unicorndeburgh reviewed On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers
Review of 'On Stranger Tides' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
The protagonist, John Chandagnac, strikes me as a complete Mary Sue. He out-fences a pirate leader based on his experience taking some fencing lessons to improve his puppetry. He's given the task of cooking for the pirate crew, and within days becomes the most famous chef on the island (perhaps achievable given how low the local culinary standards are). In one day of training on firing cannons from a ship, he becomes the best in the crew. He becomes second in command on a sailing ship within weeks, and is able to effectively manage the sailing and fighting of a ship, even through a hurricane, not long after. And so on.
Powers likes to go to strange places with magic, which is fine. What's odd in this book is that there is creepy stuff intertwined with a simpler adventure story. The central plot is straightforward: Boy (John) meets girl (Beth), …
The protagonist, John Chandagnac, strikes me as a complete Mary Sue. He out-fences a pirate leader based on his experience taking some fencing lessons to improve his puppetry. He's given the task of cooking for the pirate crew, and within days becomes the most famous chef on the island (perhaps achievable given how low the local culinary standards are). In one day of training on firing cannons from a ship, he becomes the best in the crew. He becomes second in command on a sailing ship within weeks, and is able to effectively manage the sailing and fighting of a ship, even through a hurricane, not long after. And so on.
Powers likes to go to strange places with magic, which is fine. What's odd in this book is that there is creepy stuff intertwined with a simpler adventure story. The central plot is straightforward: Boy (John) meets girl (Beth), boy becomes pirate and saves girl from peril, powerful bad guys are defeated, and then they get married. I don't recall them sharing so much as a chaste kiss before they are wed. There are dashing sword fights, and ship battles. At the same time, the peril sub-plot is repellent. Beth's father is working on magic to bring Beth's dead mother's ghost into Beth's body, and he keeps addressing Beth by his wife's name. The father's magician side-kick wants to take control of Beth's mind, and make her eager to have sex with him, while also using magic to make her look like the side-kick's mother. Enough rape and incest for you?
