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Publisher:
iBooks |
Release
Date: September 2003 |
ISBN:
0743474732 |
Awards:
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Format
Reviewed: Trade Paperback |
Buy
it at Amazon US
|| UK |
Read
an Excerpt |
Genre:
Historical Adventure [1773, Caribbean and various places in
US] |
Reviewed:
2003 |
Reviewer:
Rachel A Hyde |
Reviewer
Notes: |
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Dead
Man's Chest
The
Sequel to "Treasure Island"
By Roger
L Johnson
As
the title indicates, this is a sequel to Treasure Island.
Much of the treasure amassed by Captain Flint was left behind when
Jim Hawkins, Silver and the others departed the island and after
his escape Silver plots to get his hands on it. Nine years pass,
and Silver settles down as an innkeeper to his native Jamaica. His
nearest neighbour is his brother Charles Noble, whose young son
David is eager to go to sea. He gets his chance when Captain John
Paul arrives there as a fugitive following his killing of a popular
rabble rouser who was planning a mutiny. A plan is hatched by the
wily Silver and set in motion, a plan involving the son of Captain
Flint who is now a pirate himself, the burgeoning revolution in
America and of course, the treasure...
Treasure Island was my favorite
book as a child, and along with most true classics I see it as a
lily that needs no gilding. Roger L Johnson has done his homework
and created a realistic picture of an America in ferment as King
George imposes heavier penalties and even the clergy aren't safe
from execution if they fail to comply. While reading the first half
of the book I kept thinking that this was actually a novel about
the War of Independence but it isn't; the second half is a pure
pirate yarn. Writing a sequel that incorporates historical characters
and events enlarges the themes of the original and is an unusual
idea that seems to work, although I did feel (especially during
the first half) that this salty yarn could have benefited from some
editing. What I enjoyed most is that the atmosphere of unrest and
political upheaval is just right. Long John Silver is not the main
character in this novel - that honor goes to John Paul Jones although
I did feel that the "star turn" was the history itself
and the author's deft handling of it. I've read more than one sequel
to Treasure Island and this wasn't my favorite but well worth reading
for anybody interested in the period.
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