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The Pirates! #5
The Pirates! in an Adventure with the Romantics
'Whilst visiting their bank manager on the shores of Lake Geneva, the pirates encounter the literary giants of their age: the swaggering Lord Byron, the oddly shifty Percy Shelley - and his beautiful fiancée, Mary. Together they embark upon an adventure that leads them into the bowels of Oxford and the forbidding heart of eastern Europe. Along the way the Pirate Captain must confront some important questions, namely: what is the secret behind his belly tattoo? Is 'Zombuloid, the corpse-beast' a better name for a monster than 'Gorgo: Half-man, half-seaweed'? And, most importantly, what happens when a pirate falls in love?'
305 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
11 people are currently reading
586 people want to read
About the author
Gideon Defoe
15 books294 followersGideon Defoe never meant to become an author. When Defoe bumped into a woman he had pursued during his time studying archaeology and anthropology at Oxford, they began chatting about what they were up to. Realising that his job temping for Westminster council was not going to win him any romantic points, he told her that he was writing a novel. She asked to see it, at which point he found that he really was writing a novel. His manuscript was originally circulated among friends, who photocopied it and passed it on until, eventually, it fell into the hands of a literary agent.
He was raised by his mother in the south of England. His late father wrote thrillers that featured a lot of sexy Russian spies seducing middle-aged men uncannily like him.
His mother says he is a direct descendant of Daniel Defoe. He says he won't be convinced until he has seen the family tree.
He was raised by his mother in the south of England. His late father wrote thrillers that featured a lot of sexy Russian spies seducing middle-aged men uncannily like him.
His mother says he is a direct descendant of Daniel Defoe. He says he won't be convinced until he has seen the family tree.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 99 reviews
January 18, 2025
The Pirate Captain’s pockets are empty once more. Then he reads an interesting ad in the newspapers. A writer is looking for adventure. Well, that’s one thing the pirates have plenty of, and they don’t mind sharing it for the right price. So he responds to the advert and meets Lord Byron, Percy Shelley and Mary Shelley. All writers who are hungry for adventure. But did they bite off more than they can chew?
The concept of the more serious and intellectual writers clashing with the less serious and intellectual Pirate Captain looks great on paper, though the comedy doesn’t always hit home for me to be honest. The characterization of the historical figures is interesting, but some are also perhaps a bit too serious for the rather silly nature of this lighthearted series. The mystery plot is very good though. This book has one of the best plots of the whole series, if not the best. And the Pirate Captain writing his own horror story is quite a treat.
Overall, a rather different but interesting novel that ends the series. If you’re reading this book purely for the comedy, this falls a little bit short from the other books in the series. But everything else was executed so well that I didn’t mind it. I’d even go so far as to say that this might actually be the best book of the series.
The concept of the more serious and intellectual writers clashing with the less serious and intellectual Pirate Captain looks great on paper, though the comedy doesn’t always hit home for me to be honest. The characterization of the historical figures is interesting, but some are also perhaps a bit too serious for the rather silly nature of this lighthearted series. The mystery plot is very good though. This book has one of the best plots of the whole series, if not the best. And the Pirate Captain writing his own horror story is quite a treat.
Overall, a rather different but interesting novel that ends the series. If you’re reading this book purely for the comedy, this falls a little bit short from the other books in the series. But everything else was executed so well that I didn’t mind it. I’d even go so far as to say that this might actually be the best book of the series.
July 7, 2017
'Look, you have to understand - piracy isn't like other jobs. One minute you're swimming in pearls and eating diamonds instead of cereal, the next you're clinging to a raft made from dead pygmies without a penny to your name.'
Things are looking heartily bleak for the Pirate Captain; his bank account is overdrawn, and he may be forced to sell his crew to the paste factory. Enter Lord Byron, Percy Shelley, and Miss Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin. They're bored, and looking for adventure. An ocean voyage with some pirates might be just the ticket. (Charles Babbage gets dragged along because apparently, mathematicians are funny.) It's not long before they've got a nice, juicy mystery to solve.
But, something's off with the Pirate Captain. He's no longer spendinghours days admiring his luxuriant beard. Could it be that he's in love? Yes, it very well could be! Too bad the object of his piratey affection is already engaged to some wussy poet. Perhaps he can win her heart by helping her write the "monster" book she keeps talking about.
This author seems to have sailed off the edge of the earth, and hasn't been heard from since 2012, leaving us with only these five delightfully silly pirate adventures. What a glorious final act it was! His crew of exceptionally unusual marauders have ruined all other pirates for me, but I suppose I'll muddle by.
I leave you with these final words from the Pirate Captain on why you'll never find the word "fear" in his dictionary:
' . . . it goes straight from "fealty" to "feasible". My advice: should Black Bellamy ever turn up on your doorstep offering to sell you a set of reference books, send him packing. His encyclopedias are even worse. It's just the definition of "sucker" repeated on every page for nineteen volumes.'
Things are looking heartily bleak for the Pirate Captain; his bank account is overdrawn, and he may be forced to sell his crew to the paste factory. Enter Lord Byron, Percy Shelley, and Miss Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin. They're bored, and looking for adventure. An ocean voyage with some pirates might be just the ticket. (Charles Babbage gets dragged along because apparently, mathematicians are funny.) It's not long before they've got a nice, juicy mystery to solve.
But, something's off with the Pirate Captain. He's no longer spending
This author seems to have sailed off the edge of the earth, and hasn't been heard from since 2012, leaving us with only these five delightfully silly pirate adventures. What a glorious final act it was! His crew of exceptionally unusual marauders have ruined all other pirates for me, but I suppose I'll muddle by.
I leave you with these final words from the Pirate Captain on why you'll never find the word "fear" in his dictionary:
' . . . it goes straight from "fealty" to "feasible". My advice: should Black Bellamy ever turn up on your doorstep offering to sell you a set of reference books, send him packing. His encyclopedias are even worse. It's just the definition of "sucker" repeated on every page for nineteen volumes.'
April 5, 2013
Yes! Finally! Defoe blends his rapier like wit with an actual plot and finds success!
Do you want to see Ruth squeeze ten ping pong balls in to her mouth? Would you like to witness a pie-chart that causes children to clap and laugh in delight? In this fabulous fifth adventure The Pirates! take to a boat that bled blood, win two tickets to a corpse factory and run around screaming "barnacle!" at every opportunity.
Hired by Lord Byron, Percy Shelley, Mary Shelley and Charles Babbage to provide exotic adventures containing romantic elements, mild peril and foreign travel whilst on a dull vacation to Lake Geneva The Pirates! sail from Lake Geneva to the Romanian mountains in their most exciting, not to mention humourous adventure yet.
If you were to take a poll of people reading you might find a lot of votes for great use of ham in a nautical setting, there may even be several readers who enjoy the excellent names created for the motely crew of pirates but guaranteed that majority will tell you that the best bit about reading a book about The Pirates! is all the running through that happens. Just ask Jeffrey Keeten about the time he ran a man through for daring not to wear a fencing cup in school colours if you are unsure of the unique pleasures a good running through can provide.
In true Defoe style this adventure meanders from one absurd moment to another but almost as if the five years away provided more than a huge paycheck from Dreamworks/Aardman studios, a refreshing break from what appeared to have become a dull chore for him and a chance to stock up on ham anecdotes, he must have studied with Robert McKee and managed to create a working plot and stick to it. I never had a real problem with his lack of plot before but when it appears from nowhere you realise what you;ve previously been missing.
Fear not Pirate lovers, this might be the fifth Pirates! book but it is not essential to have read them in order, if you have a willing seadog spirit begging to taste the salty air of a piratical adventure in the tradition of Monty Python and Douglas Adams then jump right in here, chances are you'll be an honourary member of the pirate crew in no time. And remember:
“Babbage's Three Laws of Difference Engines
First Law: A difference engine must have at least six cogs.
Second Law: A difference engine must be able to operate a loom.
Third law: A difference engine must be able to kill a man, should the mood so take it.”
Do you want to see Ruth squeeze ten ping pong balls in to her mouth? Would you like to witness a pie-chart that causes children to clap and laugh in delight? In this fabulous fifth adventure The Pirates! take to a boat that bled blood, win two tickets to a corpse factory and run around screaming "barnacle!" at every opportunity.
Hired by Lord Byron, Percy Shelley, Mary Shelley and Charles Babbage to provide exotic adventures containing romantic elements, mild peril and foreign travel whilst on a dull vacation to Lake Geneva The Pirates! sail from Lake Geneva to the Romanian mountains in their most exciting, not to mention humourous adventure yet.
“You don't know what it is to live and laugh and love and run a man through! You've never tasted salty air on your tongue or waved heartily at a mermaid!”
If you were to take a poll of people reading you might find a lot of votes for great use of ham in a nautical setting, there may even be several readers who enjoy the excellent names created for the motely crew of pirates but guaranteed that majority will tell you that the best bit about reading a book about The Pirates! is all the running through that happens. Just ask Jeffrey Keeten about the time he ran a man through for daring not to wear a fencing cup in school colours if you are unsure of the unique pleasures a good running through can provide.
In true Defoe style this adventure meanders from one absurd moment to another but almost as if the five years away provided more than a huge paycheck from Dreamworks/Aardman studios, a refreshing break from what appeared to have become a dull chore for him and a chance to stock up on ham anecdotes, he must have studied with Robert McKee and managed to create a working plot and stick to it. I never had a real problem with his lack of plot before but when it appears from nowhere you realise what you;ve previously been missing.
Fear not Pirate lovers, this might be the fifth Pirates! book but it is not essential to have read them in order, if you have a willing seadog spirit begging to taste the salty air of a piratical adventure in the tradition of Monty Python and Douglas Adams then jump right in here, chances are you'll be an honourary member of the pirate crew in no time. And remember:
“You can't reduce passion and flair and eating ham to numbers, sir!”
June 4, 2022
The changing world of piracy...
One minute you’re swimming in pearls and eating diamonds instead of cereal, the next you’re clinging to a raft made from dead pygmies without a penny to your name.
Learn the language of economics...
With that in mind, I’ve decided to ring-fence the budget for my beard-care products, and it goes without saying that I’m not going to be eating any less ham than I usually do. But everything else is on the table. So: who’s got any ideas?’
A description of old London...
The city was still stuffed full of flickering gas lamps and soot-covered fog machines and smiling commuters and little match girls setting fire to Beefeaters.
Literature...
‘It’s a book of sonnets. Heavy going, if you must know. Thirty sonnets in and not a single character has pulled out a pistol or got bitten by a poisonous spider. In fact there aren’t even any characters to speak of. And half the descriptions of things are actually descriptions of other things entirely. It’s baffling.’
Architecture...
Tourists and students ambled about in a work-shy sort of way as the afternoon sun glinted off Oxford’s ivory towers. More recently established universities built their towers of brick, but Oxford used ivory, because back in those days people didn’t realize that slaughtering thousands upon thousands of whales and elephants to build student accommodation wasn’t very ethical.
Stereotypes...
Just the two of us. Same as those sleuthing duos you read about in magazines. I’m like the hard-bitten senior detective, with just his final case to solve, and you’re like my feisty new canine partner, with your shining nose and eager manner. Or possibly I’m like a disorganized slob who never made lieutenant and you’re like the buttoned-down humorless Russian who doesn’t approve of my louche attitude but has been assigned to work with me for diplomatic reasons. One of those.’
Popular novels...
She held up the copy of "Barnacles Never Sleep (Despite Appearances)", and pointed at the lurid cover illustration, which showed a fulsome lady in a bikini being ravished by some fascist barnacles.
As Mary pored over the color illustrations in "The Sponge that Stood Still" and "My First Mate was a Zombuloid", a strand of loose hair fell across her cheek.
Philosophy...
‘A-ha. Plato,’ said the Captain knowledgeably. ‘He’s the one who thinks reality is somebody making dinosaur shadows on the wall of a cave, isn’t he? Or is he the one who’s always jumping out of baths because he’s trodden on a corkscrew? I get muddled.’
As the story progresses you can look forward to...
Mary Shelley's first drafts of Frankenstein,
Vampires,
And a French farce of mistaken identities and rooms.
Enjoy!
One minute you’re swimming in pearls and eating diamonds instead of cereal, the next you’re clinging to a raft made from dead pygmies without a penny to your name.
Learn the language of economics...
With that in mind, I’ve decided to ring-fence the budget for my beard-care products, and it goes without saying that I’m not going to be eating any less ham than I usually do. But everything else is on the table. So: who’s got any ideas?’
A description of old London...
The city was still stuffed full of flickering gas lamps and soot-covered fog machines and smiling commuters and little match girls setting fire to Beefeaters.
Literature...
‘It’s a book of sonnets. Heavy going, if you must know. Thirty sonnets in and not a single character has pulled out a pistol or got bitten by a poisonous spider. In fact there aren’t even any characters to speak of. And half the descriptions of things are actually descriptions of other things entirely. It’s baffling.’
Architecture...
Tourists and students ambled about in a work-shy sort of way as the afternoon sun glinted off Oxford’s ivory towers. More recently established universities built their towers of brick, but Oxford used ivory, because back in those days people didn’t realize that slaughtering thousands upon thousands of whales and elephants to build student accommodation wasn’t very ethical.
Stereotypes...
Just the two of us. Same as those sleuthing duos you read about in magazines. I’m like the hard-bitten senior detective, with just his final case to solve, and you’re like my feisty new canine partner, with your shining nose and eager manner. Or possibly I’m like a disorganized slob who never made lieutenant and you’re like the buttoned-down humorless Russian who doesn’t approve of my louche attitude but has been assigned to work with me for diplomatic reasons. One of those.’
Popular novels...
She held up the copy of "Barnacles Never Sleep (Despite Appearances)", and pointed at the lurid cover illustration, which showed a fulsome lady in a bikini being ravished by some fascist barnacles.
As Mary pored over the color illustrations in "The Sponge that Stood Still" and "My First Mate was a Zombuloid", a strand of loose hair fell across her cheek.
Philosophy...
‘A-ha. Plato,’ said the Captain knowledgeably. ‘He’s the one who thinks reality is somebody making dinosaur shadows on the wall of a cave, isn’t he? Or is he the one who’s always jumping out of baths because he’s trodden on a corkscrew? I get muddled.’
As the story progresses you can look forward to...
Mary Shelley's first drafts of Frankenstein,
Vampires,
And a French farce of mistaken identities and rooms.
Enjoy!
February 7, 2017
What seems like years ago now, probably because it was, I remember seeing a few of Gideon Defoe's Pirates! books at Half Price Books and thinking they looked rather fun. I promptly forgot about them because do you realize the number of books I look at on a daily basis? It's seriously staggering. But shortly thereafter Lauren Willig mentioned them in passing as being hilarious so this confluence of events led me to order the first two books, handily sold as one volume, and I put it on my bookshelf and promptly forgot about them again. Fast forward to 2012 and Aardman Animation has adapted the first book for the screen. David Tennant, Hugh Grant, Russell Tovey, no wait, not Russell Tovey in the US, grumble, grumble, but once again I thought of the books and again promptly forgot. For some reason all my encounters with Gideon Defoe's work was promptly forgotten until his third book, The Pirates! In an Adventure with Communists, was picked out of the hat for book club in 2016. Not being one to start in the middle of a series I picked up my copy of the first two books, promptly fell in love, ordered the next three books and plundered my way through them all.
The thing is, I've always had a soft spot for pirates. This started quite young with my parents reading Irene Haas's The Maggie B. to me. A young girl wishes for a boat to travel the world in with her little brother. I wanted a boat just like it for myself. A pirate ship in miniature with flora and fauna and the coziest rooms you could ever imagine that weathered all storms. As I grew up there were Lego pirate ships and Playmobil pirate ships that actually floated helmed by my Star Wars figures. There were hideouts down by the railway tracks and in my back yard with hammocks, just like on a real pirate ship. There were other books too like Peter Pan and The Princess Bride, and tons of movies from The Goonies to Muppet Treasure Island to Hook. Finally there was Pirates of the Caribbean, opening night at Point Cinema on the UltraScreen with my girlfriends. Some were there to see Johnny Depp, some to see Orlando Bloom, and some to see an anvil three stories tall. I was there for the pirates!
But these Pirates! by Gideon Defoe, they are a breed apart. They are the love children of Blackadder and the briny deep, with historical cameos thrown in just as much as historical accuracy is thrown out. With this lovability that makes you just want to take them home give them a big feast predominately of ham and tell them a good bedtime story before tucking them in for the night. Gideon Defoe's writing combines the wit and love of footnotes of Terry Pratchett with the absurdity of Monty Python. Yet it's so uniquely his own that while I can draw comparisons all day it will never do justice to a series of books that need to be read for their hats and their love of ham. And I'm not joking that once you start you won't be able to stop until you've read them all. From Darwin and Bobo, the "man-panzee," to Ahab and what hunting the great white whale does to the Pirate Captain's sanity, to Wagner trying to blacken the name of Communism, to beekeeping on St. Helena where Napoleon causes quite a ruckus, to Byron and the Pirate Captain forming a true bromance while the Pirate Captain tries to woo Mary Godwin away from Shelley, you will just pillage your way through Defoe's prose.
Yet what makes this series really unique is that, aside from them being kind of hopeless as pirates, is that the characters names aren't really names, instead being character descriptions. There's the Pirate Captain and his faithful number two, the pirate with a scarf, there's the pirate in green, the pirate with rickets, the albino pirate, Jennifer, and every one's least favorite pirate, the pirate in red. While this could be viewed as just a humorous joke at the readers expense, I mean, think how many times we as readers when faced with a new story with oodles of characters has picked up on a character trait to remember them all by? Instead I don't think it's about readers and the inability to remember names, instead I think it's a clever conceit. While yes, there is a bit of poking fun at stereotypes, I think it actually goes beyond this and is making the character archetypes. The Pirate Captain is THE DEFINITIVE pirate captain. He's the only one that matters, suck it Black Bellamy! Just like the pirate with a scarf is the perfect number two, and the pirate in red is the perfect red shirt for us to hate on. These are the lovable essence of all the pirates we wanted to sail the high seas with as a kid and therefore we gleefully go with them wherever that may be. Even if there might be ghosts. And we all know how scared pirates are of ghosts!
In fact I think that the film by Aardman Animation, The Pirates! Band of Misfits, is doing a disservice to the books. While these pirates are true characters by making them cartoonishly animated it has turned them into caricatures. This movie has lessened them. In the books they are larger than life fiendish friends, on the screen they are a kind of boring movie. Which is really odd when you consider that Gideon Defoe wrote the screenplay. When I think back to when I first saw the movie, it in no way made me want to rush out and read the books, which is such a shame. Think of all those people out in the world who are judging these books based on that movie? The movie has far more "presence" and it's overshadowing these lovely, sweet, and comical adventures. When reading the books I thought how much they reminded me of the TV series Galavant. There's an absurdity and a gallantry and a sense of humor that makes it similar to The Pirates! Plus done as live action, there's a basis in reality with having actors like the brilliant Timothy Omundson bring the characters to life. This humor works best with the dichotomy of the absurd versus the real. Which leads me into my next point, when is there going to be a live action movie with Timothy Omundson as the Pirate Captain?
The thing is, I've always had a soft spot for pirates. This started quite young with my parents reading Irene Haas's The Maggie B. to me. A young girl wishes for a boat to travel the world in with her little brother. I wanted a boat just like it for myself. A pirate ship in miniature with flora and fauna and the coziest rooms you could ever imagine that weathered all storms. As I grew up there were Lego pirate ships and Playmobil pirate ships that actually floated helmed by my Star Wars figures. There were hideouts down by the railway tracks and in my back yard with hammocks, just like on a real pirate ship. There were other books too like Peter Pan and The Princess Bride, and tons of movies from The Goonies to Muppet Treasure Island to Hook. Finally there was Pirates of the Caribbean, opening night at Point Cinema on the UltraScreen with my girlfriends. Some were there to see Johnny Depp, some to see Orlando Bloom, and some to see an anvil three stories tall. I was there for the pirates!
But these Pirates! by Gideon Defoe, they are a breed apart. They are the love children of Blackadder and the briny deep, with historical cameos thrown in just as much as historical accuracy is thrown out. With this lovability that makes you just want to take them home give them a big feast predominately of ham and tell them a good bedtime story before tucking them in for the night. Gideon Defoe's writing combines the wit and love of footnotes of Terry Pratchett with the absurdity of Monty Python. Yet it's so uniquely his own that while I can draw comparisons all day it will never do justice to a series of books that need to be read for their hats and their love of ham. And I'm not joking that once you start you won't be able to stop until you've read them all. From Darwin and Bobo, the "man-panzee," to Ahab and what hunting the great white whale does to the Pirate Captain's sanity, to Wagner trying to blacken the name of Communism, to beekeeping on St. Helena where Napoleon causes quite a ruckus, to Byron and the Pirate Captain forming a true bromance while the Pirate Captain tries to woo Mary Godwin away from Shelley, you will just pillage your way through Defoe's prose.
Yet what makes this series really unique is that, aside from them being kind of hopeless as pirates, is that the characters names aren't really names, instead being character descriptions. There's the Pirate Captain and his faithful number two, the pirate with a scarf, there's the pirate in green, the pirate with rickets, the albino pirate, Jennifer, and every one's least favorite pirate, the pirate in red. While this could be viewed as just a humorous joke at the readers expense, I mean, think how many times we as readers when faced with a new story with oodles of characters has picked up on a character trait to remember them all by? Instead I don't think it's about readers and the inability to remember names, instead I think it's a clever conceit. While yes, there is a bit of poking fun at stereotypes, I think it actually goes beyond this and is making the character archetypes. The Pirate Captain is THE DEFINITIVE pirate captain. He's the only one that matters, suck it Black Bellamy! Just like the pirate with a scarf is the perfect number two, and the pirate in red is the perfect red shirt for us to hate on. These are the lovable essence of all the pirates we wanted to sail the high seas with as a kid and therefore we gleefully go with them wherever that may be. Even if there might be ghosts. And we all know how scared pirates are of ghosts!
In fact I think that the film by Aardman Animation, The Pirates! Band of Misfits, is doing a disservice to the books. While these pirates are true characters by making them cartoonishly animated it has turned them into caricatures. This movie has lessened them. In the books they are larger than life fiendish friends, on the screen they are a kind of boring movie. Which is really odd when you consider that Gideon Defoe wrote the screenplay. When I think back to when I first saw the movie, it in no way made me want to rush out and read the books, which is such a shame. Think of all those people out in the world who are judging these books based on that movie? The movie has far more "presence" and it's overshadowing these lovely, sweet, and comical adventures. When reading the books I thought how much they reminded me of the TV series Galavant. There's an absurdity and a gallantry and a sense of humor that makes it similar to The Pirates! Plus done as live action, there's a basis in reality with having actors like the brilliant Timothy Omundson bring the characters to life. This humor works best with the dichotomy of the absurd versus the real. Which leads me into my next point, when is there going to be a live action movie with Timothy Omundson as the Pirate Captain?
August 24, 2012
I love the Pirates! series. The previous entry, an Adventure with Napoleon, was a little weak, but the Adventure with the Romantics bolstered my confidence that I will be a lifelong fan.
Our intrepid hero, The Pirate Captain, falls in love with Mary (soon-to-be) Shelley while taking the Romantics (Byron and the Shelleys) on a cruise/adventure. The crew and guests sail from Lake Geneva to London to Transylvania, with important stops at the Bodleian Library and a dracula's castle. Not the Dracula, a dracula.
As always, the footnotes are a delight and just odd enough to leave you wondering whether they are really factual. There is a moment of peril involving Jennifer, a Victorian lady, who joined the crew during their very first adventure with Darwin. All in all, another hilarious addition to the Pirates! tradition.
Our intrepid hero, The Pirate Captain, falls in love with Mary (soon-to-be) Shelley while taking the Romantics (Byron and the Shelleys) on a cruise/adventure. The crew and guests sail from Lake Geneva to London to Transylvania, with important stops at the Bodleian Library and a dracula's castle. Not the Dracula, a dracula.
As always, the footnotes are a delight and just odd enough to leave you wondering whether they are really factual. There is a moment of peril involving Jennifer, a Victorian lady, who joined the crew during their very first adventure with Darwin. All in all, another hilarious addition to the Pirates! tradition.
September 23, 2012
Most comic novels are 'gentle' or 'wry' or 'not really very funny'. The Pirates! books are different, and the latest is no exception: pages stuffed with proper gags, like an episode of your favourite sitcom in its best season. It's genuinely educational, too.
Nothing else made of paper (or 'digital ink', if you're a cyborg) is going to entertain you as much as this.
(Disclosure: I'm friends with the authors of this book, and my sock puppet, Socky, was in sixth form with them.)
Nothing else made of paper (or 'digital ink', if you're a cyborg) is going to entertain you as much as this.
(Disclosure: I'm friends with the authors of this book, and my sock puppet, Socky, was in sixth form with them.)
January 2, 2021
I've only read Scientists, Moby Dick & this one (so far!) but this was the funniest yet! Byron will be pleased to hear I loved him (& his hair) and it was a typical Pirate adventure, sailing across Switzerland and battling love's many subtexts! Hilarious! Even the chapter headings told a great story (totally unconnected to the book, of course!)
January 29, 2022
3 out 5 stars
My first foray into the world of the Pirate Captain and his eclectic crew was a fun experience. My partner and I started reading out loud to each other quite some time ago as a bedtime activity and it was a great time.
This is one of the most absurdly silly books I’ve ever read. In this installation of the series, the pirate crew are joined beloved romantics Lord Byron, Percy Shelley and Mary Shelley. Defoe’s hero, the Pirate Captain, gets up to some master level numbskullery in an attempt to stir up some adventure while also capturing the heart of the brilliant Mary. The characters meander from one weird and absurd plot point to another in the best way possible.
This book is fairly nonsensical and the plot is threadbare—but that’s how it’s supposed to be. Defoe’s writing aims to be ridiculous and funny and bizarre and he utterly succeeds in that goal. It’s evident on every page that the author was having a lot of fun while writing it. If you’re going into this looking for anything other than an insane, super fun romp across the high sees alongside poets and pirates then you’re not going into it for the right reasons. Mostly full of puns and cheesy pirate jokes, if you’re looking for genuinely funny read that’s more than a little silly then this one is probably going to be for you.
Personally, I enjoyed the experience of reading this out loud with my partner and only wish it didn’t take us as long to finish it.
My first foray into the world of the Pirate Captain and his eclectic crew was a fun experience. My partner and I started reading out loud to each other quite some time ago as a bedtime activity and it was a great time.
This is one of the most absurdly silly books I’ve ever read. In this installation of the series, the pirate crew are joined beloved romantics Lord Byron, Percy Shelley and Mary Shelley. Defoe’s hero, the Pirate Captain, gets up to some master level numbskullery in an attempt to stir up some adventure while also capturing the heart of the brilliant Mary. The characters meander from one weird and absurd plot point to another in the best way possible.
This book is fairly nonsensical and the plot is threadbare—but that’s how it’s supposed to be. Defoe’s writing aims to be ridiculous and funny and bizarre and he utterly succeeds in that goal. It’s evident on every page that the author was having a lot of fun while writing it. If you’re going into this looking for anything other than an insane, super fun romp across the high sees alongside poets and pirates then you’re not going into it for the right reasons. Mostly full of puns and cheesy pirate jokes, if you’re looking for genuinely funny read that’s more than a little silly then this one is probably going to be for you.
Personally, I enjoyed the experience of reading this out loud with my partner and only wish it didn’t take us as long to finish it.
December 19, 2014
I had not read any of the other Pirates! books or seen the film, so I didn't quite know what to expect when I began to read this title. I was pleasantly surprised. The Pirates! In an Adventure with the Romantics is a delightfully silly tale featuring Byron, "draculas" and stolen book pages.
I loved The Pirate Captain, a hilariously narcissistic buffoon who falls hopelessly in love with Mary Shelley and encourages her love of monster-based fiction. As a librarian, I giggled hysterically through the scenes in the Bodleian library with its latent sexual tension. I also enjoyed the tenuously linked historical facts provided in the footnotes.
As a quick and funny read I very much enjoyed The Pirates! it was very witty, and I would recommend its history mash-up to anyone with a sense of humour, although I think those with some knowledge of history will get the most out of it. I shall go and read the other volumes forthwith!
I loved The Pirate Captain, a hilariously narcissistic buffoon who falls hopelessly in love with Mary Shelley and encourages her love of monster-based fiction. As a librarian, I giggled hysterically through the scenes in the Bodleian library with its latent sexual tension. I also enjoyed the tenuously linked historical facts provided in the footnotes.
As a quick and funny read I very much enjoyed The Pirates! it was very witty, and I would recommend its history mash-up to anyone with a sense of humour, although I think those with some knowledge of history will get the most out of it. I shall go and read the other volumes forthwith!
September 9, 2015
Not as good as his other books.
I've read all of Gideon Defoe's books, and enjoyed them all, so '...Romantics' came as a disappointment.
There's still the running gags, the footnotes, the silliness and light-hearted messing about, but for some reason this book felt hollow. His other books, as silly as they are, have a loose plot, but 'Romantics' feels empty - probably because there is no baddie for them to fight against. Instead it's a sort of scavenger hunt of clues set up with no purpose other than to alleviate the boredom of the Romantics in the title. And for me, that wasn't enough. Get Black Bellamy back in the frame. Give the Pirate Captain some horrible farcical injustice he has to fight. Give the crew a quest that actually has some meaning.
However, it wasn't all doom and gloom, just not up to the high and amusing standard of the others in the series.
I've read all of Gideon Defoe's books, and enjoyed them all, so '...Romantics' came as a disappointment.
There's still the running gags, the footnotes, the silliness and light-hearted messing about, but for some reason this book felt hollow. His other books, as silly as they are, have a loose plot, but 'Romantics' feels empty - probably because there is no baddie for them to fight against. Instead it's a sort of scavenger hunt of clues set up with no purpose other than to alleviate the boredom of the Romantics in the title. And for me, that wasn't enough. Get Black Bellamy back in the frame. Give the Pirate Captain some horrible farcical injustice he has to fight. Give the crew a quest that actually has some meaning.
However, it wasn't all doom and gloom, just not up to the high and amusing standard of the others in the series.
May 25, 2013
This was probably my favorite Pirates book since the Adventure with Scientists.
I bought this at the same time as The Pirates! In An Adventure With Napoleon, which I had missed, and I read Napoleon right away (it was pretty good) but decided to save The Romantics for when I really needed some diversion or cheering up. Then I ate some bad sushi and realized that this would be the perfect thing to read while recovering from food poisoning, which it was.
Not to suggest that it would *only* be good for people who are sick or anything, just that it's a great combination of light, funny (really very funny), and decently plotted in a ridiculous kind of way.
I bought this at the same time as The Pirates! In An Adventure With Napoleon, which I had missed, and I read Napoleon right away (it was pretty good) but decided to save The Romantics for when I really needed some diversion or cheering up. Then I ate some bad sushi and realized that this would be the perfect thing to read while recovering from food poisoning, which it was.
Not to suggest that it would *only* be good for people who are sick or anything, just that it's a great combination of light, funny (really very funny), and decently plotted in a ridiculous kind of way.
November 29, 2012
An utterly hilarious and genuinely smart story, stuffed with genre-skewering moments and many, many clever cultural references. I'd like to say that it doesn't matter if you don't know a lot about the Romantics or gothic literature or the pirate/horror/detective genres but I think if you know anything about these things that you will laugh harder. I only hope he has plans to write more of these novels - they're the canines gonads, so to speak.
May 30, 2016
7/20/2013
I love this series and this one, for me, was the best. By this point in the series, Defoe has all the characters and their idiosyncrasies down to an art. The story just flew by and, as with the others, I found myself laughing out loud every few pages. Can't wait for the next one!
3/27/16
Read it again, having forgotten that I read it three years ago. Bad memory means I can enjoy something all over again!
I love this series and this one, for me, was the best. By this point in the series, Defoe has all the characters and their idiosyncrasies down to an art. The story just flew by and, as with the others, I found myself laughing out loud every few pages. Can't wait for the next one!
3/27/16
Read it again, having forgotten that I read it three years ago. Bad memory means I can enjoy something all over again!
April 14, 2013
The Pirates! adventures are just the perfect thing to while away a Sunday afternoon in giggles on the couch. Byron is, of course, a fabulous guest star in this particular adventure, with extra points being awarded for the Captain's sexy fireman costume and the revelation that Oxford's Bodleian is actually a seething pit of sexual tension.
November 21, 2014
The continuing adventure of the pirates, this time encountering Lord Byron, Percy Shelley, and his fiancee Mary. While not as strong as some of the other entries in this series, it is still very funny and includes a bit of sharp social satire. A fun read.
April 11, 2016
It started off slowly, but don't worry, it gets better. By half way I was hooked.
I think this is his second best book, better than the adventure with scientists, but not quite as good as the adventure with communists.
I think this is his second best book, better than the adventure with scientists, but not quite as good as the adventure with communists.
June 14, 2014
Dear Mr. Defoe,
I doubt you can improve on the perfection that is this particular adventure of The Pirates!, but I'd really like you to try and prove me wrong.
Sincerely,
Karin
I doubt you can improve on the perfection that is this particular adventure of The Pirates!, but I'd really like you to try and prove me wrong.
Sincerely,
Karin
January 27, 2013
A wonderful pirate adventure, not short on allusions from Romantic literature. Every time I finish one of The Pirates! books, I'm sad, because there should be more of them.
July 30, 2015
A modern day Monty Python.
Its as if Jack Sparrow and Will Ferrell had a love child and that child wrote a memoir.
Its as if Jack Sparrow and Will Ferrell had a love child and that child wrote a memoir.
November 12, 2022
So, yesterday I listened to this podcast about the release of methane in the Arctic and how catastrophic climate change is near-inevitable. The whole thing is relentlessly depressing and makes you wonder what the point of anything is, since civilisation has clearly doomed itself. After it ended, I needed to cheer myself up and the most effective means of doing that is evidently a nice book. I turned to 'The Pirates! in an Adventure with the Romantics'. This series of ridiculous pirate adventures is genuinely the best method I've found for dealing with the existential horror of climate change!
This particular episode in the lives of the Pirate Captain and his crew of miscreants is an especially hilarious one, the best since the one with Communists. Do not read this book on public transport or in a library, as your laughter will unsettle others and make them think you're a lunatic. Especially amusing features include Byron's newsletter ('Young, Brooding, and Doomed'), the Pirate Captain's curses ('For the love of kelp!'), the bank manager, the utterly irrelevant chapter titles (such as 'the cannibal hammock'), all of the Pirate Captain's books in the Bodleian Library (including 'Barnacles Never Sleep'), Babbage mistaking the Pirate Captain for a stripper, Jennifer the Victorian lady pirate's attempts to explain subtext, the token appearance of the Pirate from the Bronx, fusilli with muesli, '"NOBODY IS A DRACULA" said Percy with a shriek', etc, etc.
In an attempt not to quote the whole book, I present a representative extract chosen at random that made me smile:
This particular episode in the lives of the Pirate Captain and his crew of miscreants is an especially hilarious one, the best since the one with Communists. Do not read this book on public transport or in a library, as your laughter will unsettle others and make them think you're a lunatic. Especially amusing features include Byron's newsletter ('Young, Brooding, and Doomed'), the Pirate Captain's curses ('For the love of kelp!'), the bank manager, the utterly irrelevant chapter titles (such as 'the cannibal hammock'), all of the Pirate Captain's books in the Bodleian Library (including 'Barnacles Never Sleep'), Babbage mistaking the Pirate Captain for a stripper, Jennifer the Victorian lady pirate's attempts to explain subtext, the token appearance of the Pirate from the Bronx, fusilli with muesli, '"NOBODY IS A DRACULA" said Percy with a shriek', etc, etc.
In an attempt not to quote the whole book, I present a representative extract chosen at random that made me smile:
'"Expenses be damned!" roared Byron.
The Captain beamed again. "Of all the celebrated historical figures we've ever met, you are easily my favourites."
January 5, 2014
I love all the books in The Pirate! series, but (surprising absolutely no one who knows me at all), this one is hands down my absolute favorite. Perhaps if you are not a fan of the Romantics your mileage will vary, but this one is really, truly exceptional. I mean, it reduced me to tears of laughter in an airport terminal, how many books can you say have done likewise to you? Also, this one features something of a definite plot, moreso than the other books, where the plot is more "a series of comic episodes centered around the fact that the pirates are meeting X historical figure".
The nods to other books in the series is also pretty funny (the Pirate from the Bronx anyone?) and as always the footnotes are excellently amusing. I could probably go on for pages listing all my favorite moments in the book, but in the end it would probably amount to "the entire book" anyway.
The whole series is wonderful but I'd definitely recommend starting at the beginning before you read this one to get "the most" out of it. Also, as the books are roughly only ~130-200 pages long and a very easy read due to the comedy, you will probably be able to plow through them in the span of a weekend.
The nods to other books in the series is also pretty funny (the Pirate from the Bronx anyone?) and as always the footnotes are excellently amusing. I could probably go on for pages listing all my favorite moments in the book, but in the end it would probably amount to "the entire book" anyway.
The whole series is wonderful but I'd definitely recommend starting at the beginning before you read this one to get "the most" out of it. Also, as the books are roughly only ~130-200 pages long and a very easy read due to the comedy, you will probably be able to plow through them in the span of a weekend.
July 8, 2013
This is a brilliant addition to "The Pirates!" series. I particularly loved it because I have an interest in literature of the Romanticist period and this was a really funny take on the stories most people will be familiar with (how the story of Frankenstein was created, etc) featuring the famous poets themselves. The Pirate Captain is as funny as ever as are all his pirate crew (the albino pirate, the pirate with the scarf - I particularly liked "the pirate from the Bronx who was concerned he wouldn't get a look in in this adventure" but happily got to say "moider" at a convenient juncture). The adventure itself is absolutely bonkers but if you are a fan of silliness you are going to love it. So witty, so funny - I was laughing all the way through it. Favourite bits include the monster party, the bit about the Starbucks Logo and the explanation of Dunning-Kruger effect, which explained a lot about some of the people I work with.
January 18, 2015
Possibly their second greatest adventure yet!
"‘GHOST!’ shouted the albino pirate, as he and the pirate in green came tearing up the stairs, arms flailing wildly. They skidded to a halt, panting and wide-eyed. ‘There’s a ghost in the study!’
‘That’s nice,’ said the Captain. ‘Sorry, Mary – you were saying?’
‘A LADY GHOST!’ exclaimed the pirate in green.
‘Yes, well, good for her,’ said the Captain. ‘But Mary here is trying to finish her sentence.’
‘Why are you mouthing “go away”?’ asked the albino pirate. Down the hall various doors creaked open as the other adventurers poked their heads out.
‘What’s all the noise?’ asked Babbage.
‘What was that about “ghosts”?’ asked Shelley.
‘Did someone say “lady”?’ asked Byron."
"‘GHOST!’ shouted the albino pirate, as he and the pirate in green came tearing up the stairs, arms flailing wildly. They skidded to a halt, panting and wide-eyed. ‘There’s a ghost in the study!’
‘That’s nice,’ said the Captain. ‘Sorry, Mary – you were saying?’
‘A LADY GHOST!’ exclaimed the pirate in green.
‘Yes, well, good for her,’ said the Captain. ‘But Mary here is trying to finish her sentence.’
‘Why are you mouthing “go away”?’ asked the albino pirate. Down the hall various doors creaked open as the other adventurers poked their heads out.
‘What’s all the noise?’ asked Babbage.
‘What was that about “ghosts”?’ asked Shelley.
‘Did someone say “lady”?’ asked Byron."
September 3, 2012
After a slightly lacklustre adventure with Napoleon, the Pirate Captain and his crew are back on top form in a delightfully absurd adventure with Pirate Captain 2.0 (Byron), Mary Shelley-elect, Percy Shelley, and 39 informative footnotes. For comparison - Scientists had 33, Moby Dick 31, Communists 34, and Napoleon 31. It was nice to see Jennifer get a slightly beefed up role .
Muchly looking forward to the next Pirates! adventure, although who knows when that'll be and who their adventure will be with. Let's take guesses until we know, shall we? I want it to be Quakers.
Please let these books never stop!
Muchly looking forward to the next Pirates! adventure, although who knows when that'll be and who their adventure will be with. Let's take guesses until we know, shall we? I want it to be Quakers.
Please let these books never stop!
October 27, 2012
After reading about Napoleon, and feeling like DeFoe was off his mark a bit in the humor section, and then seeing that pretty bad movie about the pirates--which really took out the great wit and adult humor writing of DeFoe--I was pleasantly surprised to find that he had written a new work. And it was GLORIOUS! Right back where he started. Nearly a giggle a page for me. At one point, my Financee and I were nearly crying it was so hysterical. Note to DeFoe--Stay away from film and write books. I can't wait for the Pirates in an adventure with the Anarchists! Love Ted. PS. Please keep writing these. I so love them.
June 26, 2013
I'm a big fan of this silly, absurdist series. These books never fail to get me chuckling and this outing is one of the better ones (although as the author tweeted to me, "THEY'RE ALL AMAZING") . And it never fails to amuse me that the chapter titles have nothing to do with the contents of the chapter. Anyway, in this outing, the Pirate Captain and his crew find themselves on Lake Geneva and eventually hook up with Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Mary Godwin (author of Frankenstein). The Pirate Captain gets a crush on Mary and the usual silliness goes from there.
July 10, 2013
The Pirates and, of course, the Pirate Captain are in a bit of a financial strait this time around, so they decide to answer an advert requesting some sort of adventure. They meet up with the Romantics, Byron, Shelley and Godwin, who are bored and ready for the pirate life, adventures, fights, and ham.
Soon the group battles Swiss Eskimos, Dinosaurs and Men from the Deep. A monster convention is held and a Dracula tracked to his lair deep in the secret crypt of a haunted castle...all for the secret knowledge of wooing women.
Another hilarious adventure with the pirates and pirate captain, but this time love is in the air and the Captain may need even more help (and ham) than usual.
Soon the group battles Swiss Eskimos, Dinosaurs and Men from the Deep. A monster convention is held and a Dracula tracked to his lair deep in the secret crypt of a haunted castle...all for the secret knowledge of wooing women.
Another hilarious adventure with the pirates and pirate captain, but this time love is in the air and the Captain may need even more help (and ham) than usual.
November 18, 2016
"The Pirates!" books are probably my favourite series of books. Their unique brand of humor and lovable characters are mostly to blame for that.
"In an Adventure with Romantics" is definitly better than "In an Adventure with Napoleon" (after which I thought the author lost his edge). I'm very glad to realize that he did not.
Definitly worth a read if you enjoy random trivia, British humor and pirates.
"In an Adventure with Romantics" is definitly better than "In an Adventure with Napoleon" (after which I thought the author lost his edge). I'm very glad to realize that he did not.
Definitly worth a read if you enjoy random trivia, British humor and pirates.
March 22, 2017
Very funny. Held my interest until the end, which I think wasn't the case with the Adventure with Scientists. Disappointed though that the list of illustrations did not in fact lead to any illustrations. However the illustrations on the front and back leaves were charming.
What do you call this trope where the main character is an affable, vain idiot, and the second in command is the stoic, smart one? (Bertie - Jeeves) Whatever it is, here it's done well.
What do you call this trope where the main character is an affable, vain idiot, and the second in command is the stoic, smart one? (Bertie - Jeeves) Whatever it is, here it's done well.
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