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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
I tried to concentrate on what was happening, but I couldn't delve into the details that this book offered. My unfortunate reading experience reflects the score of this flawed book. The prologue and epilogue are the most well written and most climactic parts, respectively. There's something wrong with the author's style, as far as I'm concerned. It's like an ill tuned radio. Nothing really comes out of the pages and grabs you. One of those books I would have- indeed once did - abandoned reading.
It's a well written book though, and it must have fans that swear by it. The same book that enchants others made me despair. I wish I could get any inkling what I'm missing. But despite the fact that I read every single word of this doomed book, I'll never know. Now, to the next book!
It's a well written book though, and it must have fans that swear by it. The same book that enchants others made me despair. I wish I could get any inkling what I'm missing. But despite the fact that I read every single word of this doomed book, I'll never know. Now, to the next book!
4.5 stars. Just a great, fun swashbuckling adventure that hit all the high notes of the genre. Tim Powers is just a very smart author who casts a wide net with many hanging threads, yet somehow manages to bring it all back into a cohesive whole.
My favorite:
"Shandy looked ahead. Blackbeard, apparently willing to get the explanation later, had picked up his oars and was rowing again.
'May I presume to suggest,' yelled Shandy giddily to Davies,
'that we preoceed the hell out of here with all due haste.'
Davies pushed a stray lock of hair back from his forehead and sat down on the rower's thwart. 'My dear fellow consider it done.'"
"The seas and the weathers are what is;
your vessels adapt to them or sink."
~Jack Shandy
"Cut off from the land that bore us,
Betrayed by the land we find,
Where the brightes have gone before us,
And the dullest are most behind -
Stand, stand to your glasses, steady!
'T is all we have left to prize:
One cup to the dead already -
Hurrah for the next that dies!"
~Barholomew Dowling
"Shandy looked ahead. Blackbeard, apparently willing to get the explanation later, had picked up his oars and was rowing again.
'May I presume to suggest,' yelled Shandy giddily to Davies,
'that we preoceed the hell out of here with all due haste.'
Davies pushed a stray lock of hair back from his forehead and sat down on the rower's thwart. 'My dear fellow consider it done.'"
"The seas and the weathers are what is;
your vessels adapt to them or sink."
~Jack Shandy
"Cut off from the land that bore us,
Betrayed by the land we find,
Where the brightes have gone before us,
And the dullest are most behind -
Stand, stand to your glasses, steady!
'T is all we have left to prize:
One cup to the dead already -
Hurrah for the next that dies!"
~Barholomew Dowling
I seem to have a pattern of getting books I really look forward to, only to be somewhat disappointed in them. Perhaps if I had not had such high hopes and expectations I would've liked it more?
The pacing was a bit slow, and it was definitely not one where I couldn't wait to get back into it. I did like Shandy and Davies and Skank. I think my favorite part was watching Shandy turn into a pirate and accept his role, and to find that they were, despite their wicked ways, actually good guys. Honor amongst thieves and all that. And I liked the magic and how it was explained, again I liked Shandy's development in this area, and I liked how the different types of loas where described and understood. He seemed to do a fair bit of research in this regard.
But beyond that, the characters were mostly flat, the romantic plot-line, while a driving force, felt sort of tacked on - but perhaps that's because Beth was such a damsel in distress, and I would've preferred a bit more Elizabeth Swan.
Overall it was an enjoyable enough action story, though a bit ponderous in places, but it just didn't grab me overmuch.
The pacing was a bit slow, and it was definitely not one where I couldn't wait to get back into it. I did like Shandy and Davies and Skank. I think my favorite part was watching Shandy turn into a pirate and accept his role, and to find that they were, despite their wicked ways, actually good guys. Honor amongst thieves and all that. And I liked the magic and how it was explained, again I liked Shandy's development in this area, and I liked how the different types of loas where described and understood. He seemed to do a fair bit of research in this regard.
But beyond that, the characters were mostly flat, the romantic plot-line, while a driving force, felt sort of tacked on - but perhaps that's because Beth was such a damsel in distress, and I would've preferred a bit more Elizabeth Swan.
Overall it was an enjoyable enough action story, though a bit ponderous in places, but it just didn't grab me overmuch.
This book was very entertaining. It started off slow at first, but once it gets going it is non-stop until the very end.
Powers has an interesting premise and he does an excellent job of using historical figures and circumstances to tell his tale. We get to meet quite a number of real pirates, from Blackbeard to Ann Bonney. We also get a very convincing introduction into the belief systems of 18thc Caribbean--a variety that is usually lumped together under the term voodoo. The author does a good job on board ship, though I am forever ruined in this regard by Patrick O'Brian, who set an impossibly high standard for life and battles at sea. I liked Jack Shandy, the hero, well enough. I liked some of the secondary characters just as much. His descriptions are vivid.
That's all on the one side. I had some problems with the book, though. I found the POV changes not merely distracting but arbitrary and puzzling. We follow Shandy along for many chapters, then we hop over to someone else. Some we return to, some we do not. I still can't quite figure out why the shifts were vital to the story telling.
Elizabeth, the object of Shandy's affections, was alas just that: an object. She was never a fully realized character nor even an interesting one. Partly this was because she was under magic spells for much of the book, but because she was never interesting, I never felt eager to see her won the way Shandy did. She could just as well have been a ship he wanted. The romance was missing. Since the entire book turned on this desire, it left the story telling hollow at the center.
This may be a genre thing, but I found the fight scenes becoming tedious, for a specific reason. From fairly early on, Shandy is up against powerful magical forces. These are convincingly presented. I rather think I won't ever be walking through Florida swamps at night. These forces drive Shandy to the brink of death (and, once, even beyond). The first time, it's exciting. After the fifth time, though, it starts to read like a bad Hollywood action hero script. He staggers, he blacks out, he bleeds profusely, he can scarcely breathe ... and so on. And on. It ceased to be exciting and became paragraphs to skim. Just at the point where Powers wanted me at the edge of my seat, I was leaning away. I know there are mountains of books with exactly this sort of action, and they sell mountains of cash, so maybe this is just me. If you like this sort of action (relentless and histrionic), then Powers delivers. I could see the craft even if I couldn't feel the excitement.
Lastly, there's an epilogue that shouldn't be there. We finish a chapter. Our hero has freed the heroine and slain the villain. They are making their escape. Next chapter reads Epilogue, so I was all set to read about some sort of happily-ever-after. I really was. These two had earned it.
At the very least, an epilogue should be separate in narrative terms. Instead, this epilogue picks up exactly where the final chapter left off, with them continuing their escape. This was no epilogue, it was simply the next and truly final chapter. There was no break, and what happens is absolutely the right thing to do and a good way to close out the book. Someone should have told Powers to rename the chapter. A small thing, but you really don't want to disconcert the reader at the penultimate point.
Anyway, the book was a bestseller, so obviously some of these things did not bother others as much as they did me. If I could overlook them, I'd certainly give the book four stars.
That's all on the one side. I had some problems with the book, though. I found the POV changes not merely distracting but arbitrary and puzzling. We follow Shandy along for many chapters, then we hop over to someone else. Some we return to, some we do not. I still can't quite figure out why the shifts were vital to the story telling.
Elizabeth, the object of Shandy's affections, was alas just that: an object. She was never a fully realized character nor even an interesting one. Partly this was because she was under magic spells for much of the book, but because she was never interesting, I never felt eager to see her won the way Shandy did. She could just as well have been a ship he wanted. The romance was missing. Since the entire book turned on this desire, it left the story telling hollow at the center.
This may be a genre thing, but I found the fight scenes becoming tedious, for a specific reason. From fairly early on, Shandy is up against powerful magical forces. These are convincingly presented. I rather think I won't ever be walking through Florida swamps at night. These forces drive Shandy to the brink of death (and, once, even beyond). The first time, it's exciting. After the fifth time, though, it starts to read like a bad Hollywood action hero script. He staggers, he blacks out, he bleeds profusely, he can scarcely breathe ... and so on. And on. It ceased to be exciting and became paragraphs to skim. Just at the point where Powers wanted me at the edge of my seat, I was leaning away. I know there are mountains of books with exactly this sort of action, and they sell mountains of cash, so maybe this is just me. If you like this sort of action (relentless and histrionic), then Powers delivers. I could see the craft even if I couldn't feel the excitement.
Lastly, there's an epilogue that shouldn't be there. We finish a chapter. Our hero has freed the heroine and slain the villain. They are making their escape. Next chapter reads Epilogue, so I was all set to read about some sort of happily-ever-after. I really was. These two had earned it.
At the very least, an epilogue should be separate in narrative terms. Instead, this epilogue picks up exactly where the final chapter left off, with them continuing their escape. This was no epilogue, it was simply the next and truly final chapter. There was no break, and what happens is absolutely the right thing to do and a good way to close out the book. Someone should have told Powers to rename the chapter. A small thing, but you really don't want to disconcert the reader at the penultimate point.
Anyway, the book was a bestseller, so obviously some of these things did not bother others as much as they did me. If I could overlook them, I'd certainly give the book four stars.
Now I love a good pirate book. I went through a phase when that was just about all I read because of the Pirates of the Caribbean movie.
This book is un-like any other pirate book that I've read so far. Memorable characters like Davies and Shandy are well developed and fun to read, and villains like Leo Friend and Mr. Hurwood make skin crawl like ants with a breadcrumb. I love the supernatural elements of the book, and they were handled very well especially with the use of sensory detail. Also, intricacies as far as storytelling goes were beautiful, most notably when recounting events from multiple perspectives (I thought that this was done very well, and wasn't repetitive as it might have been in a less practiced hand). Overall well worth the read and the 20 cents in late fees I'll have to pay for it being overdue...
This book is un-like any other pirate book that I've read so far. Memorable characters like Davies and Shandy are well developed and fun to read, and villains like Leo Friend and Mr. Hurwood make skin crawl like ants with a breadcrumb. I love the supernatural elements of the book, and they were handled very well especially with the use of sensory detail. Also, intricacies as far as storytelling goes were beautiful, most notably when recounting events from multiple perspectives (I thought that this was done very well, and wasn't repetitive as it might have been in a less practiced hand). Overall well worth the read and the 20 cents in late fees I'll have to pay for it being overdue...
This book is...flawed. I haven't read any other Tim Powers books, so maybe this was just a fluke, but what a miserable lack of female characters. The romantic lead is practically comatose for the majority of her time on the page, and, but for one brief moment at the end, literally just gets pushed around. And what a waste of Ann Bonny - I know she's just a background character, but really? The woman who would become the most famous female pirate in history is reduced to this? Bother. And the plot is a little too episodic for something that's clearly supposed to be more cohesive, and a brief foray into another character's POV is unnecessary.
And yet. Pirates! They're still appealing! All the adventure and honor among thieves and vast quantities of rum. There's something inherently loveable about these guys, which is insane, considering the fact that they are murderers, robbers, and drunkards - and probably smell really vile. There's a scene where a Navy ensign meets Jack Shandy in New Providence, and even that nerd is fawning all over him for his (highly illegal, anti-Navy) piratical exploits. That guy gets it.
And maybe he can't write women, but damn if he's not good at male friendships - I have all manner of feelings about Jack Shandy and Phil Davies, and I won't go into them because I would just devolve into a mess of flailing and gibberish. Just know that they exist.
And yet. Pirates! They're still appealing! All the adventure and honor among thieves and vast quantities of rum. There's something inherently loveable about these guys, which is insane, considering the fact that they are murderers, robbers, and drunkards - and probably smell really vile. There's a scene where a Navy ensign meets Jack Shandy in New Providence, and even that nerd is fawning all over him for his (highly illegal, anti-Navy) piratical exploits. That guy gets it.
And maybe he can't write women, but damn if he's not good at male friendships - I have all manner of feelings about Jack Shandy and Phil Davies, and I won't go into them because I would just devolve into a mess of flailing and gibberish. Just know that they exist.
3.5
With the exception of the sadly common woman-as-little-more-than-prop-to-spur-men-to-action, this was an enjoyable read/listen.
With the exception of the sadly common woman-as-little-more-than-prop-to-spur-men-to-action, this was an enjoyable read/listen.
Like everything Tim Powers writes, On Stranger Tides is great fun. It’s packed with swashbuckling, pirates, magic, the fountain of youth and a little romance.
My only quibble with the book is the story arc. It’s strange and while I can’t say that it doesn’t work, I can’t really say that it does work. The book is broken in to four parts: prologue, book I, book II and epilogue. By the end of book I the plot and character conflicts introduced to that point are resolved. Book II begins using most of the same characters as the previous book, but introduces a new conflict that is somewhat related to the conflict of book I. In the course of one novel Powers takes us through two complete plot arcs. I’m a bit puzzled as to why both of these plot arcs needed to be in the same novel. It seems as if Powers might have tried to rework the events to seem more like a single story than two separate episodes.
Much as it puzzled me, the construction of the narrative probably won’t bother most readers. It’s a testament to how engaging Powers is as a storyteller.
My only quibble with the book is the story arc. It’s strange and while I can’t say that it doesn’t work, I can’t really say that it does work. The book is broken in to four parts: prologue, book I, book II and epilogue. By the end of book I the plot and character conflicts introduced to that point are resolved. Book II begins using most of the same characters as the previous book, but introduces a new conflict that is somewhat related to the conflict of book I. In the course of one novel Powers takes us through two complete plot arcs. I’m a bit puzzled as to why both of these plot arcs needed to be in the same novel. It seems as if Powers might have tried to rework the events to seem more like a single story than two separate episodes.
Much as it puzzled me, the construction of the narrative probably won’t bother most readers. It’s a testament to how engaging Powers is as a storyteller.