Mojo Book Club | On Stranger Tides | Chapter 17

[Gins]

Caught up to Book 2, and also remembered to update the thread title.

 

Great short chapter. Suspenseful execution of a failed plan. And I always love those Davies/Shandy one-on-ones.

 

Looking forward to Chapter 9!

[Gins]

Didn't get any time to read this week, unfortunately. Did anyone?

[TimeGentleman]

No, but should get to it over the long weekend.

[Gins]

  On 4/6/2023 at 9:03 PM, TimeGentleman said:

No, but should get to it over the long weekend.

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Same, let's have an easter break then 😁

Edited April 7, 2023 by Gins

[BaronGrackle]

It's been a while since the Prologue, but it inspired me to look back to the relevant ceremony in the Odyssey.

 

Summary of the ceremony: https://thehistorianshut.com/2018/11/10/homers-detailed-ancient-ritual-to-summon-the-dead/

 

Links to the Odyssey: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1727

[TimeGentleman]

Read chapter 9, very much enjoyed it. Getting Sansa/Dontos vibes off Beth and this new fella. His backstory with Blackbeard was amazing, Thatch keeps getting scarier (though I liked the hints that perhaps the guy was not wholly innocent either) and it was good to get more from Beth's perspective too.

[Gins]

Thanks to the forums being down for some three weeks, I didn't do any reading 😅😅

 

Will catch up tomorrow with some luck 🤞

[TimeGentleman]

Same, I've been holding off till the forums were back up so I could make sure we were synced! So I've still only read chapter 9, I'll wait until you update the thread title before moving onto 10.

[Thrik]

Sorry!

[TimeGentleman]

??

[Gins]

  On 4/26/2023 at 12:50 PM, TimeGentleman said:

??

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This is probably targeted at Thrik, yet I feel compelled to inform that I haven't read chapter 9 yet 🫣

 

I'll flip the thread to chapter 10 on Thursday though, as per the schedule

[Thrik]

I was just apologising for the forums being toast. It was really all @s-island but he is currently being used for coolant on the new server.

[Gins]

  On 4/23/2023 at 6:43 PM, TimeGentleman said:

Same, I've been holding off till the forums were back up so I could make sure we were synced! So I've still only read chapter 9, I'll wait until you update the thread title before moving onto 10.

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Read Chapter 9. Gee, that went dark with Bonnet's point of view 🫣

 

Was that... actually a doppelganger? Shudder...

[Gins]

Reviving this thread, thanks to a bump from Thrik in another thread.

 

Reading chapter 10 right now. Anybody else still in for the ride? 🏴‍☠️🦜

[TimeGentleman]

Yes! I am a little further ahead, but will go back and remind myself of the chapters so I can join in as you discuss them!

[BaronGrackle]

I recently reread the thing! Let me go glance back at Chapter 10, too.

[Huz]

Good news! I got a little ahead of the thread before the book fell to the bottom of my "books I started and will probably never finish" stack and I stopped. I've re-read a few of the later chapters after I realised I couldn't remember any of the things you guys are talking about, because I have the memory of a lemon.

 

So now I'm up to chapter 12 or something and ready to go!

[Mintopia]

I've read it a few times, and probably due a re-read (I like to read it on the flight to the USA when I'm going to somewhere with a Disney park and PotC to ride.)

Let me refresh myself with where we are at Chapter 10 and I'm in.

[Gins]

As it's Thursday, and we have activity again, Chapter 11 is unlocked for discussion 🥳

[BaronGrackle]

Oh, Chapter 11 has one of the quotes that I wanted to post!

 

They're following this river to some sort of supernatural nexus, and the environment starts to develop noses, eyes, and generally faces. If Ron Gilbert says he got inspiration from this book, then I'm sure the fungus faces on this path were an inspiration to the mushrooms and face parts under the Monkey Head.

[ThunderPeel2001]

  On 7/22/2023 at 6:57 PM, BaronGrackle said:

Oh, Chapter 11 has one of the quotes that I wanted to post!

 

They're following this river to some sort of supernatural nexus, and the environment starts to develop noses, eyes, and generally faces. If Ron Gilbert says he got inspiration from this book, then I'm sure the fungus faces on this path were an inspiration to the mushrooms and face parts under the Monkey Head.

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Yep, aside from the general pirate/voodoo setting, this was the only real reference I noticed.

[Gins]

Chapter 12 is unlocked!

[TimeGentleman]

I've actually finished chapter 26 now, which apparently means I'm about 90% through the book. But like I said, I'll look back over the previous chapters as we go through them here.

 

In chapter 10, the thing that struck me most was how human Blackbeard is. He's not the unapproachable demon that LeChuck or even his Thatch legend is. Also, cool that he's constantly got bits of his head on fire, COMI style!

Chapters 11 and 12 are really effective in making you feel like you've stepped into another world. Harwood is unnervingly unhinged from reality, suddenly there are a bunch of new physical laws and magical rules to deal with, and there's even a Lovecraftian giant invisible intelligence bearing down on everyone. Blackbeard again is more of a formidable, impressive presence than a terrifying one. I also like how so much time is spent on this one expedition, again really makes it feel like a journey into the heart of darkness.
I didn't even notice the similarity of the fungus heads to those in SOMI, as I was too grossed out by them!

 

Getting to Blackbeard and the fountain of youth made me tempted to re-watch the Pirates Of The Caribbean Stranger Tides movie, though I probably won't bother in the end as I remember it being crap!

[Huz]

The fungus faces are a cool piece of imaginary and the sort of thing I can imagine getting wedged into Ronzo's brain and regurgitated into a game, even if it's not a deliberate homage. Another fun thing about this section is that navigating to the fountain is effectively like a classic adventure game maze, where the normal rules don't apply and you need to rely on some external cues. Even in the Monkey Island tunnels, you sometimes need to go back on yourself to follow the route, which obviously doesn't make sense unless there's something supernatural going on. A disembodied head is all this section is missing, really.

[Gins]

Sorry, forgot to update to 13