Rating: 
Summary: Adolescent Romp
Review: Michael Crichton's main talent is to appeal to the adolescent in all of us. After dinosaurs, he gives us knights in not-so-shining armor, and a dash of time travel. Three stars for the book--muddled science and muddled action included--and a fourth for this knack of indulging our fantasies. A screenplay with some soapbox pieces on quantum theory and the role of history in our lives, Timeline has the two-(one-?)dimensional characters we know from his earlier works. But they are sympathetic and don't get in the way of the fun and frolic of swordfights, jousting and exploring secret passages. As usual, Crichton has done his homework well, packaged his ideas with sufficient froth and delivered a highly readable and diverting romp.
Rating: 
Summary: Awesome Book
Review: Timeline kept me up all night reading.I throughly enjoyed this book.I love time travel & quantum physics is very interesting as well as very technical.I learned a lot about science & humanities.When one reads this book one can tell that Critchon researched his subject a great deal.It may be fiction but it seems so real or possible.I wholeheartedly recommend this book.One of the best I have read lately.
Rating:
Summary: Could not put it down. What a ride !
Review: Although I do respect everybody's opinion, I have no clue as to why some people disliked this book so much. Hey, I am not a critic, I can only tell you that I found it extremely entertaining, and that I loved it from beginning to end. Besides the plot and fast paced action of the last 2/3's of the book, I specially enjoyed Crichton's portrayal of life in the middle ages, it forces you to see the present from a different perspective.
Rating: 
Summary: Tedious and uneventful
Review: I was initially captured by the premise and was excited to see M.C. merge and weave science and fiction. The book got off to a promising start and then it just dragged on. Unfortunately he wrote a screenplay and I had expected to read a novel.
Rating:
Summary: Am I stupid or is this "Weird Science?"
Review: For example: 1.What is the rush to repair the equipment? Can rescuers not teleport back to arrival day whenever they're ready? 2.How come they can figure out quantum teleportation, but cannot construct an "answering machine" or strengthen a glass panel without help? 3.Why can't they take guns back, but take miniature electronics in their ear? 4.Instead of pitching to investors, why doesn't Doniger go back in time a decade and buy microsoft? As science fiction this screenplay is worthless. As a remake of "Conneticut Yankee" it is fair. I expected more from the author of "Andromeda Strain," "Terminal Man" and "Jurassic Park."
Rating: 
Summary: Fun Read But Not Great Literature
Review: I haven't read a Crichton book in a while but had seen many of the movies made from his previous novels. And reading this book I felt like I was reading a future screenplay for "Timeline" the movie. The book had incredible (actually impossible) feats of strength and daring by 20th century characters in 14th Century France. Many times I felt that if this were true to form the people would most certainly be dead...but miraculously they survive...again and again and again and again. On a more positive note, the book moves along at a good clip and the science behind the technology involved in transporting the characters back to 14th century France was intriguing. All in all I would say that this is a fun book to read but not a mind boggling novel that keeps you thinking after your done. It is pretty much mindless fun with unusual science.
Rating:
Summary: Better than The Lost World by 20,000 miles!
Review: If you want my 2 cents worth Timeline is the best historical fiction novel of the year--only The Killer Angels and The Triumph and the Glory come even close to matching it for raw excitement and unrelenting tension set in a vivid past. SUPER!
Rating: 
Summary: Try Simon Hawke's "Ivanhoe Gambit" instead.
Review: The worst Crichton book of the 5 I've read. The pseudo-science premise was a weak catch-all for the problems with time-travel and left much unexplained (i.e. how does going into a parallel universe change the past in the present universe?). Characters were uncompelling and some provided almost nothing to the story (e.g. the professor was no more than an excuse to go back in time). Way too many pages wasted on the MacGyver-like way they repaired the time machine. Plot was almost non-existant. Characters were chased and hacked at. They were captured and escaped and eventually found the secret passage, the only source of suspense (and a weak one at that). The notion of time travel to medival times has so much potential. Crichton squandors it. Simon Hawke's novel "Ivanhoe Gambit" is a great example of how fun the premise can be.
Rating:
Summary: I can't believe I read the whole thing!
Review: This was a very boring, predictable book. The plot was rather implausable, and the characters (particularly the medieval characters) were not well developed at all. Crichton's attention to detail is his strength, and there was no lack in that area, but it only goes so far when it come to holding the reader's interest. Pass on this one.
Rating:
Summary: Very disappointing
Review: Starts off intriguingly mysteriously -- discovery of a strange body in a desert. But then deteroriates into fanciful non-credibility, shallow cardboard characters and an unconvincing plot. The book does not grab you, quite the contrary. It turned into a page-turner for me: to get through it quickly. I'm glad I bought it as an Xmas gift for someone who asked for it. I would regret having spent the money had I bought it for myself. The book will translate into a Hollywood special effects flash-zing-bangfest, though. -- Tom Longo in Ocean City, MD
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