Rating: 
Summary: Suspense keeps the mind inside the book
Review: Imagine stepping out of a time machine into the year 1357. You're in France during a civil war. You have only thirty-seven hours to remain, if you don't make it back to your time machine by then you will be stuck in history forever. Everyone is out to cut you to pieces and your future is in your own hands. Outwitting your opponents is the key to your survival, but don't be late for you travel home. Michael Crichton uses suspense to hook the reader into Timeline. The plot contains many dramatic sequences with action packed drama at the turn of every page. The author uses a period of history to create background information on his novel. His characters have so much depth to them; they seem to jump off the page into real life in from of your eyes. Michael's characters face real problems in their adventures so it forces them to become almost lifelike in the reader's mind. Going from modern day to the 14th century, Michael utilizes detail to create depth in characters; the clothes they wore, their language and speech and how they goverend themselves. Using images that paint pictures in reader's minds, he creates a relationship between the reader and the novel
Rating: 
Summary: Narrow Escape Literature
Review: The Hardy Boys team with Nancy Drew and battle Midaevil men with halitosis. The first part of the book is modestly entertaining, explaining the physics of time travel. The second is full of nothing so much as Hollywood cliche. Crichton doesn't really write the second half--he experiments with narrow escapes (we're SO surprised---Frank and Joe emerge aLIVE!) to see which one Spielberg might favor in the inevitable movie. The villains and good guys are so predictably drawn that you almost hear the Bernard Hermann music strike up when one of them menacingly scratches his chin. It's just all too silly and it's all been done before--just ask Franklin W. Dixon. Wait for the movie, then wait for the video.
Rating: 
Summary: Not spectacular fare from a write who can do better
Review: If you liked Jurassic Park and Sphere, that is no guarantee you will like Timeline. The scientific jargon ends early on, and a good 3/4 of the book is simply the main characters running around 14th century France, luckily jumping from one adventure to the next. A bit contrived, if you ask me. The dialogue is not convincing, and neither are the characters or plot. The setting, however, is excellent.
Rating: 
Summary: Entertainment
Review: Entertainment. That's what I read books for. I'm not looking to learn indepth scientific theory or discuss the literary merits of the novel as though it were a literary classic akin to that of Victor Hugo, Thomas Hardy or Jane Austen. That's what college was for. If these are the things you are looking for in this book, then you are probably going to be disappointed. If you are looking for an entertaining read, then you probably won't.
Rating:
Summary: Ho hum. la dee da. Away with the hackneyed scribe.
Review: All right, here it is folks. This book is O.K. It's completely predictable. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy great adventure. It could be the simplest story and pulpous as all hell, but I'd still champion it if it was written well and with some real heart, not with the movie in mind. So, I touch on the problem with all of Crichton's books; he has the script in mind while writing. Great, go for it. But don't put it on a bookshelf, leave it on your agent's desk. If you want entertaining time travel see Connie Willis(To Say Nothing of the Dog) and her homage to Jerome K. Jerome(I didn't know who he was either). P.S. From viewing the "Also Bought" list. You people need to get off the bestseller list, it's all fodder. Check out who Crichton reads, and respects, and I'm sure you will run into Phillip K. Dick and Harlan Ellison(two far superior writers). They are more than likely in the genre(if there is such a thing) you like. Hell, Dick's stories were the basis for Blade Runner, Total Recall, and Screamers. All of those flicks bury those giant lizards somewhere along the Congo, marked by a giant Sphere.
Rating:
Summary: Longer than needed
Review: I enjoyed the first half of this book, but it got completely bogged down in the second half. Found myself getting bored and racing through pages in hopes that the plot would start to move again.
Rating:
Summary: Time for a movie deal?
Review: I must admit that I am often in awe of Crichton's intensive research and knowledge of the subjects of which he writes. In this story, however, his amazing sense of detail as it pertains to the physics, archeology and history are overshadowed by the lurking sense that this was intended to be a film. Has he gotten so used to his books becoming movies that he is now editing the book for a script while he is writing the novel? I hope not, but I think so. If you are interested in another smart and well researched novel that makes you want to learn more about a subject you never thought you would before, buy this book!
Rating:
Summary: Fun to read!
Review: I LOVED this book! It reminded me so much of the fantasies that I used to read when I was a little girl...it transported me. My usual reading material is police stories or serial killers, so this book was a refreshing change. Maybe it isn't Crichton's best work, but I became very involved with the characters - always a sign that I am enjoying myself!
Rating: 
Summary: Crichton stumbles on this one
Review: The book gives occasional glimpses of Crichton's considerable story-telling skills, but disappoints in the hopelessly one-dimensional characters and the preposterous gimmicks (radio transmitter ear plugs that work or don't work, depending on Crichton's plot requirements) needed to make the plot hang together. Obviously written to meet obligations to a publisher. The only solace will be for aspiring writers, to see that even a pro can make a mess of things.
Rating:
Summary: Timeline
Review: My wife and I, both, enjoyed this book. It's a basic triller and well written as you would expect. I must say the science is a little 'bent'. I liked the science of Jurassic Park - fiction of course, but believable. This one is a bit too much. However, an enjoyable book anyway.
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