What is the main conflict in Eaters of the Dead: The Manuscript of Ibn Fadlan by Michael Crichton?

In Eaters of the Dead, Michael Crichton weaves a retelling of the Beowulf epic with a marginally factual ancient manuscript about an Arab who travelled North. Ibn Fadlan and his manuscript are purported to be true but their influence on Crichton's book is minimal. Once the Ibn Fadlan Manuscript has been exhausted, Crichton carries on the tale in the same tone and style of Ibn Fadlan. The effect is both interesting and slightly frustrating to the reader. For those scholars interested in Beowulf, Crichton's version varies too much from the original and can cause consternation. At the same time, the reader can appreciate that Crichton has put forth a book that is at once believable fact and false fiction.