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The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists Paperback – 5 May 2005

by Gideon Defoe (Author)

53 customer reviews

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1837: the Victorian Era approaches and the golden age of piracy draws to a close. Worried that his pirates are getting bored with a life of winking at pretty native ladies, sitting about on tropical beaches, and trying to stick enough jellyfish together to make a bouncy castle, the Pirate Captain decides it's time they had an adventure.

A chance encounter with the young Charles Darwin - embarked upon the voyage of discovery that will one day make him famous - leads the Captain and his rag-tag crew from the exotic Galapagos Islands to the fog filled streets of Victorian London, where they encounter grisly murder, vanishing ladies, a diabolical Bishop, the Elephant Man, and have an exciting trip to the zoo.

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Product details

Paperback: 176 pages
Publisher: Phoenix (5 May 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0753818701
ISBN-13: 978-0753818701
Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 1.5 x 14.1 cm
Average Customer Review: 53 customer reviews
Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,074,351 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #9077 in Books > Fiction > Humour
- #23977 in Books > Humour > Fiction
- #42195 in Books > Fiction > Historical

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Product description

Review

'A timber-shivering adventure that speaks to the pirate in all of us' (Ben Schott)

'A short, deliriously funny novel about incredibly stupid pirates and ham ... I've had to grow a luxuriant beard to conceal the grin that's been compromising my dignity since I read it' (Ardal O'Hanlon)

'Hilarious. Destined to become a classic of pirate comic fiction' (Eric Idle)

'Gideon Defoe definitively puts the "Ho ho!" - and, indeed, the "Yo!" - into
pirating"

(Caitlin Moran) --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Book Description

A Blackadder for the high seas

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Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars

5 star		31
4 star		14
3 star		2
2 star		4
1 star		2

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Top customer reviews

An absolute gem!

ByMyrtleon 2 December 2012

Format: Mass Market PaperbackVerified Purchase

I - unashamedly - love this book. I first read it during labour with my first child and it was a brilliant, if slightly surreal, distraction from what else was going on.

War and peace it ain't and maybe it is aimed at kids (although I remain to be convinced of this) but it is a great little novel which will make you smile, snigger and generally want to keep reading to the end. There is nothing amazingly clever about it, nor will it win literary prizes for it's plot, but it is one of life's little pleasures. Thoroughly enjoyable, immensely re-readable and definitely one which improves on reading out loud.

If you have watched the movie - be warned - the story line is not the same.

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?YesNo

A Vast Achievement

ByAmazon Customeron 8 September 2004

Format: Hardcover

The best work of comic fiction since, well. Since Terry Pratchett stabbed comic fiction dead, as it was waiting for the night bus home.
A book written so lovingly, and with such a transparent relish for the subject matter, that you'd have to be dry, joyless and some kind of diseased parasite not to enjoy it.
Yes, it uses piratical cliché - but that's all seven seas away from actually being piratically clichéd; the author's knowledge and blatant fondness for this well-worn genre allow him to tinker with, prod at, tweakily subvert and make funny all the things we'd expect of pirates, and without which we'd be confused, and wonder why we were reading a pirate book in the first place.
The author does all this, and never once veers into being smug, or saying "goodness me, look how clever I was there, that was a play on words, I must be wonderful". It's quite simply the most likeable and funny book I've read in my entire, stupid life.
As this book is so short, however, I must insist that the author writes many, many, more of them.

0Comment 19 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Five Stars

ByMiss Rachel Sylvesteron 20 June 2015

Format: Mass Market PaperbackVerified Purchase

Funny story but not the same as the Aardman film of the same title.

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?YesNo

Hilarious

ByA customeron 3 August 2004

Format: Hardcover

The Pirates is a very funny book and you would have to be the Bishop of Oxford not to enjoy it! Plenty of Pirate jokes and Arrrrring but there is also some very funny bits involving Hams, Charles Darwin, Victorian Freak Shows and the Natural History Museum.
I am very much looking forward to the next installment, in which I am hoping that the Pirate Captain will reveal his secret for how he keeps his beard so silky!

0Comment 10 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Laughable in a bad way

BySam Quixoteon 23 April 2012

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Some Pirates set off on an adventure with Charles Darwin, to exhibit his new discovery - the Manpanzee, a chimp who understands basic etiquette and wears a suit - and save his brother Erasmus from the evil Bishop.

The book's comparisons to Blackadder are very generous, while the book is obviously written in a comical tone, it doesn't square up to the wit of Ben Elton and Richard Curtis' scripts.

It doesn't care about characters so much, none of the pirates have names and are called simply "the Pirate Captain" and "the Pirate with a scarf", and so on. It doesn't care about plot or story, it just kind of meanders from one thing to the next, seemingly at random. History is skewered as 17th century pirates mingle in Victorian London and speak in a 21st century vernacular.

Basically the novel is absolute rubbish and was apparently written to impress a girl the author liked to convince her to leave her boyfriend (she didn't).

But while the novel is utter crap, it should be required reading for anyone aspiring to become a novelist themselves because as you read it you're thinking "THIS counts? THIS can get published? That's amazing, now that load of cobblers I put together in a few weeks stands as much a chance as any!". If the bar is this low, anyone can make it over, and anyone reading this would gain the confidence to complete their projects knowing that whatever they're writing, it stands as much a chance of getting picked up by Hollywood and made into a movie.

One star for the book, another for the positive impact its existence is likely to have on writers with self-doubt.

0Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

ByMonster D.on 26 January 2017

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

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A massive surprise

ByA customeron 21 May 2004

Format: Hardcover

I didn't really expect much from this book, as I'm getting quite sick of comic fiction. But as soon as I started reading I was drawn in by the unique tone that the author has used. 'The Pirates In An Adventure With Scientists' tells the story of a crew of hapless pirates on an adventure that takes in Charles Darwin, Victorian London and a 'man-panzee' as well as having fun with the usual pirate clichés. More importantly, it's packed with actual jokes.
It took me a while to get used to the characters (none of the pirates have names!) but when you get into it, the book moves on at a fair pace. It's a bit short, but then it's pretty clear that the author didn't intend to write a pretentious slab of 'proper literature' so much as make the reader laugh. I'd definitely recommend 'The Pirates In An Adventure With Scientists' to anyone with a sense of humour and an interest in the development of Darwinism.

0Comment 7 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Ham, pirate conventions, man-panzees and dastardly Bishops

ByMad Geraldon 5 January 2004

Format: Hardcover

Have just read the final chapter (after all the previous chapters I must add) and I have thoroughly enjoyed it (that’s the whole book and not just the final chapter). Lots of feasting (which sort of dies out towards the end of the book), plans, pirating (which includes a fair bit of running through with cutlasses). There’s some plank walking, ham and appearances from well-known celebrities of their time Charles Darwin, The Elephant Man, The Bishop of Oxford and Mr Bobo the Man-Panzee.
There are some truly laugh-out-loud moments including one ladies first meeting of The Elephant Man.
Although the back of the book mentions Blackadder as a reference, think Monty Python does pirating movie mixed with some George Macdonald Frasier (Flashman novels) and the 70s movie version of The Three Musketeers and you’re on the right path. There are some cunning plans though.
Not going to spoil it by telling you what exactly happens – except there is a fair bit of pirate Arrrrrrrring. Did I mention the hams?
Only downside? Too damn short! Interesting sciencey bits though!
I want more adventures with the Pirate Captain and his no.2, the pirate with the scarf.

0Comment 5 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

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Most recent customer reviews

Five Stars

v.good

Published 1 year ago by nigel peter chadburn

Great holiday read

Thoroughly enjoyable read, I took it in holiday and it made a laugh and smile constantly

Published on 3 September 2014 by Secovian

very amusing

Interesting unusual book to say the least but funny. A little book easily read A little escape for a while

Published on 30 December 2013 by alex

A quick read

I bought this because I wanted to read it before watching the film. It was not a great work of literature but an enjoyable quick read with good humour.

Published on 15 November 2013 by Amazon Customer

Recommended to me but not by me

I downloaded this as it was featured on a book show as someone's all-time favourite; they couldn't praise it enough. Really sorry, I tried to like it but gave up 1/4 of the way in.

Published on 21 July 2013 by T. Wilson

Amusing and informative :)

The Author has a amusing and unique writing style and loves to tell trivia which make this great for kids and adult kids a like

Published on 15 June 2013 by Amazon Customer

What to expect...

I really enjoyed this book however I didn't feel that it was a novel for children at all.
Yes the humour is childish and the themes are very slapstick and simple but a lot of...Read more

Published on 10 May 2013 by Madeofbraille

One of the funniest books I have ever read!

I would recommend this book to anyone. It is not too long/taxing to read, so it makes a lovely revision break.Read more

Published on 4 May 2013 by H

A fun enjoyable read for all ages!

This book is a very lighthearted action-adventure story and is hilarious to read. The author has written in hilarious characters and events, and this humour is also present in the...Read more

Published on 9 March 2013 by ramblingsofanelfpire

Hilarious.

Some time ago, I went to my nearest cinema to watch The Pirates! In An Adventure with Scientists. It was a fun little film, and it's classic Aardman entertainment, but it's...Read more

Published on 26 February 2013 by Vanessa F

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