Review: On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers (1987)

Who knew that the fourth installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy... um, franchise, was based on a book? I didn't! And after reading both this book and the movie's summary on Wikipedia, I still don't, no matter what the publishers or Jerry Bruckheimer claim. But that doesn't reflect poorly on the book. The main thing in common between On Stranger Tides and the actual inspiration for Pirates of the Caribbean is that they're both roller coasters; I can't speak for the literal theme park ride, but Tim Powers' novel is certainly worth a try.

In the early 1700's, John Chandagnac is traveling to the Caribbean in order to regain an inheritance stolen by his shady uncle. As these things go, his ship is captured by pirates, who press-gang him into their crew and redub him Jack Shandy. Shandy begins to discover that the vodun (that's voodoo) superstition held by nearly everyone he meets may have a lot of truth to it; the eerie powers of this hemisphere have also led ex-professor Benjamin Hurwood to bring his beautiful daughter Elizabeth on a quest that crosses paths with Shandy. Together with pirate king Blackbeard and psychopathic physician Leo Friend, these characters embark on a quest for the Fountain of Youth, the consequences of which will decide which powers have the upper hand in the rising New World empires.

Adventure is the theme of this book. Shandy is no Jack Sparrow in that he's not a major cause of every problem that faces him; he's more of a blank slate for the reader to experience the supernatural world Powers creates. This can be bad at times, especially including his relationship with Beth Hurwood, with whom (you guessed it!) he falls in love for reasons that are never made clear. She's not a profound character, either; she's unconscious for most of the central quest, and she spends literally all of her limited time in the book as a damsel in distress. I was particularly skeptical of the fact that when Shandy sets out to save her for the last time, he hasn't seen her for weeks, still hasn't said more than a few lines to her (though it's implied they hung out for about a week while Shandy was helping to rebuild a boat), and what's worse, he could have begun searching for her at any point in those past few weeks. The resolution is kicker, but I don't want to spoil it entirely. No, kids, don't read this one for the romance.

All the other characters are pretty solid, however. Blackbeard himself is fantastic, both literally and figuratively. The magic can get pretty corny, resembling some sort of collaboration between George Lucas and Terry Pratchett, but it's tied together with strong vodun themes, so it's always interesting. Powers definitely did his research for this one. Every event and detail struck me as solidly based on historical and cultural research, even the creepy plant-monsters. And what's not to love about an ancient Ponce de Leon who talks to chickens?

I'd recommend this book to anybody who's looking for a solid adventure book with a degree of depth. Powers alludes quite a bit to the Odyssey, and that element comes off quite successfully. The sea's the limit for zany nautical adventures and forgetting to save your family and friends!