Rating: 
Summary: Bad science + bad plot + non-existent character development
Review: Wow, this was a truly awful book. It's filled with long, pedantic, and patently false scientific explanations that are painful to read. The characters are completely hollow and the story just plods along without any direction. What little development there is is completely implausible. A book that should not have been written.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the best books I ever READ!
Review: This book was a very mysterious book. Michael Crichton's Timeline kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time ,and I could never put the book down. It was a mixture of technology, the past, and friendship. It was about risking your own life to save someone else's life. Timeline really let you get a glimse of the past. It really helped me to understand what the past was like. It was a very interesting book, you definately should take the time to read it!
Rating: 
Summary: Timeline
Review: Let's look once. Crichton is a suberp researcher Nobody can say otherwise. In this book he descri bed medieval, feudal France excellently. When you read the book you see Dordogne area was described in every little detail. The theories and tellings about Quantum physics shows that Crichton had done its homework well about this subject too - however some of them are arguable especially "time paradox es" I am not satisfied about that. But decription of characters had flaws. The only character I understood fully was Christopher Hughes. The others like Kate Ericson and Andre Ma rek had some blanks as well as the connections between them. The book itself is very enjoyable and excitting , non-stop motion especially in mid dle and last parts. I am sure its movie would be made. As an amateur history researcher I totally agree with a saying in the book. "Ýf you don't know history , you don't know anything"
Rating:
Summary: Crichton produces one for the ages
Review: Michael Crichton writes quite vividly in his most recent fictional work. Timeline lives up to his earlier works of Sphere and The Andromena Strain as far as a mix of science and adventure. I thought that the background he gives us in quantum physics is enough to easily grasp the ideas that he his trying to convey, without turning this book into a textbook on physics. Also, his idea of involving non science characters into the plot made it much more palatable to those of us with only a reasonable interest in science. All in all, Crichton has again written a novel compelling for anyone with a sense of adventure, an enjoyment of history, or a desire for intrigue.
Rating:
Summary: Getting tired of Crichton
Review: Crichton's best work, in my opinion, is non-fiction. His TRAVELS is a great read and provides insight into what makes him tick. He has great plot ideas, but the writing is too predictable and contrived. It's like looking at a photo of a great meal in a magazine and then eating the paper--not at all satisfying, but the CONCEPT is great. TIMELINE is, if anything, worse than RETURN TO JURASSIC PARK, or whatever that bomb was called. It reads like a bad TV drama. I think I will consign Crichton to the same place I put another author I was intrigued with, until I read enough of his books to learn there wasn't a whole lot there--Kurt Vonnegut.
Rating:
Summary: 'Made for Screenplay' book with 1-dimensional characters
Review: Wait for the movie - that is all that this excuse for a book was written for. MC takes a reasonable attempt at a story line (dubious science allows timetravel - historians get to travel back to a site in medieval France they have been working and get to take part in a battle before returning to the present in the nick of time) then absolutely fails to develop any realistic characters. The 'science' is aimed squarely at the chronically uneducated and although he has obviously researched medieval France fairly well (looking at the biography), he fails to transform this into anything compelling. If you want a book that blends science with history - try Cryptonomicon by Stevens.
Rating: 
Summary: It's the same old Crichton formula...but it works!
Review: I love European history, and I love science, so Michael Crichton really does it for me. He has a fascinating way of weaving intelligent and thought-provoking ideas from both disciplines into a story for popular tastes. In Timeline he basically follows the same formula he follows in his other books: He takes some cutting-edge science so far out that the average reader doesn't know if it's plausible or just imaginary and finds a way to recreate everybody's greatest fantasy with it, but alas, the plan goes awry and our heroes find themselves in mortal danger. Unfortunately, his writing strategy in this book is appallingly transparent to anyone who's read Jurassic Park or Sphere or Congo or The Andromeda Strain or any of his other books. After reading about so many ridiculous fights and battles and adventures that our heroes encounter, one begins to grow weary. Still, the historical context and the scientific backbone make the story come alive and make it well worth reading. Honestly, I loved the book and I recommend it to you! It was just way too predictable and cliche. But Crichton knows what audiences want and he delivers that. He obviously wrote the book with a movie in the back of his mind, but I would say based on his track record, the book is MUCH better than the movie will be. So read the book.
Rating: 
Summary: This is Michael Crichton, right?
Review: Hmmmm...something's wrong. I was a little suprised when I read "The Lost World". It was very obviously a screenplay for the next Jurassic Park movie. "Oh well," I thought, "I guess if there's enough money involved, even I would sell out." But twice? Nearly everything I have read from Michael Crichton has been brilliantly written and plausible, if only just. The ability to write this pseudo-science fiction has been a winning strategy for so long that this book came as a real suprise. A multi-billionaire has sponsored an effort that has resulted in a time travel machine that allows scientists to visit France in the middle ages. So far, so good. However, a group of American college students, excavating an old castle, are suddenly swept up in a crisis when it turns our their professor has vanished. The evil billionaire asks that they go back in time and find him...just after they have excavated their professors eyeglasses from their site! Sorry if it sounds like I'm being sarcastic, but this book is a screenplay. It reads like a film, not a book. The time machine description is interesting, and good, but the events surrounding the adventure are awful...and made for a Hollywood blockbuster. Going back in time, the students wear little ear pieces that immediatly translate medieval French into English. They manage to pass as citizens and mingle freely, interacting perfectly...too easily. They even manage to joust in a tournament! There is no suspense and the outcome is sadly predictable. Too bad, I'm afraid. It'll make an interesting movie.
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Summary: Mr. Crichton please do more research before tackling tech.
Review: Overall a good book, especially if you are a technology buff like me. He did pretty good research regarding to date Quantum theory, but there were too many holes and unanswered questions. Why when they sent the group of scientists back, did they have to arrive 'after' the Dr.
Rating:
Summary: Movie will be better than book
Review: This book was a disappointment. Although, I think that I will like the movie because so much of the book requires the visual senses. Michael Crichton is a gifted writer and one that I generally enjoy but this was not one of his best works.
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