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Title: Dumbed-Down and Disappointing...Wait for the movie
Review: If we're to believe the bibliography, Timeline is one of the most extensively researched pieces of recent fiction. Unfortunately, the resulting product is disappointing...mediocre science fiction meets dumbed-down history. The characters are shallow clones of earlier Crichton protagonists, and the plot needs work...the last third of the book devolves into chasing-running-hiding-chasing-running-hiding-ad infinitum.For better science fiction, read anything by Azimov. For a more vivid image of the Middle Ages, read The name of the Rose, by Umberto Eco. As Eco has said, publishers underestimate the intelligence of readers. Maybe overzealous editing caused this book to be such a shallow example of the kind of work that Crichton is obviously capable of doing.
