(3.75) This was part of my "One Week, One Shelf" challenge which helps me read books I've forgotten about.

This was fun and light albeit heavy on the science at times as all of his books tend to be. I don't know how historically accurate it is but it was an entertaining time travelling book. (Okay, apparently it's not time travel but "travelling to other universes through quantum foam" but close enough!)

My main complaint is the ending. The whole sending back the mean CEO during the Black Plague was a bit too Hollywood/shock factor for me. One of them staying back was pretty obvious but still enjoyable so no problem for me with that part.

Overall it was what I needed for my reading slump!

Mikey C does it again! ….well, did it again. 25 years ago.

I read this book shortly after it first came out, and have remembered it fondly as being right up there with Sphere and JP as MCs best. I was a bit nervous to reread, risking shattering all my happy memories of the book to pieces. So did it hold up?

Mostly, yes it did. It shares some shortcomings that I’ve come to expect from MCs books. Very little character development, and rather dry writing being the main two. But in Crichton’s case, it doesn’t really matter. His books are entertaining and interesting romps usually involving some kind of speculative science, history, all usually rooted in the real world no matter how outlandish his stories get.

This one is no different. We get a crash-course on the quantum physics that make time travel an actual possibility, and before we realize it we are whisked away to 14th century France on a memorable journey involving knights, war, siege, and much more. It’s a violent and clever adventure that only could’ve come from the mind of Americas favorite techno-thriller writer of the 90s.

If you’re a fan of physics, time travel, history, or MC’s style of book, than this is one you shouldn’t miss. Though this came at the end of MCs major fame, he was still very much on top of his game as a writer.

So yes—* maintain that this one should be remembered as one of his best novels along with Jurassic Park, Sphere, Congo and Disclosure. Give it a go!

ENGLISH: This novel has an introduction, intended to be a scientific justification for the science fiction in the book, but it is not. It's just a sign of how Crichton (and a few scientists) can unleash their fantasy.

One problem in the introduction is that Crichton considers the theory of the quantum multiverse, due to Edward Everett III, as though it had been proved. It hasn't. In fact, it's just science fiction. He says in another place that a quantum computer works in several universes at the same time. This is in fact an imaginative idea invented by David Deutsch (one of the pioneers of quantum computing) to explain away some of the paradoxes that make time travel impossible. I can see that, as Crichton's novel deals with time travel, he needs this theory to justify his work. But he shouldn't present it as science (it isn't) in the Introduction.

Crichton does not understand Deutsch's theories. He says that his characters are sent to another universe. Then how come they receive in this universe the professor's message asking for help? Also, Doniger's explanations on how time travel paradoxes cannot happen are not valid. The argument of Timeline itself provides a way to produce a paradox. Assume the saviors were sent to a point in time when the professor had just arrived in the 14th century, so that they could bring him back immediately. Then the professor wouldn't have had the opportunity to send the SOS message which moved them to bring him back, thus giving rise to a paradox. There are more inconsistencies, such as the synchronic pass of time in both universes, but that's enough for now.

Another point where Crichton overstates his scientific argumentation in the Introduction is "quantum teleportation." This has been achieved for the quantum state of a particle or an atom. Teleporting matter somewhere else has not been achieved, and probably never will be. But he speaks as if it could be applied to solid objects (and to human beings). This is false. Again I understand that he needs it for his novel, but he shouldn't speak in the Introduction as though all the science fiction in his novel were confirmed science. This deceives and misleads his readers. I find it unjustifiable. Although it's not the first time he has done it, as every reader of Jurassic Park can witness.

Inside the novel, "quantum teleportation" is explained as sending the information about a human body to the other side of the distance in space and time one wants to teleport that body, and reconstructing it at the other side. He doesn't mention that if this were possible (it isn't, and of course it wasn't in 1999) what you could reconstruct at the other side would be just a corpse. For we don't know how to reproduce life (apart from the natural way) and even less what is conscience. But I'll be lenient with him on this point, for I can be accused of the same, as I solved the teleportation problem in exactly the same way in my sci-fi novel A Face in Time.

Anyway, this novel shows the typical Crichton's ability to concoct plots that grasp the attention of the reader, who is dragged to ever more fantastic situations where anything can happen. However, the number of adventures and accidents the characters must suffer is so large, that the verosimility of the novel is damaged and the reader gets tired.

ESPAÑOL: Esta novela viene provista de una introducción que pretende ser una justificación científica de la ciencia-ficción del libro, pero no lo es. Es una simple muestra de cómo Crichton (y algunos científicos) pueden dar rienda suelta a su fantasía.

Un problema con la introducción es que Crichton considera la teoría del multiverso cuántico de Edward Everett III como si fuera ciencia probada. No lo es. De hecho, es sólo ciencia ficción. En otro lugar dice que una computadora cuántica trabaja en varios universos al mismo tiempo. Esta es una idea imaginativa inventada por David Deutsch (uno de los pioneros de la computación cuántica) para eliminar algunas de las paradojas que hacen imposible viajar en el tiempo. Entiendo que, como la novela de Crichton trata sobre viajes en el tiempo, necesita esta teoría para justificar su trabajo, pero no debería presentarla en la Introducción como si fuera ciencia, pues no lo es.

Crichton no entiende las teorías de Deutsch. Dice que sus personajes son enviados a otro universo. Entonces, ¿cómo es que reciben en este universo el mensaje del profesor pidiendo ayuda? Además, cuando Doniger explica que los viajes en el tiempo no pueden dar lugar a paradojas, lo que dice no es válido. Del mismo argumento de Timeline se puede deducir una forma posible de producir una paradoja. Supongamos que los salvadores fuesen enviados a un momento en el que el profesor acabase de llegar al siglo XIV, y que le traigan de regreso de inmediato. Entonces el profesor no habría tenido ocasión de enviar el mensaje de petición de auxilio que les hizo ir a buscarle, lo que daría lugar a una paradoja. Hay otras inconsistencias, como el paso sincronizado del tiempo en ambos universos, pero con esto basta por ahora.

Otro punto en el que Crichton distorsiona la argumentación científica de la Introducción es la "teleportación cuántica". Esto se ha logrado con el estado cuántico de una partícula o de un átomo. No se ha logrado teleportar materia a otro lugar, y probablemente nunca se logrará. Pero Crichton escribe como si pudiera aplicarse a objetos sólidos (y a seres humanos). Esto es falso. De nuevo, entiendo que lo necesita para su novela, pero no debería hablar en la introducción como si toda la ciencia ficción que hay en ella fuese ciencia confirmada. Con esto está engañando a sus lectores. Lo encuentro injustificable. Aunque no es la primera vez que lo hace, como todo lector de Parque Jurásico puede confirmar.

Dentro de la novela, la explicación de la "teleportación cuántica" se reduce a enviar la información sobre un cuerpo humano al otro lado de la distancia, en el espacio y el tiempo, a la que se desea teleportarlo, y a reconstruirlo al otro lado. No se menciona que, si esto fuera posible (no lo es, y por supuesto, no lo era en 1999), lo que se podría reconstruir al otro lado sería un cadáver, porque no sabemos cómo reproducir la vida (al margen del procedimiento natural habitual) y mucho menos qué es la consciencia. Pero seré indulgente con él en este punto, porque a mí se me puede acusar de lo mismo, ya que resolví exactamente de igual manera el problema de la teleportación en mi novela de ciencia ficción Un rostro en el tiempo.

De todos modos, esta novela muestra la típica habilidad de Crichton para inventar tramas que capturan la atención del lector, al que arrastra a situaciones cada vez más fantásticas donde cualquier cosa puede suceder. Sin embargo, el número de aventuras y accidentes que sufren los personajes es tan grande, que la verosimilidad de la novela sufre en consecuencia, y el lector acaba por cansarse.