On Stranger Tides

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On Stranger Tides is a historical fantasy novel by Tim Powers.

After the death of his father, John Chandagnac travels to America to track down a relative who stole his inheritance, but his quest is derailed when the ship he's travelling on is attacked by pirates, and he becomes embroiled in a search for the Fountain of Youth.

The ur-work of pirates-in-the-Caribbean-with-voodoo fiction, On Stranger Tides was an acknowledged inspiration for the Monkey Island series, and the film rights were taken up by the makers of the Pirates of the Caribbean series so they could plunder it for plot elements for the fourth film. What they hadn't already plundered, anyway.

Tropes used in On Stranger Tides include:

• Arc Words: "I am not a dog"
  • Though repeated less than Mr. Bird's catchphrase, Anne Bonny has "For luck, man."
• Beethoven Was an Alien Spy: Blackbeard was a voodoo magician. Ponce de Leon found the Fountain of Youth, but never made it home to tell anybody.
• Chekhov's Gun: Quite a few. Pretty much anything that isn't "normal" has some direct relevance to the plot, and some elements aren't even directly explained.
• Chekhov's Gunman: Mr. Bird's ghoul helps Jack identify Hurwood's ship after he's spent months fruitlessly searching for it, and immediately afterward, he starts putting the pieces together about "the Governor", who turns out to be Ponce de Leon.
• Chekhov's Skill: John's puppetry comes in handy when he's forced to turn Hurwood's corpse into a giant marionette that can signal his onshore accomplice.
• Dead Guy Puppet: See Chekhov's Skill entry above.
• Fat Bastard: Leo Friend is described as extremely, grotesquely fat. There's a bit of cause-and-effect here, though; his mother spoiled him, including sweets when he should have been on a diet, leading to his superiority complex and weight gain.
• From a Single Cell
• Grand Theft Me: Hurwood plans to resurrect his dead wife by utilizing newfound powers retrieved from the fountain of youth to transform Beth, his daughter, into a vessel and blank body for his wife to move in to.
• Grey and Grey Morality: Just about every character is sympathetic in some way. Except for Leo Friend, who turns out to be a near-sociopath with severe mommy issues. Freudian ones.
• Heel Face Turn: Hurwood, who realizes that Leo Friend is a bigger threat than the pirates and defeats him in a sorceror's duel.
  • His siding with the good guys didn't last, though.
• Historical Fantasy
• Hollywood Voodoo: Actually, averted for the most part. Tim Powers is one of those authors who embodies Shown Their Work, and the major difference between his rituals and actual Caribbean rituals is that his actually work.
• I Know Mortal Kombat: The protagonist, Shandy, used to work in a puppet theatre whose owner insisted on authentic choreography for fight scenes; this saves his life when he unexpectedly finds himself in a real sword-fight. (However, it's played realistically, pointed out that he got lucky, and he's smart enough not to make a habit of it.)
• Insurance Fraud: A variant was committed by the captain of the Vociferous Carmichael. He didn't cheat his insurance company directly; rather, he charged the owners of his ship's cargo a fat fee to be used to insure its safe delivery, but pocketed their money instead of buying the promised insurance.
• Love Makes You Evil: Hurwood
• The Magic Goes Away: Noted, and explained in detail. Magic becomes more difficult if the caster has contact with too much ferrous metal, and magic-use has been dying out as iron technology spreads.
• Mind Over Matter: The most common interpretation of voodoo magic used in the novel. Utilized in a variety of forms ranging from control over others (dead or alive) to summoning winds for the sails to telekinesis over inanimate objects--all of which involve Mind Over Matter.
• Not Using the Zed Word: We do have undead, but they're not the shambling, rotting, moaning sort. They're closer to dead people bound as servants, and never actively referred to as "zombies", since that word has a very specific connotation in voodoo.
• Oedipus Complex: Leo Friend. While attempting to rape Beth Hurwood (albeit falingly so) Leo Friend, with newfound powers and an apparent lack of mastery over them, accidentally and briefly turns Beth into his mother which while saying "mommy, oh mommy" repeatedly and in an increasingly pathetic tone. This, in turn, causes Beth to vomit.
• People Puppets: Much of the voodoo magic present in the novel involves controlling others to say or do as you command. Contributes to themes involving Jack Shandy's history as a puppeteer.
• Power Born of Madness: Jack Shandy suffers a blow to the head just before confronting an evil sorcerer, who attempts to trap him in illusions. The illusions keep breaking down as a result of Jack's disorientation, causing the villain to exclaim: "What's wrong with your mind? It's like a stripped screw!"
• Public Domain Artifact: The Fountain of Youth.
• Throw-Away Guns: Hurwood assists the pirate attack by firing one pistol after another, pulling the guns from bandoliers and dropping them after use. Justified because they are one-shot flintlock pistols. People who expected to have to fight with them would usually pack a half-dozen or so for use in Real Life.
  • Hurwood also has only one arm and would be slowed down immensely if he paused and re-holstered each weapon.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Hurwood, who does terrible, terrible things, but for remarkably justifiable reasons. Doesn't stop him from being a monster, though.
  • Well, his reasons are 'justifiable' if you think that bringing your dead wife's spirit back inside the body of your own daughter for some incestuous loving is justifiable.