Brilliant. Just a fantastic read. I love how Crichton captures the exact tone of Ibn Fadlan's voice so that the war with the Wendol sounds just as though you are still reading Fadlan's travel journels. Such humour too, conveyed in such a dry tone. A gem. ( )

I loved the 13th Warrior. I love the book its loosely based off just as much. Eaters of the Dead is written like a genuine historical account, and Crichton pulls it off. You feel like you are reading a memoir of a man's horrific experience. With amazing skill, Crichton shows how culture shock is just as terrifying and disgusting as the wicked titular monsters. ( )

Good novel. The end left me wanting for more, though. ( )

Good novel. The end left me wanting for more, though. ( )

Not a bad read. a bit more interesting than the movie (The 13th Warrior). ( )

I loved this book and tore right through with excitement only to find out in the 'Factual Notes' at the end that the whole story (footnotes and all) was 80% fiction. Although, I understand where Crichton was going with it and can understand how it would have been a great story from which Beowulf could loosely have been based on....the unsettling fact is it wasn't! In reading this novel, I truly marvelled at the concept of Neanderthals left still on this planet in 921 AD. Alas...I was left with my imagination running rampant regarding the significance of this 'historic document' and wanting to learn more---only to find out in the end that I was duped! I love Theory/Fiction novels and loved this novel up until the last page when these words pierced my eyes, '...the novel, including its introduction, text, footnotes, and bibliography, should properly be viewed as fiction'. If properly depicted as fiction from the outset...It would still make a great movie. ;0) ( )

For anyone who didn't know, this book formed the basis for the movie The Thirteenth Warrior. I rather liked the movie, and the book is, in my opinion, better than the movie. The story is essentially is retelling of the story of Beowulf, altered slightly so that the mythical and fantastical events in the Old English poem have somewhat plausible explanations.

The book is told from the perspective of an Arabic diplomat traveling through lands of the Rus who gets caught up in the tale. The book is told as a "discovered" history supposedly written by the wandering Arab. Having an outsider narrate the tale as a history of events allows Crichton to explain the oddities of the Rus culture and the various "barbarian" behaviors without being heavy handed about it.

While this may not be as well known as Crichton's other books, I think this is one of his best. Cribbing from Beowulf probably helps any author, but this version is very well done, and told from an interesting perspective. ( )

This was such a fun book to read. It covers so many classical adventure archetypes and the best thing is, its partially based on an historical document, which lends the book a bit of plausiblity that makes the story even more intriguing. Another great element of the narrative is that its told from an outsider point of view so you get the language barrier and its like your discovering this Viking culture and this mysterious threat from a fresh perspective. I have beef with some of Michael Chrichton's personal believes (global warming, ect..) but I have to admit, he's a great story teller. ( )

Eaters of the Dead, written in 1976 by Michael Crichton, is based upon ambassador Ibn Fadlan's account of his journeys among the early Rus people, Northmen as they are called in the book, and the story of Beowulf. The main conflict is between Vikings and a small Neanderthal population.

In the beginning the books is pretty rough: the Northmen are not a clean people, they have customs which in the beginning make the clean Arab Ibn Fadlan cringe, the description of the "daemon"'s massacres are very graphic. This may make some readers give up on the book. As Crichton said in his own words: "I wrote Eaters on a bet that I could make an entertaining story out of 'Beowulf'. It's an unusual book. Readers either like it, or they don't,".

However, the adventures and battles are captured very well. Crichton's main accomplishment in my view is the ability to present the story in an old sort of language that is in fact very readable. Also, I admired his research work, the footnotes prove he did quite a lot of it.

I enjoyed the book and if you want to find out a little bit about our ancestors, especially Vikings, I recommend it. ( )

This was MY kind of adventure book. ( )

Silly me, I skipped over the introduction part where he said it was all fiction, and didn't realize it was so until I got to the 'Factual Note.' Had to re-evaluate my impressions entirely, but that was all for the better, because what had bothered me as inaccurate or implausible was suddenly fantasy! I particularly remember laughing over his note that he spent several hours looking up a footnote, only to reluctantly conclude that it was one of the fictional ones! I think if I were to create a work of fiction in the format of a scholarly paper that I would keep better notes ... ( )

The only thing more confused than this novel was the horrific film version ( )

Crichton supposedly wrote this because someone complained Beowulf was boring and he wanted to prove otherwise. I find that inexplicable. THIS is boring. BEOWULF is exciting. ( )

The only book I've ever read that wasn't as good as the movie. ( )

Hmmm...I love reading Michael Crichton. This one is interesting, although I keep hoping for something to rival the literary greatness of Jurassic Park. ( )

This is a lot of fun, having an outsider muslim character espouse Crichton's take on the culture surrounding the Grendel tales. A little disappointing in that he interprets the dragon-fighting passage in a mundane way. Still, I'm a sucker for fun, alternative archeological theories. Neanderthals and vikings? Sure, why not. ( )

Enjoyability - This book was a quick read. The intro is a bit heavy, but the pages flip easily and you are into the meat of the story. One or two chapters set up the story, which rages on to a fantastic conclusion. The book is art. If you took World Lit in 11th grade like me, you'll find this oddly familiar, and yet new. I enjoyed it... I'd have liked a bit more 'Lord of the Rings' in the climax, but... Crichton does a good job.
Literary skill - Once again, Crichton demonstrates his skill. Painstaking research, copious and heady footnotes. The footnotes are thick, but the reading is easy. The narrator goes through a gamut of emotions, and provides an intensity to the story that forces you to imagine the scenes unfolding before your eyes.
Worldview - Islamic Devotee Appreciates and Absorbs Some Viking Culture.
Originality - If you hated Beowulf, you'll love this book. If you loved Beowulf... you might still like it.
Offensive Content - They're Vikings! The terror of the seas. There is some pillaging and mistreatment of the women, but it isn't a graphic romance novel. I'd had preferred a bit more of a sanitized world, but this is tame in comparison to other books I've had to close.

Price - $3.50 Montclair Used Book Center. Look it up ( )

Lame rip-off. ( )

As with all of Michael Crichton's books, this one was easy to read and didn't take me long once I got into it. It's also full of gore, sex, and sensationalism, all easy to digest during lazy summer reading. Again, I must emphasize that I don't like violence, but in small doses and in such contexts it's acceptable, even fascinating...rather like all violence, your intent isn't to look it in the eye, but at the same time you can't pull yourself away. And, while sex is always fun, here it's from the barbaric male point of view, an underlying sign of Crichton's own sexism (very apparent if you read his non-fiction Travels). Not that I don't still enjoy his works. Not to spoil anything, but EotD is basically the story of Beowulf with the names slightly changed and from an Arabic viewpoint. It turns out more or less the same as well, the fight with Grendel (creatures named wendol, collectively), the ripping off of the arm, the plunge into water to fight the mother of the wendol, and the death of Beowulf. The fictional scholars in the end debate whether or not the wendol were in fact surviving Neanderthals, which was interesting. Sometimes it's hard to distinguish fact from fiction in his books, they're so infused with scientific (or scientific-sounding) tidbits, but I think at least his descriptions of Viking customs were correct (I'm aligning this with the little I know about Vikings here...all I know is that I associate them with horned hats and big women singing opera). ( )

I don't remember much about this book, but I seem to think I wasn't particularly impressed. Not one of Crichton's best. ( )

This ranks # 9 of 17 in my list of favorite Michael Crichton books that I own.

Cool historical links, I love parables and stories, good main character. ( )

I enjoyed this book - Michael Crichton always tells a different story, and this is no exception. While there can be a formulaic nature to his plots, that doesn't even apply in this case. The book is presented as the translation of the true manuscript of Ibn (not to be confused with ISBN) Fadlan, an emissary from the Middle East, to a leader in the North Country in A.D. 922. He writes of his journey and his impressions of the heathen Northmen with whom he travels, and further of his adventures when he is forced to accompany a band of Northmen warriors to a far northern location and do battle with the Wendol - the Mist Monsters. A little research on Wikipedia discloses that, in fact, there was an Ibn Fadlan, who wrote of such travels - to an extent. The latter adventures are Crichton's attempt to create a readable, believeable foundation for the Beowulf legend after a debate with someone about the merits of Beowulf as a work of literature (the argument being that, despite its inarguable place in literary history, it's actually not terribly involving). I'd say he succeeds. ( )

Gripping stuff, if you enjoy this kind of thing. Mixture of fiction and authentic facts. Crichton's version of Beowulf; even though there's no science in this one, this is typical Crichton. ( )

sort of gilgamesh and the neaderthals... ( )