The voyage of the Destiny [Hardcover]

Robert Nye (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1982

Sir Walter Raleighósoldier, explorer, adventurer, lover of Queen Elizabethóemerges from the pages of history and myth, full-blooded, passionate, and profoundly human. After unjustly languishing for years in the Tower, Raleigh undertakes one final voyage in search of gold. On his doomed quest he contends with Spanish forces, mutiny, pirates, court intrigue, and disease, all under the shadow of the executionerís blade awaiting him back home. Along the way, he also recounts his storied rise from humble origins into the Virgin Queenís favor and courtóand ultimately her bed. This powerful and action-packed novel breathes life into the most dazzling yet most enigmatic of Elizabethans.

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

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In his wry, inimitable style, Nye (The Late Mr. Shakespeare; Falstaff) delves into the mind, heart and soul of Elizabethan adventurer Sir Walter Raleigh as he embarks on his final voyage. Late in life, after suffering 13 years of unjust imprisonment in the Tower of London, Raleigh is released on the condition that he go in search of South American gold for greedy King James I. On his ill-conceived journey, Raleigh falls ill and is stranded off the coast of Trinidad. His son continues up the Orinoco River with half the expedition, but is killed in a battle with Spanish forces. Since Raleigh was forbidden on pain of death to fight the Spanish, he knows he is doomed if he returns to England. The subsequent chapters find Raleigh facing a fateful decision-to turn to piracy and raid the silver-laden Spanish "Plate Fleet" or set sail for England and face death by hanging at the hands of King James. Nye's narration is jittery in the early going as the author hops back and forth between the ill-fated expedition, Raleigh's memories of his infamous romance with Elizabeth I and his odd relationship with the spiritual but violent Guayacunda, an Indian who becomes Raleigh's aide and introduces the Englishman to the mysterious powers of the coca leaf. But once Nye finds his rhythm, he takes readers on a wild historical ride, probing Raleigh's life and character in scenes that range from the bawdy and profane to the reflective ("The voyage of my history. The tale of my life and fortunes. Descriptive. Expository"). The man who emerges is a tremendously flawed and vital being, perfectly suited to Nye's wise, richly imaginative and riotously entertaining brand of historical portraiture.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Nye, author of the raucous The Late Mr. Shakespeare (1999), turns his attention to another intriguing historical celebrity, providing a fictionalized version of the amazing life and times of Sir Walter Raleigh. Narrated by Raleigh himself--only recently released from the Tower of London by a fickle King James I--this account juxtaposes his ill-fated final voyage in search of gold for the crown with anecdotes about his previous life as a soldier, a diplomat, an explorer, and a lover. Interweaving Raleigh's present escapades with his past exploits, Nye paints a robust portrait of a clever adventurer and courtier determined to drain every ounce of possibility out of each and every experience. Returning to England after surviving his disastrous voyage, Raleigh is once again sentenced to death by King James. Interspersed with snippets of Raleigh's own poetry, this entertaining account of an Elizabethan idol is a richly textured piece of historical fiction. Margaret Flanagan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 387 pages
• Publisher: Putnam's; First Edition. states edition (1982)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399127607
• ISBN-13: 978-0399127601
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,567,635 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Voyage of the Destiny, June 17, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Voyage of the Destiny: A Novel (Hardcover)

A character-driven portrayal of Sir Walter Ralegh, largely told in flashback, but also involving some fairly fast realtime action.

Nye writes well on a sentence level. Generally, I found his historical portrayal believable, and his characters multifaceted, although I don't quite buy that Ralegh would be such a political innocent that he wouldn't realize why Elizabeth could by no means risk becoming pregnant. The plot is exciting; it bogged down a bit for me about 3/4 of the way through, but Ralegh's attempts to escape execution are fast-moving and gripping.

The different portrayals of Elizabeth in historical fiction are interesting. She's always larger than life, even when, as here, she has aspects of the grotesque. And generally, as here, she's shown quite negatively. I like the darkness of the way she torments her favorites in the book, though I rather doubt it's what really happened.

I disliked the homophobia with which James I and his lover Villiers were portrayed -- it's fine that James is a negative character, but the prejudice here seemed to go beyond Ralegh's normal Renaissance-era reaction.

In the final analysis, there's something self-indulgent about this book, about Ralegh and his endless self-recriminations and maundering. Still, readers of Elizabethan historical fiction will probably want to have a look at it.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "This book, I see now, is the log of three voyages.", February 13, 2003

By 

Mary Whipple (New England) - See all my reviews
(COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Voyage of the Destiny: A Novel (Hardcover)

With famed courtier Sir Walter Ralegh as his speaker/writer, author Robert Nye creates a fictional journal which includes all the elements of high drama the reader would expect of this vicarious peek into Ralegh's very private and intriguing world--his climb from obscurity to the highest levels of court life, the nature of his tumultuous relationship with Queen Elizabeth, his career as a soldier, his secret courtship and marriage, his loathing of the venal King James, his thirteen years in the Tower of London on false charges, and his eventual release by King James to search for gold in the New World.

The journal, which begins in 1618, moves back and forth in time, alternating vivid tales of Ralegh's tenuous existence aboard the Destiny, a ship off the coast of Guiana, with his colorful reminiscences of life in Elizabeth's court, when, as a young man he was living the heady life of a courtier. The ebb and flow of the journal creates its own narrative movement and conveys both the vibrant excitement of Ralegh's days as a young man and the melancholy self-reflection which dominates his old age. Sensuous descriptions and self-deprecating wit characterize his revelations about his younger days, while the privation and trauma he experiences at the end of his life elicit both sympathy and admiration as he tries to redeem his pride and reputation while walking a tightrope between his mutinous crew, his duplicitous king, and his Spanish enemies.

Though very exciting and full of fascinating period detail, Nye's novel is more than a biography, however. Ralegh tells us that his journal is ultimately a log of three voyages: first, the voyage of the ship Destiny--his present, day to day life; second, the voyage of his history--his past and his fortunes; and, third, the Voyage of Destiny, not his life or his ship but something more than the present, the past, or both together. This third journey is an internal one, and we observe Ralegh making an effort to achieve deeper understanding, not only of himself, but of the real values which give meaning to man's existence, not the values imposed by society. He is accompanied, on both his real and his symbolic journey, by an Indian named Guayacunda, a mysterious man whose tribe was wiped out a hundred years earlier, and whose ancestral heritage, language, culture, and even real name have vanished completely, leaving him without the ancestral values he thinks would give meaning to his existence. As they share their dreams, they search for an understanding of truth which will give value to their separate realities.

Multi-leveled and totally satisfying, The Voyage of the Destiny uses the fascinating life of Sir Walter Ralegh to illuminate the search of a thoughtful man for truth and meaning in life beyond what society and its values have imposed, not one truth at the expense of others, but truths which come from a life lived with respect and humility, not with pride or a need for recognition. In that way, Ralegh discovers, he may achieve true honor. Mary Whipple