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Summary: It's one of countless action movies, not a book
Review: There is no technical or sciece fiction in this book except for the word "quantum" about five times a page, approriate or not. Nothing to learn about medieval France either. What you'll find in this book is what you see in action movies: chases with last second rescues and not much more. If you want to read about time travel, get a copy of The Time Machine by H.G.Wells.
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Summary: Brain Candy -- Entertaining
Review: Michael Crichton is excellent at what he does -- entertaining readers. By accepting his illusion of reality through his dramatic style of mixing scientific research with fantasy, he continues to amaze me with his stories. While I tend to prefer earlier Crichton works (The Great Train Robbery is my favorite) I do enjoy the current stuff. Nowadays, he seems to write more as a starting point for the screen play to the next movie. Therefore his books do not seem to spend as much time on doing detailed character development or plot that wouldn't lend itself to an onscreen presence. Don't get me wrong -- the book was entertaining, thought provoking, etc... I highly recommend for the next rainy-day-curled-up-on-the-couch afternoon you have...
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Summary: Best book ever!
Review: I'm only 13 and I love this stuff! This book is about time travel to medievel ages. I've always wanted to do that. Believe it or not, but this book is even better than any Steven King or Harry Potter book. This is my favorite book as you can see. I'm not quite done with it though. It has a lot of technical stuff to. But what I did is didn't pay a lot of attention to that part to pay attention to the traveling back in time and all the stuff happening to the people.
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Summary: Timeline not up to snuff
Review: A far, far better book is Connie Willis' "Doomsday Book", from which it seems Mr. Crichton took many of his ideas for "Timeline". "Doomsday Book" was published before "Timeline", and it is very interesting how much of the initial story set-up the two books have in common. Maybe Mr. Crichton isn't so original after all!
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Summary: A Great Read!!
Review: Timeline is amazing! It is simply a great book. This is probably my favorite book ever (aside from maybe Harry Potter), it is filled with science fiction and time travel, along with midevil times (which is the best part of the book). An exciting book the entire way through with plot twists through-out and a very suprising ending. This is Crichton's best yet! Bravo!
Rating:
Summary: Good Book-if you like Crichton
Review: This is a great book for you if you like Crichton's style of writing. It's another disaster/suspense/drama type story- a combination that is unputdownable. The story is intriguing, and you can tell that Crichton did a LOT of research, as he is historically accurate throughout most of the story. The characters are well developed, and as always, the setting is described in great detail. Michael Crichton chose a great period of time to "travel" to in this book, as the time period provides a lot of action and plot twists. Near the end, I liked how the story switch off between the present, and the past. This kept me reading to find out what was happening in the other world. In closing, this book has a everything of things going for it- great story, characters, setting, etc. I just can't wait for the movie (Due out Spring 2001) and the PC Game (No release date as of now) Buy the book first though, I bet it's better.
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Summary: Living Worse Through Bad Science
Review: I admit to being a Michael Crichton devotee, even down to locating, purchasing and reading all of the bad thrillers he wrote as "John Lange", so there's not much he could do to disappoint me. Just so you know where I'm coming from. Crichton offers us here another example of his "Living Worse Through Bad Science" chronicles, each of which shows how, through the judicious bending of physical laws and accepted fact, things can blow up in our collective faces, or at least the faces of an intrepid band of unfortunate travelers (or and intrepid loner with powerful, if anonymous, friends, as the case may be). "Timeline" is an engaging thriller that offers not much of value to the Crichton oeuvre, but will give you at least one sleepless night as you race with the time travelers to the conclusion. I read the book in a single evening, so my single bone of contention here is that the book was money wasted. I can spend nine bucks to see a three hour movie, or $23 to read this novel in three hours; I'd rather Crichton beefed up his novels a tad and stretched my entertainment dollar for me. The plot isn't too demanding; a group of grad students is sent to a parallel universe, only further back in time, to rescue a missing historian. There are complications, bad guys, and a tight schedule with which to contend, and along the way Crichton regales us with facts he has gleaned from a library of books, the bibliography for which he has thoughtfully provided in the back. I am always grateful to read the distillation of someone else's education; it saves me having to read all those tedious books myself. If you like Crichton's formula, you'll like this book. If "Jurassic Park" annoyed you, you'll be annoyed here, too. Happy reading.
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Summary: Compelling and Exciting
Review: Crichton writes a wonderfully exciting book that allows the reader to use his/her imagination. This is a page turner that I thoroughly enjoyed. I highly recommend it!
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Summary: Crichton's Best Book
Review: I could not put "Timeline" down. Crichton makes you think about the theories of time-space and time travel and turns them into a wonderful piece of literature. I look forward to if and/or when this becomes a movie. I just hope the writers are true to the book, not like "Jurassic Park" and "The Lost World."
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Summary: Why the 'disappointment'?
Review: I feel positively Medieval. I didn't "download this book onto my Pocket PC". I read it the old fashioned way, on audiocassette. I can't help but be confused by all the reviewers who were "disappointed" by this book. It reminds me of the story of the man who picked up a rattlesnake and was surprised when it bit him. After all, his is a book by Michael Crichton, the king of the formulaic thriller. Take some good guys, some bad guys some greedy guys and some altruistic guys, throw them into a dangerous, otherworldly setting and see what happens. If you don't like the way he writes, don't pick it up! You read it to be entertained and, in that regard, 'Timeline' succeeds admirably. If you want something more scholarly, read Barbara Tuchman's "A Distant Mirror", (which Crichton relied on heavily for period info). It's almost as thrilling, lots more informative and it's not even fiction.
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