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Summary: His worst novel ever.
Review: I have read and liked almost all of Crichton's novels but this one is just horrible. I couldn't believe how boring this thing was. Avoid at all costs.
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Summary: Crichton's Take On Time Travel
Review: Michael Crichton's TIMELINE (1999) is a fascinating blend of truly interesting science fiction and breathtaking medieval history, and we learn a lot about both realms over the course of this novel. Basing his time-travel on the more recent scientific theory of "multiverses" (i.e. the existence of many universes simultaneously, each one representing a time in the past), Crichton explores the possibilities of using Quantum technology to effectively "fax" people to another time period, for all of its fascinating and disturbing implications.When a brilliant but extremely arrogant and dictatorial scientist-turned-CEO demonstrates his new "time machine" to an inquiring professor, accidentally stranding him in medieval France circa 1357, it's up to a quickly put-together team of historians to rescue him. They'll be racing against the clock, and fighting truly terrifying foes, in order to bring him---and themselves---back. In TIMELINE, Michael Crichton does what he does best: take a fascinating scientific premise that is teasingly possible and run with it. He explores it further using a team of well-developed characters for whom we grow to care and root. These characters, who often sport complex relationships with each other, invariably get trapped in their quest and must find a way out of it, while simultaneously solving the original puzzle that brought them together in the first place. It all may be rather formulaic at this point; however, there's no denying that the Crichton formula is one that works, and consistently. From THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN (1969) to JURASSIC PARK (1991), he has the knack for bringing us into a well-realized, brave new world that is based upon complex scientific theory and make us not only understand what is going on, but fully believe that it's happening. The main reason why his novels work so well is because, past all the post-graduate science, he never loses sight of the human stories, and they are the most compelling aspects. Plus, unlike certain authors (John Grisham comes to mind here), he really knows how to end a story! Michael Crichton has been a gifted genre storyteller for over 35 years now, and TIMELINE follows very nicely in this fine tradition. And it has one killer ending! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
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Summary: Timeline Book Review
Review: The book Timeline is a very well written book in my eyes. I have read Crichton's Sphere and I am working Prey. This was a very interesting book in that combines both history, quantum physics, and quantum mechanics. Now anyone who can cobine those three things that are very diffenrent and do it well is a very good author in my eyes. I must say Michael Crichton has a very good thing for keeping you opn your toes through every page of the book.
The storyline of the book is that a man anda woman are driving to New Mexico and out of nowhere they see this old man who likes he is drunk and trying to walk.What they don't understand is that he is out in the middle of the desert without a car anywhere in sight and here he is walking around in what looks like very old clothing that is also very heavy in the hot desert sun. The reason he is out there is because he didn't follow the rules at ITC, where he works.
ITC is a scientific company that specializes in traveling to other universes using quatum mechanics and quantum physics. There is also a group of students out in France whose Professor went to this company in hopes of going back and seeing the Medieval era, which is what he is studying.
The professor was told not to move away from the machine when he got there and he did. Then, his students get called to go back and find him because that is what they know, The Medieval era. I am not going to say the end because that what you are supposed to do. Go read the book and find out!!
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Summary: Timeline
Review: I thought that Timeline was a very well written book. In this book, Chricton would go into great detail. I could really understand what was going on because it drew a picture in my mind. My favorite part of the book is when the big battle is going on and they are trying to get out of the 14th century castle. In this scene there is a lot of action. The castle is afire while men are fighting all over the place. Some of the men are burning in quick slip an oily substance that burns when water mixes in it. After they see the man burn they run down a staircase and to the drawbridge. Here Andre Market decides to stay with his future wife. He also stays to keep the drawbridge down so that his friends can get to the time machines and go home.
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Summary: Great ideas, plot ect. but poorly executed.
Review: Timeline is over-rated, period. Yes, it has a great plot with the quantum wormhole, which I was very interested in, but overall it was poorly executed.
It starts out with a few archeologists revealing a medival castle and monastery in France. For some unknown reason they were being sponsored by a large technology company called ITC. One day the head archeologist dissapears and there is some rumors going around the excavation site that it had to do with ITC. The company speaks up and brings the other head archeologists over to their headquarters in Black Rock, New Mexico. On the plane they are told that their professor is stuck back in the medival times, and in some sort of trouble, terribly done might I add (the employee of ITC on the airplane talks to them about quantum physics like they are physicians).
Eventually they get stuck back in time with the professor, surviving every single problem Crichton throws at them (knights, seductive women, phsyco warriors, ect., just the usual), and have to get out with the professor alive. After about 30 close encounters with people that should have killed them the first time, they get the professor and get out, leaving one behind because he ALWAYS wanted to be in the middle ages. The same guy that stayed in the medival ages ends up marrying the seductive woman somehow, even though she managed to kill 2 husband princes before she turned 30. Note: the only well done part after page 150 is the very end. So read the first 150 pages and read the last page right? Wrong, drop this book and read The Andromeda Strain, a much better novel by Crichton.
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Summary: Todd's Review on Timeline
Review: Timeline by Michael Crichton has been one of the best books I have ever read. It is full of action, war and scientific concepts. I love this book and recommend it to any of the people who are looking to buy it and read it. You will enjoy this book so much that you will want to read it over.
Michael Crichton is one of the best authors around. He makes movie scripts, writes books, and writes screenplays. The book Timeline is also a movie rated pg13. I have not yet seen it but it looks good to me. Hopefully it will be as good as the book.
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Summary: Much Better than the Movie
Review: I must confess that I have watched the movie before reading the book. The movie is entertaining but fall short of being a believable story. In fact, the author devoted more than one third of the book explaining the background of the technology involved before the first "time travel" took place. The movie is very much Holywood type and the book offers much entertainment to the readers. It is full of suspense and full of actions. You should be forewarned that there are quite a number of discrepancies between the book and the movie. If you do happen to enjoy the movie (like I do), you will certainly enjoy the book for it contains much more actions and background. If you don't enjoy the movie at all, there is a high chance that you will enjoy the book because it delivers what the movie cannot. As compares to the other Michael Crichton books, I still enjoy the Jarasic Park series the best (and "The Prey" the least for it is not at all a believable story). Hence the four stars.
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Summary: Great Read, Small Book
Review: I loved this book, and highly recommend it, but don't bother to buy the pricy paperback size hard cover edition of this book that Amazon sells!
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Summary: One of Crichton's worst
Review: I really wanted to like this book. I thought the idea was amazing. Crichton has a way of writing about science fiction and making it seem really believable. He did it with Jurassic Park and did the same with this. But once you get past the concept of the ability to travel in time, the book goes downhill. The characters in the middle ages are contrived and unbelievable, and the characters from the present are predictable (as is the ending). Even the description of the Middle Ages did not seem believable. In the end, I get the feeling that Chrichton took a really good idea, but rushed through the plot to get the book printed.
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Summary: Timeline
Review: In this action- packed novel, the medieval past is combined with the newest technology of modern day. This fast-paced adventure begins when a man is mysteriously found in the middle of a hot Arizona desert, babbling incessant nonsense. Police authorities and hospital staff are puzzled when the man suddenly dies. Meanwhile, halfway around the world, archaeologists are at a medieval castle site in the beautiful France country-side. All of the workers feel fortunate to have hands-on experience with fascinating history. However, they soon become suspicious of the corporation that funds their research. What exactly are their motives? One of the professors is abruptly taken from France to the headquarters, and then disappears. The archaeologists are all unaware of what is going until they make a shocking find. Soon they too are whisked off to the corporation headquarters in Arizona. The lab there is making amazing discoveries in the world of quantum technology. The corporation, called ITC, found that there are multiple universes and there is a way to travel to those other universes, even those that are in the past. Before they know it, the archaeologists find themselves in medieval France hoping to save the professor, who disappeared into that universe. Before long, they must fight to save their own lives and make it back alive. In order to achieve this, the group of archaeologists goes on a quest to uncover secrets many are vying to learn. Armed only with their expertise and knowledge of the past, they must avoid sharp arrows, trained knights, and ambitious nobility who will stop at nothing to gain power.
Crichton did a wonderful job of combining science with history, and he entertains as he enlightens. However, I found at times quantum technology was not clearly explained, and I was frequently confused. There were a few pieces of Crichton's story that did not fit completely together in my mind. Despite this, the book was a gripping adventure that was hard to put down.
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