Rating: Summary: boring Review: what a pity! a good idea spoiled by a non-sense plot. the first 150 pages are interesting but when we move in the past...it is not clear because our heroes risk their lifes for a Professor that looks more a stupid fool than a professor.I read with pleasure (5 stars) the Robbery,Andromeda, Congo and I really regret because of this flop. If you really like enter in the middle eve world lets read the NAME OF THE ROSE of Umberto Eco. luigi accomazzo italy
Rating: Summary: Classic Crichton Review: He's done it again! Wonderful plot and story line keep you interested in another great Micheal Crichton book. I downloaded this book on my PocketPc and couldn't put it down after I started reading it. Beautifully written and as always, he gives great details in explaining all the historic and scientific subjects. Don't take my word for it, read it for yourself!
Rating: Summary: A Page Turner! Review: I read this book as an eBook on my PocketPC. It was great! I found the story compelling and evocative. I particularly appreciated the juxtaposition of technologies modern and ancient.
Rating: Summary: Excellent Book Review: This is a must for anyone who loves adventure, and history. Michael Crichton does an excellent job of describing the midevil time of which this story goes into. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It has a plot that never lets down, and has a great finish.
Rating: Summary: A must-NOT read ! Review: It's time someone said this aloud : this book stinks ! It's a teenagers' writing , not adult, as it is meant to be. Maybe as a 17 years old I would have enjoyed it,but not as 22 . It's humiliating to think that matures are supposed to read this shallow writing, descriptions ,actions and to get to know such boring and stupid characters. Crichton used to be one of my favorites ,but is no longer. The way he's going is not my way anymore.
Rating: Summary: Great Vacation Book! Review: I thought that Timeline, Michael Crichton's latest work was a very good read. Altough it was very long, that didn't bother me. The plot is basically a cross between "A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court" and "Back to the Future", one of my favorite movies. The first 40 pages were very interesting about how he introduces ITC, the main company in the book. The president of ITC, named Robert Doniger, reminded me of another Rupert Murdoch or Bill Gates. Kate, Andre (Marek), and Chris are the three main time travelers. There were 2 other time travelers, but one died and another went back. The 37 hours spent there is interesing and fast-moving. There are many interesting things to do for them, though, like jousting tournaments and battling guards. They blend in very good with the crowd, which they need to, and even lie about some things. The race to get back to the quantum transistors is fast and furious, but only two of them make it. That ending is kinda sad, but after that, some other people have sent Doniger back into time during the plague. I thought that this ending was very funny. I hope you like the book, because I did, and I thought it was a great book to bring on vacation because I read it over spring break and it really held your attention until the book was over. This book was reccomended by a friend who loves Crichton and he loved the book.
Rating: Summary: Michael Crichton Review: When I wised up and began to read for pleasure (School always made it difficult for me to enjoy books. I hated to have to read.). Not one Michael Crichton book has let me down. As usual, I would suggest you not find out about this book just read it. Reading a book is more exciting when you have no idea what's inside. I assure you it's a great read for the technically minded individual who can visual what is read.
Rating: Summary: Timeline is Crichton at his best Review: Take a group of archaeologists who are specialists in Medieval History, transport them back to the Middle Ages at the exact site they are working to unearth, and then sit back and watch them try to survive the skirmishes, intrigues, and everyday hardships of the life at that time, and you have the bare bones of Timeline. Add in an accident at the laboratory from which they were transported, and back to which they hope to return, and the tension builds as the scientists in the present day attempt to reconstruct the equipment necessary for a return. The travelers do not all return to the present time (for a variety of reasons) and the ones that do are profoundly changed. As usual, Crichton has done his homework, both in the area of the history involved and the science of time travel. The research serves to lend credence to the unlikely possibility of time travel, but it doesn't get in the way of a rousingly good story. As a middle school teacher, I'm excited about integrating the reading of parts of this novel into our social studies unit on Medieval History; the students will come away with a more personal understanding of this period and the harshness of life during the Middle Ages.
Rating: Summary: Excellent fresh idea, but plot has weak parts Review: Michael Crichton is an excellent writer. I admire Crichton for being able to write about so many things. (Gorillas in the jungle, dinosaurs on a island, virus outbreaks, airplane crashes...) Timeline has not only added to the list of topics, but has brought back that Crichton touch that was so compelling that was missing in Airframe and The Lost World. Timeline is obviously about time travel, and Crichton does a wonderful job with this aspect of the book. He gives us a very unique and intriguing look at the possibility of time travel. Although time travel makes the story in Timeline possible, the real heart of the story is in the Medievil period. The setting he gives us for this period in time is outstanding, and the detail he puts into it is not only withstandable, (for those of us who have trouble with detail) but also interesting. Crichton did a marvelous job. So why three stars? The plot gets to repetitive. Halfway through the book, the characters begin to run from the enemies. (I'm trying not to give away anything here) And for a long time its just a game of chase, the charaters miraculously run from, or defeat whoever is chasing them with one hand tied behind their back, it gets too repetitive, predictable, cheap movie like, and gets less believable. I think Crichton just needed to add a little to the plot, or cut the book down so it didn't get like that. I may have sounded a little too negative there, the plot does keep you going til the end, it just has weak points, and you may be disappointed with the predictability of the last third of the novel. So, to sum this all up, if you've never read Crichton, this is not the book to start trying to, start with Jurassic Park or Congo, or another highly rated book of his. For longtime Crichton fans,its worth your time.
Rating: Summary: Just wait for the movie.... Review: I was very disappointed by the latest book of Michael Crichton, of whom I am a great fan. What I appreciated in his earlier books was the capacity to treat various issues (about society, science, ethics) in a highly entertaining way. But his latest book seams to have been wrote more for the movie that inevitable will follow rather than to convey some idea. The story is packed with action and centered on a group of American students sent beck to Medieval Europe. But the ploy is weak and highly predictable, with the group going through fights with Medieval knights as easily as having a game of Ping Pong, and ultimately the story start to repeat it-self, with the end where "the bad guy" will pay for his arrogance.
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