Books by author: Michael Crichton

This one was something of a guilty pleasure. Michael Crichton's books aren't particularly interesting stylistically, but for a plot-only romp with a half-baked scientific understanding, they are unmatched. This was not one of his better books, though it was much more enjoyable than Disclosure, whose entire plot I had predicted by the time I was 1/3 of the way through it.

It has been over eight years since I last read a Michael Crichton book (the disappointing Lost World). Back twelve years ago or so, I devoured nearly all of his novels — when I was an engineering undergrad, I couldn't get enough of his fast-paced, science-based thrillers. Specifically, I remember liking Jurassic Park and The Andromeda Strain quite a lot. But after a while, Crichton's formula became apparent, the plots of the novels become more and more predictable, and I grew bored with his writing.

So it was purely as "comfort food" that I picked up Timeline. I didn't expect much, and I wasn't disappointed. This particular entry in Crichton's oeuvre centers on time travel, made possible by quantum computers and wormholes. All of the pseudoscience is actually a setup for Crichton to pen a swashbuckling adventure set in medieval France. I give him props for doing his research — there's lots of detail in the architecture and societal conventions he describes. As I've come to expect, the characters are all done in caricature, and there are plot holes you could drive a school bus through.

One plot hole in particular I can't help pointing out. One of Crichton's characters explains away time travel paradoxes with the parallel universe defense. Which is fine, except that the characters shouldn't be able to change history in their own universe. But they do, in two notable occurences. Oh well. It's still fun.