Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining, Funny, Ridiculous,
Review: Crichton certainly does thourough research when preparing to write a novel. It seems to me that despite all of his hard work, the final product is always half sci-fi thriller, half Hollywood fluff. Nevertheless, Timeline is a fun book to read. No philosophical paradoxes or political manifestos. We want to keep on reading because each page contains a bit of information we may need later on. Sometimes it's just one sentence or phrase but there is always something there. Timeline is good. Sphere and Jurassic Park were better. Read it and you'll be satisfied. Not blown away but satisfied.
Rating: 
Summary: Horrid
Review: As with some of Crichton's other novels, this one is bearable if you turn off your brain and just visualize the action. The quantum theories presented are very young and for the most part, disregarded my most physicist. The most discouraging thing about the story is the gigantic holes! It is painfully obvious that Chrichton was hoping that readers would not catch-on to how short the novel would have been if it was constructed with any logic.
Rating: 
Summary: A little slow beginning, good middle, too predictable ending
Review: Overall, Timeline excels in the middle of the story. It is very good and very fast paced. However, the beginning and the end drag it down. The beginning takes a little too long setting up characters, but not developing them, and letting us know just how quantam physics works. I don't really give a damn how the hell they get in the past. I just want to read about them in the past. The book read like a movie all the way through, but it was also highly detailed and highly scientific. Overall, the middle of the book was terrific. It perfectly describes the way I think of the middle ages. However, the end is predictable and too neat-and-tidy. Crichton tends to wrap everything up in a rather smarmy style, giving everyone their just-deserves. Overall, the story and writing are solid. However, this book has a very juvenile ending that completely overcompenstates for its smart beginning. I'd have been more impressed if Crichton had concentrated on creating a good ending than a good, if a little slow, beginning.
Rating: 
Summary: Different and captivating
Review: The medieval era has never been so interesting. I bought the 16 hr. version of the audio book and was very skeptical after reading the summary. But right from the beginning, it grabbed my interest and curiosity and never let them go. Another Jurassic Park..improbable but he makes you believe it could happen!
Rating:
Summary: Made for the big screen
Review: This is yet another screenplay in hardcover. I liked his earlier work but it's getting hard to make it through his latest efforts. I think the major issue here is the lack of any character development compared to what MC has demonstrated in the past.
Rating:
Summary: A (Major!) Suspension of Reality
Review: The last Michael Crichton novel I read was The Lost World and coming back to him, I discovered that he is still in top form. The science and the action and the suspense are all here, and if you are one of those readers who can willingly let go of reality for a couple of days then this novel is great. While not a new concept, time travel becomes something entirely original and profoud in Crichton's book and traveling back to feudal France (I could think of a hundred other hackneyed places to go to) makes it distinct from all others. Contrary to others, I think the historical information is a wonderful addition to the book. The ghosts of camera angles and stunt coordination and costume design for the inevitable film are evident in the pages and while this has no deep and meaningful revelation about the workings of life, it is an enjoyable adventure, in a category all its own. To me, Timeline was like candy: not nutritious, but extremely tasteful.
Rating:
Summary: What An Adventure!
Review: Wow, this book was amazing. It is a high adrenaline paced adventure that will have you stuck in your seat until the very end. I loved the non stop sword play and suspense. Not only does Crichton give you afuturistic, technology based look into the future,(as always) but he also takesa look into the past giving the you a rollercoaster of action. I loved the cast of characters and how you saw each one changethroughout the book. The only disapointment tothis novel was the constant build ups of suspenseand then the disapointment to find out that thenext page was a dull check-up to see how thepeople in the present time were doing. For me,this effect took out a lot of the suspense andaction in the many dramatic fight scenes locatedin almost every other chapter in the book. However,this book still has plenty of facts, fun, andaction topped off with what I thought was a decentending.
Rating:
Summary: What's up with that?
Review: Well, this one was worth a discount rack paperback edition, as far as I'm concerned. Unfortunately, I bought the hardcover. Anyway, my main problem with the book is that these characters aren't worth it for you to care about what happens to them in the 14th century. What Crichton does do best in this book, however, is what he's always done best: he is able to describe complicated scientific hypotheses in very clear and very interesting language. The parts of the book that describe how time travel works in a quantum universe were the most interesting. My advice, though, a re-read of Sphere (one of my favorites) would make for a better book.
Rating:
Summary: A movie!
Review: As a huge Michael Crichton fan this is the first book that was a disappointment. The beginning was good. The technical information and research was interesting as always in Crichtons books. The middle held my attention until the ongoing similar type of fighting and chasing got to be tedious. Enough was enough. By the time I got to the end I struggled not to skip ahead. The biggest disapppointment was that this book was definitely written to be a movie. I noticed this from very close to the beginning. I kept seeing the Indiana Jones movie in my head as I read this book. As a faithful reader I look forward to Crichtons next book but would like to see him get back in touch with his readers. In the future, rather than writing a script for a movie I will hope he writes an authentic novel as were his novels in the past.
Rating:
Summary: Who in history was not mentioned?
Review: Previous critical reviews have already captured my negative sentiments towards this popular author and seem to follow very similar lines; written for the screen, too many close calls, logical errors, shallow characters, trite and incomplete treatment of science, unresolved paradoxes, etc. But one major flaw that I feel has not been addressed is Mr. Crichton's choice of historical period. If you ask people what person in history they would most like to meet if possible, you will find, I'm sure, that Jesus would have to be at the top of the list. Maybe this would be too controversial a person/period to have chosen but it would make the most logical sense from the entrepreneurial aspect of ITC - at least to have received mention (i. e. vs. A. Lincoln) as a possibility to show investors. Another period that was ignored was that of the future, again from the perspective of what people would desire to know about and be most willing to pay for. I am always disappointed in romantic arts that are so blatantly created for market. I don't censure Crichton Inc., but greed has quelled more than a few creative fires.
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