To me, Pirate Latitudes felt like a first draft if Crichton was an underwriter, as if he wrote the draft quickly to get the general idea down and would have added a lot more to the story if he'd decided to continue working on it. The story itself I enjoyed, but it definitely needed more detail.
From what I remember about it when it was released and some of the notes, big chunks of it were just his notes and several scenes that he'd either finished or got much further with when he died. Then someone else finished the book
@@psalm19creations Dragon Bones is the same way...and as an amusing point, while it masquerades as more historical fiction, Dragon Bones is definitely in the same world as Jurassic Park/The Lost World because of references to specific fictional paleontologists that came from those books (Roxton being one of them..who was, originally, a nod to Doyles book)
I'm pretty sure Pirate Latitudes was a book Crichton wrote very early on in his career and then trashed it, but then after he died his family/publishers decided to publish it anyways despite it being clearly unfinished and older. (Also Crichton rhymes with frighten)
Hi, I highly recommend reading "David Copperfiled" by Charles Dickens. The main character is written about his younger days and reflected on them. Excelent characters, family dynamics, friendships, romance, found family and a lot (A LOT) of emotions.
Pirate latitude was finished by his son and then edit so it’s not quite him but most of it was there couldn’t be any corrections done since he’s no longer with us
hey murphy i have been really enjoying your content. I(and many people) found you through your one piece reviews and going through your videos is really daunting. If you could, please recommend some books you think one piece/manga fans would enjoy as a transition to books(with no pictures) at the end of one of your one piece reviews. that would be great. :)
I really enjoyed Pirate Latitudes, it felt just like a fun, fairly lighthearted pirate story. I think a more polished adventure story Crichton write would be Congo if you are interested
For Dracy Coates, I'd recommend House of Shadows. Its a bit more spooky and has more horror elements in it. You might not like it but it could be worth a shot.
I just finished Pirate Latitudes and I liked it well enough. I did feel like it checked a lot of "pirate story" trope boxes very quickly. I didn't mind the characters that much. Captain Hunter seemed to be a pretty generic male lead, like a cunning and handsome rogue, but I didn't find him totally unlikeable. It does take a while to get to him, though. It wasn't my favorite pirate novel, but it wasn't terrible either. I recommend 'Captain Blood' for those looking for something I think is better.
Hey Merph, for a slightly creepier "light horror" with really fun characters, you should give Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz a shot. I remember being pleasantly surprised by that book.
I had the exact same thoughts about Pirate Latitudes. It was my second book I read by him, the first being another posthumous book but one that feels a lot more natural to me and is one of my favorites by him. I loved Dragon Teeth
The presence of ghosts, vampires, werewolves, or other beasties does NOT mean a story is horror, even if some occasionally horrific events or acts take place in the story.
AhahahA excellent choice: take a break from reading about pirate kings, green-headed swordsmen, chain smoking cooks, excellent navigators, snipers, cyborgs, assassins, and reindeers… by instead reading about ordinary pirates and zombies😆👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
I listened to Pirate Latitudes on a road trip with my wife. We really enjoyed it as an action movie in book form where we were pausing to talk and taking a lot of trip induced breaks. I don't know how I would have felt if it had my entire attention as text. But then, I'm also not the Crichton fan. That's my wife. I think I read Jurassic Park three decades ago, and whatever story The Thirteenth Warrior was based on .
I struggled through half of a Darcy Coates book called The Haunting of Ashburn House and it was so inconsistent. It was windy but the trees weren't moving, then two pages later they were moving 😄 it doesn't sound like she's improving Merph!
Not sure if you will actually see this but I didn't like Pirate Latitudes either for the reasons you mentioned(or Micro for that matter) but I was really surprised by The Andromeda evolution. It's unclear to me how much writing of this book Crichton did be it an outline for a sequel or a sticky note that says "Do another one maybe" but Daniel H Wilson shows an immense respect for the original novel in this sequel and intelligently builds on the framework of The Andromeda Strain to the point where it felt like a Crichton novel for me at least. It's a solid recommend from me.
Also in regards pirate Latitudes I feel like those scenes you mentioned that felt abrupt could have been their own major plot threads in their own right. If this book were more polished some of those scenes might have been cut. making room for more development on other threads.
You’re killing me! It’s Crichton…CRY-TON! NOT creeton…. CRYTON! I rarely can’t finish an audio book and I DNF’d this about halfway through. Crichton is one of my favorite authors of all time but most of his posthumous stuff is not good! Just finished a re-read of Sphere and it is still my favorite of all of his books!
Glad you noticed something off about the Crichton novel. I disagree with the decision to release the book. If an author wants to publish it, they will.
Always interesting to see how execution of ideas can really make something more good or less good. For the ghost story, I wonder if the author fell more in love or comfort with exploring the characters. Maybe she wanted to tell a heavier story, but the attention went elsewhere, so the "horror" elements became more subtle. Creating more Spooky Mystery than actual Horror. As for the Pirate story, i saw another commentor say the it was a story never completed and most likely never for publish. So thats probably why the story gave those feelings.
Been on a pirate binge lately and pirate latitudes was quite high on my tbr but I'm probably going to pick up on stranger tides instead (read frenchman's creek thanks to your review and absolutely loved it! )
Pirate Latitudes feels like Crichton took all the tropes a pirate story would have and threw them together into a single narrative. As I read it I kind of expected cannibals and voila, here's cannibals, and the sea monster too! He was having fun with the material.
I forced my way through Pirates Latitude.. read Dragon Bones (I believe its called) also by Chrichton. It's very underrated and it's a pretty fast read.
I’ve always found Crichton to be super high-variance. I loved Jurassic Park and Timeline (and his memoir Travels) but Pirate Latitudes and Congo I found underwhelming
Try Chalk Man, if you want to check out more in horror. And please review The Great Train Robbery, I am not able to decide whether to read it or not, so I want to see your views, because I have not regretted whenever I have picked a book on your recommendation.
Random question, how would you create a story arc based on true events that don’t end well? I’m trying to write a novel based off of where I live being invaded and essentially colonised told from the perspective of those being invaded. The historical record is lacking so I can make up bits and pieces. If a book is about resisting the invasion and colonisation post invasion how could you create a climax and falling action? Because the characters would essentially be losing the aim.
Chrichton is honesty one of my favorite authors. I brought a big book that had 3 stories so I could read Congo, but I was absolutely amazed by Sphere If you haven't read Sphere or Congo I highly recommend them
Hi Merphy, I'm watching this anime adaptation of Black Clover and I am planning to reading the manga after I am done with the anime. You probably will love Black Clover,because it will give you Lies of Locke and Harry Potter vibes. 🙂 Black Clover is set in a world of magic and everyone's born with magic but except for the main character that he didn't born with any magic (but he winds up getting a giant kicka** sword). The main character and his childhood friend who's a powerful mage want to compete to become the next wizard king. His friend ends up joining higher ranked magic knights,but the main character ended up joining the lower ranked magic knights that are a band of misfits (they will give you Gentleman bastards vibe to them) and they will go on heists and missions. Probably you won't like the main character at first,but you will grow to love him into a character (I finds him high-energic and adorable at the same time.☺) and his relationship with other characters that he has developed throughout the series. 🥰..I known couple of people has recommend Black Clover to you besides Berserk. You definitely should read Black Clover instead . I think you will like Black Clover better. 😉
It's not fair to publish a book posthumously if the writer never intended to publish it. If he had thought their was merit to the story, I doubt he'd have left it dormant for a decade or more. Shame on his estate for overriding his wishes.
Have u been pronouncing his name wrong all these years I thought it was cry-ton the only book of his I have read was andromeda strain and I thought it was kinda boring
Will you be dropping one piece "impel down" review this Friday ??? Can you please let us know. BTW Love your videos ❤️ lots of love from INDIA. Stay safe and blessed. 🙏
I see what you did there, Merphy. You made sure to have the word "Pirate" within te first three words of your video because...One Piece fans are content fiends. Well played, Merph. I'll just go ahead and give you a like.
To me, Pirate Latitudes felt like a first draft if Crichton was an underwriter, as if he wrote the draft quickly to get the general idea down and would have added a lot more to the story if he'd decided to continue working on it. The story itself I enjoyed, but it definitely needed more detail.
From what I remember about it when it was released and some of the notes, big chunks of it were just his notes and several scenes that he'd either finished or got much further with when he died. Then someone else finished the book
@@AzraelThanatos That would make sense.
@@psalm19creations Dragon Bones is the same way...and as an amusing point, while it masquerades as more historical fiction, Dragon Bones is definitely in the same world as Jurassic Park/The Lost World because of references to specific fictional paleontologists that came from those books (Roxton being one of them..who was, originally, a nod to Doyles book)
00:02:01 when your body is briefly inhabited by the spirit of a dog that was kicked off a cliff.
merphy, i finally got "A man called Ove" since you convinced me to buy it, and i can't thank you enough.
I'm pretty sure Pirate Latitudes was a book Crichton wrote very early on in his career and then trashed it, but then after he died his family/publishers decided to publish it anyways despite it being clearly unfinished and older. (Also Crichton rhymes with frighten)
Hi, I highly recommend reading "David Copperfiled" by Charles Dickens. The main character is written about his younger days and reflected on them. Excelent characters, family dynamics, friendships, romance, found family and a lot (A LOT) of emotions.
Whispering Dead sounds awfully familiar.....Quiet zombies, I'm trying to think!
Nice
Pirate latitude was finished by his son and then edit so it’s not quite him but most of it was there couldn’t be any corrections done since he’s no longer with us
2:01 the "uruu" 😂
hey murphy i have been really enjoying your content. I(and many people) found you through your one piece reviews and going through your videos is really daunting. If you could, please recommend some books you think one piece/manga fans would enjoy as a transition to books(with no pictures) at the end of one of your one piece reviews. that would be great. :)
I really enjoyed Pirate Latitudes, it felt just like a fun, fairly lighthearted pirate story. I think a more polished adventure story Crichton write would be Congo if you are interested
I agree.
For Dracy Coates, I'd recommend House of Shadows. Its a bit more spooky and has more horror elements in it. You might not like it but it could be worth a shot.
I just finished Pirate Latitudes and I liked it well enough. I did feel like it checked a lot of "pirate story" trope boxes very quickly. I didn't mind the characters that much. Captain Hunter seemed to be a pretty generic male lead, like a cunning and handsome rogue, but I didn't find him totally unlikeable. It does take a while to get to him, though. It wasn't my favorite pirate novel, but it wasn't terrible either. I recommend 'Captain Blood' for those looking for something I think is better.
I'm a simple man.
I read "pirate", I think one piece
You had me at pirate ☠ novel. A pirate novel by Crichton, published after his passing...gurl yasss, polish or no polish 🤔 I'm in. Thank you!
Hey Merph, for a slightly creepier "light horror" with really fun characters, you should give Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz a shot. I remember being pleasantly surprised by that book.
I even enjoyed the movie.
Michael Crichton has a pirate adventure novel? I wanna try that! Thanks, Merphy! 🥰🤓😍
Yes!
I had the exact same thoughts about Pirate Latitudes. It was my second book I read by him, the first being another posthumous book but one that feels a lot more natural to me and is one of my favorites by him. I loved Dragon Teeth
The presence of ghosts, vampires, werewolves, or other beasties does NOT mean a story is horror, even if some occasionally horrific events or acts take place in the story.
I can’t believe you would call the author a CRETIN, that’s like really mean Merph 😆
Pirate latitudes is such a great book I could not put it down.
AhahahA excellent choice: take a break from reading about pirate kings, green-headed swordsmen, chain smoking cooks, excellent navigators, snipers, cyborgs, assassins, and reindeers… by instead reading about ordinary pirates and zombies😆👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
I listened to Pirate Latitudes on a road trip with my wife. We really enjoyed it as an action movie in book form where we were pausing to talk and taking a lot of trip induced breaks. I don't know how I would have felt if it had my entire attention as text. But then, I'm also not the Crichton fan. That's my wife. I think I read Jurassic Park three decades ago, and whatever story The Thirteenth Warrior was based on .
I struggled through half of a Darcy Coates book called The Haunting of Ashburn House and it was so inconsistent. It was windy but the trees weren't moving, then two pages later they were moving 😄 it doesn't sound like she's improving Merph!
Not sure if you will actually see this but I didn't like Pirate Latitudes either for the reasons you mentioned(or Micro for that matter) but I was really surprised by The Andromeda evolution. It's unclear to me how much writing of this book Crichton did be it an outline for a sequel or a sticky note that says "Do another one maybe" but Daniel H Wilson shows an immense respect for the original novel in this sequel and intelligently builds on the framework of The Andromeda Strain to the point where it felt like a Crichton novel for me at least. It's a solid recommend from me.
Also in regards pirate Latitudes I feel like those scenes you mentioned that felt abrupt could have been their own major plot threads in their own right. If this book were more polished some of those scenes might have been cut. making room for more development on other threads.
You’re killing me! It’s Crichton…CRY-TON!
NOT creeton…. CRYTON!
I rarely can’t finish an audio book and I DNF’d this about halfway through. Crichton is one of my favorite authors of all time but most of his posthumous stuff is not good!
Just finished a re-read of Sphere and it is still my favorite of all of his books!
I recommend Sphere by Michael Crichton
Didnt love pirate latitudes either. I had to kinda force my way through the first 1/3rd of the book.
Ive just started Witness for the Dead, and so far it is A+ chef’s kiss. Captures that same feel The Goblin Emperor had. (same universe)
Have you read Timeline or the great train robbery are my favorites of Michael Crichton
Glad you noticed something off about the Crichton novel. I disagree with the decision to release the book. If an author wants to publish it, they will.
Unless they WANT to, but die before they can.
Always interesting to see how execution of ideas can really make something more good or less good.
For the ghost story, I wonder if the author fell more in love or comfort with exploring the characters. Maybe she wanted to tell a heavier story, but the attention went elsewhere, so the "horror" elements became more subtle. Creating more Spooky Mystery than actual Horror.
As for the Pirate story, i saw another commentor say the it was a story never completed and most likely never for publish. So thats probably why the story gave those feelings.
Been on a pirate binge lately and pirate latitudes was quite high on my tbr but I'm probably going to pick up on stranger tides instead (read frenchman's creek thanks to your review and absolutely loved it! )
Michael Crichton's dead??
Hi merphy I highly recommend reading monster by urusawa Naoki :)
For a great take on ghosts, etc. try the Greywalker series by Kat Richardson. Urban fantasy and really, really good.
I loved the reviews today.
Pirate Latitudes feels like Crichton took all the tropes a pirate story would have and threw them together into a single narrative. As I read it I kind of expected cannibals and voila, here's cannibals, and the sea monster too! He was having fun with the material.
You should read On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers if you want a good pirate adventure.
I forced my way through Pirates Latitude.. read Dragon Bones (I believe its called) also by Chrichton. It's very underrated and it's a pretty fast read.
I’ve always found Crichton to be super high-variance. I loved Jurassic Park and Timeline (and his memoir Travels) but Pirate Latitudes and Congo I found underwhelming
Try Chalk Man, if you want to check out more in horror.
And please review The Great Train Robbery, I am not able to decide whether to read it or not, so I want to see your views, because I have not regretted whenever I have picked a book on your recommendation.
Ok so Black Sails when Merphy?
💜
Random question, how would you create a story arc based on true events that don’t end well?
I’m trying to write a novel based off of where I live being invaded and essentially colonised told from the perspective of those being invaded. The historical record is lacking so I can make up bits and pieces. If a book is about resisting the invasion and colonisation post invasion how could you create a climax and falling action? Because the characters would essentially be losing the aim.
Chrichton is honesty one of my favorite authors.
I brought a big book that had 3 stories so I could read Congo, but I was absolutely amazed by Sphere
If you haven't read Sphere or Congo I highly recommend them
Hi Merphy, I'm watching this anime adaptation of Black Clover and I am planning to reading the manga after I am done with the anime. You probably will love Black Clover,because it will give you Lies of Locke and Harry Potter vibes. 🙂 Black Clover is set in a world of magic and everyone's born with magic but except for the main character that he didn't born with any magic (but he winds up getting a giant kicka** sword). The main character and his childhood friend who's a powerful mage want to compete to become the next wizard king. His friend ends up joining higher ranked magic knights,but the main character ended up joining the lower ranked magic knights that are a band of misfits (they will give you Gentleman bastards vibe to them) and they will go on heists and missions. Probably you won't like the main character at first,but you will grow to love him into a character (I finds him high-energic and adorable at the same time.☺) and his relationship with other characters that he has developed throughout the series. 🥰..I known couple of people has recommend Black Clover to you besides Berserk. You definitely should read Black Clover instead . I think you will like Black Clover better. 😉
Jesus Christ dude lol
It's not fair to publish a book posthumously if the writer never intended to publish it. If he had thought their was merit to the story, I doubt he'd have left it dormant for a decade or more. Shame on his estate for overriding his wishes.
You should pull a Zoro and do a triple review with one book in your mouth xD
Pirates = one piece for me !! But still cretin ?? 😏😌
Have u been pronouncing his name wrong all these years I thought it was cry-ton the only book of his I have read was andromeda strain and I thought it was kinda boring
Will you be dropping one piece "impel down" review this Friday ??? Can you please let us know. BTW Love your videos ❤️ lots of love from INDIA. Stay safe and blessed. 🙏
Yes, Friday will be Impel Down
Talked about a pirate story without mentioning One Piece. :o
I see what you did there, Merphy. You made sure to have the word "Pirate" within te first three words of your video because...One Piece fans are content fiends. Well played, Merph. I'll just go ahead and give you a like.
Day 1 of telling Merphy to read re zero
Pirates Latitudes is no One Piece then...