23. Timeline, by Michael Crichton. Crichton had a talent for making the science in his books sound plausible and accessible, and it's obvious he put in a lot of research in both quantum physics and the Medieval period with this fun, if not perfect, story. A man is found wandering around in an Arizona desert muttering in rhyme and dressed in strange garments. Meanwhile, on a dig site in France, a team of archeologists make a stunning discovery, which takes some of them back to the United States and to one of the buildings of a large but secretive organization that has been funding said dig. The archeologists find themselves in the fight for their lives as they attempt to rescue one of their members -- from about 600 years in the past. This nearly 500 page novel reads very quickly, and Crichton struck a good balance with explaining enough history and science without weighing down the plot. I especially found the historical aspects and the language information interesting. There's a large cast of characters, and sometimes they are a bit hard to tell apart in the beginning. One of my two nitpicks is that with a couple characters Crichton switched sometimes with calling a character by his or her first name, then last name, then back again in the story, which can get confusing. That's a pet peeve of mine. Authors should stick to either the first name or last name (I'm not referring to dialogue situations of course) with their characters, when referring to them. Also, I thought the fates of two of the characters mentioned in the beginning- a nurse and a police officer- were a bit too unresolved, although that could have been due to the necessity of keeping the story focused. Also a bit mixed on the ending, and the fate of the company president. Yes, he's a jerk and all but what happens to him just ... I don't know. I don't think the punishment fit the crime. Also, it was a bit too pat. A good book for the general storyline, though.
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- ningerbil (
ningerbil) wrote in 
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ningerbil
ningerbil 50bookchallenge
Books 22 and 23
23. Timeline, by Michael Crichton. Crichton had a talent for making the science in his books sound plausible and accessible, and it's obvious he put in a lot of research in both quantum physics and the Medieval period with this fun, if not perfect, story. A man is found wandering around in an Arizona desert muttering in rhyme and dressed in strange garments. Meanwhile, on a dig site in France, a team of archeologists make a stunning discovery, which takes some of them back to the United States and to one of the buildings of a large but secretive organization that has been funding said dig. The archeologists find themselves in the fight for their lives as they attempt to rescue one of their members -- from about 600 years in the past. This nearly 500 page novel reads very quickly, and Crichton struck a good balance with explaining enough history and science without weighing down the plot. I especially found the historical aspects and the language information interesting. There's a large cast of characters, and sometimes they are a bit hard to tell apart in the beginning. One of my two nitpicks is that with a couple characters Crichton switched sometimes with calling a character by his or her first name, then last name, then back again in the story, which can get confusing. That's a pet peeve of mine. Authors should stick to either the first name or last name (I'm not referring to dialogue situations of course) with their characters, when referring to them. Also, I thought the fates of two of the characters mentioned in the beginning- a nurse and a police officer- were a bit too unresolved, although that could have been due to the necessity of keeping the story focused. Also a bit mixed on the ending, and the fate of the company president. Yes, he's a jerk and all but what happens to him just ... I don't know. I don't think the punishment fit the crime. Also, it was a bit too pat. A good book for the general storyline, though.
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Book #14: North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell My rating: 4 of 5 stars This book opens with the heroine, Margaret Hale, being uprooted from her idyllic…
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Book 5- Hamnet
5. Hamnet, by Maggie O'Farrell. This was the February pick for the book club I'm in. I finished it pretty quickly, it was hard to put down. It's a…
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January 2021 - Books 1 to 6
1. The Long Way Home by Louise Penny Inspector Gamache is now retired in Three Pines when he’s recruited to help one of his friends find her…
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