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Sep 16, 2007

Ruli rated it:

I have to confess, the first time I read this book I thought it was a real manuscript, and that Crichton was just putting it for us in book form...until I got to the epilogue. That was when I understand that Crichton is an amazing story teller.

Digging around, I found out that Crichton did the book out of a bet that he could not make Beowulf interesting. And what a book he came out with!

The book tells the story of an Arab ambassador Ibn Fadlan, as he traveled from Baghdad More...

7 comments like (8 people liked it)

Dec 10, 2008

Terence rated it:

Eaters of the Dead: 2.5 stars

I've only ever actually seen Crichton's work - The Andromeda Strain (the original, not the remake), Jurassic Park, The Great Train Robbery and The 13th Warrior (based on Eaters) - and, technically, I still haven't read him. Based on this novel, I'll still not be reading him any time soon.

Don't get me wrong: It's by no means a bad book. The medievalist in me thinks the conceit of reading an actual, scholarly translation of the travels of Ibn Fa More...

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

May 24, 2011

Valerie rated it:

Genre: Mythology

A very unique way to write a story, Crichton uses a mix of actual historical documentation and personalised fiction to blend two classic stories together into his own work of hitorical fantasy.

This book overlaps the stories of Beowulf and the documented adventures of historical writer Ahmed ibn Fadlan and merges them into an original story written in the style of Ibn Fadlan's travelogue. What I think is great about this book is that Crichton ties the hist More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Nov 28, 2011

Ed rated it:

A very unique way to write a story, Crichton uses a mix of actual historical documentation and personalised fiction to blend two classic stories together into his own work of hitorical fantasy.

This book overlaps the stories of Beowulf and the documented adventures of historical writer Ahmed ibn Fadlan and merges them into an original story written in the style of Ibn Fadlan's travelogue.

The first three chapters are a slow start, taking directly from translations of the or More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 04, 2008

Sheila rated it:

So I was watching E.R. on NBC, when in the begining a former original cast member came on (Dr. Benton) and expressed condolences for the late Michael Chriton. What? He's dead? I just sat there and cried. This man takes science and makes it accessible and plausable. If you were to take any of his plots, lets say Jurasic Park, and just look at it; you would at first think "Dino's coming back to earth. Yes, it is absurd in a science fiction kind of way." But as you read on you thin More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Feb 08, 2012

Donovan rated it:

I found this should be read before watching the movie 'The 13th Warrior' as the movie (I believe) spoilt the intent of Crichton's work and distracted from many of the Beowolf references. The novel also references the Necronomicon (H.P Lovecraft) which I thought was cool. It is a quick read and reminds me of earlier works from Wells, Poe and Lovecraft that utilise the narrative tool. Again Crichton's use of hard-science leads to a strong feeling of plausibility.

Plot ***Spoilers*** More...

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Nov 13, 2011

gilmae rated it:

If Crichton was known as a fantasy novelist, he might not have been permitted to publish this. I couldn't say for sure if, in 1976, all or most fantasy novels had a discernible gravitational field. Sword of Shannara came out the following year and had 726 pages. Moorcock, on the other hand, was still producing short novels of about the same length as Eaters of the Dead. And Eaters of the Dead is certainly a fantasy novel. But I suspect if anyone other than Crichton had written this, apparently o More...

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Jan 10, 2011

Titus rated it:

Michael Crichton novels are like delicious delicacies that one must ration lest he or she eat the whole batch and have none left. Since his passing, I have rationed his novels even more carefully. "Eaters Of The Dead" sat on my shelf begging to be read for years. When I watched the film, "The 13th Warrior," and realized it was based on this novel, the element of surprise was gone and I knew it was time to blow the dust off the red top stain of the first edition and eat my fil More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 18, 2010

Laura-Lee rated it:

This is actually a re-working of the the Beowulf story (which is one of the oldest written stories discovered). Deals with 12 Norse warriors who go off to fight an evil, cannibal enemy who is picking off their "kin" in a more northern settlement. They decide to go and help run off the bad guys. While they are deciding this they are visited by an Arab who has been basically kicked out of his country for messing around with the wife of someone very powerful. the Arab considers himself ve More...

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Jul 09, 2009

Sarai rated it:

from Amazon: By Stuart W. Mirsky "swm"
...this book is in fact based on a real manuscript by the Arab traveller ibn Fadlan in the tenth century who made his way from the Caliphate to the shores of the Volga to treat with the Bulgar kingdom which was then ensconced there (apparently to entice the Bulgars away from their Khazar overlords who were then enemies of the Arab empire). This ambassador of the Caliph faithfully recorded much of what he saw among the barbarians, including en More...

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Aug 24, 2010

Avel rated it:

What I think is great about this book is that Crichton ties the history so well together with the story that he wrote, which is why so many people discuss "is this a true story, or fiction".? It is neither, it is both, it is a mix. But the incredible thing is that he achieves exactly what he was hoping to attain, which is that he got us all to read a readaption of Beowulf, and now all of us, whether we liked to book or not, know a lot more about the Viking and the ancient Arab cultures More...

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Jun 12, 2009

Kelly rated it:

This is the second time, I've had the pleasure of picking up this book, though the first time I've had the time to read it all the way through. Watch me turn into a fangirling puddle of goo.

"Geoffrey Bibby says, 'The history of northern and eastern Europe is viewed from the West and South, with all the preconception of men who considered themselves civilized looking upon men whom they considered barbarians" (pg. 8).

Oh! pg. 70, I love you. *heart* Herger (*kiss More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 31, 2009

Haifaa rated it:

This unknown book is one of the late Michael Crichton finest. One wonders what if modern humans ever interacted with the Neanderthals? From Wikipedia:

The novel is set in the 10th century. The Caliph of Baghdad (Arabic: المقتدر بالله) sends his ambassador, Ahmad ibn Fadlan (Arabic احمد بن فضلان), to the king of the Volga Bulgars. He never arrives but is instead captured by a group of Vikings. This group is sent on a hero's quest to the north. Ahmad ibn Fadlan is taken along, as the th More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

May 25, 2011

April rated it:

As usual Crichton characters are one dimensional but his story intoxicates the imagination. Eaters of the dead is a fascinating retelling of Beowulf through the eyes of an educated, refined man among barbarians. Crichton always had a gift for creating plausible science to support his stories and it was never more artfully done than in this book, where it would be anachronistic to have a PhD explain neanderthals, instead Crichton skillfully eludes to this explanation of the Beowulf myth.
Desp More...

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Jun 16, 2009

Jeff rated it:

This was a very unique book. Written to prove the Beowulf story could be made interesting and poking fun at academia it is an exciting, funny, interesting, sometimes boring contradiction. I definitely think it shows Crichton's amazing skill as an author. The story is told through the somewhat historical writings of Ibn Fadlan from Bagdad and takes place during the 8th Century A.D. The author used some facts from history and the Beowulf story to construct the text. The edition I read had an More...

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Jan 12, 2012

Lily rated it:

First off, the only reason I read this is because I love the movie The 13th Warrior. Despite being somewhat of a fiasco and different from the novel itself, I've been watching the movie since I was a kid, and it's become sort of a cult classic in my household.

I've never read anything else by Michael Crichton because I have never really found his novels to my taste. This one was similar to that feeling. I understand that it's historical fiction, that it's based off of the real ibn-Fa More...

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Sep 08, 2011

Dan rated it:

Reading Ibn Fadlan's account of his adventures with the Northmen in A.D. 922 was a quick, exciting, and highly enjoyable read. Michael Crichton's edited version of Fadlan's manuscript captured my interest from the beginning and pulled me along through its gripping narrative to its abrupt, yet purposeful, end. The occasional sidenote explaining Crichton's edits, other historians opinions of the original manuscript, as well as insights into the culture and background of both the Arab and Viking na More...

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Jul 20, 2009

Michael rated it:

About 20 pages into this book, I planned to stop reading it. The style was very dry, written from a historian/documentary viewpoint. About 50 pages in I realized "wait a minute; this is the same as the 13th Warrior." Man, I hated that movie.

What I also remember about the movie is that it's a top 10 for one of my best friends who just loved the psychology of warfare and the mystery of the unknown as it was back in 1100 AD.

As I decided whether to continue readi More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 19, 2011

Maria rated it:

Spoiler alert: Crichton really had me going with this story. Although it is a bit fanciful of a story, I started to believe that this might be a completely real account of an arab in viking territory during medieval times. Then I thought that Chrichton would not be able to put his name on this work if it was entirely that of another person. So, I started doubting the validity of the whole thing. Come to find out, this novel was based on the first 3 chapters of an ancient account written by More...

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Jun 30, 2008

Hotspur rated it:

Crichton's take on BEOWULF is without a doubt, my favorite novel of that author and of course, the best thing he has ever done. C. outdoes himself in the characterization of Ibn Falid, as well as larding the book with tons of historical detail. I loved it.

6 comments like (2 people liked it)

May 16, 2010

Xenodice rated it:

Frankly, I liked the movie better than the book. Of course, this likely has something to do with the fact that I saw the movie first, as part of my Medieval Studies course, when the subject matter was still fresh and new. But I would also have to add that while the serious, documentary-like writing style does much for believability and charm,it doesn't do much for character development or involving the reader in the story at all, a gap which the auditory and visual aspects of the film fill in ni More...

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Apr 29, 2010

Andrew rated it:

What became the okay adaptation with Banderas, The 13th Warrior, the story of a man who has to blend in with a pack of Vikings when he himself was a fish out of water having to learn the strange barbaric customs of his cohorts as well as attempt to survive the onslaught of even more barbaric cave people was a book I had heard that Crichton wrote on a dare. Its the typical swords and blood fare that you'd see on that squeaky rack at the grocery store loaded with other undesirable paperbacks, but More...

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Nov 21, 2010

Kevin rated it:

Apparently, this book is a translation of an Arabic courtier's (Ibn Fadlan) journal from the year 922 A.D. It documents some of his travels through Turkey, but the main focus of this translation is his contact with the Vikings.

I was very interested by Fadlan's description of life among the vikings, and even more so by his experiences after he is "kidnapped" and forced to fight an unknown menace in the Viking's home country.

Is this just anot More...

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May 19, 2010

Jona rated it:

This story is written as though it were a manuscript by Ibn Fadlan, an Arab sent by his Caliph as an ambassador to the Bulgars in 921 A.D. He ends up unwittingly recruited as one of 13 warriors headed to help the vikings of the far north. What they find there, however, is far worse that what he had set out for.

I was fascinated by his account of the life of a viking. Namely their crudeness, uncleanliness, and their bizaar outlook on death. I was also impressed by their devotion an More...

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Jun 24, 2009

Jeannette rated it:

This was an interesting book to read. Based on the writings of an Arab traveler's adventure into the Northlands, the book rode the line of fact and legend. Most people will easily see there similarities with Beowulf and that is the most fascinating part. With so many of us reading Beowulf as students and believing it to be fictional poetry, it's fascinating to read this first-hand account that may prove to be the inspiration for the poem. At first I was worried that the writing would be anti More...

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May 16, 2009

Desirée rated it:

OMFGoodness. I found a Michael Crichton book that I like! Amazing, isn't it?

I've read a few of Crichton's works in the past and always felt they were lacking somewhat. Not so with this one.

I'll admit though, I saw the movie first. After hearing about how the movie was a complete travesty compared to the book, I figured I would pass my own judgment. True, the book was better than the movie, but the movie did keep to a lot of parts that were in the book.

Norma More...

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May 15, 2008

Corprew rated it:

This is the only book of Crichton's that I'd recommend reading, and I recommend it heartily. In some ways a modernist retelling of beowulf.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 08, 2009

Chris rated it:

This book is another take on the Beowulf story. I was annoyed the book claimed to be a translation from the 'Ibn Fadlan Manuscript.' I like the idea of learning about cultures 1000 years ago, but it was frustrating not knowing what was actual fact or at least in the manuscript versus what was made up. In the afterword Crichton admits that he only altered the first three chapters briefly but the rest was made up.

Overall I would say it's not up to par with other Crichton novels, but More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 09, 2012

Adriene rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Sep 15, 2010

Laura the Highland Hussy rated it:

I read this back in the day, and I remember loving it.
I just saw the 13th Warrior (you know, the one with Antonio Banderas?) and it reminded me of this book.
After I read it, I think I'd have given it a 5 star review, but looking at my tastes now, and realizing that Michael Crichton is an amazing writer, he's also not my style anymore. If he ever was. I enjoyed the history presented in the story, and I loved being able to envision all the characters thanks to the movie, but I'm only gi More...

3 comments like (3 people liked it)

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