Rating: 
Summary: Good start average finish
Review: The book started out as an excellent read, but 3/4 of the way though it really dropped off. Still worth reading but not a great book.
Rating: 
Summary: Not up to par
Review: Michael Crichton has written better books. In TIMELINE, he just tries too hard to write a fast-moving, suspenseful novel and because of that, the plot-mechanics become too visible. There are chapter-headlines which resemble a countdown and many, in fact too many action scenes and the feeling, like many other readers pointed out already, that this book was too much written with a movie in mind. Yes, the book starts quite well, but quickly turns into a series of action set-pieces which become more and more boring. There are some fascinating descriptions about the middle-ages. Dear Mr. Crichton, why haven't you focused on them? Yes, I know, you need to sell a lot of copies, but believe me, the book would have been much more thrilling. In Crichton's body of work this book most closely resembles "The Lost World" (another bore with a lot of action) and is miles away from his better works like the recent, much more thrilling "Airframe", which nearly had no action but much more page-turning suspense.
Rating: 
Summary: One of His Best
Review: This book was great. It had action, drama, suspense, and a little bit of history. I for one thought that "Timeline" was one of Crichton's best (it's as good as "Jurrasic Park") If you love action and blood then you'll love this book. It takes it about 100 pages to get interesting, but once you get to a certain point, you can't put it down. The only downside to this book was that the ending was rushed.
Rating:
Summary: Only if You liked Lost World will you like this
Review: Although the book has a lot of action it goes nowhere. Crichton has strayed from the great believable story telling in Andromeda Strain Jurassic Park. It seems he now writes ridiculous stories that are meant to go directly to film. Wait for the movie on this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Techno-Historical-Thriller!
Review: Timeline starts off rather slow giving the reader information on the corporate aspects of ITC, the leading-edge corporation developing new techniques in the controversial field of quantum physics. The unusual actions and mysterious death of an ITC employee captures the reader's attention and quickly draws them into the book.The pace of the book remains relatively slow until a group of archeologists and historians, funded by ITC, are sent back 1357 to the site that they are studying. From that point on it is a non-stop ride in a most accurate portrayal of the 14th century. Crichton draws you into the time and keeps you reading. The book is typical Crichton, it is a well researched high-tech page turner. The lack of depth in the characters and their predictability was kind of a turn off, but the fast paced intriguing plot kept me reading. It also lacked a good sub-plot. Although the book continues to refer to the "present" time where they try to repair equipment at ITC is a sufficient sub-plot, I think it would have been much more interesting to have a more detailed sub-plot involving characters in the 14th century. All together it was an excellent read and I would recommend it to any Crichton fan as well as any reader interested in the medieval times, chivalry or high-tech books.
Rating:
Summary: Good Book, Will be a Great Movie
Review: I thought this book was excellent. It weaved science, adventure, suspense, and action together like only Chrichton can.I can definitely see this book becoming a movie as well. I can literally see exactly what each scene from the movie will look like as I read the book. My only hope is that the science behind the book isn't lost like in so many other Chrichton based movies.
Rating:
Summary: A spectacular book worth Your time----------------- (line)
Review: This book is great. Its violent, it swears, its like a movie, hey, its what Americans want! Although the first 50 pages are a bore, after that the plot becomes intense. If you have any sense, you'll read this book, take a look at the contents of this story, it can be quite gorey. The book's a lot of fun, enjoy it while reading in the sun, but you'll like the pace of this action packed race ! READ THIS BOOK! READ THIS BOOK! READ THIS BOOK! READ THIS BOOK! READ THIS BOOK! READ THIS BOOK! READ THIS BOOK! READ THIS BOOK! READ THIS BOOK! READ THIS BOOK! READ THIS BOOK! READ THIS BOOK! READ THIS BOOK! READ THIS BOOK! READ THIS BOOK! READ THIS BOOK! READ THIS BOOK!
Rating:
Summary: Badly done
Review: Easy to read, fast moving, lots of blood, violence and action but not much in the way of an intelligent, thought provoking plot as is more typical of the author. It is simply one chase after another with the heros escaping sure death again and again.... and again.... and again... by the narrowest of margins until you you want to throw the book at someone. Much more suitable as a script for a teenage action movie. It is not a book you will likely see on your local library's book discussion list.
Rating:
Summary: Great premise that trails off.
Review: Sure, I enjoyed this book but in the end I felt I was reading a movie script. Rather than character and story depth, the book ended with a lot of pointless running around - I could see the camera shots and pyrotechniques in my head. Started off with intriguing science and potential character development and ended like a cynical action movie pitch.
Rating:
Summary: Just a comment about one of the reviews
Review: "The first 1/3 of the book was mesmerizing, but the last 1/3 was very poorly written." Where's the other third? Maybe you should have said "1/2".
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