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Summary: A very exciting thriller
Review: I have never been much of a reader, so when my school required us to read the book over the summer, I was horrified. Although it is a little slow in the beginning, it catches up towards the middle. I like how you are introduced to the site that the workers end up going to before hand and how they have to use that knowledge to survive. This book cannot possibly be called dull. I finished reading it in four days. I didn't care to much for the cussing in it, but other than that it was just so interesting and I could not put it down. If you are a person who is interested in time travel and survival then this is the book for you. If you cannot stand cussing, then I do not recommend you reading it. This book is a quick read and has so many events happening on just a single page. You should take the time to read it.
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Summary: I LOVE this book!
Review: I've made all of my friends read this book.. I've read it so many times that my hardback copy is getting torn apart. They're finally making it into a movie that I've watched so many times over in my head while reading the book. I can't recommend this enough!
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Summary: Michael Crichton's Timeline
Review: In Timeline, Michael Crichton mixes his vast knowledge of science and technology with an incredibly detailed story, which takes place within the context of Europe's fourteenth century Hundred Years' War. Timeline is set in both twentieth century Mexico, and fourteenth century France. The ITC Research Company has created a machine that uses quantum physics to teleport people into the past. In the 1950s, the French government began restoration of the Dordogne region to create "the most accurate medieval town in France, and one of the biggest tourist attractions in the country." ITC was hired by the French to assist in coming up with the most historically accurate recreation.
One of the main characters and hero of the story, André Marek, has an obsession with Medieval Europe. He could not only read and write, but also speak Middle English, Old French, Occitan, and Latin. He knew jousting and was an expert with the longbow and broadsword. Crichton gives us Marek's view of the era: "The fourteenth century was a vanished world, and a dangerous one. It was a religious world, where invading armies killed everyone, where women and children were routinely hacked to death, where pregnant women were eviscerated for sport. It was a world that gave lip service to the ideals of chivalry while indiscriminately pillaging and murdering, where women were imagined to be powerless and delicate, yet they ruled fortunes, commanded castles, took lovers at will and plotted assassination and rebellion. It was a world of shifting boundaries and shifting allegiances, often changing from one day to the next. It was a world of death, of sweeping plagues, of disease, of constant warfare."
The story progresses with a message: "HELP ME - 4/7/1357." After determining that their professor, Edward Johnston, sent the message and it did in fact come from the fourteenth century, Marek and the twentieth century graduate students are dragged back in time to help their colleague. As if the scenario is not yet exciting enough, the complications continue to arise. In order to persuade Marek and his comrades to save Professor Johnston, (thus saving their reputation and credibility as well) ITC fails to disclose all of the information, and the time travelers find themselves amidst the perils of the fourteenth century - guideless, with no way of return.
Crichton intertwines history with science, and compares the theories of science with the studies of history through ITC's president Doniger, who states, "When we are dealing with history, theories are worthless. A theory is only valuable if it has the ability to predict future outcomes. But history is the record of human action - and no theory can predict human action."
The remainder of the novel is an incredibly exciting story of the battles between the French and the English, as well as the rescue mission Marek and his crew undertake. One remarkable aspect of this book is the tremendous amount of historical detail that Crichton weaves into the story, as well as the quantity of scientific data (both qualities consistent with Michael Crichton). After completing Timeline, the reader is left with countless inquiries regarding the possibility of time travel and Crichton's representation of it, and a vivid, detailed image of medieval life. Disguised as a suspenseful, action-packed thriller, (often too difficult to put down) Timeline is an effective medium for learning about medieval life and stimulating the mind.
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Summary: oh man
Review: I thought this was going to be a good book, but it was boring. I don't know anything about phsyics. The few times it was good was when there was action.
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Summary: One of the best reads I've found in a long time!
Review: Have you ever wondered what it was like in the middle ages? Not to be bombarded with constant company meetings and traffic jams? Well what if it was possible to return to a different time in which feudalism still lived, horses were a main source of transportation and life was determined by how well the harvest went? A secret scientific company, ITC, has been working and developing certain techniques to time travel.When ITC calls for Medieval Studies and Archiologist Professor Johnston to visit their lab, his students (On a dig in France)think nothing of it. But when no word of him is sent afterward, suspicion arises. Soon, three of the professor's students are called to the ITC lab-Andre Marek, Katherine Erickson, and Chris Hughes. They are told that the Professor has disappeared; not only that, he has disappeared in 14th century France. Now, its the duty of these three students to return to medieval France as well and find their professor. Once in medieval France, Andre, Kate, and Chris are faced with bloodthirsty knights, disguised Ladies and conspiring Lords. The three young modern Americans must survive and adapt to the new lifestyle as well as maintain a low profile. Not easy when the Lord's right hand man is constantly on your tail, a brutal knight is threatening to kill you and a crazy knights is dragging you to his beheading block. I was completely enveloped in this story from beginning to end. Fast paced action, constant story development and great lead characters made the read all the more enjoyable. I truly got the feel the the medieval lifestyle and how difficult average life could be. I would recommend this book to mature readers as there is some vividly described violence as well as advanced scientific theories and information that may be difficult for younger readers. But this book has become a definite favorite of mine a perfect 10!!!
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Summary: A Delightfully Fun Read...not a literary masterpiece
Review: I have followed Michael Crichton's stories since the 1970s, and I have enjoyed the thoughtful AND the playful in him. This book is wonderful entertainment for the reader. Before reading this book, however, the reader needs to be sure what kind of Michael Crichton book they want to read. Every story requires the reader to make a few willful suspensions of disbelief. In the case of Timeline, this is done more roughly than in some of Crichton's other books. Some of this has to do, perhaps, with the paradoxical nature of time travel itself. Nevertheless, the devices used, in terms of plot, are more clunky than one would prefer. The book does read like a screenplay. In a society where film is such a dominant art form, however, this is not necessarily a bad thing. Would people complain bitterly about those visual artists who related their work to music? It's a matter of personal choice, I suppose. For me, Timeline was a delightful diversion and excellent entertainment. The book was not pretentious. The point is to give the reader a fast-paced romp through times and places thought inaccessible to us. The power of the book lies in the ability to propose a (fairly) reasonable bridge between the here and the there. As a historian, I also have to say that I took considerable delight in finding a book that had historians running around in an adventure -- but here is one of those places where Michael Crichton goes a bit too far out on a limb. He has a gift for adding more glamour and pizzazz to professions that (while exciting to those in them), to the outside observer, are as fascinating to watch as moss growing on the side of a tree. But...fine...I don't mind having those of us in my profession polished up and energized a bit. The time machine envisioned is interesting. Some of the troubles foreseen justly give pause. And some of the historical speculation is fun. If you are looking for a book that is just that -- fun -- this is an excellent choice. If you are looking for something you will want to tell your friends about so they will think how smart and sophisticated you are...pick another book. A well balanced diet of reading will include a helping of chocolate cake, as well as a heap of broccoli or beef. Timeline is a reader's confection that I enjoyed very much. I recommend it to those who are looking for a playful read.
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Summary: Mental popcorn
Review: I didn't *dislike* this book. It was exciting and kept me turning pages, but was ultimately unsatisfying. The beginning was fine and eerie with the mysterious scientist in the desert, and the Najavo doctor and policeman who feel there is something suspicious about his death - but that all peters out to nothing and they are never seen again. We never do learn what caused his last fatal trip back to the past, or how he came to be wandering aimlessly in the desert upon his return. Instead we find ourselves transported to modern France, and then quickly to medieval France. The heroes are involved in one heart-stopping disaster after another as each chapter heading registers the ticking of the chronometer that counts down their allowable 37 hours in the medieval period. They can't get fully immersed in the period in a mere 37 hours, so everything whizzes by at a rapid pace although one suspects from the beginning that their rescue will not be affected until the chronometer registers 00:00:02 or so. All the non-stop action is exhausting and prevents one from really having any feel for the medieival period. There is an extensive bibliography but not much to show for all that research as things move too fast to really give one a feeling of authenticity. It will probably make an exciting movie though, which is probably what Crichton was planning for all along. But I much preferred Crichton's own "Eaters of the Dead" for an interesting look at medieval times. And specifically for time travel to the 14th century I would recommend Connie Willis' "Doomsday Day" far more highly than this one.
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Summary: "Timeline," a book for all ages
Review: "Timeline," yet another New York Times Best Seller by Michael Crichton, is an action packed adventure that begins when a young team of archeologists make a startling discovery at a medieval site in France. They eventually are transported across the ocean to a facility owned by a top-secret company, which is in control of a tremendous new technology, the ability to travel through time! Ultimately, the group of students is sucked back hundreds of years into the past, and when something goes wrong, they are left to fend for themselves in a strange new world. This novel is most definitely comparable with Crichton's other best-sellers such as "Jurassic Park," "The Andromeda Strain," and "The Great Train Robbery." To say this novel is suspenseful would be an understatement. "Timeline" is a thrilling work that sweeps you away and leaves you panting, wanting more. Crichton's brilliant imagination creates for the reader a world very different from our own with knights, battles, lords, and castles. He masterfully follows the archeologists as they explore their new world and ultimately fight for their very survival, blending new scientific concepts with his familiar excitement and adventure. In the book, the scientific explanations for a valid method of time travel are strikingly believable and leave you asking, "why not?" All in all, "Timeline" is an excellent read that will bring you along on a breathtaking journey...if you're up for it.
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Summary: This book is great!
Review: The book Timeline was one of the best books I have ever read. The main plot was very creative and kept me at the edge of my seat, because the characters were always being chased or fighting, and the battles were always gory. The way Crighton described the way the characters were stuck in the past was thought through and imaginative. The characters were well thought out and there was a variety of them. There were good guys, bad guys, funny guys, and all in between. Overall, the whole book was great.
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Summary: Not one of Chrichton's better efforts
Review: Maybe he's channeling too much of his creative force into "ER"--who knows? There are so many character cliches in this book that I can't believe this is the guy who gave us Doctors Peter Benton, Doug Roberts, Mark Greene, John Carter, Elizabeth Corday, and (as Corday calls him) "Robert Rao-man-ao". Not to mention the memorable characters in his other books that gave fellow doctor Robin Cook the idea that maybe he should try writing more than prescriptions. We have a heartless high tech magnate whose company has learned how to send people back to the past. Seven centuries back, to be exact. The trouble is that he regards his people as so expendable that if he were a general he'd be risking court martial. So he sends a gaggle of grad students, archaelogists and physicists back to the Middle Ages, where they meet all sorts of knights who are more hardcases than gallants, monks who are as much scientists in their own right as they are spiritual--you name it. Needless to say, when you go too far back, culture shock can be fatal, which happens all over this story. I found one sort of self-amusement when my inability to mentally pronounce French had me hearing one lord's name--Arnaut de Cervole--as "Are Not de Chevrolet" in my "mind's ear". So if it are not a Chevy, then what are it? Not exactly the "heartbeat of Medieval France", I'll grant you. But I found this book otherwise ambitious beyond the author's command of the subject. Crichton is at his best when more of the story is based on science. This isn't one of those times, I'm afraid.
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