Lighthearted, funny and wonderfully bonkers! ( )

The fourth in the humorous Pirates! series, this one actually doesn't involved that much pirating. After humiliation at the annual Pirate Awards, the Pirate Captain (with his luxuriant beard and pleasant, open face) has decided to retire - only his tropical island of choice actually turns out to be a bleak goat-riddled chunk of rock, and he'll be sharing the hearts of the local townspeople with none other than Napoleon Bonaparte. Bring on the clash of the egos! Funny, slightly surreal, and heralding the return of all my favourite pirates including Jennifer (former Victorian lady) and the long-suffering pirate with a scarf. A fun way to while away an afternoon! ( )

In The Pirates! In Adventure with Napoleon, Gideon Defoe again takes us on a laugh out loud misadventure with his Pirate Captain and his rag tag crew. After Pirate Captain decides to give up pirating in favor of beekeeping, he finds himself on the island of St. Helena. It's not long before he finds himself in a battle with the famous historical figure making an appearance in this volume, a (perhaps accurately) self-important Napoleon Bonaparte. The book's dust jacket asks the all important question "Is the island's twenty-eight mile circumference big enough to contain two of history's greatest egos?" The answer is, of course, an emphatic "No!" and hilarity ensues. This, and the other books in The Pirates! series are wildly entertaining quick reads that manage to be both very silly and smartly funny. Well worth the read. ( )

So much fun. Not quite as strong as the previous three Pirates! books, but of course I still enjoyed it immensely. Gideon Defoe winds together intelligent satire with the silliest of humor to make yet another fun and far too quick read. In this adventure, the Pirate Captain is passed over at the Pirate of the Year awards and thus decides to give up beekeeping and, at his nemesis Black Bellamy's suggestion, retires to St. Helena, much to the regret of his crew. He enjoys being the island's most famous and interesting resident until none other than Napoleon Bonaparte shows up and ruins his fun. Whose ego will come out on top, and who has a better hat? ( )

The Pirates! series has a warm soft place in my heart, anytime I need cheering up I can pick up a tiny tale and be heartedly amused. The constant build up of jokes and silliness guarantees to bring a smirk and then a giggle. Of course liking the books solely rests on whether you a) like Pirates and b) enjoy rather silly over top humour, with running gags, odd footnotes, idiotic names ("Pirate who like sunsets & kittens" is my fav), tiny hand drawn maps and wild historical inaccuracy. The plot? Well after another disastrous Pirate of the year competition, the Pirate Captain decides to give up life at sea and become a bee keeper but then he hasn't reckoned with a retired attention seeking Napoleon..

Personally I find it extremely hard to describe humour so I think I will just handover to a quote...

"Unpack the boat, lads,' he roared, banging his cup of tea down on the mantelpiece, because banging things was always his favourite way of illustrating those moments when he made a particularly important decision. 'We're staying!'

The pirates all seemed to deflate where they were sitting, like a row of pirate-shaped balloons.

'Come on, don't all look so dour. And if it helps to get you to turn those frowns upside down,' he added, 'then try to think of this as a very long, uneventful adventure on an exotic island. You know, like in that Robinson Crusoe book. But with better hats, and less narrative thrust.' ( )