Rating: 
Summary: disapointing
Review: This book was entertaining for awhile, the mixture of science and fiction was, as always with Crichton unique. However the characters were hardly developed and shallow as was the story. I felt like it was written for the sole purpose of being made into a movie. Overall it was a big disapointment.
Rating: 
Summary: Fun time travel reading!
Review: I love time travel! This is a great book for anyone that enjoys the idea of time travel. It falls in with Star Trek, Quantum Leap, Frequency, etc.Timeline throws in a bunch of cool new technical info that can make it possible to go to the 14th century. It seemed to take a little while to build up momentum but once they "leaped" I could not put the book down. Great book for a summer vacation. Much more exciting than Airframe.
Rating: 
Summary: so so ...
Review: This is a fine story. But looks to me full of bugs. I am a MA of the history of science. I didn't do it by myself, but a friend of mine studied the history of Chinese siege warfare, including the use of firearms. That's why I liked his description of medieval life. As to the quantum mechanics, I have to say it's a disappointment. Technically, this book is far from _Jurassic Park_. The use of quantum technologies is nothing but a spell. Finally, you learned nothing but some buzzwords. The gap is too wide, you just can't buy it. In _Jurassic Park_, there's more-or-less valid way to build a dino out of amber preserved insects. In _Timeline_, you have to suspend your disbelief over and over because most critical technologies were not explained. Nothing is explained. Let's say the lossless fractal compression. If it's fractal, it's very possibly lossy. Otherwise, it's not going to reach a very high compression ratio, as loseless compression is subject to a theoretical limit related it its entropy. So you don't have to use fractal. Believe me, fractal is just one of the many unexplained tech terms used in this book....
Rating:
Summary: Starts Great, Ends Weak
Review: I've been a huge fan of Michael Crichton for some time, his novels combine the action and suspence of a blockbuster movie, but at the sametime not becoming a trashy "airport" novel. Timeline is no exception doing for timetravel what Jurassic Park did for genetics. But there are problems here, the characters are far to shallow, we are told that they are good or evil from the first paragraph, sides from which the characters rarely deviate. With the characters being so black and white it does mean that this book is quite put downable in places. Also Crichton's views on affecting the future in this book are quite the opposite of the chaos theory views that were preached in Jurassic Park. The film will be great, but the book could have been better.
Rating: 
Summary: Incredible
Review: One thing I have always admired about Chrichton is his ability to entertain and educate his readers simultaneously.Timeline,in my opinion,is his best and most interesting work yet.I will not deny the book can be a shockingly violent in some places,but this only adds emphasis to Chrichton's apparent theory that the Middle Ages were no walk in the park.An action-packed,intense page turner.
Rating: 
Summary: ... definately written for the screen
Review: What starts of with yet another promising Crichton novelbordering on innovative concepts and ideas, turns out to be a simpleplot involving a group of students who volunteer to go back in time in order to bring their professor back to the present. The characters are unidimensional and the plot weakens to a point where the whole book basically involves a hide and seek and chase game between the students and soldiers that is vaguely reminescient of a scooby doo cartoon. True I have to admit that it was a page turner: I was reading as fast as I could hoping the next chapter would surprise me and actually be interesting. Well I was dead wrong. The ending is predictably nausiating and I was relieved to have reached it ...
Rating:
Summary: Mr. Chrichton Delivers a Page Turner
Review: I have found most of Mr. Crichton's books to be interesting reads of varying caliber. With "Timeline", Michael finally wrote one that I couldn't put down. Granted, as with his other recent works, this book is advanced pulp fiction designed for movie adaptation. Yet unlike those other such works ("Jurrasic Park" and "The Lost World") this novel is a great tale of suspense and action. You may even learn a few things about the philosophical implications of Quantum Physics and Medaevil European History while you are at it (the research effort Michael Crichton puts into his books is always top notch). Make sure you have plenty of time when you open the cover, you will not be able to set it aside easily. Join Mr. Crichton's cast of quirky historians and amoral, egocentric techies and "roam the quantum foam" in search of a colleague lost in a time-travel experiment. You won't regret it.
Rating:
Summary: Just Fun, It Will Make You Re-think of What Is Possible
Review: My first impression of the novel as I got into it was that it was basically a screenplay in the form of a novel, which is okay because now they will have an easy time following the book for the movie. BUT I still had a very fun time reading this and in the last 100 pages I couldn't put it down. The premise is that a company called ITC has developed the quantum technology that is a mystery to most people, and now they can send literally ANYTHING back to different times in history. It is not your usual theory of time travel and it will make you think a little. An archeolical dig and restoration is underway in France in 1999. The archeologists are unearthing the remains of La Roque and Castlegard castles in the south of the country. In the middle of the project, the Professor Edward Johnston leaves for ITC unexpectedly. Meanwhile back in France, a monestary is uncovered and something shocking and unbelievable is found burried in the ruins. An eyeglass lense, looking identical to the Professor's. And a note in his handwriting. Soon they discover that is really is from the Professor, dating all the way back to the fourteenth century... Once more of the main characters travel to the fourteenth century, the story evolves and it picks up its pace right up until the last pages. There is no shortage of action and gore, and you also get a interesting look at what the Middle Ages may have been like. Chrichton is a wonderful story teller, but this book only deserves four stars because in his writing, all he really does it TELL you the story, he doesn't PUT you in the middle of it as Stephen King and other real writers do. But, I still love Chrichton's books, especially JURASSIC PARK and THE LOST WORLD. The thing he does best in his stories is keep you hooked with suspense. We really haven't seen a book with this originality since JURASSIC PARK. Read the book, and setting all actual writing talent criticism aside, enjoy it for what it is. Pure fun and adventure!
Rating:
Summary: Physics, History, Archelogy -- separate yet one...
Review: Michael Crichton is a scientist and a storyteller. Not everyone will grasp the science of the possibilities of quantum physics, time travel or parallel universes called multi-verses, but it is not required. I enjoyed the mental challenge, and began to second guess the probabilities, but all one has to do to enjoy the book is simply suspend disbelief and get involved with characters who are comprised of a variety of people who are egocentric, devilishly cruel, intriguing as they find strength within themselves they didn't know they had, and charming. How do you find a missing colleague who inserted a message for help in a 600 year old document, keep your head on (literally), and get home? Imagine being transported to a ancient world that is as real to you as a telephone only to find that the world is as you imagined, but very different and laden with more pitfalls than you thought. And then...the transport device that took you into the past is gone. The intellectual discussions about the valorous knights and battles (1357 Dordogne in South France) fade as the reality of being in this world kills and threatens those who enter. Crichton's events are based in historical information. The beginning of the story is hard to follow because there are many characters that are introduced with their own story lines, but they do fold together the way a medieval tapestry does--with a lot of details. Well researched details. This book makes you remember that you should always beware of what you ask for, you might get it. I thoroughly enjoyed the book.
Rating:
Summary: Confusing premise and weak ending
Review: Even though I possess a science background, I found the general premise to be be confusing and never properly explained. The ending was hurried and dissapointing.
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