Eaters of the dead : the manuscript of Ibn Fadlan, relating his experiences with the Northmen in A.D. 922

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_ Product Description 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 . . .

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 . . .

Michael Rogers Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information - Library Journal

Set in the year 922 C.E., Crichton's 1976 novel finds Ahmad ibn-Fadlan, Arab ambassador representing the Caliph of Bagdad, thrust among a band of Vikings heading north. Initially, he is disgusted by the barbaric behavior of both the men and the women but soon learns that the warriors seek a group of men or beasts they know not which that come in the night to kill and devour them (think Grendel). This was morphed by Hollywood into the 1999 Antonio Banderas vehicle The 13th Warrior. Crichton is always a crowd pleaser, so buy this one.

From the bestselling author of Jurassic Park, an epic tale of unspeakable horrorThe 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 Eaters of the Dead: The Manuscript of Ibn Fadlan Relating His Experiences with the Northmen in AD 922 (later republished as The 13th Warrior to correspond with the film adaptation of the novel) is a 1976 novel by Michael Crichton, the fourth novel under his own name and his 14th overall. The story is about a 10th-century Muslim Arab who travels with a group of Vikings to their settlement. Crichton explains in an appendix that the book was based on two sources. The first three chapters are a retelling of Ahmad ibn Fadlan's personal account of his actual journey north and his experiences with and observations of Varangians. The remainder is a retelling of Beowulf. ---------- Also contained in: - [Congo / Sphere / Eaters of the Dead][2] [1]: http://www.michaelcrichton.com/eaters-of-the-dead/ [2]: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL14950504W/Congo_Sphere_Eaters_of_the_Dead It is 922 A.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