Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining
Review: Timeline is a fun book to read. It is not earth-shaking, but just entertaining and, I think, worth reading.I have heard that it is similar to Jurassic Park, but I've never read that book (only seen the movie), so I really can't say. I do plan to read Jurassic Park now. I've also read some criticism that Crichton doesn't explore the concept of time traveling to any great extent (i.e., the possible effects of changing history, etc..), which is true. He doesn't. But, who cares? What Crichton has provided us with is a swashbuckling adventure story that takes us back and forth from the techno-world of the 20th century to the sometimes dark and dangerous world of the 14th century. Timeline is probably not going to end up in your top ten, but as I've said, it is still alot of fun.
Rating: 
Summary: A midieval version of "Beat the Clock"
Review: Michael Crichton in his book Timeline reminds us that reading is for fun and entertainment. Many readers appear to be very serious about their preoccupation. Timeline is a quick easy read combining two of my very favorite subjects time travel and the medieval life. While Crichton does go into some scientific explanations about quantum physics it doesn't bog down the book or detract from the pace of the story. Crichton presents an interesting cast of characters who could easily be exchanged with a variety of Hollywood actors and actresses. These characters are involved in a form of medieval beat the clock as they race to find their way back to the present. Even with their knowledge of the time and place they find the middle ages to be a dangerous threatening time. When the adventure ends, one could easily imagine their continuing adventures in their travels through time. If you enjoy reading about the middle ages and like action and adventure this is a book for you. If you are a serious reader looking for meaning, character and plot development and enjoy dissecting a book it might be a good idea to skip it.
Rating:
Summary: Jostling the imagination
Review: I could not put this book down....the storyline was challenging to follow some of the time but well worth the effort. I agree with a previous reviewer and feel that it may be Crichton's best to date. I especially found his descriptive writing style so well done that there were moments that I felt that I was standing with the characters inside the water-wheel mill or on the parapet watching the preparation for battle. A cold rainy day,hot cup of coffee, nice cozy chair and this book would make for a wonderfully adventurous weekend.
Rating: 
Summary: Good action, terrible premise
Review: This book has Crichton's trademark action. But the premise makes no sense, and if it did, the real issues raised are not pursued at all in the book. His notions of time travel use a lot of quantum bable, but have no credibility in science. If they did, nobody would want to participate in time travel as he imagines it.
Rating:
Summary: Slow Start, but Good Book
Review: It takes about 130 pages for this story gets off the ground, but once it does, it soars. Be patient. It is a very entertaining read.
Rating:
Summary: An Adventure Through Time
Review: The book Timeline, written by Michael Crichton, wraps its fingers around the reader's neck and takes the reader for a violent, action-packed ride through a small French village in a state of turmoil. Crichton packs his latest work with action, scene after scene, taking place in an interesting array of settings. The action did not occur in open fields, or on common battlefields, where it would have been as effective; it occurred in such places as secret passages, dark woods, and even within a castle's primitive septic system. The plot of Crichton's latest masterpiece was like no other i have ever read: a group of graduate students was involved in going back in time to mideival France to save their professor who was already trapped there. Crichton's ability to describe everything in detail put me inside the story with the students: the smell of the castle walls, the feel of soldiers' blood on their skin, and the scent and appearance of an old man's dirty, lice-infested beard. These details were what made all of the battle scenes so amazingly real and exciting. The description of the wounds f men who lay dying, their grunts, the clanging of metal, all so vividly detailed, made me feel as if the battle were occurring right outside of my window. Timeline kept my eyes glued to each page, searching for little details that were necessary for me to use in order to fully understand the story. Crichton added many bits of historical information which added to the story's realism and made it as interesting as it was. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of Crichton's, or who would enjoy reading a well-written, action-filled novel.
Rating:
Summary: Awful, awful, awful
Review: Save your money. This book has obviously been written as a prequel to a future movie. No doubt both book and movie will make Mr. Crichton tons of money. But the book is still awful. It's the 21st century's version of "The Perils of Pauline", with every chapter (and sometimes page) leaving one or more of the protagonists in a cliff-hanger situation. If your IQ is no higher than the price of this book, go ahead -- you might enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: Save Your Money
Review: After reading "Red Sun Rising" I had high expectations. This book was a big disappointment. It appears his many facts and details were presented only as a poor attempt to impress the reader with his research.
Rating:
Summary: One of Crichton's most entertaining
Review: I consider this to be among the best of Crichton's works, and I have read them all, even the John Lange/Michael Douglas pseudonym books. I have seen this book criticized for it's lack of "depth," which I assume means that he didn't do enough with the idea. Specifically, the novel is about a computer tycoon who invents a technology that allows people to travel in time - well, not actually in "time" but close enough. His intention is to create a "theme park" whereby customers can travel to their favorite spots in time. Now, here comes the most widespread criticism. Couldn't you think of anything better than a theme park, Michael? Wouldn't this technology be worth more than that? Well of course it would. But if you have read Crichton's other works, you know that he has what I would call a fairly cynical view of contemporary American culture. His point in this novel is that *despite* such an important technology, it's likely that the inventor of this gadget *would* use it for something as asinine as a theme park. That is basically the state of contemporary science - important discoveries are immediately being translated into big-money schemes. At any rate, Crichton leads us through a well-crafted and exciting thriller involving that cutting-edge-impossible-science-made-plausible writing he's so well known for. He has also done his homework on medieval France, where the bulk of the story takes place. This is by far one of my most entertaining reads in some time. Lastly, I'd like to mention a supposed "hole" in the plot that many critics have pointed out. This book deals with a "multi-verse" theory, whereby there is no actual travel in time, but that the characters travel to one of an infinite number of parallel universes, specifically one that exists in the exact time period that the character wants to visit. So they don't travel back in time within our own universe, but travel laterally in time to a *different* universe, one that happens to be identical to our own, but still only in the14th century. To the point. There is a scene where a note left by someone in the parallel multi-verse (14th century France) shows up in our own universe, present-day. The criticism? That a note written in a 14th century parallel universe wouldn't show up in our own present-day universe. However, those critics fail to grasp the concept Crichton is working with. Given an infinite number of parallel universes, it is completely plausible that the exact same scenario (of traveling to a parallel universe) would play out countless times in countless universes. The idea is that a traveler from a parallel universe (i.e., other than ours) would have traveled to our *own* 14th century France and left the note which we would find in the present day. If you haven't read the book yet I'm sure this makes no sense. But it will come together after you have read it. And I highly, highly recommend picking it up and reading it.
Rating: 
Summary: Another (Yawn) Chichton Thriller
Review: You have to admire how the author rides the crest of pop fiction. You have to laud his research, scholarship, and the imagination that keeps coming up with something new and timely. Having said all that, this book takes much too long to get started. Also, unless you are interested in ancient history and/or physics you really have to slog through a lot of tedious expository material that the author force-feeds you in order to understand his plot. The characters are not memorable in my opinion. This is a time-travel story. After the main characters go back to the past, they muck about in uninteresting situations until you are almost begging the author to make an end to it. By the time the surviving good guys win, you feel as if you have been buffeted about the head with a pig bladder. Don't buy this book; wait for the movie. Films have a way of cutting out all the junk and this book needs that.
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