Rating: 
Summary: Really deserves two-and-a-half stars
Review: Since I'm not allowed to give half a star, I decided to give the author the benefit of three stars (mainly because of his past writing efforts). Although I haven't 'reviewed' his other works here on Amazon.com, I have read other Crichton books. My problem that I am having is that Mr. Crichton is falling into the 'hollywood trap' as I like to call it. He has written screenplays in the past and here is where the trap door has opened for him. This book reads like a screenplay. When I finished reading it I asked myself, "so when is the movie gunna come out?" Undoubtedly Mr. Crichton has already written a template for the screenplay, as this book shows. But enough about the negative aspects of the book. Let me tell you what I DID like. The science was good....not great....but good. The foam, the development of the machine for time travel, all were good working forms of things that didn't suspend belief (too much). The characters were believable but some of the situations they were put in, were not (fighting a master swordsman in France during this century would have definitely ended in the death of the 20th century traveler...no matter how much training you THINK you have.). Try older Crichton books for some real fun with reading (reading without looking toward the movies).
Rating:
Summary: TYPICAL CRICHTON - GREAT POSSIBILITIES-GREAT IDEA, BUT...
Review: MICHAEL CRICHTON has great ideas....His story lines continue to be original, exciting and certainly different.....I don't love his writing style....This story started off slowly, picked up and then went off a little too much.....although I loved the ending....A good quck read....
Rating: 
Summary: A message to Mr. Crichton
Review: I have your fan until now. But this is your second really bad book on the trot after "the lost world'. Well Mr.Crichton you have permanently lost a reader. I'm sure you don't care as this one is going to make gazillions on the movie revenues..... so maybe you should just write screenplays from now on.
Rating: 
Summary: sci-fi entertainment
Review: A very entertaining book for sci-fi fans, however, if you're a Chriton fan, you may not like his latest foray into the world of sci-fi. Chriton does a good job of trying to explain the "science and technology" behind the story. The book is entertaining and quick reading with a good amount of action. Not knowing much of Medieval history makes it easier to swallow the storyline. Nice twist at the end....
Rating:
Summary: Timeline Falls Short
Review: Having read every of Crichton's works of fiction, this book ranks among the lowest of his books (aside from Lost World and Sphere.) Crichton lays the groundwork for a potential exciting story but ends up with a far-fetched and too busy of a story. Without giving away the ending, Crichton fails to deliver that jaw dropping finale and you can see how the book will get wrapped up long before reaching page 400. I will continue to buy Crichton (except any dinosaur-related stories) and believe that he is simply in a slump and will put out another good one like Disclosure in the years to come.
Rating: 
Summary: Simply wonderful
Review: As a avid Crichton fan, I found this book a little out of the ordinary. Nevertheless, it was wonderful and I would suggest it to anyone. Crichton explains Quantom physics very simply and makes every page a must-turner! Wonderful beginning and a wonderful ending! Good Job, Crichton!
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointed again......and for the last time!
Review: When I read Sphere, Crichton instantly became my favorite writer. After that sequel to Jurassic Park (whatever it was called), I became dissappointed in Crichton's obvious sell out. Why did he quickly come out with "Jurassic Park warmed over", basically the same book, with basically the same dinosaurs and characters, but stirred up in a shallower pot, so that the leftovers are full of meaningless action, easily transferable to visual media ... an embarassingly obvious movie script excuse for a book. Now he's dared do it again. IMHO, his once brilliant writing now just smells of opportunism.
Rating:
Summary: Take a ride on the wild side
Review: Michael Crichton's latest, "Timeline", starts out slowly (It takes 163 pages for the gang to get where they are going), but once it gets started, its gangbusters all the way! The basic idea is something like "Jurassic Park"--brilliant, but amoral tycoon and gang of fearless (okay somewhat fearless) young scientists and a world existing in the past. But next to "Timeline", "Jurassic Park" is a walk in the woods. The action begins as soon as our intrepid heroes reach their distination, France in the late 14th century during the 100 Year's War. Before they can say, where are we, a fiercesome bunch of medieval horsemen coming riding toward them swinging their swords. For the next 300 pages the action continues hot and heavy. Adventure, action, romance, intrigue, its all here and more. Of course, it is all written with the movie in mind. I see Sean Connerly as the professor. The toughest part to cast will be that of Kate, the young expert in architecture who has to get out of more scrapes than a Houdini. The book is premised on the idea that a quantum computer can be build and that there are parallel universes to which people can travel. Crichton admits that this part may be far-fetched, but he also claims that the historical parts are factual. One thing is for sure, when you finish this book, you will be grateful you were not living back in those times.
Rating:
Summary: Working too hard to contrive plot complications
Review: Michael Crichton has written some great books ("Andromeda Strain" and "Jurassic Park") and movies ("West World" -- one of my all time favorites). Unfortunately, this is not one of his best. I kept having the feeling that Crichton was working too hard to contrive plot complications instead of letting the plot grow out of the characters. But maybe with such wooden characters, he didn't have a choice (only the Lady Claire seemed interesting to me). For a month I read this book every night at bedtime, only advancing a few pages before it put me to sleep. Not my kind of page-turner.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting but not up to Crichton standards.
Review: It is rare that I finish reading a book and find myself conflicted on my opinion of it, but this is my dilemma with Timeline. While more of a science fiction fan than a history fan, I enjoyed the medieval time travel element quite a bit. It was engaging and had quite a lot of action to keep me interested. The jumping back and forth between past and present kept the suspense at a relatively steady pace. My disappointments were its over-reliance on technical information (which made for some dry reading at times), and its characters who, while not UNlikeable, just didn't make me care much what happened to them (except for Marek, who I really liked). Having read almost every other book Crichton has written, I just didn't feel this was up to his usual standards. However, if you are interested in the medieval period, Crichton's extensive bibliography alone would probably be worth the price of the paperback.
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