In stranger tides

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In Stranger Tides (Original Title: On Stranger Tides ) is a pseudo-historical fantasy novel by Tim Powers .

The novel takes place in the golden age of piracy . The main character is the French puppeteer John Chandagnac, later known as Jack Shandy. The novel accompanies him in his efforts to obtain his rightful inheritance and to save his beloved. Voodoo magic plays a special role in the plot.

In Stranger Tides was first published in the United States in November 1987. The following year he was nominated for the World Fantasy Award and the Locus Award . Both the computer game series Monkey Island (1990-2009) and the movie Pirates of the Caribbean - Stranger Tides (2011) he served as a source of inspiration.

action

The novel takes place in 1718, the time when Blackbeard was terrorizing the Caribbean and defying King George . The plot follows the actions of John Chandagnac, the son of a French puppeteer . He sails to Jamaica on the British ship Vociferous Carmichael , where he tries to prevent his deceitful uncle Sebastian from running away with the family inheritance. The inheritance rightfully belonged to John's father and could have prevented his poverty-related death.

During his trip he met a young woman named Elizabeth "Beth" Hurwood, her father Benjamin Hurwood, a professor at Oxford, and his personal physician, Dr. Leo Friend. Beth complains that her father has given up his work in natural philosophy and wants to study dark magic instead. They are attacked and defeated by pirates off Jamaica . The crew of the pirate sloop Jenny used voodoo to neutralize the enemy cannons. During the attack, Benjamin Hurwood and Friend shoot some of their fellow travelers, revealing themselves as allies of the pirates before they board and occupy the Carmichael .

The pirates allow all passengers to row a boat with the exception of Beth, who Hurwood needs for a voodoo ritual, and Chandagnac, who is forced to join Captain Philip Davies' pirate crew as a cook under the new name Jack Shandy .

The pirates sail to New Providence Island , a pirate base, where the Carmichael is to be rebuilt to meet the requirements of the pirates. On the way there they are captured by the Royal Navy , but Shandy is able to free them and thus gains the pirates' trust. Shandy learns that, unlike in the Old World , magic in the Caribbean is widespread and has immense potency, but male and female magic are different from each other.

Upon arrival in New Providence, an expedition is sent to the Florida Fountain of Youth. Beth's father teams up with Blackbeard, each with their own goals. Blackbeard hopes to become immortal through the Fountain of Youth, while Hurwood hopes to revive his late wife. To find the well, they need the help of the well-traveled, old wizard Sawney, as he is the only one who knows the way there. The pirate captain Davies and Shandy join the expedition and fight their way through a hostile jungle together. Davies defends himself from a curse by throwing enchanted earth into the air; Shandy notices this and keeps part of this earth for himself. With Baron Samedi and Maître Carrefour , two men very well versed in voodoo are part of the group, but the closer they get to their goal, the more they lose power.

Once at the fountain of youth, Hurwood sets a spell in motion that implants the spirit of his deceased beloved wife in the body of Beth and, after a while, will completely suppress her spirit. Jack Shandy loves Beth and cannot allow what forces Hurwood to flee with Beth. But after Shandy has returned from the fountain of youth, he discovers that Friend has conquered the Carmichael with an undead crew he conjured up and kidnapped Beth. Shandy pursues them with the Jenny and receives support in the fight against Friend and the Carmichael from the ghost ship Nuestra Señora de Lagrimas , which Friend accidentally conjured up next to his undead crew. Davies is killed in the fight, and Hurwood takes Beth with him after defeating Friend in a magic duel.

Since Shandy doesn't know where to find Beth, he despairs and begins to drink. He and most of the pirates on New Providence accept the king's pardon , while Hurwood begins pirating under his new identity, Ulysse Segundo .

Meanwhile, Blackbeard is killed by the Navy. Shandy is visited by old Sawney, who is actually the 200-year-old Juan Ponce de León , and receives magical training from him. After using the enchanted earth from the fountain of youth in a fight, he has a vision. A survivor of Segundo's raids tells of the behavior of his undead crew and Shandy realizes that they are the old crew of the Carmichael . When he hears that Segundo was last seen on the way to Jamaica, Shandy sails after him on the Jenny . Among other things, he has to face a storm and a mutiny.

With the help of Sawney's cryptic clues, he can defeat Hurwood (Segundo) and destroy his wife's soul. In Jamaica, he narrowly escapes the navy and fights his way to the house of Hurwood's accomplice, who turns out to be Shandy's uncle Sebastian. So Shandy also gets the chance to win his inheritance. He frees Beth and makes his way to the harbor, where he is received by the resurrected Blackbeard, who has assumed a new identity. Shandy combines his male magic with Beth's female magic, defeating Blackbeard and marrying Beth. The book ends with him preparing to return from Jamaica.

filming

On September 11, 2009 the Walt Disney Company announced that the fourth part of " Pirates of the Caribbean ", which was released on May 19, 2011, would be entitled "Pirates of the Caribbean - On Stranger Tides". That announcement sparked speculation that the film would follow the novel's plot, especially since it became known that Tim Powers had sold the film rights to the novel to Disney after several years of efforts by Disney. It was later revealed that screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio had found Tim Powers' book and brought it to producer Jerry Bruckheimer as an idea for a new part of the Pirates of the Caribbean series.

Since the announcement, there has been speculation about how the book will be implemented in relation to the previous series. An early guess was that Jack Sparrow would replace Jack Shandy as the main character. Powers confirmed that while the Fountain of Youth would definitely appear in a movie, Sparrow and Shandy were completely different characters, but Barbossa and Blackbeard were partially identical.

In January 2010, Disney announced that the film would be released on May 20, 2011. On March 22, 2010, Jerry Bruckheimer confirmed that both Barbossa and Blackbeard would appear in the film, with Blackbeard as the villain. Blackbeard was played by Ian McShane , and Penélope Cruz took on the role of Blackbeard's daughter Angelica, who does not appear in the novel.

Although the film differs from the book in many ways, some parallels are clearly recognizable. While in the book the crew of ships consists of the undead and Blackbeard's boatswain is a zombie, in the film there is a zombie crew as officers of Blackbeard. In contrast to the film, there are no mermaids in the book, but succubes are mentioned. Powers found that these are very similar in function as sirens . While Juan Ponce de Léon lived in the novel, he is only shown as a skeleton in the film. In addition, the fountain of youth in the film is not in Florida, but on an unnamed Caribbean island.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Adam Rosenberg: 'On Stranger Tides' Author Tim Powers Discusses How His Story Fits Into A 'Pirates Of The Caribbean' Universe. In: MTV . July 10, 2009, accessed November 4, 2018 .
  2. ^ Maryann Yin: Tim Powers on His Book That Inspired 'Pirates of the Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides'. In: adweek.com. May 19, 2011, accessed November 4, 2018 .
  3. ↑ Steve Weintraub: Producer Jerry Bruckheimer On Set Interview PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 4: ON STRANGER TIDES. In: collider.com. February 3, 2011, accessed November 4, 2018 .
  4. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides & John Carter of Mars Dates! In: comingsoon.net. September 11, 2009, accessed November 4, 2018 .
  5. ↑ Eric Ditzian: Geoffrey Rush Says He's Planning To Shoot 'Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides' In The Spring. In: Web Archive, moviesblog.mtv.com. September 23, 2009, accessed November 4, 2018 .
  6. ↑ Adam Rosenberg: EXCLUSIVE: 'Pirates 4' Producer Jerry Bruckheimer Confirms Geoffrey Rush Return, Penelope Cruz As Blackbeard's Daughter. In: Web Archive, moviesblog.mtv.com. March 22, 2010, accessed November 4, 2018 .
  7. ↑ Geoff Boucher: Surprised Author Tim Powers Finds Himself Setting Sail With Pirates Of The Caribbean. In: LA Times Blog. October 2009, accessed November 4, 2018 .