Timeline (novel)
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| Timeline | |
 First edition cover |
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| Author | Michael Crichton |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction novel |
| Publisher | Random House |
| Publication date | November 1999 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-679-44481-5 (first edition, hardback) |
Timeline is a science fiction novel by Michael Crichton that was published in November 1999. It tells the story of historians who travel to the Middle Ages thanks to the work of a brilliant yet unprincipled entrepreneur who plans to use the technology to enhance historical tourist attractions. The book follows in Crichton's long history of combining technical details and action in his books, addressing quantum physics and time travel.
The novel spawned Timeline Computer Entertainment, a computer game developer that created the Timeline PC game published by Eidos Interactive in 2000. A movie called Timeline based on the book was released in 2003.
[edit] Plot summary
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In 1999, Professor Edward Johnston heads a team of historians and archaeologists in studying a site in the Dordogne region of France where the medieval towns of Castelgard and La Roque stood. Suspicious of the detailed knowledge of the site shown by ITC (their funder), Johnston flies to their headquarters in New Mexico to investigate. Soon the archaeologists find modern objects, such as those that they recognize as the lens of Johnston's eyeglasses amongst untouched ruins. Researchers Chris Hughes, Kate Erickson, André Marek (a medieval re-enactor), and David Stern fly to ITC. Here they meet Robert Doniger, the founder of ITC. They learn that Johnston traveled to 1357, to the site they were excavating, but did not return as expected. Doniger insists that they travel back in order to save the elder Johnston. They are persuaded as such and undergo the process of transferring their physical selves back to 1357.
As soon as they arrive in the past, the team is plagued by misfortune. They see a team of riders, swords drawn, approach them and they hide to avoid confrontation and death.There is a person ahead who seems to be a boy and is running from the pursuers. Kate and André see Johnston being taken away by the men of Lord Oliver of Castelgard. Separated from the others, Chris follows the boy and accidentally declares himself as a noble. The boy leads Chris to Castelgard and is revealed to be Lady Claire in disguise, trying to escape from Malegant's clutches. In the castle, Chris and André find themselves challenged to a joust by Sir Guy and his second (Sir Charles de Gaune). Chris, thanks to André's instruction, survives the joust and André defeats both Sir Guy and his second. Sir Oliver orders the death of André and Chris for dishonouring Sir Guy. Kate helps them escape, but from then on they are pursued by the forces of Oliver, most notably Sir Guy and Sir Robert de Kere.
Sir Oliver believes that Johnston knows a secret passageway into the otherwise impenetrable castle of La Roque. Arnaut de Cervole is approaching Castelgard to lay siege and Oliver must know this secret to successfully defend the castle. Johnston helps Oliver, despite knowing that, historically, he loses the siege, but he never gains Oliver's trust. Chris, André, and Kate use Johnston's clues (which they had uncovered in 1999) to find the secret passageway themselves in order to save Johnston.
Chris and company learn that someone else from 1999 is also in the past with them and has been spying on their transmissions, always staying one step ahead in their pursuit for Lord Oliver. ITC knows that Rob Deckard, an employee and former marine who went insane from an accumulation of "transcription errors" (slight mistakes in the matter reconstruction process), went into 1357 more than a year ago and never returned. Eventually Robert de Kere reveals his true identity as Deckard to the researchers and tells them that he has no intention of permitting their return to 1999.
Kate, Chris, and André are captured by Arnaut's men but are saved by Lady Claire and later escape. André enters La Roque as Johnston's assistant. As Arnaut prepares his siege, Oliver decides that Johnston is hiding information and takes him to a torture device to drown him. Meanwhile Chris and Kate find the secret passageway and enter La Roque. Kate kills Sir Guy and Arnaut's men begin to enter La Roque. Arnaut and André find Oliver about to drown Johnston, but save Johnston and leave Oliver to drown instead. De Kere goes after Chris to get the marker to go home but Chris manages to kill him.
ITC and Stern finally repair the landing area just in time for the returning travellers of which André is not part of. He decides to remain with Lady Claire in the past. They end up deciding to send the man responsible for sending them back, back to die himself as he decided to leave them to die. He catches the Black Plague in the past and dies of it. In the present they find André and Lady Claire's graves. Chris and Kate are together and she's pregnant. They discover that André lived a long and good life after they left him behind.
[edit] Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
The novel was adapted for cinema and called Timeline and released in 2003.
[edit] External links
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