惊涛怪浪 (1987)

On Stranger Tides is a 1987 historical fantasy supernatural novel by American writer Tim Powers. It was nominated for the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel, 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 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, zombies and the supernatural while on a quest for the fabled Fountain of Youth and rescues Englishwoman Elizabeth "Beth" Hurwood. Powers' novel features real historical figures like Blackbeard, Stede Bonnet, Woodes Rogers, and Juan Ponce de León alongside fictional ones.

The book was also the inspiration for the Monkey Island video game series by LucasArts and was loosely adapted for the fourth installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011).

Plot

In 1718, 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 "Beth" 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 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 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) 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 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-turned-pirate.

Philip Davies - a notorious pirate captain of the sloop Jenny.

Benjamin Hurwood/Ulysses Segundo - a former professor who wants to resurrect his dead wife.

Leo Friend - Hurwood's assistant.

Elizabeth "Beth" Hurwood - Benjamin Hurwood's only daughter and Jack Shandy's love interest.

Sebastian Chandagnac/Joshua Hicks - 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 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 - the former governor of New Providence Island, revealed to be the immortal discoverer of the Fountain of Youth.

Anne Bonny - a female pirate in Nassau.

Robert Maynard - a Royal Navy lieutenant who is responsible for Blackbeard's first death at Ocracoke Inlet.