Rating: 
Summary: Listen to Michael Crichton!
Review: Eaters of the Dead - read by Victor Garber -
With an introduction and running commentary read by Michael Crichton
Crichton's classic adventure novel - new on audio - is soon to be an explosive major motion picture starring Antonio Banderas!
Rating: 
Summary: If writing good novels was a crime. MC would be on death row
Review: Eaters of the Dead gives new meaning for that song Triller. If you haven't read it, your missing out on a all new world of dreams, or should I say nightmares.
Rating:
Summary: Misunderstandably Fiction
Review: I really think people are really failing to miss the point of the book - it's really not fiction. All MC really did was gather the translated texts and arange it in a novel-like fashion (if you read the foreword you would have realized this). The book, quite simply, was awesome. A bit dull in the begining yes, hard to understand at times (I found the Oxford Dictionary quite usefull in looking up terms like "pedastry"), and not for those with a weak stomach as well. I only found two possible flaws in Ibn Fanlan's descriptions (the forked tonques of the "Sea Monsters" which I beleive to be whales) and the general hairiness of the "Eaters Of The Dead". And the ending .. well, it never really ended (thats all I'll say if you haven't read it).
Rating:
Summary: Eaters of the Dead great for History classes
Review: This book is not typical Crichton. However, it displays features that are wonderful, in showing his versatility. The book needs to be read carefully, and by someone not expecting JURASSIC PARK.
Rating:
Summary: That was Fiction?
Review: Crichton does a great job with this book, telling a simi-fictional story using real people and legends from history. The fact that you aren't always sure what is real history and what is Crichton's story telling leaves you in a 'wow' state of mind. And the conclusion of the book is great, but it leaves you asking for more.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Book For History Assignments
Review: I wouldn't read this book for fun, but I would encourage reading it for any school assignment, as I did. Crichton has written better (Rising Sun, Lost World, etc.)
Rating: 
Summary: Beowulf Parallels
Review: I really enjoyed reading Eaters of the Dead, although I cannot belive how close it is to the Beowulf story. As mentioned above, there are incredible parallels. One not mentioned above is that both Buliwyf and Beowulf's fathers are named Higlac, if I'm not mistaken. And both, I believe, are set in or near Denmark. ("There's something rotten in Denmark", to misquote Shakespeare.) What is the story here? Is this ancient manuscript of Ibn Fadlan real, or is Crichton, (an author whom I greatly admire, BTW,) ripping off the old Beowulf legend, whether consciously or subconsciously? To carry the parallel even further, the hairy, man-like monsters Crichton/Fadlan describes are very similar to how John Gardner described Grendel in the book of the same name (Grendel.) I'm curious and intrigued. Any thoughts? snowfur@earthling.net
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!!
Review: This was an excellent novel, with cool characters, a great setting, a cool monster, and incredibly well written. One problem. Were the brain-eating heavy-browed things (Neanderthals) actually part of the old text itself, or did Crichton make it up.
Rating:
Summary: Does Crichton take Eaters of the Dead from Beowulf?
Review: Eaters of the Dead, by Michael Crichton, is quite and excellent novel. I found it funny, however, that there were so many similarities between it and the classic old-English tale Beowulf. Here is a list of just a few of the names which were similar. Explanation, then Eaters, then Beowulf.
Old king - Rothgar - Hrothgar
Hero - Buliwyf - Beowulf
Hero's sword - Runding - Hrunting
Enemy - wendol - Grendel
Mead hall - Hurot - Haerot I also noticed that in the hero's first confrontation with the enemy, he lops off one of its arms and displays it as a trophy, just as in Beowulf. The similarities go on and on. Would anyone like to tell me these are coincidences? If Crichton was not familiar with the Beowulf story when he wrote Eaters of the Dead, then this bard's tale must have been recorded somewhere besides in Beowulf, the oldest known English manuscript. Perhaps it is a legend that runs throughout several cultures. Proper names can, albeit slightly altered, translate from one language to another. Now that the movie is coming out (no doubt destined to be another smash hit) Mr. Crichton, please tell us the truth. Was some ancient Arabic text your inspiration? Or was it just that ancient English poem you read back in college?
Rating:
Summary: It is one of the best fiction novels by Michael Crichton.
Review: My book starts in Europe in the country of Turkey. Ibn Fadlan is a nobel who is traveling with 6 warriors to a kindom in another country. On the way they are stopped at a Northmen encampment. They are forced to stay for the funeral of their beloved leader. After that is over one of the six warriors is forced to travel with them to a country on the far eastern side of the Mediteranian Sea. They get there & try to come up with a plan to kill the monster of the mist. I think it could have been writen a little better, but under the conditions of it I think it was writen pretty well. It is a very interesting book. It takes you back to the year of 922 A.D. It has not the best, but pretty good grammer. I also like it because it has a lot of action in it.
| 
