Rating: 
Summary: Not as bad as it could have been
Review: I write this at the risk of it being lost in the noise, but it's worth it. I'll keep it short: yes, it's a light "beach read" kind of book, but it's not so bad. There are a couple of interesting ideas and a little action to keep you awake on the plane. I also happened to read this book right after Connie Willis' terrific "The Doomsday Book", which has a similar setup, but is much better. Read it if "Timeline" wasn't all you were hoping for.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting and fun book - but no more
Review: Timeline was a very enjoyable read (took me 4 days to finish it and I was in Rio - 50 steps from the beach!). The author cleverly explains the mechanics and theories behind time travel and I really, really liked the way the book went back and forth from historical times to modern era. There are some inconsitancies regarding the actual theory, but very minor - they in no way interfere with the story. The last two chapters were strong, bt were unfitting - the characters behave in ways that are not like them at all. I think the author just wanted to make an ending that would surprise a movie adience and didn't quite know what to do.
Rating: 
Summary: Bad, bad, oh so bad.
Review: This book is painful, breaking-your-own-nose-by-slamming-your-head-into-the-corner-of-a-wall painful. Yes, it hurts that much. The real problem with this book is that you could basically write it yourself for all of its predictability. Oh, who could have EVER guessed that the dude really into midevil stuff would stay in the past?? And the plot devices...so lame! Grendades conveniently getting people stuck in the past, etc. If you have ever stuck your hand directly into a fire and held it there for over 30 seconds, you probably have the endurance and willpower to make it through this book. Otherwise...
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing but good for the plane
Review: I was quite drawn in by Crichton's description of some of the issues of quantum mechanics and possible other universes, differing from ours in only small ways. And, the concept of not transporting a person but rather transmitting compressed, encoded information describing them so they can be reconstituded at the othe end, analogous to fax transmission. Here though the other end is some other place/time. I was wondering all along how accurate his descriptions of quantum mechanics were and how fanciful his notion of transmitting humans.As is typical in Crichton's novels that I've read, the inventors or advocates of new hot-shot technologies are overly in love with the technologies and themselves for being so smart for having invented/understood them that they are blinded particularly with respect to their safety and reliability and misuse (from what they intended) by others, and to the consequent often unexpected and undesirable if not disastrous consequences. In the book four graduate students doing historical archeology and restoration in France are 'faxed' back to 14th century France by the high tech company that sponsors their apparently unrelated research to recover their professor who fax himself back unauthorized when brought to headquaters, and now he's trapped. It's their job to find and rescue him. Many of the scenes and vignettes of France in the 14th century that they encounter give that "that's what it was like back them" sense with the emotional impact you get from identification with the characters. However, to move the novel along the characters are almost always just managing one improbable escape after another. I got quite bored after a while. Yet, even bored, I still kept on turning the pages until I finished. So, three stars, and a good book for the plane. But, Crichton's _Sphere_ was better, imo.
Rating: 
Summary: Better than Time Travel
Review: I've read this book three times since it was published. As one of the early reviewers suggested, the setup to the time 'travel' process stumbles on itself. Crichton uses the correct terms and suggests a way in which this kind of travel might be possible, but the possibility is virtually nil, so the whole description is difficult to swallow and stalled me. The power of the writing comes after arrival in the 'past' when Crichton gives us - by his writing - a more close view of what life in that period would have been like. Reading about the past or future is probably as close as humans will ever get to time travel, and in that sense, most books are time travel experiences. No need to be a history major - mine were EE/physics/math/CS from 1972. The trouble with Crichton's presentation of the mechanics of 'time travel' is that the words are there, but the linkages are hopeless, and after surmounting this obstacle the first time, I just wanted to get to the past. Still, it is a benefit to see how convoluted any explanation of time travel can get; Crichton made a valiant attempt. I wish that some of the physicists who offer similarly ludicrous hypotheses would consider using a mirror instead of just tossing it out to the world. Everybody wants to be the next Einstein, but it isn't that simple. In this universe, garbage 'science' is garbage, no matter how much the population will pay to read, hear, or watch it. Crichton is a writer, so we can give him the artistic license, and even find value in the flaws of a presentation. Scientists should be held to a higher standard.
Rating:
Summary: Effortlessly breaks the time barrier
Review: Timeline is a story of time travel to the Middle Ages that someway down the line goes wrong for its protagonists.
Only Crichton has the ability to describe what is for me, the most mundane period inhistory seem interesting.
Such books inevitably (eg Jurassic Park, Disclosure etc) become Hollywood fodder and I hope that with the technical wizardry shown in similar period films like Lord of the Rings that its translation reflects the deep content of this book
Rating:
Summary: OH WOW OH WOW OH WOW
Review: This book was recommended to me from a friend, and I am forever grateful to her that I read it. A thrilling epic tale that mixes medieval england with the modern day world. This is a definite for you histroy buffs out there...Crichton actually kept most historical details accurate. (thanks Crichton many times)
Please read it for me! You won't be sorry that you did, I swear!
Rating:
Summary: This one got me started
Review: I was given this book last year as a gift. I read it and immediately was thrilled with this book!! Since being given this wonderful book, I've read Clancy, Harris, Grisham, Pat Conroy, and several others - as well as other Crichton works - and this is the only book I've ever re-read! It is excellent. The imagery he's developed is remarkable. The characters are super. The plot is thrilling fun! Like with other Crichton works, you feel educated when done. I have recommended this book to everyone I've met. And am now doing so to you. Buy the book and get ready for a wild, exciting, and engrossing ride!
Rating:
Summary: Too bad he didn't write this many years ealier.
Review: Starts off great in classic Chrichton fashion with unexplicable events that hint at something very mysterious going on and gets you hooked right away. After the first 25% of the book, the master has all the elements together to make you think you are about to read the best storyline ever written. Unfortunately, what follows this great premise is a huge disppointment. <<POSSIBLE SPOILERS>> Two thirds of the book are wasted on the totally unbelievable concept that 3 archeology students from the year 2000 with only theoretical knowledge about the middle ages can fight it out against a host of strong warriors that have spent all their lives doing nothing but fighting. So our students win one-on-one battles fighting with broadswords, knives, bow-and-arrow etc. They hold their own in jousting matches, they escape several times from well-guarded prison cells, and they can even outwit large groups of fierce soldiers and battle knights, they are smarter than even the opposing warlords themselves. And to top it off, they manage to escape from at least a handful of other dangerous situations that are just too unbelievable. I really liked all the events taking place in the year 2000, on that level the book is classic Chrichton with a lot of suspense and mystery and a storyline as good as most of his other SF-books. However the parts taking place in the middle ages are a total let-down, and after the heroes fight and win the 14th or 15th time when they are totally outnumbered by savage warriors, I couldn't help but cringe and cringe at how bad the story was. A great chance wasted, Crichton could have done so much better, he put all the right elements together in order to write maybe the best book of all times. And then he dumbs it down into what is essentially a movie plot for a simplistic action film. Maybe, if he had he written this book 10 years ago, before JP, he would have turned this into a classic...
Rating:
Summary: Yet another tired time-travel story
Review: I thought this book would have Crichton's usual blend of sci fi dazzle and high storytelling flair. Instead I got a dash of pseudoscientific babble (wormholes, quarks, probability fields, oh my,) mixed with another rehash of the old H.G. Wells script (Man invents time machine. Man travels to another time where things are more complicated than he expects. Many problems ensue. Man returns to modern era enlightened.) Yawwwwwwn.
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