History Literature / PirateLatitudes

* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Many of them, including minor characters. The above-mentioned privateer, whom gets his face eaten by rats at the hand of Cazalla, probably takes the cake, but there are other candidates as well. Cazalla gets stabbed in the throat by Hunter throwing his sword, a RedShirt crewman is torn up and eaten by the cannibals, several more crewmen are strangled and pulled overboard by the Kraken, Hacklett bleeds to death after taking a bullet to the groin, and in the epilogue, the Moor is run down by a bull, and The Jew is killed in the 1691 earthquake that flattens Port Royal.

''Pirate Latitudes'' is an action adventure PeriodPiece, and the final novel finished by Creator/MichaelCrichton. It was found on his hard drive by his assistant after his death, and published posthumously, in 2009. The story takes place in [[UsefulNotes/TheCaribbean The Spanish Main]] in 1665, centering on {{Privateer}} Charles Hunter, whom is tasked by the governor of Jamaica, James Almont, to steal a massive treasure fleet from an imprenetable Spanish fortress, called Matanceros, and the bulk of the stories centers on the adventures experienced by Hunter and his crew. [[TheMovie A movie by Steven Spielberg]] has been revealed to be in production, and Spielberg's long time assistant David Koepp is working on it, but no further detalils has been revealed.

''Pirate Latitudes'' is an action adventure PeriodPiece, and the final novel finished by Creator/MichaelCrichton. It was found on his hard drive by his assistant after his death, and published posthumously, in 2009. The story takes place in [[WelcomeToTheCaribbeanMon The Spanish Main]] in 1665, centering on {{Privateer}} Charles Hunter, whom is tasked by the governor of Jamaica, James Almont, to steal a massive treasure fleet from an imprenetable Spanish fortress, called Matanceros, and the bulk of the stories centers on the adventures experienced by Hunter and his crew. [[TheMovie A movie by Steven Spielberg]] has been revealed to be in production, and Spielberg's long time assistant David Koepp is working on it, but no further detalils has been revealed.

* AnAxToGrind: Hunter uses an ax to defeat the kraken.

* ButForMeItWasTuesday: Cazalla hs no memory of his killing of the son of the Jew, and the brother of Hunter.
* CannibalTribe. Hunters crew runs into one in Boca del Dragon.
* ClimbingTheCliffsOfInsanity: The heroes at Matanceros.

* EvilFeelsGood: For Cazalla at least.

* FiveManBand:
** TheHero: Hunter.
** TheLancer: Enders.
** TheSmartGuy: Don Diego, aka the Jew.
** TheBigGuy: Bassa, or, the Moor.
** TheChick: Lazue.
** TheSixthRanger/[[spoiler: SixthRangerTraitor]]: Sanson.

* ImpromptuTracheotomy: How Cazalla meets his end.

* LeanAndMean: Bosquets.
* LovesTheSoundOfScreaming: Cazalla.

* ObstructiveBureaucrat: Hacklett is this at first, but later becomes more threatening.

* TheVoiceless: Bassa, aka the Moor.
* WeaponOfChoice: Sanson uses a crossbow.

* AwesomeMcCoolName: Charles Hunter.

* AnimalsNotToScale: The kraken that attacks El Trinidad that must be considered a giant squid, (or a colossal squid alternatively, but that would put it under MisplacedWildlife), is ''way'' larger than a RealLife giant squid. Actually, the first to appear is not that far off. In past observations of giant squid, the mantle was sometimes estimated at twenty feet, although the common consensus today is that it will rarely grow larger than six feet. The second kraken appearance, however, is way beyond any RealLife animal, with the eye alone being ''five feet'' across, and the tentacles as thick as tree trunks. On the opposite, the crocodiles described later in the book seem somewhat smaller than in RealLife. Hunter mentions that the crocodiles in Jamaica rarely grow beyond 4 feet, and that the one five feet long must come from the mainland. Actually, the species of crocodile in Jamaica, the American crocodile, can grow to a whopping twenty feet on the mainland, and rarely some actually do grow to 13 feet in the Caribbean, but the fact remains that Hunter's estimations would be more correct if expressed in meters rather than feet. Possibly a simple mistake from Crichton, failing to recognize between meters and feet, although this would seem unusual for a man so keen on [[ShownTheirWork showing his work.]]

* KrakenAndLeviathan: The kraken appears to attack El Trinidad, commanded by Hunter. Also counts as the book's only deviance from realism, since giant squid does not get near that size.

* ALoadOfBull: The Moor is killed by a bull during the attack on Panama in the epilogue, many years after.

'''Pirate Latitudes''' is an action adventure PeriodPiece, and the final novel finished by Creator/MichaelCrichton. It was found on his hard drive by his assistant after his death, and published posthumously, in 2009. The story takes place in [[WelcomeToTheCaribbeanMon The Spanish Main]] in 1665, centering on {{Privateer}} Charles Hunter, whom is tasked by the governor of Jamaica, James Almont, to steal a massive treasure fleet from an imprenetable Spanish fortress, called Matanceros, and the bulk of the stories centers on the adventures experienced by Hunter and his crew. [[TheMovie A movie by Steven Spielberg]] has been revealed to be in production, and Spielberg's long time assistant David Koepp is working on it, but no further detalils has been revealed.

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!!Pirate Latitudes feature the following tropes:

* AxCrazy: Cazalla.

* BadassSpaniard: Cazalla.

* PirateGirl: Lazue.
* {{Privateer}}

* [[TheShelfOfMovieLanguishment The Shelf of Book Langishment]]: Nobody knows exactly when Crichton finished the book, or why he never submitted it to his publishers, but it appears he had been working on it since the mid-1970s.

* ShownTheirWork: With MichaelChrichton involved, what would you expect? Everything, from the wildlife, to the historical events in the epilogue, to the navigation techniques, are completely accurate, and the fictional events of the book fits to a tee.

* ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks: Hunter vs. Cazalla.

* BadAss: Many of them, but especially Hunter, his crew, and Cazalla.

'''Pirate Latitudes''' is an action adventure PeriodPiece, and the final novel finished by Creator/MichaelCrichton. It was found on his hard drive by his assistant after his death, and published posthumously, in 2009. The story takes place in [[WelcomeToTheCaribbeanMon The Spanish Main]] in 1665, centering on {{Privateer}} Charles Hunter, whom is tasked by the governor of Jamaica, James Almont, to steal a massive treasure fleet from an imprenetable Spanish fortress, called Matanceros, and the bulk of the stories centers on the adventures experienced by Hunter and his crew. [[TheMovie A movie by Steven Spielberg]] has been revealed to be in prodoction, and Spielbergs long time assistant David Koepp is working on it, but no further detalils has been revealed.

'''Pirate Latitudes''' is an action adventure PeriodPiece, and the final novel finished by MichaelCrichton. It was found on his hard drive by his assistant after his death, and published posthumously, in 2009. The story takes place in [[WelcomeToTheCaribbeanMon The Spanish Main]] in 1665, centering on {{Privateer}} Charles Hunter, whom is tasked by the governor of Jamaica, James Almont, to steal a massive treasure fleet from an imprenetable Spanish fortress, called Matanceros, and the bulk of the stories centers on the adventures experienced by Hunter and his crew. [[TheMovie A movie by Steven Spielberg]] has been revealed to be in prodoction, and Spielbergs long time assistant David Koepp is working on it, but no further detalils has been revealed.

* TheDragon: Busquets is this to Cazalla, and Commandor Scott is this to Robert Hacklett in the ending.
** DragonAscendant: Busquets takes command over the spanish warship after Cazalla's death.

** TheHero: Hunter
** TheLancer: Enders

* JokerJury: [[spoiler:]]During Hunter's trial, the members of the jury have been handpicked by Hacklett, among the people in Port Royal that will get most out of his death.]]

* TheDogBitesBack: Hacklett is shot in the groin by his wife after things just get enough for her.

* GiantSquid: Appears twice. At first it does not do much, and is mostly considered an omen. The second time, it is extremely aggressive, is MUCH larger than real life giant squid, and attacks in the ship, killing several crewmembers.

* JokerJury: During Hunters trial, the members of the jury has been handpicked by Hacklett, among the people in Port Royal that whil get most out of his death.
* KangarooCourt: After returning from his journey, Hunter is subjected to one, led by Hacklett, and judged to be hanged.
* KarmicDeath: Hacklett is shot in the groin by his wife, after his abuse of her just gets enough.
* KickTheDog: Cazalla slitting the throat of a crewmember, and later torturing another with rats. Hacklett allowing Commander Scott to rape his wife.
* KrakenAndLeviathan: The kraken appears to attack El Trinidad, commanded by Hunter. Also counts as the books only deviance from realism, since giant squid does not get near that size.
* LeanAndMean: Busquets.

* MisplacedWildlife: For a large part, masterfully averted, as could be trusted from Crichton, but a very minor slip-up appears. Coral snakes are not known from eastern Caribbean islands, and Matanceros is described as the easternmost in the islands, nor are venomous snakes in general, apart from the fer de lance vipers from Martinique. However, since Matanceros is a fictional island, this could possibly be irrelevant. Also, monkeys are scarcely seen in the Caribbean, and if the GiantSquid fitting the size proportions of a ColossalSquid, that woudl count too, as they only live around Antarctica.
* MySiblingWillLiveThroughMe: The reason Lazue started to live as a boy, was that her older brother died, and since she was illegitimate, her mother had to disguise her as the brother to avoid revealing that she had been cheating her husband.

* RandomEventsPlot: After the attack on Matanceros, the rest of the story is basically all the misfortunes the crew runs into on the return journey.

* ShownTheirWork: Wll, with MichaelChrichton involved, what would you expect? Everything, from the wildlife, the historical events in the epilogue, to the navigation techniques, are completely accurate, and the fictional events of the book fits to a tee.
* ShowSomeLeg: Lazue takes this to a new degree, when faced with Spanish guards at Matanceros, she takes off her shirt, and subsequently slits all their throats. Also, Hunter uses Anne Sharpe to distract Sanson in the climax, allowing him to kill Sanson.
* SlashedThroat: Cazalla killing a crewmember. Of corse, when Hunter finally kills Cazalla, a simple slash won't do it. Instead he throws his sword, stabbing Cazalla through the neck.
* SwarmOfRats: The ship bring swith them several live rats, which the Jew intends to use the intestines to make fuses with, but when Cazalla finds them, he figures out how to use them as a torture method.
* ThreateningShark: Sharks circle Sanson's boat in the climax, and devour his body after Hunter kills him.

* TookALevelInJerkass: Hacklett was orginally just an ObstructiveBureaucrat, but during Hunters journey, he got a lot worse. Same goes fo Commander Scott.

* WorthlessYellowRocks: Hunter is sorely disappointed that the gold turns out to be impure, contaminated with the then-worthless metal platinum.
* YouKilledMyFather: Cazalla tortured and killed Don Diegos son, and did more or less the same to Hunters brother in the backstory.

* GiantSquid: Appears twice, at first it does not do much, and is mostly considered an omen, the second time, it is aggresive, MUCH larger than real life giant squid, and attacks in the ship, killing several crewmembers.

* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Many of them, including minor characters. The above-mentioned privateer, whom gets his head eaten by rats at the hand of Cazalla, probably takes the cake, but there are other candidates as well. Cazallas thrat is stabbed, after Hunter throws his sword, a RedShirt crewman is torn up and eaten by the Caribs, several more crewmen are strangled and pulled overboard by the Kraken, Hacklett bleeds out after a bullet to the groin, and in the epilogue, the Moor is run down by a bull, and The Jew is killed in the 1691 earthquake that flattens Port Royal.

** DragonAscendant: Busquets takes command over the spanish warship after Cazallas death.

* ColdBloodedTorture: When Cazalla tries to force the crewmen to talk, he subjects one to getting his face attacked by rats.

* BigBad: Cazalla is probably the villain to get closest to this status, but since he dies half-way through the book, he cannot truly be called this. In the ending, both Robert Hacklett and Sanson can qualify.

* BadBoss: While, despite everything else, he is not one of the worst bosses, when Cazalla realizes his captives has escaped, he immediately lets out his anger on a Spanish soldier nearby, knocking him down.

* AnimalsNotToScale: The kraken that attacks El Trinidad that must be considered a giant squid, (or a colossal squid alternatively, but that would put it under MisplacedWildlife), is ''way'' larger than a RealLife giant squid. Actually, the first to appear is not that far off. In past observations of giant squid, the mantle was sometimes estimated at twenty feet, although the common consensus today is that it will rarely grow larger than six feet. The second kraken appearance, however, is way beyond any RealLife animal, with the eye alone being ''five feet'' across, and the tentacles as thick as tree trunks. On the opposite, the crocodiles described later in the book seem somewhat smaller than in RealLife. Hunter mentions that the crocodiles in Jamaica rarely grow beyond 4 feet, and that the one five feet long must come from the mainland. Actually, the species of crocodile in Jamaica, the American crocodile, can grow to a whopping twenty feet on the mainland, and rarely some actually do grow to 13 feet in the Caribbean, but the fact remains, that Hunter's estimations would be more correct if expressed in meters rather than feet. Possibly a simple mistake from Crichton, failing to recognize between meters and feet, although this would seem unusual for a man so keen on [[ShownTheirWork showing his work.]]

* AnimalsNotToScale: The kraken that attacks El Trinidad, must be considered a giant squid, (Or a colossal squid alternatively, but that would put it under MisplacedWildlife), is ''way'' larger than RealLife giant squid. Actually, the first to appear is not that far off, in past observations of giant squid, hte mantle was sometimes put as twenty feet, although the common consensus today is that it will rearly grow larger than six feet, but the second is way beyond any considerations, with the eye alone being ''five feet'' across, and the tentacles thick as tree trunks. This is actually the only scene in the book that would not happen in Real Life. On the opposite, the crocodiles described, seem somewhat smaller than in RealLife, Hunter mentions that the crocodiles in Jamaica rarely grow beyond 4 feet, and that the one five feet long must come from the mainland. Actually, the species of crocodile in Jamaica, the American crocodile, gan grow to a whopping twenty feet on the mainland, and does rarely some 13 feet in the Caribbean, but the fact remains, that Hunters figures would be more correct if put in meters, rather than feet. Possibly a simple mistake from Crichton, failing to recognize between meters and feet, athough that would seemunusual for a man so keen on [[ShownTheirWork showing his work.]]

The plot of the novel, more detailed, goes as follows: In 1665, a ship arrives in Port Royal, carrying words of a large treasure of gold, mined by the Spanish in South America, and taken to the impenetrable fortress of Matanceros, awaiting escort across the Atlantic. Interested in acquiring the gold, James Almont, the governor of Jamaica, secretly orders {{Privateer}} Charles Hunter to retrieve the gold, promising him a share, against the request of Robert Hacklett, Almonts new ObstructiveBureaucrat assistant. However, the gold is guarded by Cazalla, the sociopathic Spanish commander of Matanceros, and Hunter, even after assembling his crew, is facing hardships. A short mention of the problems he experiences in route, can be summed up to: Getting captured by Cazalla, ClimbingTheCliffsOfInsanity at Matanceros, experiencing some serious JungleJapes on the same island, including snakes and mosquitoes, fighting Cazallas men at Matanceros, fleeing Matanceros, pursued by Cazallas DragonAscendant, Bosquets, battling his warship, dealing with the hardships of TheLoad, BrainlessBeauty Lady Sarah Almont, the governors niece, a hurricane, a CannibalTribe, a GiantSquid, and finally the TyrantTakesTheHelm, in the familiar form of Robert Hacklett in Port Royal, and finally, a significant betrayal by a crew member. It is a true adventure novel, in other words.