Timeline by Michael Crichton
Rating : 9 / 10
Those who have read Timeline may not have found it good enough to be given a nine out of ten. But with a person like me, who loves science fiction and has been reading murder mysteries for a long time now, Timeline came as a really good break. The book is based on the well known concept of parallel universes born from the two slit experiment (in optics) and what happens when just one photon incident on any one of the slits.
The scientists (in the book) have found a way to use these concepts to help achieve time travel, especially to times in the past. Although nothing much was given about whether this machine could help in traveling into the future as well or not, but I guess the author intentionally avoided that confusion.
The leading characters of this story go back into time in 1357 in the middle of the Hundred Years’ War in Europe. Again, my history knowledge seemed insufficient and a period of ‘google and wikipedia’ followed. The scenes, the historical structures and the customs and traditions of those times are beautifully explained. But there was something that I didn’t enjoy in the book. The science fiction part is limited to only the initial chapters. As soon as the historians enter the old world, the adventure begins and there is not even a mention of science until the very end.
The part that I loved the most was the small but extremely effective speech of Robert Doniger about history and its importance in the present world (in the end). A wonderful book and must read for all Crichton and sci-fi fans.
Those who have read Timeline may not have found it good enough to be given a nine out of ten. But with a person like me, who loves science fiction and has been reading murder mysteries for a long time now, Timeline came as a really good break. The book is based on the well known concept of parallel universes born from the two slit experiment (in optics) and what happens when just one photon incident on any one of the slits.
The scientists (in the book) have found a way to use these concepts to help achieve time travel, especially to times in the past. Although nothing much was given about whether this machine could help in traveling into the future as well or not, but I guess the author intentionally avoided that confusion.
The leading characters of this story go back into time in 1357 in the middle of the Hundred Years’ War in Europe. Again, my history knowledge seemed insufficient and a period of ‘google and wikipedia’ followed. The scenes, the historical structures and the customs and traditions of those times are beautifully explained. But there was something that I didn’t enjoy in the book. The science fiction part is limited to only the initial chapters. As soon as the historians enter the old world, the adventure begins and there is not even a mention of science until the very end.
The part that I loved the most was the small but extremely effective speech of Robert Doniger about history and its importance in the present world (in the end). A wonderful book and must read for all Crichton and sci-fi fans.
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