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Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton

By HarperJay | Posted Under Book Reviews | Comments (17)

piratelatitudess.jpg

Not really sure where I have been, but as it turns out Michael Crichton has died. A quick scan of Wikipedia tells me that this happened in November of 2008. Hmm. Completely missed it, but then that may be because I have read absolutely nothing that he has written. ER was the only acquaintance I had with him and it was years and years ago when I watched that. So yeah, I have never seen Jurassic Park, sue me. What led me to Pirate Latitudes? I honestly have no idea. Maybe it was on some Kindle list? New releases? All I know is that unlike most of the things I buy (I am a total Kindle Hoarder, like what are they going to do stop selling certain books? Are the digital versions going to sell out? Jesus, get a grip) I read this right away. I must have been in the mood for some pirates, sea monsters, cannibals, and corrupt government officials.

This was good stuff. You know how some books make you want to hop in your time machine and in this case your sex-change machine and be the main character in the book? Or even a supporting character? I totally wanted to do that. I wanted to be a pirate in the 17th century. These weren’t Disneyfied pirates, they were womanizing killers and thieves. I don’t know if it was the plot, the descriptions, or a combination of the two that made me want to be there. Whatever it was, it made for a really good read.

The book starts in 1665 in Port Royal, Jamaica. The governor, Sir James Almont, is on his way to attend the hanging of a man convicted of being a pirate. In this colony privateering is a completely acceptable profession, but pirating will get a guy hung. The difference between the two is all semantics. A merchant ship arrives in the bay carrying Almont’s new secretary, Hacklett, his wife, and group of female English convicts meant to be wives for the men on the island. Almont hears that on the trip to Jamaica the people aboard the Godspeed saw a Spanish galleon at anchor in the bay of Spanish controlled island. A plan is hatched. Enter Hunter, a well respected privateer with a small sloop. At the behest of Almont he gathers together a crew and they set off to capture a seemingly uncapturable Spanish treasure ship. In the course of the narrative, Hunter and his crew are captured, there is sword fighting, cannonball fire, sinking ships, treasure, sea monsters, cannibals, oh my. When he and his crew finally return to Port Royal the situation is not as they had hoped.

Admittedly, at the first sighting of the sea monster all I could think was, oh crap, this is turning into some weirdo sci-fi gig. It conjured memories of that horrid made for TV movie about the giant squid. What the hell was that tripe called? Not important. I also kept thinking that this was total Hollywood material that would no doubt be presented as a summer blockbuster riddled with CGI and some milquetoast actor as Hunter. I hope that this scenario does not play out.

There was a bit more blood and guts than I’m accustomed to in my usual fictional fare. On the flip side there was a good deal of pirate superstition and nautical folklore. Which I find to be interesting. All in all, a really good adventure story. In the future I do not think I will be sliding into any other Crichton works only because I don’t find the subject matter particularly intriguing. As it stands, however, Pirate Latitudes: A Novel gets the thumbs up.

This review is part of the Cannonball Read series. For more of HarperJay’s reviews, please check out the blog Cannonball Read and Other Junk.









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Comments

"a summer blockbuster riddled with CGI and some milquetoast actor as Hunter"

This has Robert Pattinson written all over it.

Posted by: BarbadoSlim at February 15, 2010 12:17 PM

You should try some other Crichton books. Some are not so good (like Timeline, ugh), but The Great Train Robbery is one my favorite historical fiction books, and the Jurassic Park series is actually pretty good.

Posted by: badkittyuno at February 15, 2010 12:24 PM

You'll be missing out, then. His novels are fascinating. My favorite is Airframe, but all the rest are amazing in their own right.

Posted by: ThunderSacTriumph at February 15, 2010 12:26 PM

wow, November 2008. . . really?! The past couple of years have just cascaded by, and soon Salinger will have been dead for 8 years.

Posted by: adam at February 15, 2010 12:34 PM

In the future I do not think I will be sliding into any other Crichton works only because I don’t find the subject matter particularly intriguing.

I recommend Jurassic Park because it was the best novel Crichton ever wrote, and it is quite good (better than the movie). I also recommend Eaters of the Dead because as an English major I dug the hell out of it, and it's short. (The film The 13th Warrior, which I also love, is based on this book.)

All the rest of his many books are pretty much crap.

Posted by: Jerce at February 15, 2010 12:45 PM

Sphere and Congo were both kick ass, just avoid the movies at all cost.

Posted by: TylerDFC at February 15, 2010 12:53 PM

Jerce and the book was in turn based on Beowulf.

I didn't really like this book. Pirate Latitudes that is. I didn't really find any of it interesting or new. Sure, the book had its moments but for some reason, the entire time I was reading it, I felt like I had read it before.

Some of the characters were great, but it just really bored me.

Posted by: DeistBrawler at February 15, 2010 12:56 PM

Jerce and the book was in turn based on Beowulf.
Did you miss the bit where I said I was an English major?

Oh, and Tyler DFC reminded me about Sphere, which I also quite liked. That one's worth reading.

Crichton came up with some great plots, but he was really bad at endings, and most of his characters read as if he'd never met a human being in his life.

Posted by: Jerce at February 15, 2010 1:41 PM

I second the love for The Great Train Robbery! I adore that book.

Posted by: linny at February 15, 2010 1:48 PM

I loved Sphere. It's about a gerbillion times better than the movie.

And yes, the Jurrassic Park books are better too, even though I enjoyed those movies fine. Could never quite get into Congo though. Never got too much farther than the eyeballs hanging from the trees...

Posted by: Sara at February 15, 2010 2:27 PM

Thirding Sphere, it's one of my all time favorite books. Just wash the taste of the movie out of your brain before you read it.

I've been a Crichton fan since I was a wee lad, and recently rediscovered some of his more recent books. The guy has a way with words for sure, and his science-based stuff (which a lot of it tends to be) is generally well researched and interesting.

Posted by: Jason H. at February 15, 2010 2:43 PM

This was just a brilliant book and you hit the nail on the head, I wanted to be a BoyPirate SO bad.

I love Michael Crichton, the man was brilliant, I really adored State of Fear

Posted by: Nadine at February 15, 2010 2:59 PM

Sphere was ossom. I was reading it really late one night and then made myself promise to go to bed after finishing the chapter I was on.

It happened to be the chapter in which (SPOILER!!) Ormannay indsfay outyay atthay ethay essagemay actuallyay ayssay, "Ellohay, ymay amenay isyay Arryhay" andyay Arryhay isyay Erryjay!!! INDMAY! OWNBLAY!!!!

Man, I loved that book. I'm glad that I was forewarned not to watch the craptastic film adaptation.

I wouldn't mind giving Pirate Latitudes a gander, either. Thanks for the review, HarperJay.

Posted by: Jelinas at February 15, 2010 5:14 PM

Jelinas, that is the BEST way to tag spoliers.

My brother has read Sphere a billion times, and I never have. I may have to pick that up, too, but this sounds awesome.

When Crichton died I texted my brother the news. This was right around the time Vonnegut passed as well, and my brother said that Crichton's death was probably sadder, because he taught my brother to love books. We both have read Jurassic Park a ton of times (he first read it when he was eight). For such vivid fantasy, they're also well-written.

Posted by: vikky at February 15, 2010 8:08 PM

I remember reading Sphere when it came out, thinking "this would make a helluva good movie!" And then.... ;-(

Despite that horrid experience, still love the novel...the scene where the identity of the entity becomes clear is still chilling.

Another great (early) one of his is the "The Andromeda Strain"...scientists against an alien virus in a high-tech underground lab rigged with a nuclear self-destruct. Had to read it in junior high, and it was probably the first novel that I recall reading in a single sitting; I just couldn't put it down.

Posted by: Jacktrade at February 16, 2010 5:51 PM

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Posted by: Carroll B. Merriman at March 15, 2011 3:16 PM

This really answered my problem, thank you!

Posted by: Matthew C. Kriner at March 22, 2011 3:37 PM