On Stranger Tides
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Aboard the Vociferous Carmichael, puppeteer John Chandagnac is sailing toward Jamaica to claim his stolen birthright from an unscrupulous uncle, when the vessel is captured . . . by pirates! Offered a choice by Captain Phil Davies to join their seafaring band or die, Chandagnac assumes the name John Shandy and a new life as a brigand. But more than swashbuckling sea battles and fabulous plunder await the novice buccaneer on the roiling Caribbean waters–for treachery and powerful vodun sorcery are coins of the realm in this dark new world. And for the love of beautiful, magically imperiled Beth Hurwood, Shandy will set sail on even stranger tides, following the savage, ghost-infested pirate king, Blackbeard, and a motley crew of the living and the dead to the cursed nightmare banks of the fabled Fountain of Youth.
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I've read 2 Tim Powers books. They were both completely different but yet with many similarities. The similarities are quickly convincing me that I need to read more Tim Powers.
I read this novel because Powers was the guest of honor at a con I attended recently. Additionally, I recognized the title from the 4th Pirates of the Caribbean movie, of which the book is not really related.
If I were to describe the hallmark of Tim Powers based on all of 2 books that I've read of his, I would say his vision is taking historical facts and weaving in magic (or supernatural or time travel) into the history to explain it. The magic or supernatural is dark (I won't go so far to say evil, but it certainly isn't angelic power at work).
On Stranger Tides is all about the adventures of Mr. John “Shandy” Chandagnac. He is kidnapped by a man who is hoping to revive the spirit of his dead wife into his daughter.
The book is spooky and scary on a basic level. No thing is really that scary, but instead the embodiment of human desire was terrifying. What drives a man to search for the Fountain of Youth at all costs?
I do wish that there was just one more female character. The only one is this book is the damsel in distress. An opportunity to add a kick-ass female pirate squandered.
