I’ve read and enjoyed Michael Crichton’s novels The Andromeda Strain and Jurassic Park, which were very technical and meticulously researched. Since I am unfamiliar with his historical fiction, I can’t make an accurate comparison to his earlier works but Pirate Latitudes is as good a pirate novel as any out there.
Unfortunately Crichton left us too early, succumbing to cancer in November 2008 and Pirate Latitudes was published posthumously last year. In some ways, it seems uncharacteristic of him. For one reason, the writing changes about halfway through the novel. For the better. It’s as if Crichton started editing the book starting from the end and working forward but didn’t finish. The first half lacks the impact and sophistication of the second.
In Jurassic Park and The Andromeda Strain, Crichton introduced some interesting concepts such as creating dinosaurs from DNA extracted from fossilized mosquitoes or an extremely lethal organism from outer space. That level of originality isn’t found in Pirate Latitudes.
With that said, it is a very exciting and thrilling high-seas adventure. The story is set in the Caribbean in the mid-1600’s, during the golden age of piracy. Port Royal, Jamaica was in its hey-day then as a bustling seaport, popular with pirates. It was an English outpost far from the opulence and safety of the court of King Charles, so its governor had to rely on pirates and privateers for commodities, resources and protection which came mainly from raiding Spanish settlements and ships around the Caribbean. Although England and Spain were technically at peace, citizens of the two countries still viewed each other as sworn enemies.
Captain Charles Hunt has received information that a Spanish treasure galleon is anchored at the island of Mantanceros under the protection of a fort on the eastern side. The west side of the island is mountainous, too rough and impenetrable for a ground force to carry out an attack. But Hunt believes it can be done and he recruits a strange group of experts in various fields to help with the assault. During the adventure, they encounter attacks by Spaniards, a hurricane and a mysterious creature from the deep.
Crichton doesn’t gloss over or romanticize any of the details of life aboard sailing vessels in the mid-seventeenth century. Violence, death and deplorable living conditions were the norm and Crichton pulls no punches. Pirate Latitudes is bloody, gritty and unapologetically real. It’s a great pirate story, sure to please any fan of historical novels.
Unfortunately Crichton left us too early, succumbing to cancer in November 2008 and Pirate Latitudes was published posthumously last year. In some ways, it seems uncharacteristic of him. For one reason, the writing changes about halfway through the novel. For the better. It’s as if Crichton started editing the book starting from the end and working forward but didn’t finish. The first half lacks the impact and sophistication of the second.
In Jurassic Park and The Andromeda Strain, Crichton introduced some interesting concepts such as creating dinosaurs from DNA extracted from fossilized mosquitoes or an extremely lethal organism from outer space. That level of originality isn’t found in Pirate Latitudes.
With that said, it is a very exciting and thrilling high-seas adventure. The story is set in the Caribbean in the mid-1600’s, during the golden age of piracy. Port Royal, Jamaica was in its hey-day then as a bustling seaport, popular with pirates. It was an English outpost far from the opulence and safety of the court of King Charles, so its governor had to rely on pirates and privateers for commodities, resources and protection which came mainly from raiding Spanish settlements and ships around the Caribbean. Although England and Spain were technically at peace, citizens of the two countries still viewed each other as sworn enemies.
Captain Charles Hunt has received information that a Spanish treasure galleon is anchored at the island of Mantanceros under the protection of a fort on the eastern side. The west side of the island is mountainous, too rough and impenetrable for a ground force to carry out an attack. But Hunt believes it can be done and he recruits a strange group of experts in various fields to help with the assault. During the adventure, they encounter attacks by Spaniards, a hurricane and a mysterious creature from the deep.
Crichton doesn’t gloss over or romanticize any of the details of life aboard sailing vessels in the mid-seventeenth century. Violence, death and deplorable living conditions were the norm and Crichton pulls no punches. Pirate Latitudes is bloody, gritty and unapologetically real. It’s a great pirate story, sure to please any fan of historical novels.
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