Rating: 
Summary: Boring
Review: I'm a crichton fan. Bought this book after all the hype I read in the magazines and bcos I love crichton's writings. However, it was a big letdown. It was plain simple boring. Was very hard to read and finish this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Timeline a Fine Time
Review: Are you able to suspend disbelief? This book's fanciful and compelling (albeit scientifically impossible) story takes readers on a thoroughly enjoyable journey. Crichton, much like Anne Rice, spends A LOT of time researching the historical facts that paint his fiction...it shows and it's well worth it. Fun. No, Very Fun.
Rating:
Summary: Paths Across Time
Review: Michael Crichton may not be Hemmingway, but he does tell a good tale and he does his homework. In "Timeline", he tells of a creature of the late 20th century, a scientist/businessman who discovers something rather like, but not quite the same as time travel. Several experts on the medieval past get caught up in a roller coaster ride to 13th century France during the battles between the French who conquered England and became english and the French who stayed home. The river, the castles, the towns, the monestary and even a fortified mill at issue actually existed and their ruins still exist in the Dordogn valley. Indeed, there is a picture book of this valley currently in print that has amazing photos of these precise castles and that precise strech of river on the cover. There, in full color, are the principal locations of that part of "Timeline" located in the 13th century as they appear today and as Michael Crichton must have seen them! Good book! It will make a hell of a movie if hollywood doesn't screw it up. Darryl Turner Ph.D.
Rating:
Summary: Escape from the real world for a while
Review: It seems to me that Michael Crichton writes two different kinds of books. On one hand, you have books like Rising Sun, Disclosure, and Airframe. On the other, you have the Jurassic books, Sphere, and Congo. I think he does a great job on both kinds, but I always have more fun reading the more adventure orientated ones and that's where Timeline fits in. Expect the usual Crichton scientific explanations here, the cliche characters (Marek was the best of the lot), and all the fun. I didn't enjoy it as much as Jurassic Park of Sphere, but that sure enough doesn't make it bad. MC writes a classic adventure story of a group of college type archeologists lost in France in the fuedal past looking for their professor then a way home. On the way we have sword fights, jousts, damsels that aren't exactly as they seem and my personal favorite, an insane hermit like Knight, looking to cut off one of our heroine's head. If you love a good adventurous romp and nothing more, then you should find something you enjoy here.
Rating:
Summary: Was this a novel or a script?
Review: Despite the other negative reviews, I thought Timeline was definately an entertaining read, but had its' flaws:
1. yes, cliche ridden at times, but didn't detract from the larger plot & story.
2. charecter decisions seemed a little unrealistic at times -- I think Chriton did fumble here & there -- but taken with a grain of salt, I was able to read-on.
3. climatic moments, especially near the end seemed a little overdone. I felt that Chriton was originally trying to sell this as an action-packed "blockbuster" script instead of a novel. so the book could have used some more editorial work before release. it was easy to envision the BIG Hollywood explosions here and the BIG Hollywood battle scene there, etc., instead of catering to just the mere reader. But again, the plot was interesting -- in the Sci-fi vein. Timeline had the flavor of that fun-to-read story.
Rating: 
Summary: not the worst, but not the best either.
Review: if he had not written 'Jurassic Park', 'Timeline' would have been his best book. unfortunately, it isn't. would it be my fault if i expected a 'techno-thriller' like JP? 'Timeline' seems more like a historical novel. if i had known that this book has more pages about medieval ages, i wouldn't pick it up easily. i'm a fan of Mike cause of JP and 'Travels', so this book isn't my taste.
Rating:
Summary: Good one, suspenseful and imaginative
Review: I really liked this book. It contains quite an ordinary concept (going back in time, yeah yeah, no news here) but it is worked out into detail. The author has really researched medieval France and gives a lot of information to make the trips more believable. The story line takes you along, creates suspense and makes you want to finish this real fast - and not because you hate it! Also, the end is quite impressive. Sure, it takes some 'belief' in the not-so-likely, but if you do (even if you just accept that time travel is possible) this gives you a good story, well thought out, which brings you modern sci-fi stuff and medieval down-to-earth practicalities all mixed into one swinging story!
Rating:
Summary: X-Files meets Excalibur and Micky Mouse
Review: The opening chapters held much promise, but soon the story shifts direction and turns out to be another typical time travel/adventure story. What if you were in your car with your wife, driving down a desolate desert road, where you come upon a man who seems somewhat delirious and appeared out of nowhere? You speak to him, but he babbles on incoherently in rhymes about things from the past, but you are more puzzled on how he got out here to begin with. You take him to the hospital where he soon dies in a spastic fit. Enter the local police trying to figure out what happened.... This is how Timeline opens, with a strong X-Files mystery case. However, this is where the mystery stops, and the story shifts both locals and characters. We now learn that billionaire Doniger owns ITC Corp., a company who secretly developed a 'sorta' time machine based on quantum theorems that Einstein and Stephan Hawkings would be proud of. However, you don't go back in time in the traditional sense, but emerge into a parallel universe at a different time in equivalent to our history. Mr. Crichton's strengths lies in the description of this science which is easy for the reader to understand and makes it very plausible. His research into medieval France is also very exceptional. A few diagrams are scattered throughout the book that also help the reader. Anyway, the three main characters are introduced to us and by all accounts are very typical and genric for these type of stories. They are archeologists working on a castle site in France that ITC just happens to be funding, and as the story soon unfolds, ITC *lost* someone back in time. ITC, with Doniger (a very shadowy figure who only has his own interests and agenda in mind) sends the three back to medieval France with a few companions. Of course they emerge in the middle of a war and all hell breaks loose where they are on the run for the next 48 hours. Their mission: find the missing professor, bring him back without changing history, and without getting hurt. Of course this isn't going to happen. Nonetheless, the story is very entertaining and very educational. There is a lot of action reminiscent of Indiana Jones, but much of the story was way to predictable. You could see the ending a mile away. What really bothered me was not only the obvious predicaments and resolutions, but there were some dangling plotlines from the beginning that were never resolved. Examples: What ever happened to cop who was investigating the death of the strange man from the desert? What ever happened to the doctor that performed the autopsy? What ever happened to Doniger's PR woman and right hand man? Why did no-one ever question or put their foot down to Doniger? Lastly, Doniger created this whole technology so he could build very accurate theme parks, yet he had made other creations (see universal language translator) which probably made him even richer and less dangerous, but he chooses to do nothing with it. It was a fun story with some good technical and historical lessons in it, but otherwise somewhat shallow in depth and surprises.
Rating: 
Summary: Come on guys...this book was great
Review: You really have to have an appreciation for new scientific ideas for this book to have a lot of meaning. The idea that time is not a place to go to, but rather a parallel existence will be difficult for many to grasp. Lots of people are jumping on the bandwagon saying that the villian was trying to create a theme park. This is not the case. His purpose was to restore castles exactly as they appeared in the past. Yes, his intentions were to make a profit, but not a theme park. Timeline has more non-stop adventure than any of the books that the author has previously written. He does an excellent job of mixing the past with the present. This book has gotten a bad wrap by the other people that have reviewed the book.
Rating: 
Summary: Didn't Suspend my Disbelief
Review: I have a few major criticisms of this book: 1) The characters are hollow and uninteresting. If you have ever read a book where the characters just jump out at you because they are so "alive", then this book will disappoint. (there are any number of books out there with better characterization; try Curious George). 2) 3 people get sent back into the past. 2 of them are wet behind the ears students who know nothing about survival or fighting. Yet through the course of this book, they slaughter and make short work of at least 50 armored guards. It got to the point where I didn't ever fear for their lives. "4000 guards run and charge at Chris, Kate, and Marek...but they are no match. Chris dives into a super, whirling battle attack worth 400 hit points of damage per hit; Kate leaps into the air and releases a volley of incendiary arrows while deftly dodging arrows left and right; Marek grows to 10 times his size and crushes soldiers beneath his massive feet." But the book wasn't all bad -- I was able to finish it. Mike Crichton, as usual, has done his research and the book has accurate details about the time period. But sometimes his writing takes on a condescending tone as he dashingly writes something like, "Everyone thinks that knights of this time were savage beasts but that's JUST NOT TRUE. You are wrong you laymen. Such and such, such and such..." And I just want to say, "You're not impressing me. Tell me something new." Well my advice: go to the local bookstore, close your eyes, spin around, and point randomly at in any direction. Chances are you'll be pointing at a book that will satisfy you more than Timeline.
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