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Title: Eaters of the Dead by MICHAEL CRICHTON ISBN: 0-345-35461-3 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 12 September, 1988 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.07 (254 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Eaters makes you full
Comment: The Eaters of the Dead is based partly on fact and largely on imagination. Michael Crichton wrote this story on a dare. His task, rewriting Beowulf so it would be more readable for the masses. The story was then made into a movie, The 13th Warrior, which starred Antonio Banderas.
The story starts with Ahmed Ibn Fadlan, a member of the royal court in Baghdad, being sent, as a punishment for involvement with a rich man's wife, to the land of the Ogurs. At the request of their ruler, for instruction in Islam. Ibn, as he is called in the book, encounters various people along the way telling us of their lifestyles and some of their "filthy" habits. He eventually meets "Northmen" or Vikings on the banks of the Volga River. (This is reportedly one of the earliest records we have of their lifestyle.) His only way to communicate with them is by speaking Latin with Herger, one of the Vikings and waiting for translation when Herger is in the mood.
Ibn's party arrives just in time to see the funeral of the Viking leader and the naming of a new King, Buliwyf. A messenger arrives from the north seeking help for his village and Ibn is sent on a journey with Buliwyf and eleven other warriors to conquer an evil so horrible it cannot be named. Once the warriors arrive in the village of Rothgar they endure all sorts of challenges from dealing with the conniving Prince to conquering the Eater's of the Dead.
Ahmed Ibn Fadlan kept an actual record of his journey and parts of it have been translated to English. Crichton got his main story idea from this journal. Interestingly, there are lots of footnotes in the book citing a reference or resource, which are sometimes factual and sometimes part of Crichton's imagination. (There is an afterward to the book that clears up some of those references.)
I have never read Beowulf but I have read this book 3 times. It's an easy read but it is hard to keep from confusing the fiction from the fact.
Rating: 4
Summary: Crichton's best since Great Train Robbery
Comment: "Eaters of the Dead". The title turns off people very quickly. I have read and reread this paperback many times. I almost hate carrying it around with me because people who peek at the cover usually comment on how disgusting the book must be. When they see Crichton's name they can't believe he wrote such a thing. Usually if I can take the time to explain the Beowulf connection they soften. Most people have never read Beowulf (I have) but know enough about the poem to recognize the similarities in "Eaters". I am sure Crichton is as familiar with the "Beowulf" poem as he is with Ibn Fadlan's manuscript of his time with the Vikings. I love the way he retells the classic story. His non-fiction approach makes the reader wish the story were more than an embellishment of the 1000 year old tale. I found myself looking for Ibn Fadlan's manuscript to try to read more about this facinating story. I highly recommend "Eaters of the Dead". If you love or even just interested in the "Beowulf" legend this book is excellent! Michael Crichton is a genius! Period history is his forte.
Rating: 5
Summary: Entertaining viking adventure story
Comment: Loosely based on writings found that were by an Arab scholar about his interactions with a band of Viking warriors during the time period when the Norsemen were at their raping and pillaging best that morphs into a story with a lot of similarities to Beowulf.
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Title: The Great Train Robbery by Michael Crichton ISBN: 0060502304 Publisher: Avon Pub. Date: 05 November, 2002 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Timeline by MICHAEL CRICHTON ISBN: 0345417623 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 24 October, 2000 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Sphere by MICHAEL CRICHTON ISBN: 0345353145 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 12 July, 1988 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: The Terminal Man by Michael Crichton ISBN: 0060092572 Publisher: Avon Pub. Date: 05 November, 2002 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Airframe by Michael Crichton ISBN: 0345402871 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 28 September, 1997 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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