Rating: 
Summary: Excellent
Review: I wasn't going to write a review of this book - there are already over 700 reviews, but I was compelled to because I JUST LOVE THIS BOOK. I am a scholar and professor of medieval art at a small college. I picked up this book this summer as an outlet from my scholarly writing and it has been a joy. My father is a physicist, and I, as a historian, have never found science "my bag." But this book, with it combination of history and science/technology, has us conversing about quantum theory -- something I never cared a whit about. This book also reminds us scholars -- though no doubt many would find this beneath them -- that recreating the past is a difficult thing to do, and one should not hold too fast to opinions and beliefs; in the end, we DO NOT KNOW. I say bravo - job well done.
Rating: 
Summary: Typical Crichton
Review: I love Michael Crichton. I hang out for each new release, diappointed when I don't get my fix.I like books that mix facts with fiction. One that teaches me something, and fools me into believing that it just could happen. This is typical Crichton, so it didn't disappoint me at all. You could see the plan to make it into a box office movie, but it didn't stoop as low as Lost World, which tried far too hard to attract a young audience. He has obviously done his research, and I had that sense of learning as I turned the pages. As usual he made each page one to keep you turning. Not a stunning novel as far as plot, but if you like Crichton's other work, you will enjoy this.
Rating: 
Summary: A delicious adventure
Review: I look to Michael Crichton books for what they are: fun, light, summertime reading. "Timeline" is immensely enjoyable. The old, standard formula is there, but that is why I buy these books and what makes the ride such a treat. Also: Kudos to Crichton for easing into his story a reference to the obscure but fascinating medieval text "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight." Pleasurable indeed!
Rating:
Summary: One of Crichton's Best!
Review: I loved this book. Being a past Crichton fan, I have to say that "Timeline" is one of his best. In "Timeline", Crichton melds the past and present in an array of technology and tradition. It's clear Crichton did a tremendous amount of research for this book, and the science could not be more up to date. This book is a necessity for any reader who likes Fantasy and Science Fiction Thriller's!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book!
Review: This book was an excellent book. It was brilliantly written and was historically accurate. I would recommend this book for anybody who likes suspense, drama, and history
Rating: 
Summary: lame story, lame characters
Review: As a former Yale graduate student, at least I had something in common with the (overly numerous) characters, but they still didn't hold my attention. The story was pretty pointless, and by the end I didn't care what happened. Skip it unless you're desperate for shallow entertainment. He does get extra points for ridiculing Yale's imitation gothic architecture.
Rating: 
Summary: A poorly done rewrite of Willis' "Doomsday Book"
Review: Interested in a book in which historians go back in time to the middle ages? Skip this one, and read the real thing: Connie Willis's "Doomsday Book." I can't rave about that one too much. Read the Amazon reviews if you think that I'm exaggerating. "Timeline," otoh, just reads like a pale imitation, dumbed-down for the mass market. It's a shame that because Crichton has the big name that he'll sell many more copies than will the real thing. I had just read the first few chapters when I was able to guess the ending and every plot turn in "Timeline." If you want your books predictable and tame, read this one. If you want ideas, character development, science fiction, AND emotions, check out "Doomsday Book" instead.
Rating:
Summary: DON'T ASK FOR TOO MUCH!
Review: You know the story: with a Crichton book you get a problem, you get a team together, and away you go... into adventure! It's always the same. He keeps to this formula and tells his yarn: if you don't like the approach, change author. If you stick to him, however, you know beforehand that you're gonna have fun - the ideas are there, the action follows a good pace, and he delivers a tasty "minestrone". Naturally, he's not Robert Louis Stevenson, i.e. his literary style is simple, devoid of in-depth character analysis, at times discontinuous. But it's like sitting in a cinema (wasn't he also a movie director?), you follow the images and have fun: Chrichton is good at that. And the book has pictures, too!
Rating:
Summary: French reader very enthousiastic
Review: Congratulations for an american novelist even so wellknown as Michael Crichton to try doing new in the style of making techno-thriller. Modernity and history of medieval France are very interesting for a french reader, who have red all the books of Crichton, but also books of Clancy, Ludlum, Cussler, Forsyth and so on... The trip to the past and specially during the "Guerre de cent ans" one hundred war, that Barbara Tuchmann considered as the calamitous 14th century, is very couragesous for an american writer. The american readers are not specially competent in medieval history of Europe! The site of Dordogne that I know very well, is also original, and I consider that Crichton in doing this effort to work on that topic, and in France at this period, confirms his quality of very great nevelist, and not specially in thriller. In this book, the details and the relation of some points of the war against the english are correct. The site is correctly describded, and if this book is transformed into movie, I hope Crichton will come in Dordogne to take some images.
Rating:
Summary: combination of past and future
Review: this book is the brilliant combination of the life of 16th centuary and the 21st centuary.the book display perfect mixture of scince fiction and a history.one of the best quality of the book is the it got a superb end ,which is rare for Cricton
|
