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Most Helpful Favorable Review
9 out of 10 people found this review helpful.
A little gem of a read!
I have always been a big fan of Michael Crichton, and was sad to learn of his passing. I have read all of his books and have always found them to be page turners. His writing skills are probably not given the credit they are due because of the commercial fiction genres ...Read More
I have always been a big fan of Michael Crichton, and was sad to learn of his passing. I have read all of his books and have always found them to be page turners. His writing skills are probably not given the credit they are due because of the commercial fiction genres he worked. This pirate book set in 1665 Caribbean is probably not what most of his fans are used to reading from this author (though Crichton was no stranger to historical fiction, I still consider "The Great Train Robbery" his best Novel). The reader I taken to the far removed Port Royal, a lone British colony holding out against the mighty Spanish empire. The town is home to some unlikely and unsavory characters, a place of sin and vice, and a good place to call home if you are looking to steal some Spanish gold, the Brits don't mind Pirates as long as they are hunting Spanish Gold! There is danger and death a plenty but there is also a chance for a man to get rich if has the audacity and ruthlessness to back up his play. Captain Charles Hunter is just such a man and there a Spanish Galleon hiding in a nearby harbor while undergoing repairs. But the harbor is under heavy guard led by the ruthless Cazell hand picked by the King of Spain himself. Hunter gathers a ragtag crew of cutthroats to go after the Spanish galleon, supposedly os Spanish gold. This is a raucous and fun read that can see going to the big screen soon! I just hope there are a few more gems like this that Mr. Crichton has hidden away.... For more great thrills in the modern day Caribbean, check out "Tourist In the Yucatan"Show Less
posted by DIckClark on November 27, 2009
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11 out of 12 people found this review helpful.
Disappointing
I think I have read all of Michael Crichton's books and enjoyed them greatly. This was a manuscript published after his death. In my opinion, it should have been left unpublished. I kept waiting for the plot to intrigue me but it never did. It had action but nothing...Read More
I think I have read all of Michael Crichton's books and enjoyed them greatly. This was a manuscript published after his death. In my opinion, it should have been left unpublished. I kept waiting for the plot to intrigue me but it never did. It had action but nothing like I expected from Crichton. I think this was a chance to make money off a manuscript he knew wasn't great and chose not to publish.Show Less
posted by Donna414 on January 16, 2010
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Donna414
Posted January 16, 2010
Disappointing
I think I have read all of Michael Crichton's books and enjoyed them greatly. This was a manuscript published after his death. In my opinion, it should have been left unpublished. I kept waiting for the plot to intrigue me but it never did. It had action but nothing like I expected from Crichton. I think this was a chance to make money off a manuscript he knew wasn't great and chose not to publish.
11 out of 12 people found this review helpful.
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DIckClark
Posted November 27, 2009
I Also Recommend:
A little gem of a read!
I have always been a big fan of Michael Crichton, and was sad to learn of his passing. I have read all of his books and have always found them to be page turners. His writing skills are probably not given the credit they are due because of the commercial fiction genres he worked. This pirate book set in 1665 Caribbean is probably not what most of his fans are used to reading from this author (though Crichton was no stranger to historical fiction, I still consider "The Great Train Robbery" his best Novel). The reader I taken to the far removed Port Royal, a lone British colony holding out against the mighty Spanish empire. The town is home to some unlikely and unsavory characters, a place of sin and vice, and a good place to call home if you are looking to steal some Spanish gold, the Brits don't mind Pirates as long as they are hunting Spanish Gold! There is danger and death a plenty but there is also a chance for a man to get rich if has the audacity and ruthlessness to back up his play. Captain Charles Hunter is just such a man and there a Spanish Galleon hiding in a nearby harbor while undergoing repairs. But the harbor is under heavy guard led by the ruthless Cazell hand picked by the King of Spain himself. Hunter gathers a ragtag crew of cutthroats to go after the Spanish galleon, supposedly os Spanish gold. This is a raucous and fun read that can see going to the big screen soon! I just hope there are a few more gems like this that Mr. Crichton has hidden away.... For more great thrills in the modern day Caribbean, check out "Tourist In the Yucatan"
9 out of 10 people found this review helpful.
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An enjoyable read!!
Although this probably won't be as highly regarded as his previous works, this novel is still an AWESOME read. The only problem that I had with this book is that it seemed like it wasn't finished yet, but nonetheless it still kept me on the edge of my seat. Captain Charles Hunter is the new Jack Sparrow.
8 out of 8 people found this review helpful.
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No wonder it was hidden on Crichton's computer
I was excited for the book's release when I heard of its topic and was utterly disappointed. Characterization was flat, narrative more telling than showing, and the plot was preposterous. Every cliche pirate event (hurricane, sea monster, etc.) trotted out for tale. This had to be a first draft. I'm sad that someone chose to release the after his death because I don't think he ever would have let it see the light in its released form.
8 out of 13 people found this review helpful.
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Logans_Run
Posted December 19, 2009
Really?!?
Shame on Michael Crichton's heirs and shame on the publishers for foisting this on his fans for a quick buck. There's a reason he never showed this rough outline of a manuscript to anyone...wherever he is he must be horrified it's seen the light of day with his name on it.
I'm a Michael Crichton fan (the man wrote some great and original books) and a lover of pirate stories, true and fictional. Neither of those facts could overcome the obvious flaws in this book. A bunch of overdone caricatures are conveniently plopped together with little to no character development and follow a ridiculously predictable (and I'm sorry to say, poorly written) plot-line. Well, I didn't see the fantastic glowing green giant squid coming...oh wait, I did because he basically tells you it's coming earlier in the book. How out of place is this in a story written like a true historical adventure? Plus he already used that one in 'Sphere' so it isn't even original to Michael Crichton.
It's sad to think of all the great books out there to be read while this travesty takes up valuable shelf and warehouse space. Apparently the Crichton estate wasn't satisfied with the large profits from Jurassic Park and ER. Why not bilk loyal fans for a little more?6 out of 11 people found this review helpful.
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missionamp
Posted December 2, 2009
Worth a read...
As others have noted, Pirate Latitudes is not Crichton's finest work. On the other hand, it's certainly not his worst. It shares similar qualities with most of his novels in that it combines arcane knowledge (history in this case; science in many others) with a fictional plot. Also, like every book of his, it's a page-turner.
Having said that, there are some caveats. I had a sense that there is a certain lack of polish to it. It is somewhat shorter than a typical MC book, and there was an episodic quality to it that seems out of character. In addition, there were a couple of otherworldly plotlines that were dropped suddenly without further explanation. In other MC novels, these intriguing lead-ins would have been followed by elaborate, protracted plot development, eventually leading to satisfying (if not necessarily realistic) conclusions. Such was not the case here.
I cannot help but speculate as to the condition of this novel in Crichton's mind. The story, as I understand it, is that it was discovered on his personal computer after his passing, and required "very little editing."
This begs several questions in my mind. First and foremost: when was it written? There are many aspects of the novel which were quite similar to plot devices in the recent "Pirates" films. It was, in general, unlike Crichton to simply parrot well-known popular culture. Had Pirate Latitudes been released, say, 10 years ago, it would have been much more in keeping with his character. Was it, therefore, nearly complete when the recent pirates popularity sprung anew, and he shelved it (at least temporarily) as a result?
The second question I have follows from the first: Necessary editing notwithstanding, how "mature" was the novel in the author's mind? I suspect that, had he lived and decided to publish Pirate Latitudes, he could have quite easily expanded it by 100 pages without stressing the basic plot framework.
Unfortunately, we'll never know the answers to these questions. In the end, if you are a Crichton, or history/pirate, fan, Pirate Latitudes is well worth a read, but don't expect a masterpiece.3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous
Posted February 7, 2010
The Worst Pirate Book Ever Written
I thought when I heard Michael Crichton was writing a pirate book, it would be pretty amazing or a least a good read. This book however has been a complete waste of time. It is really not even about pirates. It is about Privateers, which to certain governments they were pirates, but in this book they are just Privateers. The style of the book was rushed and spent too much on things that were not important verus the things that were. However, what I was most disappointed with was the face that everything on the flap of the book was done in the first 100 pages. Even the great villian that everyone was so afraid of was not even scary. I found myself reading just to see if it would get any better. It never did. The only good thing I can say is it had short chapters that moved. If you love fictional pirate books, please stay away from this one. This one read more like nonfiction book about privateers.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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hd91364
Posted February 1, 2010
I bet you can guess what happens
This book was a disappointment. When I read that the manuscript had been discovered after Crichton's death, I wondered if he was so insufficiently satisfied with it that he hadn't offfered it for publication upon finishing it.
It's a pirate tale, formulaic, cliched and very predictable. All the usual plot points are there - damsel taken captive, swashbuckling, scurvious crew, monstrous sea creature, hurricane, treasure. There was no parrot perched on anyone's shoulder, but that's about the only cliche he missed.
This is a poor swan song to such a prolific and quality career.2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Fun!
Not a deep or deeply original read, but a very fun one nevertheless...
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Easy listening
Very well narrated, really enjoyed this book and it helped shrink the miles on a daily commute (100 mile R/T.) You have to have an interest in the sea, and the time period that this story takes place in.
I can't wait to see the movie I heard Speilberg is making the film?2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Should not have been published
I know Crichton fans were happy to have one last book to read after the author's passing, but this book should have stayed in the desk drawer. You can tell this was either a rough draft or one of Crichton's early works, before he refined his skills. The plot is simply one cheap pirate cliche after another, and the characters are hollow characitures of what pirates should be. I would not recommend this book.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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808NookReader
Posted December 3, 2010
Highly Recommended - you must check it out!!
Highly Recommended - you must check it out!!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Kellertwin
Posted October 15, 2010
Great. You need to check it out
You need to check this book out.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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CarolLH
Posted May 20, 2010
Different Crichton
This was a little different than I expected, but I still had a hard time putting it down. The characters and the story seemed realistic, more of the roughness of pirating rather than the fairy tale pirates that we have seen in movies and TV. Writing style was different than what I had expected from other Crichton books (i.e. Jurassic Park), but still an exciting read.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Bibliofilo
Posted May 8, 2010
Unusual but good
The topic is unusual for a Michael Crichton novel, this being a historical novel. However, his writing skills shine in it. It is entertaining like all of his works and makes a good read. This novel makes one think that perhaps Crichton could have in the long run have written novels in many genres, the same way another physician writer did about forty years ago, Frank Slaughter.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Not your typical Crichton novel
What can I say? It was strange. I've read every other book by Chrichton and this just wasn't up to par. I know it was a manuscript found after he died and then published. I have to assume that he wanted to edit it more before that happened. It was like a more adult Treasure Island. Not much to it really. It was a very quick read and the characters were only mildly developed. Actually as I was reading it I was picturing Captain Jack Sparrow since it seemed very movie cheesy.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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ChampReader
Posted March 29, 2010
Routine pirate story
I did like the book overall and it was a fun read. Not much to the plot and it was predictable. Characters were good, description of the location and the atmosphere of the location was descriptive enough, but it was all standard fare from other pirate movies and books. The use of a kraken? Really? I mean Disney may have issues with that. I did like it, but it is not a must read, more of a read if you get a chance.
Considering it was a found manuscript and not finally edited by the author, this is not the best of Micheal's work. The cover was not interesting, but I am glad it was in large print.1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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McShwagghead
Posted January 30, 2010
Love Crichton. I got this as an "in between serious reading book" and was disappointed.
There is a reason Crichton left this manuscript tucked in his drawers. Its just no good. Maybe a screenplay for a bad movie, but not a good book. Has its fun moments, but not even really enjoyable, certainly not thrilling or original.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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decidedly_indecisive
Posted January 10, 2010
I don't want to badmouth a dead man, but this book was not very good
This is only the 3rd Crichton book that I've read (Timeline was great, Next was bad, and this was bad) and after finishing the book I am not satisfied. The plot was not well developed - which may have to do with the author's death prior to actually releasing the book. But while reading the book it wasn't too bad, just the overall book was disappointing.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous
Posted January 6, 2010
enjoyable read
Although the plot was a little sketchy at places, I still enjoyed this book once I got past the first quarter of it. It still needs polishing, needs editing where there are holes. Immersing myself in a book that goes back to 1665 in the Caribbean was an amusing way to end the evening. I'll miss Chrichton the storyteller.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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