Rating: 
Summary: medieval best!
Review: I am a great fan of Michael Crichton and eagerly anticipated reading this book. I was not disappointed. The idea of travelling back in time has always fascinated me (see movie - Somewhere in Time) and it does sound romantic. His book was like a catalyst for my imagination on what it is like to be in the medieval period. I can almost smell the chaos he was describing. You can almost feel the thundering noise of the horses and the vibration of metal against metal when Crichton describe the battle scenes. It is an amazing book and I was glad I read it.
Rating: 
Summary: A major disappointment
Review: I have always been a big fan of Mr Crichton's work, and as such was very sorry to find that not only COULD I put this book down, I did, frequently. I can't help but think that a possibly great story line slipped through his fingers.
Rating:
Summary: Not what I've expected at all...
Review: ... from M. Crichton. I was a bit skeptical in the first few pages, testing the waters whether or not I should find something else to read, when I found myself reading faster and faster, trying to figure out what will happen next. Not exactly sci-fi, not really a full blown thriller, but an exciting book to read.
Rating:
Summary: I Can't wait to see the movie!
Review: As with some of the other reviews, I thought the beginning took off rather slow and predictable. But like all 9 of the books by Crichton I've read, I was soon hooked. Neither Medieval History nor Time travel would have lured me to this book but Crichton's name did, and I'm glad it did. Whenever I put down the book, I felt like acquaintances of mine were trapped and I must continue to read as quickly as possible until their fates have played out. Keep writing Michael! I am looking forward to your next book and will go back and read the few I have missed. I hope there is a screenplay in the works as I can't wait to see the movie!
Rating:
Summary: Timeline
Review: As he has done in many of his prior novels, Crichton has again used new technology to create a powerful story. This time he uses quantum technology and about it he writes, "Quantum technology flatly contradicts our common sense ideas of how the world works. It posits a world where computers operate without being turned on and objects are found without looking for them. An unimaginably powerful computer can be built from a single molecule. Information moves instantly between two points, without wires or networks. Distant objects are examined without any contact. Computers do their calculations in other universes. And teleportation is ordinary and used in many different ways." This quote is from Crichton's introduction; scientists have already learned this much about the strange quantum world, but they know little about how to manipulate it. Crichton greatly expands upon these strange features of the quantum worlds to help make the concept of time travel believable.In this novel, a group of historians and grad students are working on the re-creation of a medieval castle and town in France, commissioned by ITC, a company run by billionaire Robert Doniger, a brilliant, but somewhat deranged physicist. The research group assumes it is a typical research grant until they are called in on a special mission - to return to the actual time they are studying to help find their friend and colleague, Professor Johnston, who is lost in that world. Their travels are beset by violent knights, warlords and other dangers. The world of medieval France is not a peaceful one. It has frequent battles, thievery, sword fights, rape, disease and random acts of violence. The group must rely on what know about this world through their observations of it centuries in the future in order to survive the ordeal and rescue the professor. Michael Crichton, who has penned some of the best-known titles of the 90's including Jurrasic Park, Congo, Disclosure, Airframe and Rising Sun, has written another appealing action-thriller that evokes the chilling consequences of a possible future technology. Crichton also does an amazing job of recreating the feudal lifestyle of 14th century France as a time of great violence. His recreation of the weapons, armor, fights, people and lifestyle of this time period is fascinating. Timeline is a very visual and fast-moving novel that is sure to please Crichton fans.
Rating: 
Summary: Kills Some Time
Review: This is a very solid time-waster of a sci-fi thriller from one of the more competent sci-fi/thriller writers around. This time, Crichton has invented a time machine in contemporary America and sends his protagonists to fourteenth century France, where they do not receive a warm welcome. The prose is workmanlike, there is some suspense, and the book provides a diverting few afternoons entertainment. So what if the end is predictable, the portrayal of corporate officers cliched, and some loose ends are left hanging (what happened to the New Mexico cop?)? He gets credit for placing his book in an unusual milieu, which is well-researched if I can correctly recall my college medieval history courses. Buy it in paperback. (People who like time-travel fiction are well advised to seek out L.Sprague DeCamp's classic sci-fi novel Lest Darkness Fall (set after the fall of Rome during the age of Belisarius and Justinian), which though dated (it's about fifty years old) is very well done and a light read, even if it could have been longer.)
Rating:
Summary: A good fast read
Review: I really enjoyed Timeline. It was my favorite since Congo. I enjoyed most of the characters and the historical and the cool fake science stuff. Not a science geek, but knew he was stretching! Still, it is fiction. Cool scenes keeping it small and large at the same time. Better than Jurassic Park series. Crighton still mixes science, adventure and cool plot twist expertely.
Rating:
Summary: Very Good, But Shame On Crichton, Could Have Been Brilliant
Review: I loved this book. It was fun, entertaining reading that immeidately captures your attention. Unfortunately by the very end everything happens just as you'd imagine. Most of the characters while interesting didn't develop as completely as I would have hoped. It's obvious that Mr. Crichton spent a great deal of time researching the issues of Quantum Physics, Medieval History and Architecture. But he didn't spend a lot of time creating fully three dimensional characters or plot twists that leave one guessing. Yes, there are a couple of twists that are fun (males turning into females, that sort of thing), but mostly everything happens as one would expect. Interestingly enough it still manages to be suspensful because of Crichton's incredible talent in weaving a tale of action. It is an action book. It will make a great action thriller. It's very interesting that Mr. Crichton can write action so masterfully that even though you know what's going to happen, it's still suspensful finding out. But Mr. Crichton, I know you can do better with more in-depth characters and plot twists. Bottom line: buy it, read it, enjoy it, wait for the movie, ride the attraction at Disney someday and look forward to his next book!
Rating: 
Summary: A rip-off and not even a good one.
Review: My goodness, this was an unoriginal, cliché-ridden, and predictable piece of junk. Scientists and historians travel through time back to medieval Europe and CAN'T GET BACK...imagine! If you've ever read A CONNECTICUT YANKEE IN KING ARTHUR'S COURT or seen a bad STAR TREK holodeck episode, you already know the whole story and will guess the ending long before the halfway point. One could have forgiven the lack of originality, though, if the writing was up to Crichton's best. TIMELINE, however, is a wandering mess, the plot bursting with outrageous contrivances, tangential, unresolved subplots-a suspicious policeman's investigation disappears without a trace halfway through the book-and the lamest "cliffhangers" you're likely to find this side of Superman. I finished this dud slack-jawed, not wanting to believe that one of my favorite authors could publish such rubbish. Unfortunately, he can and he did.
Rating: 
Summary: Paradise Lost
Review: This book is not just a fantasy for a historian, archaeologist, or science prodigies. We have a modern account in a paradigm of technology that is present in our culture. National physicists actually hold Crichton's quantum theories valid that lends wonderful believeability in this story. We live this adventure as history is eloquently depicted as something we should learn as we become aware of modern society's legacies. If you read one page of this book, do yourself a favor and read p.73 (in the hardbound text) to decipher what is a "temporal provincialist". It is nice to see a fresh perspective that is visionary in science and yet warns some of the adverse affects when one tries to conform the world unto their his/her theories. If you want to be more grateful about Amercian society and laws despite our widespread negativity, then you should read this account. I have even dreamed about the "next step" of time travel in full detail of this vivid book.
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