a mixture of factual and fictitious sources. Sources and inspiration In the afterword, Crichton gives a few comments on the book's origin. A good friend of Crichton's was giving a lecture on the "Bores of Literature". Included in his lecture was an argument on Beowulf and why it was simply uninteresting. Crichton opined that the story was not a bore but was, in fact, a very interesting work. The argument escalated until Crichton stated that he would prove to him that the story could be interesting if presented in the correct way. Abdul Alḥaẓred's Necronomicon (of H. P. Lovecraft fame) is mentioned in passing as a reference. Reception The critic from the New York Times called it "diverting but disappointing". The Chicago Tribune said it was "funny, fascinating and informative". Film adaptation In 1979, it was announced the movie version of the novel would be made by the newly formed Orion Pictures with Crichton as director. This did not occur. The novel was adapted into film as The 13th Warrior (1999), directed by John McTiernan and released by Walt Disney Pictures through its Touchstone Pictures banner. Crichton did some uncredited directing for a reshoot after Disney fired McTiernan for various reasons, one of which was going far over budget. Antonio Banderas played Ibn Fadlan. Crichton writes that he was "quite pleased" with the film, although it received mixed reviews and performed poorly at the box office, earning about $62 million worldwide; the film's budget was more than $100 million. Further reading Crichton, Michael. "A Factual Note on Eaters of the Dead" in Eaters of the Dead. New York: Harper, 2006. 245–52. . References 1976 American novels Alfred A. Knopf books American fantasy novels adapted into films Books with cover art by Paul Bacon English-language novels Fiction about neanderthals Novels based on Beowulf Novels by Michael Crichton Novels set in the Viking Age Parallel literature Prehistoric people in popular culture Written fiction presented as fact