Rating: 
Summary: "Medieval Park"
Review: Out with the raptors and bring on the jousters! In Jurassic Park Crichton brought the past to the present. In his latest offering, Timeline, he sends the present back to the past. Once again we have a meglomaniac billionaire using state-of-the-art technology to try and build a better theme park(Do these guys belong to a club or something?). Despite the plot similarities to Jurassic Park this is a very entertaining read. Crichton devises a new twist on time travel(think Fantastic Voyage meets Sliders) and the reader is transported to Medieval France. Once there Crichton keeps the pages turning with a thrill-a-minute yet educational narrative of life in the 14th century. Villianous lords, unscrupulous knights and ever-changing loyalties keep the time travelers(and the reader) from catching their breathe. Despite the fact that an action-packed movie is sure to be made from the book, it doesn't have the contrived feel of "Lost World"(Come on, we all know Malcolm was dead at the end of the book version of Jurassic Park). So if you want to enjoy a rollicking read and learn a little history at the same time, check out "Timeline"!
Rating:
Summary: Pretty good!
Review: Timeline was the first book I've ever read by Chrichton. It was a little slow until the characters actually go back in time; once they step out into feudal France the plot becomes a roller coaster that never slows down until the last seconds. I'm not a historian, so I learned quite a few things about life during that time period.I did have a few problems with it though. The author didn't spend much time on character development - each character has a brief physical description, and a brief list of qualities (that coincidentally help them later when battling for their lives). The fact that Marek is so prepared for the journey back in time by his personal interests and training gives away the ending early. I didn't think the author presented a believable explanation for time travel, which would have made the plot seem more authentic. Another thing I didn't like is the presentation of the "Big Bang" theory as an explanation for the origins of the Universe as fact - when it's only a theory. The book is highly entertaining, however, and well (WELL) researched. There's not a lot of romantic goo slowing down the action part of the book, which makes the pages fly by.
Rating:
Summary: Fun, quick read...
Review: I enjoy Mr. Crichton's work and this new book is a great read. The theme of quantum physics induced multiverse time travel is fascinating. The detailed interpretation of the zeitgeist of France and England during the Hundred Years is engaging. If you are interested in historical fiction/suspense and like a good, fast, and exciting read, this book is for you.
Rating: 
Summary: TimeLine.....ya gotta read it !
Review: Having read all of Crichton's works, I have to rate this up there with the best of them. I love the plots and counterplots, the technical aspects, and the attention to detail he is so good at. This would make a great movie, but they'd probably mess it up.
Rating: 
Summary: Worst Crichton Book Yet!
Review: I am a Crichton fan and have read most of his books. Timeline missed the mark by far. A couple of decent chapters but I found the book to be pretty boring. I had a hard time finishing this piece. Are we sure Crichton really wrote this book?
Rating:
Summary: Awesome
Review: Timeline is the first of micheal crichton's work that i've read, and Its just awesome, i couldn't put it down. on a scale of 1-10 i'd give it a 20, its really good.
Rating: 
Summary: A Screenplay not a Novel
Review: Michael Crichton has continued to devolve into a screenplay writer; now writing books with almost total dialouge and NO scene or color development in the text. Characters in Timeline are introduced rapid-fire, assuming that the reader could deduce the personality visually as if posed in a movie. His cow-tow to a certain professions in each novel is transparent and patronizing, as in this case it is academic anthropology. Much like John Grisham he is typically unable to skillfully resolve a tensioned plot. Michael can however, normally develop plot tension very well, frequently disguising the antagonist to the reader's delight. Even his keen ability to develop a tensioned plot (Sphere, Congo, Jurassic) has waned in this effort though. The reader is delivered through 100 pages as a slave of French feudal antiquity and anthropological arrogance before s/he is able to slip through to the truly mysterious plot. As I read, I could almost name the actors/actresses who would play each typecast pedestrian role. Michael needs to dispense with the formula, turn out a truly novel Novel. He is capable of much better. Dodger
Rating:
Summary: Screen Play with Plot Holes
Review: Written clearly from the perspective of the inevitable action movie that will eventually capture this book. TimeLine, at its best, gives you a flavor of the 14th century that entertains and enlightens - a bit. As a story, there are plot holes so big, you wince and characters so cardboard you want to scream. "Future artifacts" aren't allowed back in time, yet a professor wears his bifocals and everyone from the future carries aluminum canisters full of sleeping gas? Those were around in the days of knights? Unrealistically well-timed grenade-blasts and sword-chops add that flavor of "give me a break, THAT was convenient for the plot line" that makes this book just plain silly at times. And all this time travel is to create really realistic theme parks in the present? HellOOO? Jurrasic Park, anyone? Wait for the paperback, for crying out loud.
Rating:
Summary: I'd like to be in Italy
Review: but I found it to be entertaining, no less. Especially enjoyable was the time travel stuff. The knights in fighting armor and their interaction with the 20th century players was fun. Just read this book and enjoy it for what it is then go see the movie. It's all entertainment.
Rating: 
Summary: no longer a novelist
Review: Michael Crichton has become a director, a screenwriter, a producer, and a creator of TV shows, among other endeavors, but he's apparently spreading himself too thin. I enjoy his writing style (loved "Andromeda Strain," "Disclosure," "Airframe," and the first 2/3 of "Jurassic Park"), but he seems to be losing his focus in his novels. "Timeline," like "Jurassic Park," starts out with an extremely innovative plot and then deteriorates into a series of chase and rescue scenes (either dinosaurs or knights on horseback). Crichton is spending less time on character development---you don't really care what happens to any of these two-dimensional folks in "Timeline"---and more on visualizing how this novel will look on the silver screen. This is a major talent who needs to concentrate more on his writing or to give it up for a bit while he pursues other interests. Those of us who buy his books are being cheated by his half-hearted efforts as a novelist.
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