The pirate sloop Jenny menaces the Carmichael, neutralizing its powerful cannons with vodun magic. On board, he meets an Englishwoman named Elizabeth 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. 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. In 1718, French puppeteer John Chandagnac sails to Jamaica on the British ship Vociferous Carmichael. The story was also the inspiration for the Monkey Island video game series by LucasArts and for the fourth installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. It features real historical figures like Blackbeard, Stede Bonnet, and Woodes Rogers alongside fictional ones, as actors in the fictional John Chandagnac's quest to reclaim his inheritance and rescue an Englishwoman. On Stranger Tides takes place during the Golden Age of Piracy.

It was nominated for the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel, and placed second in the annual Locus poll for best fantasy novel. On Stranger Tides is a 1987 historical fantasy supernatural novel by American writer Tim Powers.

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