On Stranger Tides

If you're looking at this as a novelization of the third Pirates of the Caribbean movies, you will be disappointed. The only vague connections are, an (unwilling) pirate nicknamed Jack, Blackbeard as a character, the fountain of youth and the use of vudun magic. There are no mermaids, no Jack Sparrow, and no dead monkey named Jack. I love 5he POTC franchise but deeply resent that they plundered (like my pirate reference?) this book mostly for it's well known title, in certain circles, to bring viewers to their film.The story herein is about a young man John Chandanque, bent on revenge, his uncle Stephen managed to steal his father's very hefty inheritance, without his father ever having been aware, by claiming he was dead. The father passed away years later poor and broken. John is determined to face him down and reclaim what is now, by right, his inheritance, and see his uncle Stephen in chains. While on his way to Haiti he is on a ship that has only three other passengers, a well known, in his circles, scholar Harwood, his daughter, Elizabeth, supposedly suffering from some weakening condition, and her "Doctor" Leo Friend. John befriends Elizabeth and just as they are hours from landing in Port-au-Prince Haiti, their ship is taken by pirates. John, without really thinking, challenges the pirate captain Davies, wounding him, Davis, liking his spunk, offers him a rare choice, "Join us or die." John takes his place on the pirate crew and they rename him Jack Shandy. This begins John/Jacks adventure into magic, buccaneering, and finally to become a reluctant hero all to save a girl whom he didn't realize until near the end, he loves. There are pirate raids, there is Juan Ponce de Leon, the Fountain of Youth (well kind of), Blackbeard/Ed Thatch, and a wild land, still new and young, bubbling with magic that a 'normal' 'civilized' could only barely understand, and one young man doing his best to stay a good man and fight evil and injustice.

Yes, one of the greatest pirate fantasy fiction novels ever written is available on audio book, and it is read by...Bronson Pinchot, and it's fantastic!I have been a big fan of Tim Powers' novels for years, and like most fans frustrated that such a master of magic historical fiction (magic-punk?) has had many of his greatest works OUT OF PRINT despite multiple awards and praise. I had heard quite a while ago, when I first started tracking down his books, about him having written a pirate novel of some merit, but everyone I had talked to said it was near impossible to find.After searching and searching, I finally found a friend that let me borrow his prized copy and read it (he actually made me leave a rare book of mine in his possession as collateral for its return); I am glad I did because On Stranger Tides is now one of my favorite books.Like several of Powers' "historical" novels it draws heavily from what (little) is known about real people who actually existed but who have had legends and even myths built up around them, in this case the "real" historical journeys of Edward Teach (Blackbeard) and his noteworthy death. He then weaves the truths together with plausible paranormal ulterior motives and engrossing adventures until he has crafted a tapestry of such cunning that it sends you back to the history books to make sure that it is fiction.Bronson Pinchot's reading of this book is a wonder. Despite being mostly known for his sit-com performances on TV, he is actually classically trained in the fine arts, sculpture, and architecture; well educated (Yale University, magna cum laude); and a veteran performer of both stage and screen. His telling of the story glides easily from narration to character as only a masterful storyteller can. I cannot imagine how a full cast could have done it any better.I have read that his other audiobook performances have likewise gotten rave reviews and he has even won an Audie Award for his audio book performances. I am planning on seeking those out next.The production is from Blackstone Audio on 10 disks (or MP3) so you are assured that the recordings are clean, balanced, and well edited as well.

It is a shame that the blurb on the back cover says it was the inspiration for the Pirates of the Caribbean movie of the same name. Myself and a lot of fans of the book wanted it to be,but it wasn't even close. The only similarity between them is that they both have Blackbeard in them.In our novel;Blackbeard was at once an apprentice Boccor or Witch Doctor. At the age of 14 he attempted to place a soul into the body of an undead person. Unfortunate for the populace of Port Royal,this can only be accomplished over water and never land. The Loa performing the soul transplant noted this problem and implemented the simplest solution,moving that portion of the island out to sea. Thus began the career of the dreaded Pirate Blackbeard,feared for his viciousness at sea and for his skills in arcane magic. The Loa of the cemetery known as Baron Samedi was kept close,by the low burning fires of the canon wicks woven into Blackbeard's mane. With Samedi as his protector,Blackbeard sought to rule in this life and in the other,eventually becoming an Loa himself. Unfortunately the time of magic and piracy was drawing to a close. Blackbeard needed to find someone who could take him to the place which exists between planes,but quick. One other man had been there and escaped,a young Spaniard by the name of Juan Ponce De Leon. Juan had drawn his own blood there and thus planted his immortal roots by the fount of magic. This is just my interpretation of one such kernel of which there are many in this book. If you are a fan of Pirate Lore or Olde Nautical Literature then this book is a must read. I must confess that i was neither until i read and reread it some 30 years ago in a hospital bed with Pneumonia. The writing is tight and fast paced and never boring. Just move that cursor over to that yellow button marked Add To Cart. You and the Baron both will be glad you did.

This is the book that the Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise drew inspiration from for it's 4th outing. I wanted to read the book before seeing the film and as a result of my tardiness, will now have to wait for the film to come out on DVD.I love pirates, I wish there were more novels surrounding pirates, (anyone that wishes to point me in the right direction please feel free). However, the few I have read, all seem to leave me feeling the same.It is very rare I finish a book and can't decide whether I enjoyed it or not. "On stranger tides" joins this list. Like other pirate novels I have read, there were moments where I really enjoyed the experience and other moments where I was reading but not really taking the story in.For example, the whole Fountain of Youth episode stood out as a really good piece of writing, Tim Powers really portrayed a great sense of atmosphere and claustrophobia. The sense of voodoo magic poured through the swamp like settings and the character's distress at their real or imaginary visions was quite disconcerting. However, if you asked me what the purpose of the whole scene was and what the characters achieved, I would struggle to tell you.There are also some good characters. The pirate captain Phil Davies, the evil Leo Friend and the loyal Skank spring to mind. However it is difficult to route for the main character Jack Shandy who spends long periods feeling for himself and drowning his sorrows.I think the biggest problem with the novel is the lack of direction. I like my plots to be clear, I don't mind complicated but I like to know the motivations of the protagonists and their overall objectives. With "on stranger tides," the main character "Shandy " seems to stumble from one scene to another with no real purpose. There is some vague mention of an uncle he wishes to confront and then later he wants to rescue a girl who at the beginning of the novel he did not care for.The timeline is never consistent. A chapter might end and the next may start up immediately after the event or some months after. I found myself not discovering which until I had read a good few paragraphs of the chapter first. This is probably summed up in the loosely entitled epilogue, which is really just the final chapter of the book taking place seconds after the ending of the previous chapter and in no way representative of an epilogue whatsoever.It sounds as if I really didn't enjoy the book, but I don't think that is a fair reflection. I just felt the story was more of a mesh of cool scenes loosely tied together than a clever tale. The only constant being Shandy's half hearted pursuit of a girl he did not want to encourage in the beginning. Overall, I enjoyed it then... I think.

I went into this book knowing very little about it. Really the only thing I had to go on was the rather lacklustre Pirates of the Caribbean film based on it, which is hardly the best endorsement.But I found myself very pleasantly surprised with the result. The actual similarity between the book and the film is limited to the name, the fountain of youth, and the involvement of Blackbeard. If the film had been more like the book, then it might not have been the disappointment it turned out to be.So why did I like "On Stranger Tides" so much? Well, the first thing it has going for it is excellent characters. The pirate genre lends itself to colourful, imaginative and exciting casts, and Powers doesn't disappoint. Main character Jack Shandy is the classic character who never really wanted to be a pirate, but found an outlaw life thrust upon him, whilst Blackbeard manages to be engagingly bad, but more than simply a cardboard-cut-out comic villain. Add to the mix a host of brash but morally-questionable buccaneers and you couldn't really want for better pirate fare.One thing that I was a little less passionate about was the ending. Throughout, Powers keeps the story fast paced and exciting, with the action running right up to the end. Which is great, but it makes the ending feel rather abrupt. To go from full-throttle to over zap quickly killed the mood a little, but I couldn't say what I would have changed and it didn't damage the reading experience too much.Overall I would definitely recommend this book. I was somewhat sceptical at first, believing that pirate stories were something of a genre cul-de-sac, but Powers' excellent writing and brilliant story converted me very quickly.

This was fantastically good fun. It had a great plot and was very well written.There were lots of great action scenes and it was very atmospheric. The exposition scenes were kept to a minimum and I had the sense that the book was set in a fully realised world and that everything made sense.The magical and supernatural elements were fully developed and didn't overshadow the rest of the plot.There are some great characters and that includes the main character. In fantasy novels they can often be a bit dull but that wasn't the case here.There were plenty of flashes of humour and despite being fairly long I found this to be a quick and easy read.

Erm, I'm pretty sure I received a phony book... The cover art is at such a low resolution that the text and barcodes are blurry. The paper is not the usual standard, and the page formatting is pretty basic too, like it was edited at home on a Word document, not by an actual publishing house. Will definitely be returning this, especially as I paid £17 for the bloody thing! Sorry to say that this isn't the first time this has happened when I've ordered a book via Prime...

I didn't get on with this one. Despite some fairly exciting sequences, this novel could not decide whether it was a historical adventure story or a fantasy novel. I could enjoy one or the other (the former rather more so) but not this amalgam. Also, I couldn't make myself care about any of the characters. Have stopped reading this two thirds of the way through. The latest Pirates of the Caribbean film apparently borrowed some ideas from this novel. 3/5