Books by Michael Crichton (Timeline *spoilers*)

mfarraday

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Hello,

I recently finished the book Timeline by Michael Crichton. It took me a long time to finish it; after an initial burst of enthusiasm due to the action in the first chapter, I felt that there was infodump after infodump (it felt like a bad history lesson, and I wasn't even sure why learning about Crusades-era French castles/nobility was relevant at that point of the book) and I got really frustrated. Add to that, that there were a lot of characters who did not seem that distinct from one another, and whose personalities seemed somewhat cardboard-ish, and I had trouble holding on.

Well, I did hold on, and I started to enjoy the book after a sword fight occurred (I think it was the jousting scene.) I read the rest of the book and it was interesting and engaging. I still felt, however, by the end, that the characters had never been fleshed out or given distinct personality traits, at least not to the point that I found them memorable. I also found the mid-scene breaks where Crichton shifted POV to be a little odd.

At the end of the book there was a long, long list of all the resources that Crichton used in his research. VERY impressive. I doubt I could match his ability to exhaustively research a book! And I would say that Timeline was exciting overall and that I learned a lot about medieval warfare and was intrigued by the descriptions of armor, gunpowder and castles.

Which brings me to my questions -

1) Did other people read this book (Timeline) and did you encounter similar problems with getting through it?

I want to read Pirate Latitudes next, but am wondering if I will encounter the same problems.

2) What other Crichton books would you recommend?

Probably the only book I would NOT be interested in reading would be Jurassic Park, as I hated the movie (I must be one of the only ones who didn't like it, except for the technology in depicting dinosaurs. I liked the images of dinosaurs but hated the plot.)
 

Patrick.S

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I just read it and had about the same reaction you did. I think it was the mini scenes and quick changes in POV that created the distance from the characters. I eventually got to like the brawny guy who was good with a sword. The rest just didn't stick out. Some fun stuff in there though.
 

heyjude

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I adored everything Crichton ever wrote, but characterization was not one of his strong suits. To say the least.

JP, Congo, and Sphere were among my favorites. Oo, Airframe, too. Pirate Latitudes was probably my least favorite.

Okay, I loved them all. But yeah, if you're looking for in-depth characters, try someone else. And info dumps were his specialty. :)
 

Thump

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Yeah, Crichton is not great at characterisation but many of his books are a lot of fun. Personally, I liked Jurassic Park, the movie is not exactly like it so you might like the book even if you hated the movie.

Also, what's wrong with you? The movie is awesome! lol :D
 

Myrealana

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I love the first 3/4 of just about every Crichton book. I've read almost everything he wrote - except the most recent two books.

But I feel like at the end of his books, he often reaches a point where he has written everything and he just ends the book. The endings of many of Crichton's books have an awful lot of deus ex machina going on. Sphere and Andromeda Strain are the two most egregious examples that come to mind.
 
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DragonHeart

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Jurassic Park the book barely resembles the movie, just for the record. Same with The Lost World. So don't discount them based on that.

I love everything I've ever read of Crichton, with the exception of Sphere. Never could get into that. But his were the first adult novels I read, starting with The Lost World when I was 10, so I'm pretty biased. I actually liked the info dumps when I was younger because I learned a lot from them, actually. I haven't read anything of his recently enough to say whether I feel the same about them now, though.

And for other fans of his work, definitely check out The Flock by James Robert Smith. Less techno, more thriller but I almost felt like I was reading Crichton again. Plus, terror birds.
 

tpolen

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I agree with DragonHeart and Thump - Jurassic Park the book is very different from the movie. I thought the movie completely missed some important points in the book. I've loved every book I've read by Michael Crichton until Pirate Latitudes - couldn't get past page 35 or so. My 13-year-old son read Timeline about 2 years ago and has reread it since - one of his favorite books!
 

Cornelius Gault

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I would recommend "Prey" (artificial intelligence "swarm"). For me, it was a real page-turner and thoroughly enjoyable. I read several negative reviews, but I ignored them because they obviously thought that other things were more important than what I thought.