Rating: 
Summary: Time-Out! Good, but Stereotypical Plot and Characters
Review: I listened to the Unabridged Audio version of Timeline, and found it to be an okay read. While the initial premise was indeed fascinating, I became tired of the 'super-powered' characters, which seemed unbelievable to me. IE: Super-smart, super-intelligent, and 'smarter than the experts' college students. (Anyone who attends a modern-day college , would know the chances of finding college students who a: get good grades and b: can outjoust and out fight medieval French knights are slim to none). Also, while the characters are supposed to be young people, they were written like 40+ adults. Come on now. Do a little more research.Other stereotypes abound. You have the 'friendly knowledgeable professor,' ("Sliders" anyone?), the damsel-in-distress-who-disguises-herself as a boy, (any number of bodice rippers have this plot, AND do it better), the evil-overbearing guardian (straight out of Robin Hood), Ho hum. While the plot was nothing particularly new, Timeline entertained me for the duration. I just wish that new territory had been explored. Instead, you have a plot rehash of any number of historical novels, rolled into a single novel. Fun, but hardly innovative. Also, for some reason the Narrator decided to read Andre's voice with an Austrian accent, which made him sound like Arnold Schwarzenegger. Very distracting!
Rating:
Summary: Written with a movie in his mind..
Review: He knew this could be done into a movie, didn't he? I agree with the many others who has mentioned about this. The books sounds just like the perfect yarn which would be lapped up by Miramax or DreamWorks for a mega-budget production. I picked up the book to prepare myself for the movie. Shouldn't say the book was a disappointment. It was pretty good. Especially since I like the medieval setting..Lord of the Rings-esque. If you like knights and damsels in distress, castles and secret passages, broadswords and trebuchets, then this is the one for you. As one reader mentioned, was this time travel or a trip to the alternate universe?? What I didn't understand was that is the alternate universe also the same as ours?? I mean, all these events are happening simultaneously somewhere else too? What a redundancy!! That seems a looot far-fetched too. Anyways, characters are so-so. Johnston is as stiff as a pole. Wonder why they bothered to even go back to get him? I hear that in the movie they have given an emotional twist by making him the father of one of the guys who go back in time. Try the book..feels like a movie. Keep popcorn within reach
Rating: 
Summary: Fun read - Crichton at his best!
Review: Michael Crichton renews his claim as one of the best fiction writers of our time with this thrilling tale of a group of archeologists and scientists who look for answers to a present-day problem in the distant past. When a group of young scientists and graduate students find a note that appears to be from their leader asking for help, they are shocked. They are floored when it appears as if the note is over 600 years old. Soon they find that a corporate sponsor of the expedition has discovered a way to travel through time and they must embark on a terrifying rescue mission - which takes them on a journey into the distant past. The story has every opportunity to turn into a hokey mess, but Crichton avoids the pitfalls at every turn and ends up with one of his best novels to date. If you plan to see the movie, read the book first, you will be so glad you did. An all-around good read.
Rating:
Summary: Good Book, Poor Ending
Review: This is an interesting but lengthy novel about interdimensional travel to medieval times. As stupid as that sounds, the book is realistic fiction, incorporating pieces of very prominent theories in all realms of physics today. Crichton did well on this piece (I'm not too impressed with his other work), and demonstrated an accurate knowledge of physics, computers (parallel processing), and medieval society. Even if you're not interested in the science of the book, there is a good storyline among the characters. Overall, a well written book, but it has a poor ending. It looks like they're going to ruin the good aspects of this novel with the movie "Timeline", so if you're going to see the movie definitely read this first.
Rating:
Summary: He knew he was writing a movie.
Review: Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Or in this case, the book or the movie script? This book reads exactly like a "novelization" of a movie. It is about time travel back to medieval France during the Hundred Years War, but never gets away from time travel paradoxes. Such as "we've got to repair the machine because they can stay back there only 36 hours" when you could repair the machine in 36 years and go back to a time 35 hours after they got there. Aside from that, there are many aspects to the plot that don't make sense and could have used a good editor. One hopes the movie makes more sense. Still, like a lot of Koontz' and Ludlum's books, it's a good "read", but if you want to learn about the Middle Ages, read Tuchman's "A Distant Mirror".
Rating:
Summary: Quantum events don't have a timeline!!!
Review: This was a fairly good yarn, except for the attempt at mixing science with fiction. On the one hand, they go to excruciating details on getting you to buy into the science behind quantum events. Then at the end of the book, they have tied a one-to-one correlation between the 14th century "characters" events with the modern day "lab" events. Both are true in relation to their own time, but there is NO relation between the two timelines! What is keeping them from going back for the protagonists 5, 10, or 15 years later? Yet, to make "Drama" Michael ties the two timelines together as a single time. I can just hear the physicists yelling, "Why are you hurrying??? Order a new window, wait the two months!!!" On the whole, read this with a HUGE grain of salt. It is a good story, but Mr. Crichton should have not tried to explain the science behind it if he is not going to stay with it!
Rating:
Summary: See you at the movies
Review: I agree that this brilliant writer has written a fine film script and an essentially boring book. I gave it three stars because you can pass the time with it without getting ill, but it has very little to offer besides an interesting, if hardly original, premise and one drawn out escape after another. I guess the character develpment will be left to the actors. Good luck, I say. I thought the "just desserts" of one of the main characters was over the top and distasteful-not clever, as I'm sure it was meant to be.
Rating:
Summary: Predictable plot & characters, but original idea
Review: Well, as far as a thriller book goes, this one is pretty standard, both story - line wise, and character wise. On the other hand, putting the story in medieval times was original. The physics & history seem very well researched, and many of the survival issues the people enocuntered seemed genuine.
Rating: 
Summary: WE NEED YOU TO HELP US GET HIM BACK
Review: I finally finished reading this book-and it was pretty good-there was alot of detail! And the medieval times were interesting-like how they get away from the bad guys and stuff! I know the movie will be good and interseting!
Rating:
Summary: lets not over think
Review: I have read timeline twice and loved it both times, it is far fetched with some holes, and SHOULD probably be a screenplay.
The other reviews seem to be by people looking for faults.
I am just an average reader who likes sci-fi. This book never stops, once the heros reach the year 1357, and is hard to put down, save for the wanna be critic intellectuals. The beginning sets the groundwork with neccessary science background, and character development. Crichton really does his homework on this one. The ending is awesome!!
Give it a chance, I dont think Indiana Jones would've survived all his scrapes either. Just read and dont pass up your bus stop.
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