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22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Five stars are not enough, but look at my signature, June 19, 2009
This review is from: Flint and Silver: A Prequel to Treasure Island (Hardcover)
I've given the book five stars for two reasons. First: because it deserves more, but five is all I'm allowed. Second: because I wrote it. (the sharp-minded will spot the connection here). I'm joining in because I'm astonished at the quality of the reviews. The UK Amazon site, has just ten reviews mostly quite short. We don't have the Vine programme, and the US population is five times the UK's but there is a clear cultural difference in the formidable length, depth and breadth of the US reviews. So ... may God bless America because I certainly do. Most seem to like the book, which flatters the ego of a keyboard-basher like me, trying to grind out a few lines to earn a crust. But all opinions are valid, and some people don't like it. So here is my responses to criticism. 1. The book is too violent. Well ... it's about pirates, not Snow White, Bambi, or fluffy the easter bunny. It wasn't written for children, and I point out that Stevenson was well capable of gothic horror. Blind Pew is a figure of nightmares, and in `Treasure Island' John Silver horribly murders a man whom he strikes down from behind. Also, Stevenson wrote `Doctor Jeckyll and Mr Hyde', so he's not turning over in his grave. Anyway, the witch in Snow white, and the death of Bambi's mother, have been terrifying children for ages. 2. It's sexy. Well it would be. It's about grown up men and women and it's written for grown up men and women. 3. Long John is too good. Yes he is. But this is only book one of three. I shall deliver him up as Stevenson's equivocal character. He's going to change. 3. The time Jumps are puzzling. Try `Catch 22' if you really want to be puzzled. That magnificent book set the convention for time jumps, 48 years ago. I'm following in its footsteps. 4. The prose is too modern. Have another look at `Treasure Island'. Stevenson didn't write 18th century pirate prose. He wrote in the then-modern style of the late 19th century. I'm doing the same for the 21st century. Give it a hundred years and my writing will look quaint. You wait and see. But basically, thanks for the hours people have spent on these reviews which are so intensely gratifying to a novice author. The only bad thing would be to be ignored. John Drake, Cheshire, England
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
'Tis a good pirate yarn, only.......do not compare it to Treasure Island., April 18, 2009
This review is from: Flint and Silver: A Prequel to Treasure Island (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
It's been over 30 years since I read Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island (Enriched Classics Series), a book that I thoroughly enjoyed as a young lad. So reading Flint & Silver took me back to a story and of characters that I loved. But as I read John Drake's prequel I found things that didn't jive with my memory of how the main characters were and acted. So much so that I felt I had to go back and reread Treasure Island before I could address the issues in a review. First, though, I enjoyed Flint & Silver as a story on its own. It starts off quickly and rarely lets up. In Flint Drake had almost a blank canvass to create a vile and treacherous character with a strange sense of humor that matched up well with Stevenson's brief description in TI. The battle scenes are detailed and rather bloody. Overall the story is exciting with many twists & surprises that made it hard for me to put down. But a word of caution, this is not Treasure Island, a book written for Stevenson's 13-year old stepson and made even more child-friendly by Disney. F&S has some very explicitly violent parts with a little perversion thrown in as well. It is not a book to read to young children. Having said that, I have a hard time regarding this as a prequel of TI. The main issue is that Long John Silver is written too moral and too good, too much the hero in F&S, and not really close to the Stevenson original. In TI Silver is a charmer to be sure but also treacherous in his own right. His cowardly back-stabbing attack & murder on the island of a loyal sailor, his changing sides back-&-forth when it would best benefit him, his plan to murder all those loyal to Squire Trelawney including the boy Jim Hawkins. None of these traits are present in Drake's version of Silver. Here he is painted as a tough but loyal & moral sailor, one who if at all possible would let his captives live, one time going so far as hailing a Spanish merchant to release a group of female prisoners. It's possible that we may see Silver evolve in Drake's upcoming sequel "Pieces of Eight" to be closer to the scoundrel Stevenson wrote him as. But here it really isn't the same character. But again, when read as a pirate adventure on the high seas it is a very good book. I am looking forward to the second installment with high anticipation. I would highly recommend Flint & Silver to any one looking for an exciting and action-packed adventure story.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Origins Of Treasure Island, April 23, 2009
This review is from: Flint and Silver: A Prequel to Treasure Island (Hardcover)
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Flint and Silver by John Drake is a prequel to Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. It serves as the backstory for the central figures (John Silver and Joseph Flint) of Stevenson's classic. Trying to add on to a classic is risky business, but Drake manages to do so with a high degree of success. However, Drake's novel is a different style than Stevenson's. While Stevenson wrote for children, Drake's includes violence, language, and sex. So don't expect to read this to your children as a bedtime story. Drake begins his tale prior to Silver and Flint's becoming acquainted. If a linear plot is a requirement for you, then you should probably skip this one as time skips around significantly from one chapter to the next as a matter of course for about the first half of the book. To help the reader along, though, the author essentially starts each chapter like a captain's log with a date and location so you at least have a reference point starting out. The story revolves around three main characters: John Silver, Joseph Flint, and the runaway slave girl Selena. We learn about the mighty John Silver who is the last man standing aboard his ship after being attacked by pirates. After taking out six pirates before being surrounded, Captain England decides to offer Silver a chance to join the crew as a "gentleman o' fortune" rather than losing his life. Silver chooses life and begins his life of piracy. Meanwhile, Joseph Flint is on a ship of the English Navy sailing under the command of Captain Springer. However, Flint executes a slowing planned mutiny whereby taking the ship and crew for himself to use for the gathering of other people's riches. In an unlikely turn of events, Silver and his ship come to the rescue of Flint and his crew as they are all but beaten. The two join forces under Captain Flint's leadership and enjoy great success as pirates. Along the way they make port in Savannah, Georgia. It is here that both men meet Selena with Flint bringing her aboard ship when they depart. The rest of the story deals with the breakdown of Silver and Flint's friendship and the burying of the treasure that they have amassed. Drake does a great job of developing his main characters. Silver is the natural leader who even as a pirate operates under a strict moral code. His men follow him out of great respect for his natural leadership abilities and the way that he treats his men. Flint, however, rules his men by fear. Even before he led his mutiny, he kept his ship in order through cruel physical punishments. He is also a master manipulator of the simpleminded and is capable of elaborate and devious plans. The contrast of Silver and Flint creates a thick tension that propels the compelling story up to its conclusion. I thoroughly enjoyed reading Flint and Silver. In addition to the great story, the author actually enters into the book as well. Told in the first person omniscient point of view, he occasionally adds commentary at the end of major scenes. This technique could become annoying if overused, but Drake manages to use it judiciously such that it benefits his storytelling. Overall: A
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