gyttja's review against another edition
3.0
Underhållande piratberättelse med stort fokus på voodoo. Första halvan tyckte jag var väldigt spännande medan jag upplevde den andra som betydligt svagare. Störde mig också väldigt mycket på att de enda kvinnliga karaktärerna som är med är där för att motivera "hjälten".
jack2255's review
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
vanncrowe's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Always enjoy me some Tim Powers—though I thought it would be a little more lighthearted. Confused likely because of the Pirates of the Caribbean, but it makes sense that this the movie was less of a adaptation, and more a way to borrow the basic outline, and reimburse Powers for how shamelessly earlier movies in the franchise stole from this book.
The book ends too abruptly, few of the characters were likable, though Skank definitely grew on me.
The book ends too abruptly, few of the characters were likable, though Skank definitely grew on me.
lockerific's review
Character motivations we're all over the place, most characters were flat, the plot and pacing were all over the place, and this story really never seemed to know what it wanted to be about.
This feels like a short story that had extra material out into it that really should have stayed a short story.
A lot of the concepts were really cool! They just never really seemed to be fully realized for me personally.
This feels like a short story that had extra material out into it that really should have stayed a short story.
A lot of the concepts were really cool! They just never really seemed to be fully realized for me personally.
chaghi's review against another edition
4.0
Pirates, damsels in distress, vodoo magic... what could possibly go wrong? Almost nothing:) Really liked the action packed pace of the story and Tim Powers' writing style.
As a side note: as a film adaptation of this novel, Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" really sucks. I mean, it's not that the movie is bad per se, if you liked the previous ones, then for sure you'd enjoy the one based on this book. But in their attempt to come up with a screenplay aligned with the previous movies and their characters, the writers left almost nothing of the original novel standing.
As a side note: as a film adaptation of this novel, Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" really sucks. I mean, it's not that the movie is bad per se, if you liked the previous ones, then for sure you'd enjoy the one based on this book. But in their attempt to come up with a screenplay aligned with the previous movies and their characters, the writers left almost nothing of the original novel standing.
xeni's review against another edition
4.0
A very pirate-cliche pirate story. But I suppose it's one of the few that createdthe cliche. Filled with
pirates, and ships, and vodoun, and magic spells, and historical figures of
old, this novel was certainly fun to read, albeit a bit lacking in details at times.
Still, I recommend it!
pirates, and ships, and vodoun, and magic spells, and historical figures of
old, this novel was certainly fun to read, albeit a bit lacking in details at times.
Still, I recommend it!
banjax451's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 stars. I desperately wanted to like this more than I did. I can see why Disney took portions and turned it into movies and inspiration, but jettisoned a great deal of it. It's not "bad" so much as uneven. It makes jumps it shouldn't, drones on on other things it should pass over and features tangents that I felt should have been avoided. Portions of it almost feel like reading a fever dream. Maybe that's intentional, but I could have done with maybe a bit more world building and less of the fever nature. But maybe that was unavoidable. The whole book is a big shrug. I didn't hate it. But I'm not certain I liked it either. I'm certainly unsure why it is a popular in reputation as it seems to be.