Product Description

Repackaged to tie-in with hardback publication of 'The Reavers' and to appeal to a new generation of George MacDonald Fraser fans, 'The Pyrates' is a swashbuckling romp of a novel. The Pyrates is all the swashbucklers that ever were, rolled into one great Technicoloured pantomime -- tall ships and desert islands, impossibly gallant adventurers and glamorous heroines, buried treasure and Black Spots, devilish Dons and ghastly dungeons, plots, duels, escapes, savage rituals, tender romance and steaming passion, all to the accompaniment of ringing steel, thunderous broadsides, sweeping film music, and the sound of cursing extras falling in the water and exchanging period dialogue. Even Hollywood buccaneers were never like this.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #124530 in Books
• Published on: 1996-06-17
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 413 pages

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

About the Author
The author of the famous 'Flashman Papers' and the 'Private McAuslan' stories, George MacDonald Fraser has worked on newspapers in Britain and Canada. In addition to his novels he has also written numeous films, most notably 'The Three Musketeers', 'The Four Musketeers', and the James Bond film, 'Octopussy'. George Macdonald Fraser died in January 2008 at the age of 82.

Customer Reviews

Fantastic - slap me with a marlinspike else!
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.

Wonderfully silly stuff
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.

Hollywood Buccaneers plus a little history
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"