Take a photo of a barcode or cover
ashwin_r 's review for:
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Price of Freedom
by A.C. Crispin
Jack Sparrow, as seen in this novel, is courteous, respectful, compassionate, loving and selfless. That is to say, he's completely unrecognizable from the movies.
Gone are most of Jack's flaws, like his greediness, cowardice, self-serving nature, childishness, or lack of hygiene. Sure, in the movies, Jack eventually does the right thing in the end. But in this book, there's no hint of a struggle; he's downright heroic from start to finish.
Much like the fourth and fifth films in the Pirates franchise, this book suffers the problem of centering the story on Jack. In my opinion, we the audience are best left not knowing Jack's intentions or thought process. As Will says of Jack's plans in the Curse of the Black Pearl, "This is either madness or brilliance." Therein lies the charm of Jack's escapades. As much as I would have preferred to have an original character, with Jack Sparrow as a scene-stealing secondary character, let's forgive this as a conceit of the novel.
This book is a prequel novel, with Jack serving as an EITC captain under Cutler Beckett. It's possible that this book was intended to show Jack's progression from a straight-laced officer to a cutthroat pirate. But that arc is completely undercut by the half of the book dedicated to flashbacks of Jack's childhood growing up as a pirate in Shipwreck Cove. He grew up a pirate, he'll be a pirate in the movies, so why keep this charade of an honest life?
There's little in the way of trickery, scheming, and backstabbing, which were core components of the POTC trilogy. Several times in this novel, the characters verbally announce their plans, they execute them, and nothing goes wrong. For example, they set out to free a captured prince enslaved in the Bahamas. They find him and free him. Nothing goes wrong, no one discovers them, no one chases them.
There are two female characters, Lady Esmeralda and Princess Amenirdis, who are hopelessly in love with Jack. While it's nice that both are competent women with unique skillsets, the romance is anything but interesting. They are never annoyed or frustrated with Jack (because he has no negative traits in this book). Both are completely content with sharing him as a lover and completely accept that Jack's love for the sea will keep him from settling down. I'm not asking for a love triangle, but, man, a little conflict in either relationship would be nice.
Some plotlines go nowhere: Cutler Beckett hires a spy aboard the Wicked Wench. He doesn't do anything, Jack learns about him, and he's never mentioned again. Several problems are resolved by magic: the Wicked Wench is about to be shot to pieces by an enemy ship, and
On the positive side, this book is well-researched. I stuck around and learned a lot about ships and sailing. Crispin does a great job describing era-appropriate clothing and food.
If you love Pirates of the Caribbean and you're looking for more...I would look elsewhere. Maybe try Treasure Island or the Count of Monte Cristo. I'm going to check out On Stranger Tides, the Tim Powers book that the fourth movie was loosely based on.
Gone are most of Jack's flaws, like his greediness, cowardice, self-serving nature, childishness, or lack of hygiene. Sure, in the movies, Jack eventually does the right thing in the end. But in this book, there's no hint of a struggle; he's downright heroic from start to finish.
Much like the fourth and fifth films in the Pirates franchise, this book suffers the problem of centering the story on Jack. In my opinion, we the audience are best left not knowing Jack's intentions or thought process. As Will says of Jack's plans in the Curse of the Black Pearl, "This is either madness or brilliance." Therein lies the charm of Jack's escapades. As much as I would have preferred to have an original character, with Jack Sparrow as a scene-stealing secondary character, let's forgive this as a conceit of the novel.
This book is a prequel novel, with Jack serving as an EITC captain under Cutler Beckett. It's possible that this book was intended to show Jack's progression from a straight-laced officer to a cutthroat pirate. But that arc is completely undercut by the half of the book dedicated to flashbacks of Jack's childhood growing up as a pirate in Shipwreck Cove. He grew up a pirate, he'll be a pirate in the movies, so why keep this charade of an honest life?
There's little in the way of trickery, scheming, and backstabbing, which were core components of the POTC trilogy. Several times in this novel, the characters verbally announce their plans, they execute them, and nothing goes wrong. For example, they set out to free a captured prince enslaved in the Bahamas. They find him and free him. Nothing goes wrong, no one discovers them, no one chases them.
Spoiler
The one character who betrays Jack is so cartoonishly evil that it's not a surprise at all. Let's talk about the strange sequence of these events. Christophe, a French pirate, assaults a female barkeep in Shipwreck Cove and Jack and Esmeralda find out about it. Christophe is then arrested for murder and breaking the pirates' code. Barely a dozen pages later, Jack decides to free this guy, because he thinks he can't possibly be guilty. This guy?? The guy who you just learned assaulted someone?? Truly a baffling plot decision.There are two female characters, Lady Esmeralda and Princess Amenirdis, who are hopelessly in love with Jack. While it's nice that both are competent women with unique skillsets, the romance is anything but interesting. They are never annoyed or frustrated with Jack (because he has no negative traits in this book). Both are completely content with sharing him as a lover and completely accept that Jack's love for the sea will keep him from settling down. I'm not asking for a love triangle, but, man, a little conflict in either relationship would be nice.
Some plotlines go nowhere: Cutler Beckett hires a spy aboard the Wicked Wench. He doesn't do anything, Jack learns about him, and he's never mentioned again. Several problems are resolved by magic: the Wicked Wench is about to be shot to pieces by an enemy ship, and
Spoiler
Amenirdis blows up the enemy ship with magic. She also casts a convenient spell to make Jack's crew forget about her entire secret island.On the positive side, this book is well-researched. I stuck around and learned a lot about ships and sailing. Crispin does a great job describing era-appropriate clothing and food.
If you love Pirates of the Caribbean and you're looking for more...I would look elsewhere. Maybe try Treasure Island or the Count of Monte Cristo. I'm going to check out On Stranger Tides, the Tim Powers book that the fourth movie was loosely based on.