Book Review: Timeline

This is a story of time travel. An American company discovers a way to travel through a worm hole into 1357 France. They send an archelogist back in time, who leaves a message for help. This message is discovered by his students who are still digging in that area in present time.
The students use the time machine to go back to bring back the Professor. There are only a few problems in between. The day on which they land in 1357 France is one of the days of the 100 year war between England and France. On this particular day, one of the important English forts is to fall to the French. Also one of the companies employees who had travelled back in time previously is now an English soldier and knows the secret of the time travel.
So do the students get back the Professor ? What happens to the 100 years war ? Do they alter history ? What other secrets are waiting for them ? These are the issues in Michael Crichton’s novel Timeline.
This is an idea which has interested me for a long time, going back in time to a historical period. So I found the novel very interesting. It is a page turner, typical of Crichton. If you love history, and time travel, you will love this book.
Yesterday I saw the movie as well. Some scenes have been cut off (like the jousting) and some technology has been removed. The identity of the English Soldier who is a time traveler is revealed much earlier. This movie does not have a single hero, there are 4 students and the actors who portray them are terrible. No time was spent in developing the characters personality, as the script keeps jumping from incident to incident.
Between the movie and the book, I liked the book.