Rating: 
Summary: Stop writing movie scripts and get back to writing books...
Review: Crichton is one of the few modern authors that I would consider myself to be a fan of. That being said, I was thoroughly disappointed by this book. Featuring the usual cast of characters that have admittedly become a staple of Crichton's work, this book seems to get off to a decent start but then goes nowhere faster than a T-Rex chases a car through the jungle. I found myself constantly waiting for the moment when things would get interesting, when those plot twists would finally show up. But alas, by the time you get far enough into this book for it to become even remotely interesting, which I'm not sure it even really does, it is almost over.It seems that Mr. Crichton has taken to writing books in the hopes of making movie deals out of them, as I could see this making for a fun mindless action flick, but if you are expecting anything more than people going on a romp through the middle ages trying not to get killed by various people for seemingly arbitrary reasons, you will be sorely disappointed. If you saw the wretched Jurassic Park: Lost World movie, just replace the dinosaurs with angry people from the Middle Ages, and you have a good idea of how this whole book goes. How many times can one really avoid getting hit by weapons through sheer luck anyway? You could just read the first third or half of this book and then just skip to the last few chapters, since it is basically more of the same up until then. Really, you probably would never know the difference... If you want to read a good Crichton book, pick up Sphere (but make sure to stay away from the utterly atrocious movie or it will likely ruin the book for you), or The Andromeda Strain. (Probably just about everyone who has read Crichton has read Jurassic Park, so I'm not going to tell you to read that one.) I haven't read Prey yet, but the current reader rating on this site does not give me high hopes. Please, if you really must read this book, which you probably will since you are reading this review, get it from the library. Do not encourage any more of this made-for-movie-deal not-quite-literature by shelling out money for it. I gave this book more than 1 star because it was at least tolerable enough for me to bear with it until the completely anticlimatic ending. I would really like to give it 1 and a 1/2 stars, if only I could.
Rating:
Summary: A low point in Crichton's career
Review: "Timeline" presents to us a new breakthrough in technology, the ability to time travel into the past. The man responsible for footing the bill for this miracle intends to cash in on the new technology by turning time travel into entertainment for the wealthy. Enter a group of historians and linguists who have many qualms about how this technology is being used, but discover that their mentor has disappeared into 13th century France and apparently been killed in the past. They use the far-from-perfected (and rather dangerous) technology to follow the professor into the past and attempt to rescue him if possible, using their superb knowledge of medieval customs, old French, and ancient technology to survive numerous life-threatening situations involving knights and other menacing armed men. They rescue the professor and escape back to the future. At the end, the evil billionaire earns death through his own invention and is sent back to the Black Plague era in France. Does it sound familiar? If it does, that's because Michael Crichton already wrote this novel in the early nineties, but back then he titled it "Jurassic Park." That novel involved a new breakthrough in technology, the ability to clone dinosaurs. The man responsible for footing the bill for this miracle intends to cash in on the new technology by turning the dinosaurs into entertainment for the wealthy. Enter a group of paleontologists and botanists who have many qualms about how this technology is being used, and discover that one of the scientists has his own designs on selling the technology. Because of this the system for holding the dinosaurs fails, and they must use their superb knowledge of dinosaurs and their habits in order to survive numerous life-threatening situations involving a T-rex and other menacing dinosaurs. They manage to escape the dangers and escape the island. At the end, the evil billionaire earns death through his own invention and dies when several small dinosaurs gang up and eat him. If anyone else had written "Timeline," Michael Crichton and his publishers would have sued the author for having essentially ripped off "Jurassic Park." As it stands, "Timeline" reveals that Crichton is currently running low on ideas and is resorting to repeating tried and true formula writing in order to satisfy his contractual obligations. I could forgive the obvious rehash of the older story if Crichton had polished his writing, his character development, and/or his dialogue. Sadly, as with his previous novels, the characters in "Timeline" remain as flat as the pages they are printed on, and the dialogue is entirely unrealistic. Real people simply do not talk the way the characters do in this story (although, they do speak like that in a George Lucas film). I am being generous in giving the novel two stars. If you can get past the fact that the story itself is flat, you can find a wealth of intriguing information about life in medieval France. Crichton clearly spent a great deal of time researching and reading about nearly every aspect of 13th century life, including food, clothing, weaponry, warfare and tactics, chivalry, social classes and customs, and more. If he had spent as much time crafting a story worthy of all that research, this could have surpassed "Jurassic Park" as Crichton's masterpiece.
Rating: 
Summary: Timeline
Review: Timeline was the first Micheal Crichton I have ever read, however I did see some movies that were based on his books. This book was sweet. It stated off a little weak, talking about all that physics and how they discovered the other universes. Once they got in the machines and went back to the other universe the story really picked up. This book was action packed with a suprise around every corner. The fighting with swords and the jousting were the crazy coolest part of the book. I was shocked when Marek wanted to stay behind; I sort of suspected when he kept starring at that old guy. The epilouge was very suprising. First they found Andre's sarcofigous, and then I found out that he hooked up with Lady Claire. That was nuts. Overall it was an enjoyable read.
Rating:
Summary: All Science, No Substance
Review: This was the first book I ever read by Micheal Crichton and I was very disappointed. After hearing such rave reviews about him from friends and the media, I picked up this book, a time-travel (or rather people-traveling, because "time doesn't travel, people travel") book that taught me more about quantum physics than I ever wanted to know. The first hundred pages of this book are an Ok introduction to what I expected to be a good book, but Crichton spend the next hundred pages explaining quantum physics in "simple" terms. If that wasn't boring enough, I never felt like I knew any of the characters beyond their stereotypes of strong man, prep student, and tomboy. I'm sorry I even bothered to finish this book. It was a tremendous waste of time. Perhaps other books by Crichton are better, but I'm not about to try to read them.
Rating: 
Summary: Timeline
Review: I thought timeline was a great book because it is science ficton and is very persuasive about making you believe that time travel was posible. I have read many of his books and I like them all so I have no regrets about reading this book.
Rating:
Summary: Best book by Crichton yet!
Review: This was a superb book, an absolute page turner. I completely forgot that I had history homework due the next day when I picked up this book - fortunately, it was my history teacher who gave me the book in the first place, so there wasn't really a problem. This book was very well researched, but Crichton doesn't throw the information in your face, with a know-it-all attitude. The information is presented more subtlely, in the context of the story. Without giving anything away, the two plots that are told in parallel are both engaging, keeping the reader wondering how everything will turn out.
Rating:
Summary: Good read
Review: For the most part this was a good read, kept you really involved. I found myself up late (when I should have been sleeping ) to see what happens next. typical of a M.C. novel. There were some cheesie schwarzenegger or 007 situations where the characters keep escaping impossible scenarios. entertaining just the same.
Rating: 
Summary: Timeline vs. Doomsday
Review: There's more than a few coincidental similarities between Connie Willis' "Doomsday Book" and Michael Crichton's "Timeline". In Doomsday, Willis tells a story of a young grad student who travels back into medieval Europe and inadvertantly gets stuck for a time. In Timeline, Crichton writes of several grad students who travel to medieval Europe and inadvertantly get stuck for a time. Willis' heroine Kivrin has the aid of a chemical interpreter in her head, but it doesn't seem to be functioning quite right; Crichton's gang has a chip or some such that they can't use in fear that they will be exposed. The time travelers in both novels have a tougher time in the past than they ever could have expected. The comparisons end there. The differences between these two novels are vast. Willis reveals a meticulously researched view of English life in the 1300's, a superb skill at characterization, and the ability to keep a reader totally absorbed in a complex narrative for 578 pages; Crichton reveals, in my opinion, how much he enjoys getting paychecks when his fourth-grade level writing spawns Hollywood action movie drivel. My recommendation: Read both of these books and then don't waste anymore time or effort on one of the authors (you can pick which one )...
Rating:
Summary: A great adventure
Review: I loved this book as not only did it break down the idea of how quantum mechanics actually should work but Michael Chrichton did an amazing job of giving the reader a truly visceral experience into the middle ages!! BRAVO! Also, I loved the characters and basically couldn't put this book down! It's all I thought about when at work OR play during the period I was reading it. Hated for it to end! I wish i could read it again for the first time!! I bet it's great as a book on tape! I may do that.
Rating:
Summary: Timeline is brilliant!
Review: I love this book. It is rare for me to find a back in time book with out it being chessy. Teh charaters and plot are sure to make your fingers hurt from turning the page. You won't be able to stop turning the pages! Kate, Chris and Andr'e adventure to get out of the past is heart stopping.
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