This is the third of the Pirates! books, a series of silly little stories about pirates who have adventures with various real and fictional famous 19th century figures. Actually, "silly" doesn't really do these justice. They're ridiculous and absurd, a kind of humor that, now that I think about it, feels more than a little Monty Python-esque. And, as with Monty Python, I often find myself a bit confused about why I'm laughing at this nonsense, but happily laughing at it, anyway.

In this one, the pirates get tangled up with communists (as you could probably guess). It starts when the Pirate Captain gets mistaken for Karl Marx because of his amazing beard, propelling them into an adventure that features philosophy, opera, and art theft, among other interesting elements.

I've enjoyed all of these books so far, in their own bizarre ways, but I do think I liked this one more than the last one, The Pirates! in an Adventure with Ahab. I think maybe it's because the humorous situations feel a little less random and a little more in service of... Well, look, I hesitate to call it a plot, but I'm not sure what else to call it, so let's say in service of a plot. No matter how thin or how crazy it might be. ( )

This is the third installment in the Pirates! series and although I really enjoyed the first and second, I can't really say the same for this one. The plot takes place in the year 1840 and follows the usual group of pirates on their adventures. In this one they meet Karl Marx and are on a mission to discover why everyone is against the Communist movement.
The main problem with this novel, I find, is the plot and the pacing. Not a lot happens until about half way through and the beginning drags a lot so overall it was a much slower read than the previous two books. The end was exciting and action-packed but I feel that it ended too suddenly.
The characters were consistent with the other two books and were funny as always. I think the character of the Pirate Captain was developed well throughout the book and some of the other pirates were developed further.
Overall, I feel that The Pirates! in an Adventure with Communists was not as good as the previous books in the series but I still enjoyed it. I would give it 4 out of 5 stars. ( )

“The Crustacean Carnival of Fear”

The Pirate Captain, fresh from an adventure battling Black Bellamy, takes his crew ashore in London, where he is mistaken for Karl Marx, on account of his enormous flowing beard, and arrested. Friedrich Engels comes to his rescue on the condition that the Pirate Captain takes up his business proposition…

I can’t decide whether this is a children’s book or not. On the one hand, the tone seems very much intended for children, and there are basic explanations of historical events/cultural points which appear pitched at an 8-10-year-old level; on the other hand, there are sly cultural references which would go sailing over kids’ heads and are, I suspect, included for the benefit of the weary adult reading the book with a child. I gave up on it after 78 pages not because I wasn’t enjoying it, but because it was just too basic and I lost some patience.

The pirates are whimsically characterized (“the pirate in green”, “the pirate with long legs”, “the albino pirate”, “the pirate with a scarf”) and the Pirate Captain is fun; proud and charismatic, a bit of a show-off. Jennifer proves to be somewhat of a Hermionic (can I claim creation of that word?) character in that she seems to be there to push the Pirate Captain back into line so that he can stay boisterously in character but still progress the plot, but she’s likeable enough.

Defoe writes London cleverly with amusing suggestions (a monkey turns thattriangular sign outside Scotland Yard?) and there are some sparky comments on celebrity, boring speeches and various other themes generally missing from children’s books. ( )

Oh, how I loved this book! I heard Chris Addison talking about the series on My Life in Books, and the extract he read out had me (and him!) in stitches, so when I saw this one at the library I snapped it up. It's actually the third book in the series, but it didn't matter in the slightest that I didn't start with An Adventure with Scientists. It's still brilliant!

It's a hilarious, lively, tongue-in-cheek and completely addictive little book in which the Pirate Captain (Terror of the High Seas), his number two (the pirate with a scarf) and his motley band of rogues team up with Marx and Engels to find out who is attempting to discredit the communist movement across Europe. It's a real romp - but if you want to find out how statuesque blonde ladies, opera, French schoolchildren, waxworks, bears and a volcano fit into the story... well, you'll just have to read it for yourself!

The humour is sly, ridiculous and occasionally a little bit naughty, and with the genuinely informative but pithy footnotes scattered through the pages, I can see why previous reviewers have often drawn comparisons with Terry Pratchett. A set of these books would make a great gift idea I think, whether the recipient is a keen reader or not, and I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for the rest of the series for more chaos and chuckles in the near future! ( )

This should be called "The Pirates! In an Adventure with Philosophers", because though Marx is excellent, it's really Nietzsche as a tin-superman-phantom-of-the-opera/weakling-philosopher-wanna-be that is the book's coup de gras. Brilliant. Hilarious. Ridiculous. ( )