
The respected lady author believes that time portals are rips in time that open up on a rotating schedule within which the traveller can come and go from his present position, which I shall call Point A, to the exact same position in the past and vice versa. While both writers support the theory via the existence of time portals within the past and the present, their ideas as to how one can gain access to such portals is where the difference in their multiuniverse beliefs seperate. The most notable influence of Connie Willis upon his work is clearly seen in the way the theory of the Multiuniverse is supported by both writers.

Having read the Doomsday book prior to Timeline, I immediately noticed the influence of Connie Willis’ writing upon reading the first chapter of Timeline.

On the other hand, Crichton chose to revisit medival France during the wartime era of 1357 while also making refence to the Black Death pandemic towards the end of his book. Willis chose the British Black Plague pandemic of 1348 as the main setting of the story while intermitently returning to the futuristic world of England in 2055. Setting wise, the books both chose notable events within our world history within which to set up the story backdrop. Through this comparison paper, I hope to prove that, even though authors shall never admit it, they are also heavily influenced by the written works of their predecessors and oftenimes, end up borrowing story plots and devices which the latter writer, who in this case is Michael Crichton, hoped to have improved upon in his version of a suspense thriller time travel tale. Those who were left in the present era to assist them in coming back though have their own agenda and work towards an endgame, that of covering up the mistakes of their experiment in time travel. While Michael Crichton sent his characters back in time in order to save a noted historian whose time travel times also took a serious turn for the worst.

In the present of the novel, the remaining characters work tirelessly to get their stranded comrade back from an era where she was not supposed to be in the first place.

For Connie Willis, the characters needed to travel back in time for a historical study gone almost hopelessly awry.
