The Pirates! In an Adventure with Communists - Gideon Defoe

You can tell a book by its cover . . . sometimes

So thar I be mindin' me own business in me local bookstore when I come upon a book called "Th' Shipmates in an Adventure Wi' Communists". Actually ye landlubbers would call it "The Pirates! In An Adventure With Communists". I`d nereheard o' such a book or the author, Gideon Defoe, but th' book`s co'er did eyeballtractive so I got ou' some treasure an' bought it. I'm glad I did. Th' sea dogs in an adventure wi' communists be a fun read that called t' mind th' old Monty Python gang.

Th' story takes place in th' 19th century but has a 20th century feel an' sensibility. Th' fearless an' preenin' Shipmate Captain has a loyal crew an' they roam th' se'en seas lookin' fer adventure. Th' fact that the'r adventures be yo ho ho ou' load funny be an added bonus. Th' Captain an' his gang's adventures do read like they be straight ou' o' Monty Python an' when set ou' wi' Defoe's sense o' humor an' arch sense o' irony th' book also has faint echoes o' Terry Pratchett. (This be only th' first Shipmate book by Defoe I've read so th' jury be ou' as t' whether Defoe can keep this up o'er time. So he isn't Pratchett yet, but he's got great potential.)

As th' title suggests, this adventure finds th' Seafarin' heartys meetin' up wi' (in th' 1840s) Karl Marx an' Friedrich Engels in London. 't seems that someone be nay so thrilled wi' Marx's attempts t' ferment revolutionary zeal amongst th' workers o' th' world. Th' Seafarin' hearty Captain, who bears an uncanny resemblance t' Marx gets involved in th' action an' th' next thin' ye know they flee London fer Paris. Thar they find they's self at th' Louvre, Madame Toussaud's waxworks, an' th' Follies Bergere. They also find they's self on th' yardarm o' a Wagnerian opera an' run into Friedrich Nietzsche an' th' assembled crowned heads o' Europe. Events race t' an appropriately humorous climax.

'Tis hard t' describe th' plot an' 'tis probably best t' simply call 't zany. Defoe be a very funny writer an' he actually drops a number o' very funny footnotes throughout th' book that explain some o' th' words, terms, or swabbies he mentions in passin'.

All in all, Th' Seafarin' heartys in an Adventure Wi' Communists will appeal t' young teens an' grownups alike. 'tisn't what I'd call `deep-thought' type fiction but 't be a heck o' a nice way t' spend a couple o' hours on a rainy Saturday afternoon. L. Fleisig

The best so far

The pirates! are back, and they have a sponsorship deal. This is the funniest of the pirates books so far. Karl Marx as the rear end of a bear in Wagner opera, this has to make you smile. More please

Fantastic!

I've read all three of the Pirates books as soon as they've come out and this is my favourite! I read it cover to cover in one go without putting it down at all. I especially love the completely useless educational footnotes! This is like nothing else, except maybe the other Pirates books, and everyone should read it, now.