The Pirates of Shan

Rick Brant Science-Adventures #14

by John Blaine, Harold Leland Goodwin

Rick Brant and his pal Scotty travel out to the Sulu Sea near Southeast Asia to find and rescue a couple of the scientists from the Spindrift Labs who have not returned from an expedition to that area. Great adventures with modern day pirates!

Genres: Science Fiction

181 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1958

About the author

"John Blaine" was a pseudonym of Harold Leland Goodwin and Peter J. Harkins.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Pirates of Shan is the fourteenth Rick Brant adventure, and is one of the more adventure-oriented rather than scientifically-based volumes in the series. Rick and Scotty fly off to the Philippines, along with Dr. Zircon, to search for the missing Doctors Briotti and Shannon. It's the same setting of the tenth book, The Golden Skull, and some of the characters from that adventure reappear in this one, as does Chahda. It's a little hard to believe that they'd send the two boys and one adult scientist rather than the Marines or local constabulary, but what the heck. (Pirates are the culprits... where's Kit when you need him?) I found one thing that struck me as an error; it's stated in chapter sixteen that "neither boy was an experienced mountaineer," but what about all of the climbing in volume two, The Lost City? Anyway, the day is saved and many Johnny Quest-like adventures are had along the way. The Rick Brant books were a series of boys' (today they'd just be labeled "y.a.") scientific (originally called "electronic") adventures that were written between the late '40s and '60s. They were in many ways superior to the better-known Tom Swift, Jr. books; they were more realistic and included descriptions of projects and puzzles that engaged the reader, as well as having more down-to-earth settings and set-ups and more realistic and likable characters. Rick lived on Spindrift Island, the location of a small but superior scientific facility headed by his father, Hartson Brant, along with his friend Scotty (who was originally an ex-Marine veteran of World War Two), his younger sister Barby, his mother (who was never named other than "Mom" or "Mrs. Brant" so far as I can recall, and a large and expanding likable cast of scientists, and including Dismal (Diz), the family dog. Spindrift was a lovely and wonderful location, as detailed by the map on the endpapers in each volume, with a farm, a rocket launcher, cliffs and woods, a pirate's field, a dock and airfield, an orchard, a large house and laboratory facility; in short, everything a right-thinking young person of the 1950's could ever need. There was a fine and ever-changing cast of supporting characters in addition to the Island residents, including Chahda (an enterprising and bright young friend from India), and Agent Steve Ames, government liaison beyond compare, whom I always believed to be related to Harlan Ames, the security chief in the Tom Swift, Jr. books. Typically the stories started at home, on Spindrift, and then took the boys to some remote and exotic location in the company of one or more of the cast of scientists, where they would have adventures, solve mysteries, and perform valuable scientific experiments and research. They're fun and exciting stories despite inevitable dating, and I am enjoying revisiting them. (less)

[Nicolas · Rating 3 out of 5]

This took me a while to get into, but once I got a feel for the characters I was able to sit back and enjoy this retro adventure. Rick Brant and his friends must have inspired Johnny Quest because there were quite a few similarities. Overall a very enjoyable quick read.

[Kent Archie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Usual problems. Much longer travel times than now, communication problems,
somewhat disrespectful description and interactions with indigenous or non-white people.
There's not much science or engineering.
This is a straight adventure.
Here are some specific references in the book.
The Apo view hotel exists, looks pretty nice, especially for about $50 a night.
Apo View Hotel

The town of Calinan also exists.

The Boyots hotel became the
Lantaka Hotel by the sea
Boyots Hotel

After they find the island they go out to sea to prepare.
The book says they are at
4° 21' latitude and 120° 29' longitude.
I tried some combinations of NSEW
and this is the most likely place
4° 21' N 120° 29' E

[George Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Pirates of Shan - John Blaine - Five Stars ☆☆☆☆☆

I have read it several times and I will read it again.

This is my favorite Rick Brant Science-Adventure story. It's a middle school-level adventure story where Rick, Scotty, and Chahda travel through the Philippine archipelago fending off pirates as they search for their missing friends.

I first read this when I was in middle school. Now my youngest grandson is in middle school. When I recently reread the book I followed the boys' trip using Google Maps and Wikipedia which added another layer of entertainment to the reading.

George W. Parker

[Steve Rutherford · Rating 5 out of 5]

PC

[Rex Libris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some scientist from Spindrift Island get kidnapped by Filipino pirates. Rick and friends go and rescue them with an old PT boat. A straightforward story and plot, no real twists or turns.

[Mike Debaptiste · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books in the Rick Brant series from the mid-20th century. In this one Rick and his pal Scotty head out to the Sulu Sea area south of the Philippines in an attempt to search and rescue two of the scientists from the Spindrift Laboratories who went out there on an expedition and have disappeared. Lots of action and adventure with the modern day Moro pirates who terrorize the Sulu Sea all culminating in a thrilling oh-so-dangerous rescue attempt that gets you turning pages faster than all get-out. Check my review for the Wallace Boys book THE SULTAN OF THE SULU SEA by Duncan Watts. These two books are very similar and it's great to be able to read them back to back.

[Jonathan Stevens · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the manybooks.net version of this. The real name of the author is
Harold Goodwin, author of "Ride the Gray Planet", a great book for kids
and adults. This one does not rise to that level, but is still ok. There
are several Rick Brandt novels on manybooks, I may try one again.

[Brenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this, but it was very hard to get interested in. I guess pirates don't really keep my attention.