, and here you can learn about the past too.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic!

I read this book when it first came out and loved it. I decided to listen to it this time around. The narrator was excellent and brought the characters to life.

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1 person found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Great romp of a read! #Audible1

I enjoyed this audiobook enormously. First of all, the reader did a great job! He perfectly captured Crichton's bent for the sarcastic, and even did distinct voices for each character! LOL My only complaint was that he mispronounced certain words. But apart from that, he was an excellent listen!

As for the book itself, it's an immensely gripping read! OK, hearing them get chased around the same castle gets a bit tedious occasionally, but Crichton saves it nicely with a combination of humour and plot and character development. And he's clearly done his historical homework, too, which is enormously appreciated! He's done an excellent job portraying the period accurately. And in fact, the book was quite informative! I learned a number of things about the 14th century while listening to it that I hadn't known before. And pleasantly, although he certainly doesn't sanitize the period, Crichton mercifully refrains from some of the gross-out of, say, Micro, for which my stomach was profoundly grateful!

My one regret with the book is that the love-story between Andre and Lady Claire was a way sub-plot. I wish Crichton had given that element far more emphasis! But then, he's many things, but a romantic isn't one of them from everything of his I've read thus far. Overall, though, it was a great read, and definitely one I'll listen to again!

#Audible1

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Timeline by Michael Crichton

Great story, just as you expect from this author. The narration was very good. My only complaint would be with the editing because there were a few long gaps that made me think there was something wrong with my device.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic book and engaging narration

I love this story. I’ve read the book countless times and enjoyed it here again as an audiobook. The narrator was engaging and used distinct voices for different characters which I truly enjoyed. The editing could have been better… there were weirdly long silent periods between chapters at times! It made me question if there were some issues with the app at the beginning. Once I realized the gaps were related to chapter change, I just accepted it LOL but they were LONG! But it didn’t take away from the experience. I would most definitely listen to this book again!

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    4 out of 5 stars

Sound issues

I don’t know why, but the narrator decided to literally whisper for several major characters (which speaking at regular volume for other characters), which means there is no way to get a standard volume where you can hear everything. It is incredibly annoying and makes it really difficult to follow along, especially while driving. I either had to constantly turn up the volume whenever those characters were speaking or everyone else was yelling if I kept it at a volume where I could hear the whispers. It was very distracting and had it not been an interesting book I would have given up. I recommend the book based on the story, but the narrator came very close to ruining it. I don’t understand why these things are checked and calibrated so you can have one volume for the whole book.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Captivating

This was an excellent book. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to it. The different accents that the narrator was able to do made it fun to follow.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

great story

Its a very good novel and a great story. Some times there are gaps of silence that can last for seconds, you would think that something had happened and that Audible just randomly stopped, but nope it didn't. Audio quality is fine, but you can tell when a new reading session had begun for the recording, not quite seamless. Otherwise, good story will read again some time.

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Amazing

Loved the movie, love the book more. The performance was spectacular. Two enthusiastic thumbs up!

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    5 out of 5 stars

Engaging story. Historical Fiction and Adventure!

Loved the story so much that I didn't want it to end. The narrator was extraordinary.

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