Eaters of the Dead, now retitled The 13th Warrior is unlike anything else you'll read by
Micheal
Crichton. This short book is written in the style of an ancient manuscript. It is the journal of Ibn Fadlan, a representative from the Court of Caliph of Bagdad, who is sent as an ambassador to the King of Saqaliba as punishment for his indiscretion with the young wife of a wealthy merchant. Fadlan never reaches his destination. Instead, he meets a group of Viking warriors who take him with them on their heroic mission to rid a Northern Kingdom of the monsters of the mist. Part history, part Beowulf, part Grendel, part Crichton's
imagination, this is a not so
interesting story told by a master story teller. However, it borrows far too much from other stories, just like Beowulf and Grendel and the writing style which includes lengthy footnotes in very small print becomes really tiresome to read, after a while. It's an interesting quick read, indeed, but it's also far from Crichton's nest, just like
The Great Train Robbery.