On Stranger Tides (soundtrack)
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''On Stranger Tides'' is a 1987
historical fantasy Historical fantasy is a category of fantasy and genre of historical fiction that incorporates fantastic elements (such as magic) into a more "realistic" narrative. There is much crossover with other subgenres of fantasy; those classed as Arthur ...
supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...
novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...
by American writer Tim Powers. It was nominated for the
World Fantasy Award for Best Novel In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...
, and placed second in the annual Locus poll for best fantasy novel. Set in the early 18th century, ''On Stranger Tides'' takes place during the Golden Age of Piracy, when
puppeteer A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object, called a puppet, to create the illusion that the puppet is alive. The puppet is often shaped like a human, animal, or legendary creature. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from ...
John Chandagnac sets out to reclaim an inheritance in Haiti and is waylaid by various buccaneers and pirates, only to become one himself. Now known as "Jack Shandy", Chandagnac encounters
voodoo Voodoo may refer to: Religions * African or West African Vodun, practiced by Gbe-speaking ethnic groups * African diaspora religions, a list of related religions sometimes called Vodou/Voodoo ** Candomblé Jejé, also known as Brazilian Vodu ...
, zombies and the
supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...
while on a
quest A quest is a journey toward a specific mission or a goal. The word serves as a plot device in mythology and fiction: a difficult journey towards a goal, often symbolic or allegorical. Tales of quests figure prominently in the folklore of ever ...
for the fabled Fountain of Youth and rescues Englishwoman Beth Hurwood. Powers' novel features real historical figures like Blackbeard, Stede Bonnet, Woodes Rogers, and
Juan Ponce de León Juan Ponce de León (, , , ; 1474 – July 1521) was a Spanish explorer and '' conquistador'' known for leading the first official European expedition to Florida and for serving as the first governor of Puerto Rico. He was born in Santervá ...
alongside fictional ones. The story was also the inspiration for the '' Monkey Island'' video game series by LucasArts and for the fourth installment in the ''
Pirates of the Caribbean ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' is a Disney media franchise encompassing numerous theme park rides, a series of films, and spin-off novels, as well as a number of related video games and other media publications. The franchise originated with th ...
'' film series, '' Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides''.


Plot

In
1718 Events January – March * January 7 – In India, Sufi rebel leader Shah Inayat Shaheed from Sindh who had led attacks against the Mughal Empire, is beheaded days after being tricked into meeting with the Mughals to discus ...
, French puppeteer John Chandagnac sails to Jamaica on the British ship ''Vociferous Carmichael''. He aims to confront his uncle Sebastian, who has apparently stolen a fortune that rightfully belonged to John's father and could have prevented his poverty-induced death. On board, he meets an Englishwoman named Elizabeth Hurwood, who complains that her erudite father Benjamin has abandoned his natural philosophy work and begun studying dark magic with her lecherous physician Leo Friend. The pirate sloop ''Jenny'' menaces the ''Carmichael'', neutralizing its powerful cannons with vodun magic. Benjamin Hurwood and Friend begin shooting their fellow passengers, revealing them as allies of the pirates, as the assailants board and seize the ''Carmichael''. The pirates allow the passengers to leave on a rowboat, except for Beth, whom Hurwood requires for a vodun ritual, and Chandagnac, enrolled into the crew after wounding pirate captain Philip Davies. Not fond of long words, the pirates change John's name to Jack Shandy. The pirates head for
New Providence Island New Providence is the most populous island in the Bahamas, containing more than 70% of the total population. It is the location of the national capital city of Nassau, whose boundaries are coincident with the island; it had a population of 246 ...
to refit the ''Carmichael'' for piracy. On the way, they are captured by the Royal Navy, but Shandy breaks them out, thus ingratiating himself with the pirates. On New Providence, Shandy develops a proficiency for cooking and learns about vodun: unlike in the Old World, magic is very strong in the Caribbean, and pirates hire ''bocors'' to channel ''loas'' for healing, attacking and protection. Male and female sorcerers control different kinds of magic. Shandy also meets a rambling old sorcerer named Sawney, and develops an affection for Beth. Hurwood has concluded an alliance with Blackbeard to lead him to the fabled Fountain of Youth in Florida, a powerful source of magic that will make Blackbeard immortal and allow Hurwood to resurrect his late wife—a process which involves evicting Beth's soul from her body. Davies and Shandy join him, fighting through a hostile,
sentient Sentience is the capacity to experience feelings and sensations. The word was first coined by philosophers in the 1630s for the concept of an ability to feel, derived from Latin '' sentientem'' (a feeling), to distinguish it from the ability to ...
jungle on the way. Davies defends himself from a curse by tossing enchanted soil into the air; Shandy takes note and saves some soil for himself. Shortly after he returns from the Fountain, Shandy finds that Friend has seized the ''Carmichael'' and abducted Beth. He gives pursuit in the ''Jenny'', and fights off Friend's magical zombie crew, with assistance from the ghost ship ''Nuestra Señora de Lagrimas'', which Friend accidentally summoned along with the ghost crew. Davies is killed and Hurwood takes Beth for himself after defeating Friend in a wizards' duel. Not knowing where to find Beth, Shandy becomes a drunken wreck and accepts the King's pardon from Woodes Rogers, along with most of the pirates on New Providence, while Hurwood assumes a new identity as Ulysse Segundo and begins pirating. Meanwhile, Blackbeard is killed by the Navy, and Shandy receives an education in magic from old Sawney (actually a 200-year-old
Juan Ponce de León Juan Ponce de León (, , , ; 1474 – July 1521) was a Spanish explorer and '' conquistador'' known for leading the first official European expedition to Florida and for serving as the first governor of Puerto Rico. He was born in Santervá ...
) and a vision he gets after using the Fountain of Youth soil during a fight. A survivor of Segundo's raids relates the mannerisms of his undead crew, and Shandy recognizes them as the old ''Carmichael'' crew. Hearing that Segundo was last seen heading for Jamaica, Shandy sails on the ''Jenny'', facing a storm and a
mutiny Mutiny is a revolt among a group of people (typically of a military, of a crew or of a crew of pirates) to oppose, change, or overthrow an organization to which they were previously loyal. The term is commonly used for a rebellion among member ...
on the way. Using Sawney's cryptic tips—involving blood and the magic-dampening power of magnetized iron—he defeats Hurwood and destroys his wife's soul. In Jamaica, he barely escapes the Navy and fights his way to the house of Hurwood's accomplice, who turns out to be Sebastian. He frees Beth and makes his way to a harbor, where he is met by Blackbeard, now resurrected and assuming a new identity. Combining his male magic with Beth's female magic, he vanquishes Blackbeard and marries Beth. The book ends as he prepares for the voyage out of Jamaica.


Characters


Original characters

*John Chandagnac/Jack Shandy - a
puppeteer A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object, called a puppet, to create the illusion that the puppet is alive. The puppet is often shaped like a human, animal, or legendary creature. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from ...
-turned- pirate. *Philip Davies - a notorious pirate
captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
of the
sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...
''Jenny''. *Benjamin Hurwood/Ulysses Segundo - a former professor who wants to
resurrect Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. In a number of religions, a dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and is resurrected. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions, which ...
his dead wife. *Leo Friend - Hurwood's assistant. *Elizabeth "Beth" Hurwood - Benjamin Hurwood's only daughter and Jack Shandy's love interest. *Joshua Hicks/Sebastian Chandagnac - John Chandagnac's treacherous uncle. *Skank - Jack Shandy's quartermaster.


Historical characters

*Johnny Con/Edward "Ed" Thatch/ Blackbeard/Edmund Morcilla - a pirate, known as the "hunsi kanzo", a boy deeply educated as an assistant to an old English magician before becoming a full-fledged
Voodoo Voodoo may refer to: Religions * African or West African Vodun, practiced by Gbe-speaking ethnic groups * African diaspora religions, a list of related religions sometimes called Vodou/Voodoo ** Candomblé Jejé, also known as Brazilian Vodu ...
sorcerer, and captain of the '' Queen Anne's Revenge'' with a zombie servant who is a boatman. * Stede Bonnet - Blackbeard's partner and captain of the sloop ''Revenge''. *"Governor" Sawney/
Juan Ponce de León Juan Ponce de León (, , , ; 1474 – July 1521) was a Spanish explorer and '' conquistador'' known for leading the first official European expedition to Florida and for serving as the first governor of Puerto Rico. He was born in Santervá ...
- the former governor of
New Providence Island New Providence is the most populous island in the Bahamas, containing more than 70% of the total population. It is the location of the national capital city of Nassau, whose boundaries are coincident with the island; it had a population of 246 ...
, revealed to be the immortal discoverer of the Fountain of Youth. * Anne Bonny - a female pirate in
Nassau Nassau may refer to: Places Bahamas *Nassau, Bahamas, capital city of the Bahamas, on the island of New Providence Canada *Nassau District, renamed Home District, regional division in Upper Canada from 1788 to 1792 *Nassau Street (Winnipeg), ...
. * Robert Maynard - a Royal Navy lieutenant who is responsible for Blackbeard's first death at Ocracoke Inlet.


Background

Growing up as an Orange County citizen, Tim Powers and his wife visited Disneyland a lot as kids, with Powers specifically remembering when the Pirates of the Caribbean ride was brand new. Powers believed he had the ride, among other inspirations, in mind when writing ''On Stranger Tides''. He wrote it after Lester del Rey had rejected a number of Powers' books, including '' The Anubis Gates''. Powers wrote ''On Stranger Tides'' thinking del Rey would like "pirate adventure, zombies, Fountain of Youth, sea battles, cutlass fights...and he didn't like it either." In his research for the book, Powers found that the supernatural and pirates were a comfortable fit. The book features the history and myth of
Juan Ponce de León Juan Ponce de León (, , , ; 1474 – July 1521) was a Spanish explorer and '' conquistador'' known for leading the first official European expedition to Florida and for serving as the first governor of Puerto Rico. He was born in Santervá ...
and the Fountain of Youth, and depicts Blackbeard's death at Ocracoke Inlet and beheading by Lieutenant Robert Maynard. During his research, Powers was puzzled by Blackbeard's behavior, and found a context in which his peculiar behaviors were not lunacy, but instead were shrewd and clever. ''On Stranger Tides'' was published in 1987.Tim Powers ON STRANGER TIDES (original & followup interviews - JohnnyDeppReads
/ref> In the process of writing his book, Powers researched
voodoo Voodoo may refer to: Religions * African or West African Vodun, practiced by Gbe-speaking ethnic groups * African diaspora religions, a list of related religions sometimes called Vodou/Voodoo ** Candomblé Jejé, also known as Brazilian Vodu ...
magic Magic or Magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces * Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic * Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...
, historical pirate profiles, and history. Asked of what inspired his writing of ''On Stranger Tides'', Powers stated: :I was already hooked into using real historical places for settings. And so I thought, you know you loved '' Treasure Island''...And I thought I bet you can set a nice fantasy story in among the pirates, Blackbeard, that crowd. So I read a million books (that is probably fifteen books) about that particular crowd of pirates that were in the Caribbean in
1718 Events January – March * January 7 – In India, Sufi rebel leader Shah Inayat Shaheed from Sindh who had led attacks against the Mughal Empire, is beheaded days after being tricked into meeting with the Mughals to discus ...
like Stede Bonnet, Blackbeard, and Anne Bonny. :What I always do when I'm writing a book is first I read all the history and biographies and things like that that I can find. And I look for stuff that's too cool not to use. "Ooh that's neat. Look at that. I like that." And I'll write it down. And then I'll find something else and say, "Oh wow this is great. You got to have a scene happening in this place. Oh you gotta use this guy." Eventually, I'll have twenty or thirty things that are too cool not to use. And it's kind of fun then because you say, "Well okay, here's twenty or thirty parts of your book. You just have to connect the dots." And so I thought, "Ok, what was Blackbeard really up to?"Tim Powers on His Book That Inspired 'Pirates of the Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides'

Archived
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Reception

Orson Scott Card states that the novel "is as good as storytelling ever gets," adding that "Powers writes in a clean, elegant style that illuminates without slowing down the tale. The story promises marvels and horrors, and delivers them all." David Langford wrote that ''On Stranger Tides'' "immediately hooks you and drags you along in sympathy with one central character's appalling misfortunes on the Spanish Main, ndescalates from there to closing mega-thrills so determinedly spiced that your palate is left almost jaded." Jack Adrian wrote that "Tim Powers has further refertilized the
Sabatini Sabatini may refer to: People * Sabatini (surname) Places * Sabatini Gardens in Madrid, Spain * Sabatini, Italy, a volcanic region in Italy See also * Sabbatini, a family name of Italian origin * Sabadini {{disambiguation, geo ...
swashbuckler," and describes the novel as a skillful blend of "high seas adventure with sorcery and black magic."


Influence on other works


Books

Kim Newman based the name of a vampire in his ''Anno Dracula'' series on the main character of ''On Stranger Tides''.


Video games

Ron Gilbert Ron Gilbert (born January 1, 1964) is an American video game designer, video-game designer, video game programmer, programmer, and video game producer, producer. His games are generally focused on interactive story-telling, and he is arguably bes ...
has been widely quoted that the ''Monkey Island'' series of
adventure games An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and/or puzzle-solving. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based me ...
was inspired by Disneyland's ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' ride. However, he stated in a blog that the ride was mainly his inspiration for the ambiance of the series, while his true inspiration was ''On Stranger Tides''.


Films


''Pirates of the Caribbean''

In 2007, after the successful opening weekend of the third ''
Pirates of the Caribbean ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' is a Disney media franchise encompassing numerous theme park rides, a series of films, and spin-off novels, as well as a number of related video games and other media publications. The franchise originated with th ...
'' film, '' At World's End'', Walt Disney Studios Chairman
Dick Cook Richard W. Cook is an American film entertainment executive, and has served on the Board of Directors of Legendary Pictures since 2011. Prior to joining Legendary Pictures, he was the Chairman of the Walt Disney Studios from 2002 to 2009. At the ...
said he was interested in a fourth film. The ''Los Angeles Times'' also reported that Bruckheimer already had rights to a book that could end up as another installment, though had not confirmed what book it was. On September 11, 2009, Walt Disney Pictures announced that the fourth installment would be titled '' Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides''. The announcement had fueled speculation among those familiar with Tim Powers' novel ''On Stranger Tides'' that the fourth ''Pirates'' movie would follow the plot of the novel. It was later revealed that the idea to adapt ''On Stranger Tides'' came close to the end of filming the ''Pirates'' trilogy, in which screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio found the novel and brought it up to producer Jerry Bruckheimer as an idea to option the book for the new chapter. In a 2011 interview, Tim Powers stated that Disney wanted the film rights as early as before the release of the second ''Pirates'' film, '' Dead Man's Chest'', though he thought they already used elements beforehand. Disney would not buy the rights to Powers' novel until they started filming their fourth movie. Rossio mentioned how Disney was hit with at least six plagiarism lawsuits for the first ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' movie for supposedly stealing elements of the ''Monkey Island'' video game and stuff from the ''On Stranger Tides'' novel, despite there being a ride at Disneyland and also a first draft screenplay by other writers. In January 2010, Disney announced that the film would be released on May 20, 2011. Before the film began production, it was speculated that
Jack Sparrow Captain Jack Sparrow is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the '' Pirates of the Caribbean'' film series. The character was created by screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio and is portrayed by Johnny Depp. The characte ...
would replace Jack Shandy as the story's protagonist. Tim Powers stated that the Fountain of Youth would definitely be in the film because it was teased in ''At World's End'', but also said that Sparrow and Shandy are "totally different characters", and that Hector Barbossa and Blackbeard might overlap. On March 22, 2010, Jerry Bruckheimer confirmed that both Barbossa and Blackbeard (portrayed by Ian McShane) would be in the film, with Blackbeard as the villain. Additionally, Penélope Cruz would play Angelica, Blackbeard's daughter. While making the fourth film, screenwriter Terry Rossio stated Tim Powers' novel was an inspiration for characters, theme, settings, and basic storyline. He also stated that he and co-writer Ted Elliot had considered using Blackbeard and the Fountain of Youth in the story before reading the book, "but whenever you say those words, Powers' novel comes to mind. There was no way we could work in that field without going into territory Tim had explored." However, they denied that it would be a straight version of the novel: "Blackbeard came from the book, and in the book there is a daughter character, too. But Jack Sparrow is not in the book, nor is Barbossa. So I wouldn't call this an adaptation." Powers himself stated that he never consulted with the writers and initially thought they weren't using much of his book at all aside from Blackbeard and the Fountain of Youth.- Rossio stated that Blackbeard, Angelica, and the Fountain are examples of how they integrated Powers' book into the film.


References


External links

*
''On Stranger Tides''
at Worlds Without End {{Pirates 1987 American novels 1987 fantasy novels American fantasy novels adapted into films Novels by Tim Powers Novels set in the 1710s Novels about pirates Pirates of the Caribbean (film series) American zombie novels Cultural depictions of Blackbeard Cultural depictions of Stede Bonnet Fiction set in the Golden Age of Piracy