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Summary: Authentic amusement parks
Review: Michael Crichton seems to have a fixation with authentic amusement parks. That was the theme in JURASSIC PARK and we encounter it again in TIMELINE. The wrinkle this time is that history is involved. Through some complicated make-believe theories of physics involving quantum mechanics and black holes, it is possible to return in time to the middle ages. This happens to some of the historians funded by a corporation, working at an archeological site in France, who know very little about the other enterprises of the corporation. There is a portrait of a genius company founder with zero social skills. There is a compelling adventure story given with much imagination. The book contains a bibliography of mostly historical references.
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Summary: Save your money
Review: -The characters were paper thin.
-The plot was silly and far from original anyway.
-The only interesting part was the discussion of quantum physics. It felt like I was reading a screenplay for a very bad movie.
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Summary: I loved this book
Review: THis book is exciting and fun. It would not let me set it down
Rating: 
Summary: Couldn't put it down
Review: This book might as well have been glued to my hands from beginning to end. Great plot, never a dull moment. Very good ending too... Only weakness was in presenting some of the characters. I would have liked to hear more about Lady Claire, during the story. Unfortunately, she became neglected right about the time I developed an interest in her character. And the timetravel premise was not an issue at all. In fact I thought it was very well presented, considering the book is "fiction", after all.
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Summary: ok, but not great
Review: i have read SPHERE and RISING SUN by him, and i must say, i didnt like TIMELINE as much as the other ones. i was waiting for more intelligent twists, more philosophical ideas, the subject of time travel could make for a much more interesting story than a mere medieval adventure, imho. for example, a more complex relationship between Decker and the heroes could have been interesting. also, from the movie back to the future, he could have 'stolen' some ideas, especially the matter of how the future can be modified in the past.
it's an entertaining book, for sure, but a little disappointing.
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Summary: Science meets 14th century France
Review: Timeline was great. This book is packed from beginning to end with information, adventure, and a group of fine characters. I have several friends who will not read Michael Crichton's books since they are always made into movies. This book is also supposed to be a movie this winter, but it will not be the same. There is far to much packed into this great book to be shown in a 2-hour movie. So I'm happy I took the time to read this book and enjoy the magical world of science combined with 14th century France.
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Summary: Not up to Crichton's Standards
Review: As an avid reader of Michael Crichton's novels, I was disappointed when I read "Timeline". This latest book is an attempt to postulate what it would be like if humans were able to travel into the past. Crichton, as usual, has researched this area of science and created a plausible story around a fictional company, ITC. This company has the technology to send people back inot the past. But, as usually happens, something has gone wrong. A group of scienctists are charged with the task of rescuing their professor by returning to the late 14th century French countryside. While the story is a good one, the novel has many bad points. The novel seemed chaotic and poorly put together. It jumped back and forth between the two differnet time periods. It was rather annoying to be engrossed in one time and then jarred back into another. I also felt that the story dragged a bit. The scientists were caught and escaped way too many times. They seemed to be very lucky throughout the novel. Many parts of the story could have been explained more. For instance, the involvement of Robert Deckard. It just seems like Crichton did not edit this story. Almost like he turned in his first draft and it was published. The book was o.k. I'm sure when the movie comes out this fallmany things will be different. Unfortunately, Crichton allows many changes in screenplays of his books. That, and this book are quite a dissapointment.
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Summary: another great Crichton book
Review: I've read all but two of Crichton's novels now and this is as good as most of his other books. As another reviewer said, it is structured a lot like Jurassic Park. A new technology ultimately leads to a problem that soon escalates out of control. Like in Jurassic Park, the characters are being chased and are racing the clock. But I enjoyed Jurassic Park, so the similarities didn't bother me. Some of the scientific stuff in Timeline was over my head, but I did learn a little bit from it. A very exciting book that I highly recommend.
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Summary: Good, Entertaining Fun
Review: When you start a Michael Crichton novel, you go in knowing that you won't be getting something that's too literary. Crichton's writing is very simplistic and, yes, very cinematic, which is why his books tend to adapt to the screen so well. Timeline is no exception to the rule. While the book is never anything more than a mere escapist fare, it's a step above some of his other recent misfires (Airframe, The Lost World and Congo come to mind). This time around, Crichton brings us back to the middle ages. Scientists have found a way to bend time to do a sort of time travel that brings people back in time by using parallel universes (as one character explains, it's kind of like faxing a person from one universe to the other - what you get on the other end is a copy of the message, not the original). When a professor and archeologist goes missing in the Middle Ages (during the 100 years war between France and England), it will be up to three graduate students to go back in time and get the professor before he is trapped in the past forever. Sounds simplistic? That's because it is. Timeline is nothing more than one very long, very intricate and very entertaining action sequence. The characters are very typical of the Crichton novel; you have Chris, the young, shy guy who soon becomes the hero, Andre, the action hero-like historian and Kate, the underdeveloped and underused female protagonist. Heck, you even have a young computer wiz who comes in to save the day. But there's nothing wrong with familiarity when the book is so much fun. You can always count on Crichton to do his research. This book is very detailed, although his description of medieval times can be questionable at times. Still, he gives a more accurate version of the period than most other novels of this kind do. I had a great time reading this book. Once you are able to get past the flimsy premise and avert your eyes from all the plot holes, you'll realize that this book isn't bad one bit. Timeline is the one book that comes close to equaling Crichton's Jurassic Park. It's a great beach read that will make a very good, entertaining and action-packed popcorn movie. Good time guaranteed.
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Summary: Put Your Thinking Cap On
Review: I learned more than I probably ever wanted to know about science, technology and archeology in this book. I thought it was an extremely interesting book and very suspenseful. The last 50 pages had my heart pounding. I enjoyed the technological aspects of time travel, and the archeological/scientific dig portion immensely as Michael Crichton tells us the specifics about each and is very descriptive. I think though, unless science is your "thing" you may have to go back and reread a few passages at times, just to ensure you're getting the picture. Sometimes the information can be confusing.
All the characters are great, and throughout the book you are pulling for all of them in hopes all turns out well for each one of them. I highly recommend this book and heard it is being made into a movie. I can't wait to see who will play Andre.
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