Pirates. Magic. Zombies. Pseudo-history.
More often than not, a story with this many excellent ingredients is less than the sum of its parts. Fortunately for the reader, this Tim Powers knows what he’s doing.
The story of John “Jack Shandy” Chandagnac, a sailor whose revenge mission to the new world is interrupted when his ship is attacked by pirates and he is forced to join the crew. The ensuing journey entails Blackbeard, the Fountain of Youth, voodoo, zombies, and of course, copious amounts of rum.
Powers tells the mythology of voodoo magic and Ponce de Leon’s fountain with the depth and authority of someone who knows the history, and he captures the awe that these explorers had for the new world before it was civilized. He also does a great job of snowballing the action; the further into the book I got, the faster I read. The stakes are higher with every page and the action rises with them, and right when the situations are becoming borderline ridiculous, Powers scales it back just enough to keep you in the story, and provides the exhausted reader with an ultimately satisfying payoff.
Bottom line: On Stranger Tides is what happens when you give the right ingredients to a great cook. Definitely recommended for fantasy enthusiasts.
Posted on September 6, 2011
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