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Review
“Its all there, right down to a Dead Man’s Chest, cleavages that are everything they should be and characters in sea-boots
who say nothing but ‘Arr!’ and ‘Me Hearty!’ in a plot that is wonderfully absurd.”
Financial Times
“Fabulous…you’ll want to stay up all night reading this one”
Washington Post
“A sort of Christmas pantomime which incorporates every pirate story and nearly evey period melodrama ever written in a huge burlesque. I recommend this book with all my heart.”
Auberon Waugh
“The most wonderfully idiotic lovesong to swashbucklers ever set to Korngold trumpets. Fraser again proves himself a master”
New York Times
Review
Praise for ‘The Pyrates’
‘Its all there right down to a Dead Man’s Chest, cleavages that are everything they should be and characters in sea bootswho say nothing but “Arr!” and “Me Hearty!” in a plot that is wonderfully absurd.
Financial Times
‘Fabulous…you’ll want to stay up all night reading this one.’
Washington Post
‘The most wonderfully idiotic lovesong to swashbucklers ever set to Korngold trumpets. Fraser again proves himself the master.’
New York Times
Praise for ‘Black Ajax’:
‘Mr Fraser is a great historical novelist and in Black Ajax he is at the very top of his form. Damme if he ain’t.’
Christopher Matthew, Daily Mail
‘This is not a flashy novel, wearing its learning noisily. It’s rigorous, intelligent, meticulously horrifying. Wonderfully well done.’
Nicci Gerrard, Observer
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
23 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Oh how good is this book? I first read it after I caught my dad chortling away with his nose stuck into it and now we have two copies in the house (one each) so we don't fight over it any more! Yes, the dialogue may be corny but that's what makes it so good. The action speeds across the seven seas and the modern touches are perfect. It's entirely silly and over-the-top but on a rainy Saturday I suggest you curl up with a mug of sometihng hot and sweet (possibly with a tot of medicinal brandy) and follow Long Ben Avery et al from the Atlantic to the Caribbean and all over the oceans, wi' a wannion. If you like swash-buckling old-fashioned adventure with a sense of merciless glee please read this book.
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
George MacDonald Fraser obviously had great fun writing this and it is a joy to join him and his characters on their adventures. Every pirate and adventure cliche going is in this and then some, hilariously ludicrous plotting, corny pirate speak and devilish villany abound. If you are a Flashman fan you may not go for this one, it's far more over the top than those books, much funnier though, a great way to spend a weekend.
22 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I read this book when I was about 16 and almost two decades on it's still one of my favourites. Yes, it's very silly but it's silly in a way that pokes affectionate fun at those wonderful swash-buckling hollywood movies such as "Anne of the Indies" and "Blackbeard the Pirate". The characters are a mostly drawn from history (Colonel Blood, Ben Avery, "Calico Jack" Rackham and Anne Bonny were all real people) though they are all portrayed in a wonderful Hollywood way. This story has everything; A handsome hero, a caddish anti-hero, flashing eyed ladies o' quality, fierce indians, lost cities, buried treasure, desperate sword-fights on desert islands, d'ye see? Tall ships crewed by swarthy rogues in head scarves and eye-patches, spanish soldiery in breastplates and morions crying, "Caramba!" and failing to shoot straight. Damsels in distress, torture, danger, adventure and vasty booty, har, har, look'ee, wi' a curse!! The only similar concept that I can think of was "Strike!" by The Comic Strip.
At the end there is a short treatise on the historical characters. Believe me some of their stories are much stranger than anything dreamed up by Hollywood. Anyway, unless you are such a fan of Flashman that nothing else will do, I can heartily recommend "The Pyrates"
At the end there is a short treatise on the historical characters. Believe me some of their stories are much stranger than anything dreamed up by Hollywood. Anyway, unless you are such a fan of Flashman that nothing else will do, I can heartily recommend "The Pyrates"
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
The Pyrates
A swashbuckling look at pirates. Done in a way that only George MacDonald Fraser can do with his attention to detail and his unique brand of humour. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Spook Moor
The screen-writers' screen-writer!
Avast ye, ye lubbers!
Let rip the Korngold fanfares, undo another button on your frilly-fronted shirt, buckle yer swash, hoist the main'sl and tarry forth to Tortuga! Read more
Let rip the Korngold fanfares, undo another button on your frilly-fronted shirt, buckle yer swash, hoist the main'sl and tarry forth to Tortuga! Read more
Published 12 months ago by Mr. D. Pendry
A rum do, not don't......
It's a deliberate satire of pirate movie tropes - and it is yoho hilarious......loved it years ago, look forrard to reading it again mes hearties. Read more
Published 13 months ago by mermaid
Huge fun
A dizzying, action-packed yarn that takes us from England to the Caribbean via Madagascar, with a cast of pirates, heroes, villains, lovable rogues, heroines and vixens. Read more
Published 13 months ago by S. L. Parkinson
Lose yourself in a world of Pirates!
Is The Pyrates in the same league as Flashman? I wasn't sure when I started reading, but once I caught on that this is a spoof on a major scale I loved it. Read more
Published 23 months ago by T-Bird1
Great fun, but Flashman is better
I am one of the thousands (millions?) of boys that once devoured novels such as 'Captain Blood' or 'Treasure Island' (and Ivanhoe, Robin Hood, Old Shatterhand, and so on and so... Read more
Published on 27 Oct 2009 by Didier
Disappointing
I love all of his books including those on Scotland, but this book sadly lost its way when the hero said 'You can't kill me yet we are still on page 115'. Read more
Published on 7 Oct 2009 by Grapeel01
Swash, Buckles and Bosoms
Long before Pirates of the Caribbean and Cap'n Jack Sparrow revitalised the genre (with a little help from Disney and their theme park), George Macdonald Fraser was way ahead of... Read more
Published on 20 May 2009 by Paul Brownlee
A Rare Slip Up
For those of you who delighted at the exploits of MacAuslan and are passionate fans of Flashman, then I am afraid this book will disappoint. Read more
Published on 10 April 2009 by David C Eyles
The funniest book you'll read in years
Imagine the fantasy and imagination of The Princess Bride; take the joie de vivre of Pirates Of The Caribbean; mix it a little with the eccentricity of Carry On Don't Lose Your... Read more
Published on 31 Oct 2008 by Mr. M. Bloomfield
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