Rating: 
Summary: mindnumbing endless swordplay
Review: I anxiously awaited this new book as my son and I have read all of Crichton. My hopes of furthering science frontiers were dashed as the theories were not carried through. I prayed the constant life-threatening situations would end with the death of all the undeveloped characters. Crichton's research of the era is obvious, but the story line is lacking.
Rating: 
Summary: Timeline review
Review: Another good Crichton book that has its good and bad points. For readers that are fimilar with Jurrasic Park they will find the beginning annoylying very similar. The first several chapters follow the storyline of Jurassic Park with gentic engineering swapped for quantum physics. However once you get past this ( and its still interesting ) and you get into the 'adventure' the book really picks up. The characters are believable and the story also contains a few twists as it goes along that add to the story. The science in this book is not as strong as that for Jurrasic Park, or sphere,and is only there it seems to give a reason for the rest of the book (if he could have left out the science and still written the book I think he would have). The ending is good although the justification for the companies research into ruin restoration is very poor. However given all this I don't think Crichton readers with be dissappointed. Worth the Buy
Rating:
Summary: Medieval Times 5 Stars; Sci Fi 2 Stars
Review: The book starts very slowly with the usual Chrichton story line - greedy corporation upsets the natural order through creative and imaginative scientific breakthroughs designed for obscene profits. The story meanders for more than 100 pages before the jousting and swordfights begin. I really enjoyed the action in medieval France, but the science fiction part was unimpressive.
Rating:
Summary: Crichton loses his mind
Review: Once I finally reached the end of this painful experience I was distraught that I was stuck on a subway and there were no garbage cans to donate this worthless piece of high school action to. I honestly feel less intelligent after the experience and refuse to think that just because Crichton has written good books before that it somehow is a natural talent. The characters were unbelievable. The scenarios seemed to be from a Monty Python flick. The thrills and suspense are ridiculous. Please let someone else warn you before you waste your money. Use it to donate to abandoned animals instead. I honestly do not understand how professional reviewers are rating this so high. You'll notice that they are usually only quoting from the first 20 pages of this book, which shows how much they care about reading this nonsense.
Rating: 
Summary: Only he could explain Quantum foam like that!
Review: This book was so intense! I couldn't put it down. Just thinking about the concepts in this book make me wonder if anyone is actually trying to do it. I hope they make a movie because it would be amazing! All of the action and tense moments not to be shown up by the pure emotion of the characters! I think it is his best work yet!
Rating: 
Summary: Reasonably entertaining but could have been better
Review: As a time travel buff I was really looking forward to reading this one. I've enjoyed many of Crichton's books and was hoping he'd deliver a classic time travel novel. Unfortunately the time travel element was implausible at best, especially the bit about not being able to mess up the timeline. If you like action, swordplay, and skin of their teeth escapes, read this book. If you like time travel, read it anyway but don't expect too much.
Rating:
Summary: Indaina Jones meets King Arthur
Review: Timeline is a decent, fast read, but wasn't at all what I was expecting after seeing Matt Lauer interview the author on Good Morning America. I love an historical novel, but this doesn't qualify. It had a healthy dose of "Jurassic Park" and somewhere in the middle I got the distinct impression that Crichton wasn't writing a novel at all, but was more interested in a screen play. If you like Indiana Jones type action, buy it now. If you think you're getting a thinking man's novel, wait for the paperback.
Rating:
Summary: A fast, fun read but be prepared for disappointments
Review: A great cast of characters and an intriguing idea about time travel, but the looming problem with the book is the formula it follows. The plot twists are predictable at times and even downright tiresome. However, that doesn't stop you from turning the pages and plunging into another one of Crichton's worlds.
Rating:
Summary: Thriller, Adventure, Fun
Review: When I was in the bookstore, I recommended TIMELINE to a young woman who was shopping for a gift for her grandmother. I just finished the book. I told her "Give this book to your Grandma" She was looking at staid, grandmotherly (what people think of as grandmotherly, that is) titles. I told her grandmothers love adventure and thrilling stories as much as anyone else. And I bet you do, too.
Rating:
Summary: In-depth research gone Hollywood
Review: In my experience, Crichton has had two types of novels: those with groups facing danger (Sphere, Congo, J.P. I & II), and those where the main character must solve a complex problem everyone around him understands better than he/she does (Rising Sun, Disclosure, Airframe). Well, now you can add a third category: books written for Hollywood screen play. J.P. II was in that vein, so too Timeline. It's as if he envisions camera angles before scenarios. Timeline had all the usual Crichton hallmarks: incredible depth of research, full-on pacing, and light characterization. His strength is funneling reams of scientific postulation down into a view of the future that may very well be. I often take his theories as fact, so impressive is his knowledge. But in the end, Timeline could not live up to others like Jurassic Park, Disclosure and Rising Sun. Perhaps it was the wild alternate time theories boiled down the lowest common denominator, or the same character formula seen in his other novels.
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