Rating: 
Summary: Sloppy
Review: This book is very absorbing, and Crichton usually makes his science seem plausible. I was very intrigued by "Sphere," and the novel "Jurassic Park" made my blood run cold--it scared me a lot more than the movie did.But "Timeline" is sloppy. An architect refers to a diagram of a monastery and says that it shows apsidal chapels, when in fact, it does not (the diagram is reproduced in the book). The architect and a historian are talking about the putative location of the monastery's refectory--and a few pages later are referring to the same room as the "rectory" (which of course makes no sense to begin with, in that context). Archaelogists come across a mass burial on the site of a monastery, and the author says, "But there were strange things about this--they were all men" (well, duh, the population of a monastery usually is) and "they had died of arrow wounds, but no battle had been fought at the monastery." So? The battle didn't have to be fought right there; the monastery was simply where they were brought for burial. Irritating little lapses like this occur rather frequently throughout the book. Other faults are more serious. One medieval widow is such a consummate plotter that she makes Michael Corleone look like a boy scout; yet one of the main characters, having known her for less than 24 hours and having seen little of her but her cunning, inexplicably falls in love with her, and we are to believe that they live happily ever after. Perhaps it really does work out that way, but it is obvious that the author expects the reader to endorse this decision, and that really doesn't make a great deal of sense. A scientist attempts to explain quantum physics to a group of historians. He shows that experiments in optics show that there must be multiple universes which may randomly affect ours. Perhaps this is a logical surmise, and my knowledge of science is weak, but for me, his explanations raised more questions than they answered. If photons from an alternate universe can bump light "out of the way" in ours, does that mean that an oil slick from an alternate universe can suddenly and randomly make my street slippery, so that I have a wreck? The scientists go on to explain that teleportation is achieved by analogy with faxing. But faxing is nothing but transmission of electronic signals; it's not the whole thing. There must be material at the other end to recreate the image--and even after recreation, the entire result is simply a copy. Crichton wants us to believe, in this story, that "faxing" people actually reconstitutes real humans "at the other end." For me, the analogy broke down. Weakest of all, for me, is the way Crichton faces--or rather, fails to face--the peculiar dilemmma of time travel: if we could visit the past, how could we know that whatever we did was not in fact altering the past for the worse? The movie "Frequency" at least faces this issue squarely: a man saves his father's life, in the past, but in so doing, alters his mother's life so that she comes to the notice of a serial killer who would otherwise never have encountered her. Crichton simply denies that the issue is real at all. When one of the characters is asked, "But if I went back in time and killed my grandfather, so that I was never born, wouldn't that be paradoxical," he simply replies that you probably couldn't kill your grandfather, because you might not find him, or your gun would misfire, or you might be arrested, etc. Pretty lame, in my opinion. In the end, as one of the reviewers has already said, you realize that what you are reading, all in all, is a rather brutal description of medieval mayhem. And again, there are a couple of howlers thrown in, such as a smart young female historian with a fine education seriously saying "My hero" to a fellow she is interested in. Other touches, such as the decapitation-prone mad knight guarding the Green Chapel, seem to be an obvious borrowing from "Sir Gawain"--and it is impossible to tell if Crichton is even aware of this. Crichton certainly did do some homework for this book, and he makes some bold and interesting claims--for instance, that broadsword combat was not slow and cumbrersome, as we might imagine, but quick as fencing, or that medieval knights were not as small as we think they were. (Then why are doorways to private rooms in medieval buildings so short?) In any case, there are interesting points about the book, but it needed a better editor, perhaps one who was not overawed by the author's name and reputation.
Rating: 
Summary: History with a Quantum flavor
Review: I really loved Michael Chrichton's other books, so I was excited to see a new title on the shelves. I was expecting Quantum Science with a history flavor, but this book focuses on a small fragment of history with very little time spent on quantum mechanics. The novel describes how the characters are "quantum disassembled" and reassembled in the past (or some other universes' past) by some mysterious extra-universe force. I have recently read some material about quantum teleportation and I thought this would be an extension of that. I was confused and a little disappointed with how the science was handled. The writing, however, is, as always, superb and most of the characters are believable. I had a hard time putting the book down and the characters' troubles had me hooked. I found the mad scientist/evil capitalist bad guy, however, wasn't consistanly nasty enough. He is portrayed as a genius (and a bit of a Bill Gates clone), but is easily thwarted in the end. The "Brave Hero" character seems a bit hard to believe too. The historical setting was very well crafted. You could picture the characters in this mideval setting, struggling to understand how things worked. Even well trained archeologists didn't have a clue how this society really worked. If you are a Michael Crichton fan, you probably have this book already. If not, you still might enjoy this history-text-come-to-life story. But if you are a SciFi fan, you are may be dissapointed by Timeline.
Rating: 
Summary: THIS WAS AN AWSOME BOOK!
Review: He's done it again! Every book of Crichton's is great, but Timeline by far is the best. The action and plot development kept me up far into the night, unable to put it down. He excellently mixed science with story line to keep anyone who reads this book guessing. If you are a Crichton fan you have got to read this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Come on-it is supposed to be fun, not a literary leap
Review: This is a fun sci fi adventure in his usual style. I stayed up late to finish it and was not disappointed. I like to read "more substantial" fiction and plow thru alot of serious non-fiction and this was a fun break. Don't expect physics 201 or deep thoughts on time travel or sophisticated character development. Just read it and take it for what it is--a fun lark.
Rating:
Summary: The Crichton machine
Review: Timeline is an excellent Crichton book. It has all the ingredients to be one. A good mixture of fantasy, science and adventure. However I did miss something extra from the book, something that could have made it different from the previous Crichton books. The machine of the writer was working and put all the well-known Crichton ingredients into the book, but I think this book, unlike the previous ones, would have required something special too.
Rating:
Summary: Great reading, but too short.
Review: Michael Crichton has done it again... He has succeeded in telling a story that is factually accurate and very believable although the story takes pace in a fictional setting. I learned quite a bit about history and also a bit about human nature and what is really the most important thing in life. What does existence all boil down to? What is the purpose of life? In the Middle Ages as well as today, there is just ONE answer to this question. Read the book and you'll find out. Great Job, Michael... I will continue to read your books.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: I wasn't going to write a review of this book - there are already over 700 reviews, but I was compelled to because I JUST LOVE THIS BOOK. I am a scholar and professor of medieval art at a small college. I picked up this book this summer as an outlet from my scholarly writing and it has been a joy. My father is a physicist, and I, as a historian, have never found science "my bag." But this book, with it combination of history and science/technology, has us conversing about quantum theory -- something I never cared a whit about. This book also reminds us scholars -- though no doubt many would find this beneath them -- that recreating the past is a difficult thing to do, and one should not hold too fast to opinions and beliefs; in the end, we DO NOT KNOW. I say bravo - job well done.
Rating:
Summary: Typical Crichton
Review: I love Michael Crichton. I hang out for each new release, diappointed when I don't get my fix. I like books that mix facts with fiction. One that teaches me something, and fools me into believing that it just could happen. This is typical Crichton, so it didn't disappoint me at all. You could see the plan to make it into a box office movie, but it didn't stoop as low as Lost World, which tried far too hard to attract a young audience. He has obviously done his research, and I had that sense of learning as I turned the pages. As usual he made each page one to keep you turning. Not a stunning novel as far as plot, but if you like Crichton's other work, you will enjoy this.
Rating:
Summary: A delicious adventure
Review: I look to Michael Crichton books for what they are: fun, light, summertime reading. "Timeline" is immensely enjoyable. The old, standard formula is there, but that is why I buy these books and what makes the ride such a treat. Also: Kudos to Crichton for easing into his story a reference to the obscure but fascinating medieval text "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight." Pleasurable indeed!
Rating:
Summary: One of Crichton's Best!
Review: I loved this book. Being a past Crichton fan, I have to say that "Timeline" is one of his best. In "Timeline", Crichton melds the past and present in an array of technology and tradition. It's clear Crichton did a tremendous amount of research for this book, and the science could not be more up to date. This book is a necessity for any reader who likes Fantasy and Science Fiction Thriller's!
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