The Curse of Treasure Island [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Francis Bryan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2002

In this thrilling sequel to Robert Louis Stevenson's classic Treasure Island, ten years have passed since Jim Hawkins and his comrades marooned three ruthless buccaneers on the island. Now, with a lady in distress who needs his help, he reluctantly sets out to return to Treasure Island-and discover the fate of the men he left to die there.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This sequel to Robert Louis Stevenson's 1893 classic packs a great deal of adventure into a relatively small package. However, escapades and high melodrama are nearly all that's offered. Jim Hawkins, the cabin boy who narrated Treasure Island, is now 21; he helps to operate the Admiral Benbow Inn, where he regales travelers with tales of his seafaring adventures. Enter a beautiful young woman named Grace Richardson, who, traveling with her son, is being pursued by sinister types. She begs Jim to help her find the pirate Joseph Tait, last known to be marooned on Treasure Island. Hawkins initially demurs and offers her accommodation at the Admiral Benbow, but after a series of hair-raising events, he finds himself a fugitive and is soon on his way back to the island. Grace stubbornly refuses to provide any details about why she must find Tait, or who her pursuers are, and this is where the story falls apart. It is impossible to believe that everyone involved would set off on an expensive and dangerous voyage with so little to go on. At least a dozen men die, which probably could have been avoided had Richardson explained herself. Long John Silver and his famous parrot make an appearance, and Bryan offers plenty of swordplay and spilled blood. A key problem is that the too-good-to-be-true Hawkins narrates, so no matter how perilous his situation, we know he survives. Stick with the original. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

One of the greatest adventure stories in all literature is Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. Now, here is a sequel, and a grand book it is. As in the original, the main character is Jim Hawkins; ten years have passed, and Jim is helping his mother run the Admiral Benbow Inn. A mysterious young woman named Grace arrives at the inn with her son and begs for Jim's help without disclosing the motivation. Suffice it to say, he must return to Treasure Island, a place he has come to dread. Complicating things is Jim's attraction to Grace. Various characters Long John Silver, Ben Gunn, and Squire Trelawney, to name a few reappear. There are two separate villains, both of whom chase Jim at various times, providing some very exciting moments. Jim escapes one villain by jumping on a raft into the sea and is rescued days later by the other villain, who (plausibly) does not recognize him. As in the original, there is never a dull moment. Written pseudonymously by a British journalist, this adventure story is recommended for public libraries, but all will enjoy it. Fred Gervat, Concordia Coll. Lib., Bronxville, NY
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 494 pages
• Publisher: Thorndike Press (August 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786244771
• ISBN-13: 978-0786244775
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,958,234 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Failed Linguistic Experiment, December 13, 2005

By 

fredtownward "The Analytical Mind; Have Brain... (Mocksville, North Carolina, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Curse of Treasure Island (Hardcover)

If you check out the website of the real author of The Curse Of Treasure Island, Frank Delaney, you will discover that his purpose in writing it was to:

"...test how much language had changed (I never intended to publish it). Treasure Island by my beloved Robert Louis Stevenson seemed a suitable case for treatment; I wondered whether I, at the end of the twentieth century, might hook into the idiom of a nineteenth century man writing, as Stevenson did, in an eighteenth century persona. The exercise, published in 2001, proved wonderfully enjoyable and the English language, I discovered, has changed surprisingly little. Furthermore, Jim Hawkins may continue, to new adventures."

Let us hope that if he does continue, there will be greater emphasis on little things like PLOT and CHARACTERS and not leaving a bad taste in readers' mouths and less on his admittedly "dead on" imitation of RLS's language and writing style.

Delaney's "hook" for this somewhat conventional Treasure Island sequel (no Porto Bello Gold : A Prequel to Treasure Island, no John Paul Jones) is the last paragraph of Treasure Island:

"The bar silver and the arms still lie, for all that I know, where Flint buried them; and certainly they shall lie there for me. Oxen and wain-ropes would not bring me back again to that accursed island; and the worst dreams that ever I have are when I hear the surf booming about its coasts, or start upright in bed, with the sharp voice of Captain Flint still ringing in my ears: 'Pieces of eight! pieces of eight!'"

Thus we get a horror novel rather than an adventure novel. Ten years after the return from Treasure Island Jim Hawkins has become landlord of the family inn, and if I may say, something of a Mama's Boy, presumably in reaction to still recurring nightmares. His resolve never to return to Treasure Island is if anything stronger than before, but then a mysterious stranger and her young son come looking for him, begging his help in locating a man who turns out to be one of the three pirates left behind on Treasure Island. Though infatuated with her, Jim initially refuses, but then a series of events send him fleeing in terror: away from killers hunting him down, to his uncle's house, back to Treasure Island, away from Treasure Island, well, you get the drift. Maybe horror fans are licking this up, but I was checking the page numbers and wondering when (and if) the Worm would finally Turn, and we'd finally get some action OTHER THAN fleeing in terror!

Well, the Worm finally Turns on page 177 of this 291 page book. Jim, having drifted at sea for days, terrified of dying, is finally rescued by what turn out to be his enemies, among whom he is terrified of being discovered, but with his suffering altered appearance he is able to fool them and spin a tale about Plague on the Hispaniola. So they sail into harbor to consider what to do next and to seek medical treatment for "Master Mills", a port that Jim remembers well. He takes the doctor into his confidence and inquires about a former acquaintance, old You Know Who. Soon Jim and Long John Silver begin to plot about defeating the Bad Guys, rescuing the Good Guys, and, of course, picking up the remaining treasure.

This as you might imagine is the best part of the book, almost but not quite making up for what we have been dragged through before. Part of the problem is that there is a final nasty little twist that causes the reader to despise a couple of characters he has most likely grown fond of: one who turns out to have been motivated by wealth and power after all and another who knowingly betrays Jim and who is also, well, Jim's mother puts it best, "There's no fool like an old fool."

It could have been so much better, but then it was only a linguistic exercise after all.

Note: a number of reviewers have made the criticism that it is implausible that Grace could have kept her secrets from her companions for so long even as they are risking their lives for her. I think they are missing an important point -- Grace is a pretty woman with sad eyes and a sad story, what she'll tell of it, and is one of those women who have the effect of significantly lowering the IQ's of any susceptible males in the vicinity from Joseph Tait to Ambrose Hatt to Jim Hawkins. With the redoubtable Mrs. Hawkins shunted offstage early on as usual, there was no one left who might have pressed Grace to tell all. This book has a lot of faults, but Grace keeping her secrets to the end from a bunch of stupefied men is not one of them.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Entertaining Sequel, June 21, 2004

By 

J. Garlen "coolcatjuniper" (HUNTSVILLE, AL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Curse Of Treasure Island (Mass Market Paperback)

No, Francis Bryan is not as good as R.L. Stevenson, but this sequel is a well-written follow up to the original that moves along at a gripping pace. I don't think Bryan is slavishly imitating RLS's narratorial voice here; he imagines a more mature Jim Hawkins, and he does a good job bringing out the mixed feelings demonstrated by the original Jim at the close of Treasure Island. By comparison, I couldn't get through Porto Bello Gold, a prequel to Treasure Island. Bryan's book has better pacing and more sensitive writing than a lot of successful sequel writers; he seems to have real feeling for these characters.

If you are a fan of the original and interested in how some of the loose threads MIGHT have been tied up, this book is a pleasure to read and worth picking up. Keep it away from younger or more sensitive readers, however; it does contain some perfectly logical but disturbing elements.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Pieces of eight;pieces of eight!", August 25, 2003

By 

Frank J. Konopka (Shamokin, PA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Curse Of Treasure Island (Mass Market Paperback)

"Treasure Island" is one of my favorite books (see my list on [website]), so the hought of a sequel was very interesting to me. Buying the book was an excellent idea, as I horoughly enjoyed it. I've always wondered what became of the characters in the original, and this book answers that question quite well. Jim Hawkins has grown into a fine man, and Long John Silver, a bit older and somewhat the worse for wear, is as wily as ever. We see all "the usual suspects" from the original, and there is a rollicking adventure tale included. The ending is a bit bittersweet, but quite satisfying in its way. This is a book well worth reading, and I highly recommend it!