Timeline

Timeline sends a team of historians back to 14th-century France during the Hundred Years' War and earns real credit for the medieval research behind it — the gap between romanticized history and what those centuries actually smelled and sounded like is one of Crichton's best observations. The action is propulsive once it gets going, and the premise raises genuine questions about commodifying the past. The weakness is that the characters are mostly thin vessels for the plot; you race alongside them without caring much whether they make it back. Better than its reputation, but a step below Crichton's strongest work. Suitable for older teens and adults; violence is in line with the battlefield setting.