Rating: 
Summary: "Back to the Future" without the jokes
Review: First a boring lecture on some of the more extravagent theories of time travel (which virtually all theoretical physicists still say is impossible, at least backwards), then a thoroughly daft story of modern day folk charging around medieval France, complete with jousting knights, fair damsels and mind-blowingly awful dialog. Crichton might be able to get away with this tosh, but hardly any one else would have got into print with it. Laughable.
Rating: 
Summary: Crichton's best work since Sphere
Review: I've just finished reading Timeline and I am glad to say that Michael Crichton is still one of the best science fiction writers of our time, easily in the same league as Clarke, Heinlein and Asimov. An excellent story with good character development and an impeccable sense of detail. It was well-written and well-researched; it's exciting and compelling from start-to-finish. I would have read it through in one sitting if I had had the time.
Rating:
Summary: A great read
Review: This was my first experience with Mr. Crichton, and now I can see why he's considered to be one of the best in his field. I enjoyed his time travel theory and was completely emerged in the plight of my heroes (and heroine). There were a few holes, but I was more than willing ignore those and just enjoy the ride.
Rating: 
Summary: I love Michael Crichton, but you always hurt...
Review: ...the ones you love. Perhaps admire is a better word---I admired him first with the Andromeda Strain, my respect for his talent only increased with the politically incorrect Disclosure and intelligent ethnic tension of Rising Sun. When Michael Crichton is at the cutting edge of technological or social trends, he is at his best. Unfortunately though, I can't endorse Timeline. The premise is brilliant. An eccentric physicist turned billionaire finds a way to send people through time and bring them back safely again. But after establishing the brilliant premise and getting his main characters, a team of archeologists, to medeival France, Timeline degenerates into a lengthy string of combat scenes, escapes, and death defying stunts, and in the process loses the intelligence of its author. This may be marketable for the screen, but for those of us who love tight, well researched fiction, its not worth reading the last 200 pages. Sorry Michael, love ya, but you always hurt...
Rating: 
Summary: Close, but no Jurassic Park
Review: Michael Crichton has been disappointing me of late. Did anyone actually make it through Airframe? But this is one of the better books he's written in quite a while. It has a great premise and I was intrigued by his explanation of time travel. The Middle Ages is one of my favorite eras in history and I was excited about this book. It was a pretty good read but I thought his characters were too shallow. I didn't really care if they found what they were looking for and came back or not. He had a really good idea, but he took it for a walk instead of a run.
Rating:
Summary: Dumbed-Down and Disappointing...Wait for the movie
Review: If we're to believe the bibliography, Timeline is one of the most extensively researched pieces of recent fiction. Unfortunately, the resulting product is disappointing...mediocre science fiction meets dumbed-down history. The characters are shallow clones of earlier Crichton protagonists, and the plot needs work...the last third of the book devolves into chasing-running-hiding-chasing-running-hiding-ad infinitum. For better science fiction, read anything by Azimov. For a more vivid image of the Middle Ages, read The name of the Rose, by Umberto Eco. As Eco has said, publishers underestimate the intelligence of readers. Maybe overzealous editing caused this book to be such a shallow example of the kind of work that Crichton is obviously capable of doing.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I only finished this book because I've enjoyed the author's previous novels so much. This treatment of time travel had some clever technological explanations, but when you've said that, you've said it all. The characterization was poor and the plot plodded on with very little excitement. At the end of the day, I didn't care whether they ever got back or not. The ending was not satisfactory either...I hope there's no sequel coming!
Rating:
Summary: Predictable, Pedantic, and Plain ol' Boring
Review: With Timeline, here we have one of America's most exciting fiction authors simmering down his writing style to a congealed mass of blanched characters and uninspired dialogue. The book quickly fleshes out an ill-supported device for time travel then submerses the reader into an excrutiatingly tiresome tale of our mirthless heroes trudging through medieval Europe in hopes of rescueing them from their own bumbling incompetence. It's just unfortunate that purchasers of this novel weren't rescued from one of the dullest reads of the year.
Rating:
Summary: Crichton blurs the lines again
Review: Another marvelous work from Michael Crichton, who is one of the last great writers of true "science" fiction. An engaging plot, a unique look into quantum physics, and an amazing look into 12th century feudal France leaves you wondering where the science leaves off and the fiction begins. My only complaint is a slight element of predictability.
Rating:
Summary: A good read for Chriton fans...
Review: No, this is not his best work. But it is worth buying and reading. As Crichton fans go - we would rather read more of his techno-babble than the story of Camelot - but if you go into this book prepared - it's worth it. As usual, the research is excellent and you do get a good sense of the past. I especially liked his vision of the multiverse and how it works. The only major flaw was the character of the mad industrialist who wants to turn the past into an amusement park. Mike - please - find another villain. Re-vamping the story line from Jurassic Park doesn't work here.
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