Book review -- Timeline
Timeline: A Novel by Michael Crichton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Meaning no distrespect to the author (who recently passed), this book is typical of his body of work. It reads more like a slightly fleshed out screen play than a thought-provoking novel. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing--heck, if I write knowing I could sell each action novel to Hollywood, I'd be cashing in, too. My point is that this is yet another example of the Crichton formula: an intriguing premise, just enough junk science to lend some credibility, 2D stereotypes characters easily cast, and non-stop action to fill in the gaps without giving you enough time to stop and say, "Wait, what?"
I'm a student of the time period in which most of this book is set, so I'll give credit for the homework the author did in "creating" the world. The writing style is descriptive enough that I could imagine most of it, even without the occasional drawings provided.
The only reason I'm giving this book 3 stars rather than 4 is that, as with all the other books by Crichton that I've read, this book suffers from lack of character development. We're given just enough to make assumptions before we're off and running, and it leaves me without any vested interest in what happens to any of the characters. I almost think this could have been a stronger story to just stick with one POV and add some actual emotion to the mix.
All this being said, the book is worth reading, just because it is a fun premise--just like most of his books. Time travel? Dinosaur DNA? Yes, please!
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