Rating: 
Summary: Wait for the Movie
Review: I was comforted to know that others felt the same -- that this book read more like a long movie script than a book. This book has way to many near death and saved at the last minute scenes to be believable. I was pleading to the author about halfway through to put them out of their misery!I like the overall story line but in the hands of a more talented author this book could have really become something. For instance, character interactions more developed, scenery described for a reader, not someone who would be watching TV, etc. This book, as it reads, is a movie script -- nothing more.
Rating: 
Summary: I couldn't put it down - even if it wasn't great literture
Review: OK, so the setup for the trip to the past wasn't totally plausable, and maybe the physics detail was much more than I wanted to know, and yes they did seem to have an amazing amount of 'nick-of-time' luck--but once I started reading, I couldn't stop. It's an entertaining story, with heroes and villains and castles and swordplay--so what if it's not great literature, it was fun! I kept turning those pages because I just had to see what happened next. As so many others have said, this should make one heck of a movie. Are you listening, Steven?
Rating: 
Summary: Great beginning for new Crichton reader!
Review: I had heard about Michael Crichton in the past but never ventured out from Koontz and King. I loved the writing style and character build-up in Timeline. The clock ticking down throught out the book kept you spellbound and the ending was great. Crichton has a new fan as of now.
Rating: 
Summary: Terrible
Review: Jurrasic Park had the excitement of pushing the envelope of science and technology in a direction of credibility. It may be years before something like that would be possible, but, certainly, someday it would be possible. None of that here. Parallel universes? In particular, dismissing the effect of an action in the past as having no relevance to the course of subsequent history? There is no science here, just a contrived bunch of nonsense reminiscent of The Celestine Prophecy. It is juvenile, pure science fiction without basis in any science at all. It is for children, except for all the violence. A real disappointment from an aouthor who was able to capture the imagination so effectively in Jurrasic Park.
Rating:
Summary: I really wanted to like it...
Review: This book is so typical of Chricton's work -- it excels in some places, but is really a let down in others. As always, it's obvious that the author did a great deal of research before writing this book, both into quantum mechanics and medieval France. However, this time I did't feel as if I really got to know anything about the new technology. Jurassic Park taught me about cloning, Andromeda Strain taught me about Virii, Sphere taught me about water pressure, etc...I still feel I have no idea what 'quantum foam' is. This is due mostly to the Chricton contradicting himself quite. He says that the characters aren't actually going back in time, but that they are going to one of infinite other universes which is exactly like ancient france was, yet somehow when things are dropped there, they end up in archeological digs in our universe. He tries to justify this with some analogy about lights shining through slits, but it doesn't sit right. Also, you know who's going to make it back almost from page one. In the obligatory preface, it says that it ends up with one person missing and two injured, and there are a total of four who go back...it's not real difficult to figure out. The characters are very flat, given one or two personality traits apiece as well as maybe a line of physical description. Only one character actually evolves at all through the book, and the ancient 'bad guy' doesn't remain a mystery real long. Despite all this bashing, though, I must say that I really enjoyed this book. It was well written, a definite page turner. The action was well written, the suspense was pretty good most of the time, and you could tell the author had a pretty good idea what ancient castles and monastaries looked like. I'd recommend picking this one up if you're looking for some good, entertaining reading, but not if you're looking for strong, original literature.
Rating:
Summary: Candide
Review: When I reread this classic by Voltaire I found that i had discovered the meaning of life. When he says at the end that he has to go and work in the garden I was reminded of Peter Sellers in Being There. The true value in life, or the way to find happiness is through work, and not just any work but work that produces the basic necessities of life.
Rating:
Summary: Crichton Strikes Again
Review: Looks like another 'old rich guy goes bezerk and builds ultra futuristic technology'. Well.. it is. That's not to say this is a bad book. Timeline updates the general public the current theories of the physical world, and perhaps what to expect in the near future. The adventure to 14th century France by a team of 20th century historians makes an anachronistic appearance. Combats range from scientific to blade to blade fighting. How do you send a message to the past without going there? The technology is terrifying in and of itself. Quantum computers and machines destroy your body, record your data, faxes you through a wormhole.. and lets another universe reconstitute you. Who can say you're dead when you've just been reconstructed at the same time? Horrific. Brilliant. Another Crichton masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: Timeline About 400 Pages Too Long
Review: Timeline is a sad example of a successful and talented author taking a tired formula with a semi-interesting scientific twist (quantum magic)and creating a movie-in-waiting only thinly disguised as a novel. We have come to expect so much more from Crichton. And he delivers so little here. Character development is minimal. And the villains are cartoonish in their stereotypicality. Crichton's batting average has been high going all the way back to early work like The Great Train Robbery. But he took a weak swing here and struck out. This milennium version of The Time Machine meets Bill Gates really bytes.
Rating:
Summary: Crichton has done it again!
Review: This book can be described in a single word: WOW! Crichton's use and description of technology has churned out another wonderful story. I would recommend this book to anyone, but especially those who enjoy science and technology.
Rating:
Summary: So plodding I couldn't finish it
Review: I loved Airframe by the same author and was intrigued by the idea of time-travel as a theme in this one. What I WASN'T prepared for, or excited about was the entire book turning into a medieval adventure. Just not the kind of story that flips my switch. It's like I walked into a steakhouse and was served pizza instead. About three quarters of the way into the book, it got sooo slow I finally just skipped ahead to see how it ended: Predictably.
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