Rating: 
Summary: Great Concept, Poor Execution is Right
Review: Crichton's books, a favorite for years, have usually forced (if that's a word that expresses pleasure) me to sit and complete them in one sitting. Timeline is, unfortunately, not one of them. Like Jurassic Park, Crichton takes an interesting scientific possibility and builds a screenplay around it. Unfortunately, the trips, slips and falls his characters encounter in the Middle Ages are just TOO Hollywood for anyone to take. "Oh, what will our heroes do next! That's another fine mess you've gotten us into now!" I wish I could count the number of times the main characters arrived in the nick of time to save a life or save the day. But frankly, I can't be bothered. It's an interesting story and no harm done. I'll still buy another Crichton book in the future, and you clearly can't belittle the attention he paid to proper research of the time/era regarding everything from clothing, habits, geography, politics, etc. But the story is.....well, not boring....but simplistic. If you're a Crichton fan, buy it and deal with it. If you're looking for a first book of his to get into his reference, this isn't it.
Rating: 
Summary: reads like a movie script
Review: This book reads like a movie script. Coincidence? I think not! I have studied quantum physics quite a bit, which is what led me to this book, but the physics the author describes belongs to a different universe or something because I've never heard of them. For example: It is revealed that these characters dont actually travel back in time - they travel to an alternate universe. But they find an object that belonged to their time travelling professor when he lost it 600 years before. I would think that if he was in an alternate universe, noone would find this object, because it wouldnt exist in this universe. Also: In the book, it is also revealed that time paraoxes dont exist. (where's the fun in that?) But these people, when they travel back in time (or whatever) they're not allowed to carry any modern equipment with them. In fear that they might interfere with the culture or alter history or something - I forget which. This book is so contradictory to itself that I lost track.In summary, I'll say that I cared not for any of these characters... The quantum physics in this book are WRONG... And with the removal of time paradox theories, the story was just plain boring. I hope the movie is better. It almost has to be.
Rating: 
Summary: A Great Book!
Review: This is a really cool book about the concept of time travel but giving it a whole new twist with the whole idea of paradoxes as opposed to just the usual time travel that most movies or shows portray. In this book, the teacher of a quantum technology class is transported back to the year 1357 during a war in medievel France because of a malfunction in the time machine and several of his students are taken with him. Now they have to fight their way through medievel wars, shining armor, and clashing swords to get back home to their proper timeline but it's nowhere near as easy as it is hoped. This is a fascinating book that deserves a good hard read. It's a pity that they wasted their chance of making a great movie out of this with the awful big screen adaptation which was a big dissapointment for me.
Rating:
Summary: At best disappointing
Review: If you are a history fan and a medieval times fan, like I am, you will at least love the first half of this book. It's down hill from there. This book is like a bad movie in which the main characters keep getting themselves into bad situations and incredibly get out of them intact, and you can't stop thinking: "when is this piece of poo going to end!?". And just when you thought it could not get worse it does... again and again. This is by far the worst novel I have ever read. Since I am a Michael Crichton fan it is very disappointing for me to have undergone from his writing such a horrible experience. Skip this book. It is definitely not worth the pain.
Rating:
Summary: TiMeLiNe
Review: I saw the movie Timeline. I loved it. So in the middle of the school year I decided I would get it on book. I read it in two months. I loved the book more than the movie. The only problem I had with it is it took too long to get going. I am a huge medieval fan, and all the books I've read this takes the cake. It was great. I actually got grounded because I was reading it to much. I'm a fairly new Crichton fan, but Sphere and The Andromeda Strain are next on my list.
Rating:
Summary: There are better ways to spend your time
Review: "Timeline" tries very hard to blend science, history and fantasy, but falls woefully short. That, in itself, doesn't make the book disappointing. Sprinkle in some hollow characters and a Hardy Boys plot and you'll wonder why you were drawn to this title in the first place. To be fair, Chrichton definitely gave it the old college try. The bibliography consumes 5 pages (longer than many of the book's chapters) and includes 91 references. Five stars for research! But a promising start to the novel fizzles quickly, as our protagonists travel back in time to 1357 on a mission to rescue the stranded Professor Johnston. This ill-fated journey turns into trouble with a capital T, as our plucky heroes are hurtled from one death-defying pickle to the next. Will they return to their time machine before it's too late? Will the batteries run out first? Well, you can probably guess. But you may want your own time machine to transport you to the end of the book so you can read the conclusion without suffering through all of those interim chapters.
Rating:
Summary: His worst novel ever.
Review: I have read and liked almost all of Crichton's novels but this one is just horrible. I couldn't believe how boring this thing was. Avoid at all costs.
Rating:
Summary: Crichton's Take On Time Travel
Review: Michael Crichton's TIMELINE (1999) is a fascinating blend of truly interesting science fiction and breathtaking medieval history, and we learn a lot about both realms over the course of this novel. Basing his time-travel on the more recent scientific theory of "multiverses" (i.e. the existence of many universes simultaneously, each one representing a time in the past), Crichton explores the possibilities of using Quantum technology to effectively "fax" people to another time period, for all of its fascinating and disturbing implications. When a brilliant but extremely arrogant and dictatorial scientist-turned-CEO demonstrates his new "time machine" to an inquiring professor, accidentally stranding him in medieval France circa 1357, it's up to a quickly put-together team of historians to rescue him. They'll be racing against the clock, and fighting truly terrifying foes, in order to bring him---and themselves---back. In TIMELINE, Michael Crichton does what he does best: take a fascinating scientific premise that is teasingly possible and run with it. He explores it further using a team of well-developed characters for whom we grow to care and root. These characters, who often sport complex relationships with each other, invariably get trapped in their quest and must find a way out of it, while simultaneously solving the original puzzle that brought them together in the first place. It all may be rather formulaic at this point; however, there's no denying that the Crichton formula is one that works, and consistently. From THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN (1969) to JURASSIC PARK (1991), he has the knack for bringing us into a well-realized, brave new world that is based upon complex scientific theory and make us not only understand what is going on, but fully believe that it's happening. The main reason why his novels work so well is because, past all the post-graduate science, he never loses sight of the human stories, and they are the most compelling aspects. Plus, unlike certain authors (John Grisham comes to mind here), he really knows how to end a story! Michael Crichton has been a gifted genre storyteller for over 35 years now, and TIMELINE follows very nicely in this fine tradition. And it has one killer ending! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Rating:
Summary: Timeline Book Review
Review: The book Timeline is a very well written book in my eyes. I have read Crichton's Sphere and I am working Prey. This was a very interesting book in that combines both history, quantum physics, and quantum mechanics. Now anyone who can cobine those three things that are very diffenrent and do it well is a very good author in my eyes. I must say Michael Crichton has a very good thing for keeping you opn your toes through every page of the book.
The storyline of the book is that a man anda woman are driving to New Mexico and out of nowhere they see this old man who likes he is drunk and trying to walk.What they don't understand is that he is out in the middle of the desert without a car anywhere in sight and here he is walking around in what looks like very old clothing that is also very heavy in the hot desert sun. The reason he is out there is because he didn't follow the rules at ITC, where he works.
ITC is a scientific company that specializes in traveling to other universes using quatum mechanics and quantum physics. There is also a group of students out in France whose Professor went to this company in hopes of going back and seeing the Medieval era, which is what he is studying.
The professor was told not to move away from the machine when he got there and he did. Then, his students get called to go back and find him because that is what they know, The Medieval era. I am not going to say the end because that what you are supposed to do. Go read the book and find out!!
Rating: 
Summary: Timeline
Review: I thought that Timeline was a very well written book. In this book, Chricton would go into great detail. I could really understand what was going on because it drew a picture in my mind. My favorite part of the book is when the big battle is going on and they are trying to get out of the 14th century castle. In this scene there is a lot of action. The castle is afire while men are fighting all over the place. Some of the men are burning in quick slip an oily substance that burns when water mixes in it. After they see the man burn they run down a staircase and to the drawbridge. Here Andre Market decides to stay with his future wife. He also stays to keep the drawbridge down so that his friends can get to the time machines and go home.
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