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Summary: Typical Crighton. Good, easy, and fun reading.
Review: Medieval experts travel back in time to rescue their friend trapped back in the past. Adventures ensue. The book is an easy pleasure read, great on vacation. After reading almost everyone of Crighton's books, I have to say besides Jurassic park, this one is one of the better books in his catalog. It is fun, descriptive and original. If you are familiar with Crighton, you will recognize that his charaters are somewhat cardboard. Likeable good guys, very bad bad guys. The story is predictable, but enjoyable, and you will be turning pages to see what happens. His descriptions of science and history are the highpoint of the book. His writing is descriptive and you get a good visualization of the surroundings. You can easily imagine the settings he describes.
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Summary: Quantum Foam Makes Me Roam
Review: A Review by Adam A couple driving through the desert in New Mexico stumble upon a man that appears to be crazy. He is wearing a felt robe that is still cool and has a white ceramic cube with ITC on it. The man seems crazy and is mumbling something about how "Quantum foam makes me roam." The man is then taken to the hospital and later dies. The hospital finds a map of a monastery in France which is currently being excavated by a team of archeologist that is being sponsored by ITC. I read Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park and I would have to say the beginnings of both books are relatively the same by introducing characters that never make a second appearance. However, the book starts off well and will get anyone hooked to the book. The action was great and several good questions make you enjoy the book even more and want to keep reading. Also, the book has some humor, for example, Chris gets separated from Kate and Marek. Chris follows a boy and he asks if Chris is "gentle" and Chris says yes. He finds out that "gentle" means a noble, which is a rather bad spot to be in, especially in Medieval France. The only bad thing about the book is (in my opinion) the quantum theory was gone over for a chapter but it seemed longer. This was boring but it was good nonetheless since it sets up some of the story.
Overall, I would have to say this book was great and I would suggest it to anyone. I suggested it to my friend who reads only fantasy books, and he enjoyed it. The book took a little while to get into the Medieval France part but it wasn't boring getting to that point. So if you like science-fiction or fantasy, this book is for you, but I believe everyone can enjoy it.
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Summary: A lot of fun to read
Review: Timeline was another fantastic, thrilling adventure and in a way, similar to Jurassic Park. What JP did to bring dinosaurs to life, Timeline does for the Medieval Period. Crichton has clearly done his homework, as usual, on both the technological and historical fronts. I typically have found stories set in the Medieval Period to be rather boring as history, particularly European history does not tend to interest me. This book managed to bring the time period to life in such a manner as to make the factual explanations every bit as interesting as the action and suspense. While Crichton may not rank with the classic authors of all time, this book, much like Jurassic Park was a terrific page-turner.
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Summary: Timeline: my favorite book
Review: Timeline is a book written by Michael Crichton ( Author of Jurassic park ). Here's an outline of the story; In a very quiet little town in Arizona, a man is found walking in the middle of the desert, with no car, bike, or any means of transportation anywhere near. The next day, he is dead at a hospital, from an unknown cause. A company called ITC is behind it all, but nobody knows it's secret. Suddenly, an accident occurs at a lab, and the only people that can help are a couple of friends at an excavation site in England. When the friends arrive at ITC headquarters they find that their friend, the professor, is in great danger. ITC reveals their astounding technology to these people, and tells them that the professor is not where anyone would expect, the professor is stuck in the past. Now, these friends must suit up for the old ages because they will soon find themselves in the past, too. Read this exciting book written by the author who gave you Jurassic park, lost world, and many more. When you read this book, you too, will feel as if you are locked in the past, fighting off nights, and running, for your life. This book is so good, you can not, and will not put it down once you have begun. If you are looking for a fast-paced, non-stop action packed book that combines ancient technology with the twenty-first century, then this book is definitely for you.
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Summary: awesome
Review: I love this book it is very exciting from page i to the end altough I really don,t understand quantum physics I tought that the storyline for the book was really good.Of course Mr Crichton has written better books but this one is still good,I tought that the character development was preety good.I heard they were making a movie of this I hope they Don, mess it up cause this book was really entertaining.
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Summary: This books feels like a guilty pleasure!
Review: I couldn't put it down. Is it fine literature? No way! But it IS a most intriguing, exciting, and thoroughly delicious way to pass a few evenings. Crichton's research into the Middle Ages is exhaustive, and described in relatively simple terms that we who are not experts can still understand, and visualize. Yes, it reads like a movie. Yes, I guess a film is in production. And yes, I'll be the first in line to see it.
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Summary: Crichton breaks his own rules
Review: Crichton's strength is his weakness in this particular novel. Forget that his characterization is thin compared to the plotting, and his pacing ridiculously breathless -- those are the reasons his readers love his books. Another reason he's so popular: his basing his plots on realistic-sounding scientific speculation. In this case, it's quantum physics and its relationship to time-travel. So far, so good; there are reams written on the subject, and many theorists say that time travel and/or parallel universes are possible. But Crichton fumbles by setting up a scientific premise and then violating it. In _Timeline_, the working theory is that the characters do *not* travel back in time per se, but merely travel to *an alternate universe whose present resembles our past.* An intriguing theory, one that was also featured in an early episode of the parallel-worlds TV show, "Sliders." Soon after this scientific basis is established, it's contradicted by the discovery of modern objects found in archaelogical digs in *our universe* (or at least the main universe of the characters in the story). Even if you allow for the gobbledy-gook about other universes sending objects/information into ours, that still doesn't explain why those objects don't arrive in our *present*, not the past. That's the reason Crichton has a running-clock countdown throughout the story: Real time elapses in both our world and the one traveled to by the characters -- again, they are not technically in "the past," just in a world where knights, castles, and the like are part of the present. Whatever actions these characters take, they should have no bearing on our past. This might sound like nit-picking, but because Crichton makes such a big deal about the scientific basis for the story, and doesn't support it, it makes for a less-satisfying read than a simple "time-slip" story where there's no attempt to back it up with science. That's not to say that there aren't good things about _Timeline_; it's never boring, the details are vivid and it's quickly paced. It's just not a particularly well-thought-out time travel story.
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Summary: Wow never thought school would make me read a good book
Review: Timeline was a wonderful book to me becuase I really enjoy books and movies about the feudal period of Europe. The epic tales of Knights and their chivalry always intrigued me. Timeline helped me explore a brand new perspective of that chivalristic period by taking the true chivalry out and leaving only the truly barbaric and inhumane behaviors that were feudal France. I also enjoyed how Mr. Crichton weaved science into his story to give it sense of reality. Also the way he showed how pathetical the physical well being of our age actually is. Marek was near what a doctor of the present would call a perfect physical specimen and he could barely put up a good fight against Sir Guy. I more than recomend this book to any one who has an interest in the inner workings of feudal France. This book is the first book that I ever read for school that I actually enjoyed picking up when I got home from my day.
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Summary: A great book
Review: What a badass book, I head that this is being turned into a movie as well as Prey. But which book really doesnt become a movie that was a Michael Crichton book. I love this book, Amazing, page turner. Great story. Get it if you love the medieval time era.
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Summary: An exciting countdown adventure
Review: Until now, I've only been familiar with Michael Crichton's work through his movies. I read Timeline in just 5 days (well, I do have to work you know). Very enjoyable. Similar to the Jurassic Park journey but without the dinosaurs and set in southern France in the year 1357 during the 100 Years War. Three young historians are transported back to rescue their chief historian and project leader who has sent a cry for help from 1357 to the year 1999. They have only 37 hours to complete their mission or they can't return. In the beginning, Crichton sets you up, educates you on the basic principles of quantum physics and introduces you to the main players in this adventurous blend of science fiction and historical literature. Some characters were less developed to me, particularly the ones sent on the journey. However, the story's villain was portrayed well enough to hate. This was Robert Doniger, the founder of the company ITC, which uses quantum energy to recreate genetics and DNA to transfer humans to the past. Sometimes there are Transcription Errors, and sometimes people can't return at all. Doniger seems only interested with money and power, naturally. I enjoyed the story and am sure the movie will be just as entertaining. It's an exciting and dangerous countdown. Only 37 hours, or they can't return.
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