Cover Text:
"The year is 1718. Blackbeard still terrorizes the Caribbean sea,
one of the last pirates to challenge the reign of King George.
Sailing unwittingly into this unsavory company comes one John
Chandagnac, bookkeeper and puppeteer. He seems an unlikely candidate
for piracy, or the machinations of dark sorcery. But, christened Jack
Shandy by a drunken pirate captain, he may turn out to be one of the
greatest of them all...
A hunt for unearthly spirits with the aid of a mummified two-headed
dog. A journey through the Florida swamps in search of the Fountain
of Youth. A battle at sea with the Royal English Navy. An encounter
with sunken ships crewed by zombies."
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Published by:
Ace Books, New York, 1987
Ace Books, New York, 1987 (Science Fiction Book Club edition)
Grafton, London, 1988
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Opinion:
Another of my personal favorites by Powers, possibly because it's the only one that takes
place in the part of the world that I'm most familiar with. On Stranger Tides is
a pirate story with a Powers twist.
This book is an excellent example of Powers' integration of supernatural elements into a
well-described historical setting peopled with real characters from history. Of course the
handling of the fictional ones is seamless to the point that you'll believe that they really
existed too.
Two things stand out in this book:
- The use of underlying mystical forces to explain the actions of historical figures. Blackbeard's actions are documented, but the reasons behind them are (for the most
part) lost to history, and therefore they might seem irrational to researchers today. And
who knows - maybe they really were irrational - but this is a perfect opportunity for Powers to come in and say "here's why he did what he did" and have it make perfect sense.
- The bringing together of disparate elements. This is a consistent technique
throughout Powers works, but the elements in this case (the pirates of the Caribbean, the
Fountain of Youth, and voodoo practices and beliefs), seem to mesh more naturally in this
book than in any other.
Bottom line: One of my top four favorites. Of special interest to pirate story aficionados.
- ccb 4/16/99
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