Eaters of the Dead : With an introduction and running commentary read by Michael Crichton

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic story!!
Review: Excellent piece of historical fiction! A quick read. I am disappointed by other reviewers who say they didn't like it when they found out that it really was fiction. I never for one second believed it to be true; but enjoyed it very much for what it was! Crichton weaves fact and fiction into a rather plausible story. This story keeps you guessing as to whether the "monsters of the mists" are supernatural, or human beings. Even at the end, you won't be sure! For Crichton fans, and anyone who loves to read about Vikings, this a must read!

Rating:
Summary: No, this book is based off actual manuscripts
Review: It is!!! I saw Ibn Fadlan in a great explorers book!This book is great, I read it while at a resort in Minnesota, at night, and on the plane flight too. It is absolutely one of the top 3 books I've read! Those would be EotD, Congo, and Salem's Lot

Rating:
Summary: Kept me guessing
Review: Crichton did an excellent job on this book. The introduction completely confused me but once I started onto the beginning it was great. This was one of the very few books I can actually read. Kept me interested & wondering what Ibn & the other warriors were going to do next. I only recently found out this wasn't a true story. It's great to actually think it's real while reading it. I was actually disappointed to find out it wasn't true. This was a great job of Michael Crichton.

Rating:
Summary: It couldn't be any better than this.
Review: Most of the time you will glue to your seat to finish off this book, it is so good.Author had shown amazing grip on the story line.It never gets dull.You keep thinking whether it is a translation or fiction.I bet you will run out of your Adrenaline as you reach to its climax.I must appreciate the way author builds up the whole plot dating back to AD 922.No book has challenged my intelligence as this one in years.You have to read it to believe me.Warning for people with weaker hearts -consult your physician before starting this adventure.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent! First hand accounts are always best!
Review: What I found so interesting about this account, is what it reveals about what we don't know, as well as what we do know about the vikings and their times. While Crichton's transcription is at times slow paced, it is important to remember who and what his source was; an Arab intelligence agent reporting everything he saw and experienced for his leadership in Baghdad. The most significant and unusual part of the account itself regards the 'monsters of the mist' and who (or what) they may have been. No good explanations come to mind, with one possible exception. Neanderthals! The idea that there may have been some survivals in isolated areas has recently resurfaced in such places as Mongolia and China.....perhaps the Fadlan account indicates some others!

Rating:
Summary: I can dig it to the utmost!
Review: I truly loved this book. What many readers didn't like about it is exactly what I liked. That it really seemed like just a translation from an old text. Crichton keeps you guessing if the original text really existed, or if he completely made up the whole thing. Similar to Jurassic Park and Andromeda Strain where some of the books in the bibliography are written by characters in the story. And of course the story itself was wonderful. I like the way he really researches his subjects so the reader gets a feel for the society back then. Truly one of Crichton's best.

Rating:
Summary: Fictional prose re-telling of epic poem Beowulf
Review: The author here has accomplished a convincing fraud for the unwary reader. Eaters of the Dead purports to be "The Manuscript of Ibn Fadlan, Relating His Experiences with the Northmen in A.D. 922". And so the introduction, bracketed inserts, footnotes, appendix, and bibliography would have you believe this book was compiled from other fragmentary manuscripts that the author had pieced together into a seamless whole. Wrong! In reality it is a fictional novel, based on the epic poem Beowulf, the origin of which he explains only at the very end. If it were a novel it could probably have been done better. Still it was thoroughly convincing for what it professed to be and learning it was fictional only created the greatest disappointment I've ever felt after reading a book, making me want to throw it into the nearest waste basket. Even so, it does contain plenty of accurate details about the Viking way of life as any historically based novel should attempt to do, but I'm sure much of its fascination will be lost if you know beforehand that it is mostly of the author's imagination. The story concerns a kingdom that is being assailed by an attacking hoard. Buliwyf and his warriors attempt to fend off the mist monsters who are the eaters of the dead. By the way there was a real Arab named Ibn Fadlan who did spend time amidst the Vikings and the first three chapters of this novel borrow heavily from his actual manuscript.

Rating:
Summary: One of Crichtons Best
Review: At first it was a slow read,but got more and more exciting by the minuet, with fantasitic imagry and overtones of the classec BEOWULF, this book tops my short best books list

Rating:
Summary: Rather Disapointing
Review: After reading many of Mr. Crichton's works, I found that this book was truely disapointing. I had trouble reading it, and had to look up practically every other word in the dictionary. After the first thirty pages, I felt like putting it down, but resisted. Now, I kind of wish that I had. It got a little bit easier to read, and the plot developed more after about 45 pages, but that was not even close to being enough to make it one of my favorites. I do realize, however, that there may be many readers out there who enjoy reading a novel with Shakespereian style writing (is that even a word?) and I do recomend it for them. It just was not really "My cup of Tea" as they say.

Rating:
Summary: not good
Review: Michael Crichton is writing so bad in this book, he just translates all the manuscript of Ibn Fadlan, an Arab courtier, his daily summary, not so interesting, I would suggest other books. (Jurassic Park, Congo), much better than this. Also, don't expect much from this book, no, don't expect anything other than a boring summary of an embassador. The only cool part is that it has a brief description of the customs and lifestyles of the Vikings in the barbaric North...