Rating: 
Summary: "Tempus fugit" for Crichton
Review: Timeline is another case of Crichton following in the footsteps of others and failing to fill their shoes. Just as "Sphere" paled in comparison to Dean Koontz' "Strangers" which dealt with the same subject, "Timeline" is a novel of time travel that pales in comparison to other, more sophisticated stories in the genre.Structurally, the book is similar to "Jurassic Park." It begins with an odd encounter in the desert of New Mexico. Who is this man, how did he get here, and what's wrong with him? It's similar to the mysterious attack on a child in the beginning of "Jurassic Park." At least in JP, we find out what was going on by the end of the book. "Timeline," although much is revealed and explained, never explains how or why the mysterious stranger wound up in that particular part of New Mexico. Don't get me wrong; the book is enjoyable as a light entertainment. Crichton's flare for description is underwhelmingly evident in the story, but the pace and plotting keep things going. It reads more like a screenplay; in fact I imagine it's already being shopped around to the film studios. And as for the motives of Doniger, the ingenious villain of the story - well, what can I say. The man is genius enough to invent time travel, but all he can think to do is create a theme park? What's going on with Crichton? First "Westworld," then "Jurassic Park" and now we're faced with Medieval Land. Go ahead and pick this up; you'll probably enjoy it. But if you want some great time travel reading, pick up "The Doomsday Book" or "To Say Nothing of the Dog" by Connie Willis, or "Lord Kelvin's Machine" by Blaylock, or especially "The Anubis Gates" by Powers. --TR--
Rating: 
Summary: The never boring action science
Review: Crichton is truely a man who knows what he's talking about. The story is in the details, a he utilizes his knowledge to give the story the enough smooth edges to make the big picture flow. It was well written, although at times seemed predictable. I enjoyed it thoroughly and I think you will too.
Rating: 
Summary: O Michael, where art thou?
Review: Poor Michael Crichton. He's written some good (and uhm ok) SF over the years yet mention his name to the average SF reader and they give you the same look a reader of legal mysteries gives you when you admit to having read John Grisham. Crichton's latest is the story of some University historians who discover that the reason the big, mysterious corporation is funding their dig at a feudal French castle is all part of their supersecret, new technology. No surprise it's time travel, as the students find out when their professor warps back for a look and finds himself in big, medieval trouble. Chaos ensues. And lots of it. Yes, initially it's suspenseful when the students find themselves in their first FIVE or so life or death confrontations. But by the time the Green Knight rolls around (see the Amazon.Com review) you've had about a dozen attempted beheadings/eviscerations too many. And I won't ruin the ending, but the revenge extracted on one character at the end is sublimely ridiculous (how bad would you have to hate someone to wish the plague on them I ask you?) Some may turn up their nose at Crichton but Jurassic Park was brilliant. This effort is below that but still, its better than Congo (we'll just leave Sphere out of this.) And I still gave it 3 stars because it's very well researched with a lot of cool historical detail. Just file it under beach reading.
Rating:
Summary: A Superb Read!
Review: This isn't the best book in the world. It is however an energetic, enthralling one. It took me no time, practically, to read it. There is more to the novel than the speed. Crichton, as I saw it, was trying to show different aspects of our civilization through the characters and their actions. He represented how many people have kind of lost touch with our surroundings, how we can't really defend ourselves. The middle ages were a hard time to be living in, more difficult than ours in many ways. Crichton, I think, succeeded in presenting that to the reader. He didn't exaggerate, he didn't invent wild "facts." Most all historical mistakes aren't anything to complain too much about. They were made for literary reasons, to help the pace of the story. And, of course, Crichton displayed the dangers of technology; it's become kind of a habit with him.
Rating: 
Summary: There's No Time Like The Present... Or Is There?
Review: "Timeline" is the first Michael Crichton book that I've ever read. I hope it is not indicative of his writing style. The book was an enjoyable read but it didn't stretch me as a reader. I'm not looking for Kafka mind you but the prose left me wanting a little more. There were far too many simple, declarative sentences (come on Mike. Spice it up a bit). As such, it is a perfect summer read. It is light and fast moving but not taxing at all. The action in Timeline takes place in two time periods and locations. The first is present-day southwestern America. The other is France during the high Middle Ages (April 1357 to be precise). The story centers around a group of scientists and researchers working on restoring a fortress town in present-day France. The team works indirectly for ITC, a multi-billion dollar corporation run by arrogant wünderkind Robert Doniger. Doniger funds the team's research for apparently altruistic reasons. But suspicion arise when a dead ITC employee is found to be in possession of a map of the fortress's monastery that shows far more detail than the research team has uncovered to date. This leads the head of the research team, Professor Edward Johnston, to fly to ITC headquarters to demand some answers. The answer is that ITC has developed a way to travel to earlier periods in Earth's history. Of course the Professor is given the opportunity to try it for himself and before you can say "Time Tunnel", he is lost in the medieval past. Of course, his fellow researchers are recruited to undertake a search and rescue mission for their lost leader. Before they go they are warned not to interfere with the locals or introduce any technology that might contamination the current timeline (think: Star Trek's prime directive). I found the discussion of the Timeline's theory of time travel to be perfunctory. "It's not really time travel it's travelling between universes within the multiverse" explains one of the characters. I was hoping for a bit more there. Given this explanation, why would the events in one universe ever effect the history in another (the photon explanation aside). An example of this is the note that the professor wrote in the medieval-universe that reaches his team in our universe. Another question is, if the multiverse contains other realities contemporary to our own (p.130-131), why wouldn't multiple rescue teams (all peopled with Kate, André and Chris from the other universes) all show up to rescue the professor (or more accurately their copy of the professor) at the same time. Now that would have been some story! Also Doniger's explanation of the non-existence of time paradoxes left a lot to be desired: "You can't change the past because you can't." Ugh! Despite all the scientific short-comings, the book was entertaining. It was a well-paced adventure tale that effectively used science to set up the action. It was obvious that the book was a thinly disguised screenplay. The most glaring sign of this was the characters. Most of them were stock. The bright, nerdy guy who likes the girl. The intelligent, independent girl who doesn't like the nerdy guy that way (at least not yet). The person born at the wrong time who feels more at home elsewhere and elsewhen. The megomaniacal industrialist who wants things his way damn the consequences. Not to mention the mysterious villain who seems to be one step ahead of our heroes. I recommend Timeline to anyone who wants to spend some time with your feet propped up and your mind on hold. It's an enjoyable book that will yield an enjoyable read.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting mix of scientific topics in a good story
Review: Michael Crichton shows againg his ability in handling scientific topics writing an interesting story. As a graduate student of engineering I enjoyed the reading from the beginning, because it is very well documented and shows precise information on both science and technology. Concerning to history, it is quite descriptive and leads you to a nice ride to past times and places (forget your History teacher). Moreover, the story itself catch you in such a way you wouldn't leave your reading. However, the final is somewhat predictable and you might enjoy more the epilogue (I did).
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: ITC Corp. has invented a way, using Quantum Physics, to journey to 14th century France. It's not really a time machine since instead of going back to our past, the characters are actually going back to a past that exists in a parallel universe. I won't try to explain this but from what I understand this concept is part of Quantum theory. Suffice to say that Crichton makes the whole scientific explanation believeable, at least to someone like me who's not versed in Quantum theory. Using this idea, the book starts out strongly. Professor Edward Johnston travels back to 14h century France but becomes marooned there. ITC Corp. mounts a rescue expedition consisting of Johnston's graduate assistants, all who are steeped in the history of Medieval France. Their mission is simple. Go get Johnston and bring him back. They have a total of 37 hours to do this.However, as can be expected, things begin to go wrong from the time they land and they are all in danger of being marooned permantly in the 1300's. Great idea, but the book rapidly deteriorates into a series of cliche cliffhangers as our intrepid historians fight battles, save damsels in distress, and face myriad perils that would make James Bond blanch with fear. Of course, unknown to our heroes, they may not be able to return because the transmission station back in our time has been damaged and will take a great deal of time to repair. So the whole book lurches to a finish that you can see coming for two hundred pages. I expected more from Crichton. I've read all of his novels, most recently "Eaters of the Dead" and this is the first one I've considered silly. Even "The Lost World" was better than this. Why do more and more very good authors feel they have to write books that read like video games, or screenplays?
Rating:
Summary: A good read.
Review: Put simply, I enjoyed this book. The book grabed my attention at the beggining and I read on furiously trying to sort out what was going on. As the plot is revealed the book continued to tempt me forward. Crighton once again subjects his characters to a fast paced series of potentially lethal dilemas. At times, I couldn't put this book down. Unfortunately, some aspects of the plot didn't work to well. The scientist wandering the desert at the beginning doesn't seem to be explained sufficiently. Also, the nonsense about historically accurate theme parks doesn't satisfy me as an explanation for developeing this technology. These are the kinds of things that bothered me after reading the book. It is a shame that they detract from an otherwise exciting story.
Rating:
Summary: Too slooooowwwwww....
Review: I have enjoyed Crichton's books in the past. The scientific world has always intrigued me, and this book definitely fits into that realm. However, it took about 200 pages before this book really started to get interesting. Prior to that, I would almost call it painful reading. The last 300 pages are good, but not great. A great concept, just not a great final product.
Rating:
Summary: None stop excitment
Review: Crichton has really done his homework and the setting in 14th century France is brough to life for the reader. If you can over look a few weak explinations about time travel and related issues that are not too convincing, you can really enjoy this book. The pace is frantic and once in a while I heard myself even shouting to the characters as they constantly encounter one life threatening problem after another. A classic cliff hanger.
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