John Gardner's Grendel was a brilliant idea. This is a continuation of that brilliant idea. Michael Crichton is a genius. May he live long and write many more good books.

Released on Tuesday, September 02, 2003 at The bookshelf in my classroom in Cincinnati, Ohio USA.

I really liked how Crichton was able to describe the culture of the Vikings from a Muslim point of view. Ibn Fadlon's views on the Viking culture were especially intriguing. I think at the beginning of the book he was plain out disgusted by their ways but by the end of the book he accepted their ways and even followed some of their customs. I liked how Crichton built up the final scene as the creatures looked for revenge from the killing of their mother. I like how Crichton gave Buliwyf an honorable death in battle, like a Viking would prefer. Crichton revealed the Northmen's passion and commitment to their leader by giving him such an honorable funeral with his body in a ship sent out to sea in flames. The battle scenes in the book were great and I liked how Crichton described in detail the ways of the wendol. From this book I learned a great deal about the way of life of the Vikings. In my opinion they lived for fierce bloody battles. The way Crichton described their fights with the wendol gave me the impression that they were very skilled fighters who thirsted for the next kill. They were in touch with nature as described by their trip to the caves. They believed in human sacrifices which I thought was very appalling. Overall, I believe Crichton was able to put together a very entertaining book that showed Viking customs and described vividly, battles that they fought to protect the King Rothgar.

Eaters of the Dead is an action packed adventure that was difficult for me to put down once i began reading it. Michael Crichton is a favorite author of mine, and this is another example of his prowess in combining historical reasearch with thrilling and creative writing. In Eaters of the Dead, Crichton attempts to delve into the roots of the story Beowulf through historical research of Viking culture and plenty of creative assumptions. He tells his version of the Beowulf tale through the manuscript of Ibn-Fadlan, an muslim emmissary from Baghdad. This man did exist and wrote a manuscript describing viking culture, but Crichton added the Beowulf tale to this manuscript through his own imaginative story-telling, although he does not reveal which aspects of the tale are historically accurate and which are invented; rather, he keeps the reader believing that they are simply reading Ibn-Fadlan's manuscript, going even so far as to write foot-notes describing possible discrepencies in the translation of the manuscript. If you enjoyed the Beowulf tale, you will certainly enjoy this thrilling version of the story.

I read Eaters of the Dead by Michael Crichton and I liked the book very much. It was the first book I've ever read by Crichton, and it kind of got me hooked into his works. The beginning of the book was kind of annoying, and very slow reading. Crichton simply states that he is writing from the manuscripts on an Ibn Fadlan, who is supposed to be an Indian emissary. At the beginning, he just describes the places that Fadlan and his caravan encounter on the way. However, about a third of the way into book Fadlan comes across a Viking or "northmen" camp. He stays with the vikings for a while until a messenger from further North comes to the Vikings, and tells them that his city is under attack, and they need assistance. The Vikings, under their leader Buliwyf, decide they will go help their fellow northmen. They need a group of 13 warriors, and the "death angel" says the 13th must be a foreigner. Fadlan is chosen as the 13th warrior, hence the title of the novel.

This is when the book really starts to pick up. Buliwyf first leads the group to go see his parents village, but they find out the village has been burnt down. So they proceed to go to the city that is under attack. When they arrive there, they find a burnt down house, with bodies all mangled, each with the head missing. They then realize that it is not humans who are attacking, but rather a strange species of "animal" who they call the eaters of the dead. They then proceed to the big castle of the city, called Hurot, to talk to the king of the region, Rothgar. They find that the eaters of the dead are attacking at night fall when the mist falls on the castle.

Later that night the mist descends, and a battle with the eaters of the dead occurs with Buliwyf's group. They manage to kill one of the others, and get his arm as a token of the battle. This only upsets the eaters of the dead, and the next time they come back as a "glowworm dragon." This is really just them riding on horses with torches. This time they are even more fierce. After this Buliwyf decides to go and attack the eaters of the dead in their place. When they get there, they find that the eaters of the dead have abandoned their encampment. So Buliwyf decides to attack them at their house in the caves of the big cliff. They go down on sealskin ropes and attack the eaters of the dead and kill their "mother," and they become heros.

I liked this novel so much because Crichton has a way of keeping you so intrigued in the book that you never want to put it down. I think he uses a trick of ending each chapter with a suspenseful moment, but doesn't end it. That way, you want to read on to the next chapter, and the same thing happens again. The suspense for what is going to happen is very thrilling, and I actually enjoyed reading a book.

The 13th Warrior, a.k.a. Eaters of the Dead, is the first book written by Michael Crichton that I have read. I can see now why he is such a popular author. He did a great job in describing all of the battles and also the long periods between battles. This book is based off the manuscript of Ibn Fadlan, who wrote about his adventures with the the Northmen, also known as the Vikings. The Northmen are fierce fighters who always carry around an a dagger and a sword at all times. Fadlan's first impression of this group of warriors is that they are very filthy and brutal men. The women of this group are openly debauched by the men. The number 13 is a very important number for the Northmen, and choose Fadlan to be their 13th Warrior. He then travels with the group to fight many battles against the wendol. The wendol is a very mysterious and brutal group of fighters who come attack at night. The wendol are referred to as the black mist, and when they attack they vibrate the ground as if an earthquake is occurring. By the end of the book, only four of the original 13 warriors were alive. The leader, Buliwyf was killed in the last battle. I like the way that Crichton used footnotes on a lot of the pages. They really helped in understanding what was being said sometimes. Crichton must have done a lot of historical research because some of the footnotes are very long and go into great detail. This is a great book and I will definitely read some more of Crichton's book in the near future.

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