Timeline (Unabridged)

Rating:
Summary: Not his best
Review: One of Michael Crichton's strong points is taking a seemingly ridiculous idea (i.e., bringing dinosaurs back to life) yet making you believe that that idea is somehow feasible. Crichton fails to do that in this book. In Timeline, I looked forward to a good explanation of how time travel might be possible. Instead, Crichton gives us a mess of incredibly confusing scientific jargon; which, I expect, he assumed readers would quickly read through in order to get to the action. This would ordinarily not be such a bad thing-- if the action was riveting.

Rating:
Summary: Timeline by Michael Crichton
Review: This book is well written. The book keeps the reader riveted to the page, and provides some facts about history and how scientist and historians discover what happened in the early centuries. The book provides an excellent exposition of the main characters so that the reader knows them intimately before the story propels the reader and these characters into a time in the ancient past. As the reader turns the page which ticks off each hour, minute, and second that the main characters are back in time who are constantly thwarted in their attempts to regroup and return to the present, the reader contemplates how the characters will make it back to the present in time, before they are confined to the past forever.

Rating:
Summary: Not his best, but still better than most.
Review: I am a Crichton addict, I admit. Since being forced to read The Andromeda Strain in high school, I've been hooked. Once again Dr. Crichton takes us where most folks don't believe we can go. Three years after "Jurrasic Park", we get Dolly the sheep. One year after "Airframe", a plane suffers extreme turbulance due to a problem with the slats, and it's videotaped by a passenger. How far are we from teleportation? As usual for Chriton, the science of the book is well researched, believable, and not too far off. The author's characters are so real, just ever so slightly imperfect, and usually so blind to their surroundings that they remind me more of my neighbors than of figments of someone's imagination. The story starts very fast with interesting characters that, unfortunatly, disappear too quickly. The book's villian, (in our timeline) is too cliche and at times cartoonish. The protagonists of this novel are its stong point. Usually the villain makes the story but in this book I empathized so much with the kids that I easily imagined myself there with them in 14th century France. There is a subtle and disturbing moment just after the first action sequence when one of our heros, the only one that seems to know what to do and the kid's only hope for survival, witnesses a tournament practice and realizes how in over their heads they really are. I could see, smell, and hear what the author wanted me to. The action sequences (and there were some good ones) were well explained and not overdone. The first two acts of the book are very interesting but tend to read just a little bit like a history text. There seems to be just enough action to keep the reader interested in the characters if not the story. However, by the third act the tension builds almost subliminally until you find yourself on the edge of your seat. Overall I liked "Timeline" very much, which is to say I didn't love it as much as some of his other books. Had it not been for the cartoon villian and some untied loose ends at the very beginning, I would rate the book a solid five stars. As it stands "Timeline" is still a good, fast paced read. If you haven't read Crichton before, just browse the author in Amazon and pick a book, any book. I guarantee you will love it. I would recommend to other loyal Crichton readers to wait for the paperback version of this one.

Rating:
Summary: Great book, but poorly published
Review: THis was a great book, one of Chrichton's best, however the pages were uneven and really affected my view of the book, if u don't mind a book in mediocre print, buy it, otherwise don't

Rating:
Summary: Slow start, nail biting finish
Review: This was a very exciting book. A real nail biter to the end. Unfortunately, it took over 100 pages to get started, but Crichton is such a good writer it didn't matter to much. I found myself gasping and throwing up my hands every time the historians got into another situation. It kept me on the edge of my chair, and I agreed with the ending.

Rating:
Summary: Good, but less than I expected.
Review: Throughout his writing career Michael Crichton has been charactorized by his excellent use of technological fact. This knowledge was than compiled to make a book that could really get the heart pounding. Timeline failed to do that. While the story was excellent, the suspense was not there. Sadly, I finished this book a bit dissapointed.

Rating:
Summary: A very intersting look at an old concept
Review: I enjoyed this book a great deal. Time travel was a huge interets 20 years ago when I was growing up, and to see it handled this way with todays sense of impending technological advancement was facinating. What ever the book lacked in originality it more than made up for it in details and intrigue. This is a great book for anyone interested in escaping into a world not so foreign as it is startling. A great read!

Rating:
Summary: A Historical Account
Review: As a student of French literature, I enjoyed reading _Timeline_ for the vast amount of French history that is described. I also enjoyed the book for its combination of very modern technology and accurate historical depictions.

Rating:
Summary: Crichton delivers....again
Review: Crichton's latest effort, Timeline, once again demonstrates why he deserves a round of applause. By carefully crafting his words, he is able to easily explain the most complex issues of quantum mechanics and eloquently intertwine his words with a stroy line that is flat out riveting. This book is a sure fire winner.

Rating:
Summary: Too many holes in the plot
Review: The book starts with a neat premise of harvesting the power of quantum mechanics but quickly betrays the reader by not explaining time-travel paradoxes and not resolving major plot threads. One series of events and characters that seem to be essential to the plot are simply never mentioned again as the book decays into page after page of sword fighting in 12th century France. Whenever a sci fi writer ventures into a story about time-travel, it is his duty to work out the paradoxes in some way. (what if you go back in time and kill your grandfather?, if time travel is possible, why haven't we been over-run with travelers from the future?) Here this is done by a character literally announcing, "there are no paradoxes". It is explained that there are an infinite number of universes with time travelers are going to a different universe that is almost identical to our own. Strangely, they are able to leave notes in the 'past' that get read by people in the original universe. Summary: If you want a great time travel book, read either The Doomsday Book or To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis