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Summary: Absolute Twoddle
Review: I bought this book in the expectation that it would be of the quality I am used to in Michael Crichton. How disappointed I was. This book starts off so promisingly and then falls off a very steep cliff.It would appear that Crichton wants to see this book become a film. I have no doubt that a film would be alright. The book lacks a decent plot. The actual basis of the book is sound, although some might say an overused story. I got no feel for any of the characters or the environment. I got very bored of reading this. There were a number of times when I wanted to put the book down and forget about it. Save yourself some money and buy something else.
Rating: 
Summary: VERYgood book...I recomend it to anyone!
Review: I thought that this book was a awesome book. Every time that I read it I read it for an hour or more... This book sucks you in as you read it, great concepts, and most of all a GREAT story!... Once again, I recomend this book for anyone!
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Summary: Wasted time
Review: Because none of us can jump through time I'll keep it very brief. This book was a total waste of time.
Rating: 
Summary: crichton in his best!
Review: *** timeline is a very good book, the best crichton had written since jurassic park. you won't be able to put the book down till the last page!.***
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful book
Review: This book starts out as an exciting adventure leaveing small clues and hints for you to predict what really will happen only bad thing that is in this book is that for about 30 pages the story gets long and slow.
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Summary: Its Just a book
Review: First of all I thought this book was very good and for all of you out there ripping it apart let me set out my reasons 1.This is not a quantum physics textbook so whether its acurate it doesn't really matter - no one is going to be using this as an instruction manual. 2. It is a piece of fiction. Reading should be used as an escape form reality and holding to that premise this book is excellent - it is very readable, the story moves along at a decent pace and its unusual to read a story set on both modern and medieval ages. If you are not a lover of Micheal Crichton I would recommend this book because it is not like his others and if you I lover of his books don't get too hung up about character analyses because you'll lose the point of the book - WHICH IS PURLEY ENTERTAINMENT
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Summary: Puh-Leeeeaaasseeee....
Review: Honestly, Crichton must think that the great mass of people are incredibly naive. Hmmm... lets see... I don't want to come up with an REAL orginal plot, so I'll just write another book about a mad genius making a theme park. I already wrote 2, but no one will notice a 3rd I guess... Jurassic Park was an interesting conecpt, The Lost World was terrible, and Timeline is yet another where the author is obviously more interested in movie deals than a well-written, well-rounded book with an ACTUAL ORIGINAL PLOT! Please Mr. Crichton, retire this tired, "I-must-corner-the-world-vacation-market" storyline. What's next, "I will create a historically accurate amusement park, with dinosaurs, on the moon?"... You could call it "The Historically Accurate, Jurassic Moon Park". The follow up (for movie purposes only of course) could be "The Lost Moon Park"... Puh-leeeaaasse.....
Rating: 
Summary: A Mishap Adventure in Time
Review: Here we go with Mr. Crichton Lording it over us how intelligent he is. This novel is good , but this is a case of less is more. I really enjoy the medieval period and the storyline involving a professor and several graduate students going back in time to the 14th century was done very well. The problem comes with getting bogged down in the tiresome banalities of quantum physics. Once you get past that it is a good read.
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Summary: Timetravel has become reality...
Review: Until now, I was quite pleased with literary work done by Michael Crichton. I haven't read all of his books, but the few I know ("The Andromeda Strain", "Disclosure" and "Sphere") were either excellent or very good. Now let me tell you my thoughts concerning the quality of his latest work, "Timeline". The plot is strongly divided in two parts, although Crichton obviously intended to tell the story in four parts. The stage of the first part is the present (nothing unusual, is it?). An old confused physisist is found walking around in the desert of Arizona, a map of a medieval monastery in his pocket. The man dies, but his unusual injuries let arise suspicions among the doctors in the hospital where he was treated. Then the reader is catapulted to Black Rock, New Mexico, where the dead physisist worked for a high-tech company called ITC. We find out more about this strange company and its boss, Robert Doniger. He is an eccentric genius who founded ITC to explore a complete new kind of technology based on the laws of the quantum theory. The third location where the story takes place is the shore of a river in France. There a group of archeologists is trying to uncover the ruins of medieval castles, and ITC obviously sponsors the historians! The scientists realize quite quickly the contradiction that seems to exist between the past and the modern technology. As a result, Professor Johnston, the head of the expedition, visits the company in the USA to find out what secrets the mysterious Doniger hides. Two days later, three younger historians follow their teacher to America because the latter seems to be in great trouble. They find out that ITC has invented a method to send people to other universes that present different times of our own universe, and Johnston seems to be trapped in one of those realities. So the historians travel back in time to rescue their professor. That's the end of part one. Part two is an adventurous story about historians from the 20th century who desperately try to find their teacher among knights, squires, pages and monks and to bring him back home. I don't want to tell what developments our heroes live trough exactly, but I assure you they are fascinating for somebody who doesn't want too much philosophy but a healthy portion of action and suspense. Part one is written for people who aren't satisfied only with shooting and killing but who want to know more of how our world is constructed. Crichton presents us interesting facts concerning high-tech companies, modern technology and science. Furthermore we are shown the ways of how people from the 20th century appreciate history or don't appreciate it, for that part. I would like to comment on the characters around whom the plot is centered. First of all, there is Doniger. Crichton provides us with a detailed description of his life so that the reader can always say who the boss of ITC is. Then there are Professor Johnston whose personality wasn't really defined, Andre Marek, one of Johnston's former students, a so-called "experimental" historian, Chris, the physically weak lover and, last but not least, Kate, the "spiderwoman" whose personality is somewhere out there but in the book because Crichton forgot to characterize her apart from giving her a name and a country of origin. A real pity! I expected more of her! As I indicated before, the second part consists of hard action only. To be clear, I have nothing against it. What I hate, though, are books in which the author creates too many difficulties and problems for his characters so that the books loses its realictic touch and plausibility. Using this criteria alone, I'd have to admit I hated this book. Fortunately for "Timeline", there are other criteria as well. Apart from those unnecessary turning points, there is a number of big logical mistakes. (I don't want to list them down, but I assure you that they are on the pages of the novel.) Another point I disliked were the descriptions of medieval time and its people. Crichton tried to give them their own language but couldn't really accomplish it. As a result, Lord Oliver and Co. sounded like normal people from our own century and not like "medievals". They even behaved the way we are used to from our streets. Since this book belongs to entertainment literature, I didn't expect to find more valuable information about the 14th century. Unfortunately there were no major positive surprises in this point. The text above doesn't contain everything I wanted to express on the subject of "Timeline", but I am going to finish this review nevertheless. The book as a whole isn't bad; it's a solid work you expect from an author like Crichton. It's quite enjoyable, and you will remember it for a long time. And aren't those two criteria the most important of all?
Rating: 
Summary: I wanted to like this book
Review: But I didn't. I couldn't get into the time-travel thing, maybe because it wasn't written well enough for believability. And Mr. C wanted us to visit this medievil world of jousts and castles, but the reader just thinks it's fantasy. Sorry. Try again.
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