The year is A.D. 922. A refined Arab courtier, representative of the powerful Caliph of Baghdad, encounters a party of Viking warriors who are journeying to the barbaric North. He is appalled by their Viking customs - the wanton sexuality of their pale, angular women, their disregard for cleanliness...their cold-blooded human sacrifices. But it is not until they reach the depths of the Northland that the courtier learns the horrifying and inescapable truth: he has been enlisted by these savage, inscrutable warriors to help combat a terror that plagues them - a monstrosity that emerges under cover of night to slaughter the Vikings and devour their flesh....
Eaters of the Dead was adapted to the screen as The 13th Warrior, starring Antonio Banderas.
Read more AMAZON.COM REVIEW
Michael Crichton takes the listener on a one-thousand-year-old journey in his adventure novel Eaters Of The Dead. This remarkable true story originated from actual journal entries of an Arab man who traveled with a group of Vikings throughout northern Europe. In 922 A.D, Ibn Fadlan, a devout Muslim, left his home in Baghdad on a mission to the King of Saqaliba. During his journey, he meets various groups of "barbarians" who have poor hygiene and gorge themselves on food, alcohol and sex. For Fadlan, his new traveling companions are a far stretch from society in the sophisticated "City of Peace." The conservative and slightly critical man describes the Vikings as "tall as palm trees with florid and ruddy complexions." Fadlan is astonished by their lustful aggression and their apathy towards death. He witnesses everything from group orgies to violent funeral ceremonies. Despite the language and cultural barriers, Ibn Fadlan is welcomed into the clan. The leader of the group, Buliwyf (who can communicate in Latin) takes Fadlan under his wing. Without warning, the chieftain is ordered to haul his warriors back to Scandinavia to save his people from the "monsters of the mist." Ibn Fadlan follows the clan and must rise to the occasion in the battle of his life.--Gina Kaysen
REVIEW
"Crichton writes superbly ... the excitement rises with each page." (Chicago Tribune)
"Crichton's books [are] ... hugely entertaining." (New York Times Book Review)
"One of the great storytellers of our age ... What an amazing imagination." (New York Newsday)
"Readers turn to Michael Crichton's novels for entertainment with relentless drive." (San Antonio Express-News)
"Crichton knows how to craft a tale, one that keeps the reader turning the pages." (Houston Chronicle)
Praise for PREY: "Crichton is a master storyteller." (Detroit News)
"Michael Crichton is one of our most gifted popular novelists. A true son of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells ... . A master of plausible and frightening scenarios ... . He is a connoisseur of catastrophe." (Los Angeles Times)
"Like Stephen King, like Robert Ludlum, Crichton knows how to keep a story moving. He writes with an undeniable narrative energy." (Chicago Sun-Times) FROM THE INSIDE FLAP
D. The refined Arab courtier Ibn Fadlan is accompanying a party of Viking warriors back to the north. Fadlan belatedly discovers that his job is to combat the terrors in the night that come to slaughter the Vikings--but just how he will do it, Fadlan has no idea.... FROM THE BACK COVER
From the bestselling author of Jurassic Park, an epic tale of unspeakable horror
The year is A.D. 922. A refined Arab courtier, representative of the powerful Caliph of Baghdad, encounters a party of Viking warriors who are journeying to the barbaric North. He is appalled by their Viking customs - the wanton sexuality of their pale, angular women, their disregard for cleanliness . . . their cold-blooded human sacrifices. But it is not until they reach the depths of the Northland that the courtier learns the horrifying and inescapable truth: he has been enlisted by these savage, inscrutable warriors to help combat a terror that plagues them - a monstrosity that emerges under cover of night to slaughter the Vikings and devour their flesh . . .
"Crichton knows how to craft a tale, one that keeps the reader turning the pages." - Houston Chronicle
"Michael Crichton is one of our most gifted popular novelists. A true son of Jules Verne and H. G. Wells. . . . A master of plausible and frightening scenarios. . . . He is a connoisseur of catastrophe." - Los Angeles Times
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michael Crichton was a writer and filmmaker, best known as the author of Jurassic Park and the creator of ER. One of the most popular entertainers in the world, Crichton sold more than 200 million copies of his books, which have been translated into 40 languages and adapted into 15 films. Long before the carefully researched techno-thrillers that ultimately brought him to fame, Crichton wrote - with remarkable speed and gusto - ten high-octane suspense novels to support himself while studying at Harvard Medical School. Read more
