Rating: 
Summary: Getting tired of Crichton
Review: Crichton's best work, in my opinion, is non-fiction. His TRAVELS is a great read and provides insight into what makes him tick. He has great plot ideas, but the writing is too predictable and contrived. It's like looking at a photo of a great meal in a magazine and then eating the paper--not at all satisfying, but the CONCEPT is great. TIMELINE is, if anything, worse than RETURN TO JURASSIC PARK, or whatever that bomb was called. It reads like a bad TV drama. I think I will consign Crichton to the same place I put another author I was intrigued with, until I read enough of his books to learn there wasn't a whole lot there--Kurt Vonnegut.
Rating:
Summary: 'Made for Screenplay' book with 1-dimensional characters
Review: Wait for the movie - that is all that this excuse for a book was written for.MC takes a reasonable attempt at a story line (dubious science allows timetravel - historians get to travel back to a site in medieval France they have been working and get to take part in a battle before returning to the present in the nick of time) then absolutely fails to develop any realistic characters. The 'science' is aimed squarely at the chronically uneducated and although he has obviously researched medieval France fairly well (looking at the biography), he fails to transform this into anything compelling. If you want a book that blends science with history - try Cryptonomicon by Stevens.
Rating: 
Summary: It's the same old Crichton formula...but it works!
Review: I love European history, and I love science, so Michael Crichton really does it for me. He has a fascinating way of weaving intelligent and thought-provoking ideas from both disciplines into a story for popular tastes. In Timeline he basically follows the same formula he follows in his other books: He takes some cutting-edge science so far out that the average reader doesn't know if it's plausible or just imaginary and finds a way to recreate everybody's greatest fantasy with it, but alas, the plan goes awry and our heroes find themselves in mortal danger. Unfortunately, his writing strategy in this book is appallingly transparent to anyone who's read Jurassic Park or Sphere or Congo or The Andromeda Strain or any of his other books. After reading about so many ridiculous fights and battles and adventures that our heroes encounter, one begins to grow weary. Still, the historical context and the scientific backbone make the story come alive and make it well worth reading. Honestly, I loved the book and I recommend it to you! It was just way too predictable and cliche. But Crichton knows what audiences want and he delivers that. He obviously wrote the book with a movie in the back of his mind, but I would say based on his track record, the book is MUCH better than the movie will be. So read the book.
Rating: 
Summary: This is Michael Crichton, right?
Review: Hmmmm...something's wrong. I was a little suprised when I read "The Lost World". It was very obviously a screenplay for the next Jurassic Park movie. "Oh well," I thought, "I guess if there's enough money involved, even I would sell out." But twice? Nearly everything I have read from Michael Crichton has been brilliantly written and plausible, if only just. The ability to write this pseudo-science fiction has been a winning strategy for so long that this book came as a real suprise. A multi-billionaire has sponsored an effort that has resulted in a time travel machine that allows scientists to visit France in the middle ages. So far, so good. However, a group of American college students, excavating an old castle, are suddenly swept up in a crisis when it turns our their professor has vanished. The evil billionaire asks that they go back in time and find him...just after they have excavated their professors eyeglasses from their site! Sorry if it sounds like I'm being sarcastic, but this book is a screenplay. It reads like a film, not a book. The time machine description is interesting, and good, but the events surrounding the adventure are awful...and made for a Hollywood blockbuster. Going back in time, the students wear little ear pieces that immediatly translate medieval French into English. They manage to pass as citizens and mingle freely, interacting perfectly...too easily. They even manage to joust in a tournament! There is no suspense and the outcome is sadly predictable. Too bad, I'm afraid. It'll make an interesting movie.
Rating:
Summary: Mr. Crichton please do more research before tackling tech.
Review: Overall a good book, especially if you are a technology buff like me. He did pretty good research regarding to date Quantum theory, but there were too many holes and unanswered questions. Why when they sent the group of scientists back, did they have to arrive 'after' the Dr.
Rating:
Summary: Movie will be better than book
Review: This book was a disappointment. Although, I think that I will like the movie because so much of the book requires the visual senses. Michael Crichton is a gifted writer and one that I generally enjoy but this was not one of his best works.
Rating: 
Summary: Suspensful but very violent
Review: This is a great book. As always Mr.Crichton doesn't just make up the theories and facts but carefully researched them before writting them down. This book is hard to put down and not booring. I am surprised to see a lot of bad reviews on amazon by assure a future reader that the reviews are nonesense and that this is one of the best books of the last decade and Michaels personal best of all time. Still this book may be too violent for some readers and I recommend you at least be 12 years old to read this book.
Rating:
Summary: Good but not the usual "crichton good"
Review: I really expected a LOT more from crichton. His usual combination of science and adventure can be found in this book and makes it very compelling and a (VERY) fast read. The problem with this book is that the storyline is not believable. For instance, if the story is not about time travel, how come things done in the past have an affect on the present? There are many gaps in the story, not something usually seen in crichton books. I was a little disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Simple entertainment
Review: I have always seen Michael Crichton as a kind of pulp fiction writer for scientists. His writing is a bit bland and his characters remain one-dimensional (Crichton has a habit of referring to his characters by their last name). His stories are fun as long as you expect simple entertainment. Don't pick up his books expecting poetry or insights into the human experience. His trademark style is explaining relatively complex scientific ideas in order to advance his plot. Many of his stories take place on the paradigm shift of a particular scientific field. In Jurassic Park it was genetics and cloning; in The Andromeda Strain it was microbiology (or something along those lines); in Sphere it was extraterrestrial intelligence; and in Timeline it is time travel (I forget the scientific jargon for it). It is similar to Jurassic Park in some of it's plot points and is therefore a little predictable at times. The story concerns a handful of archeologists who travel to medieval France using high-powered equipment. The action gets off to a good start but is not spectacular. The most interesting parts of the book are the little side plots about the possible effects of time travel. Board members discuss how to market their discovery by recording historical events and they find that their historical figures are different from what they expected. The plot is otherwise predictable but is also entertaining as a simple book for the beach.
Rating:
Summary: Timeline - Very Disappointing
Review: I found the book very disappointing. The idea was too similar to Jurassic Park for comfort (ie secretive hi-tech company meddling in things it does not fully understand) and the plot was tedious and repetitive. Not recommended, which is a pity as Michael Crichton's books are often very exciting
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