On Stranger Tides escalates from there to closing mega-thrills so determinedly spiced that your palate is left almost jaded." Jack Adrian says that "Tim Powers has further refertilized the Sabatini swashbuckler," and describes the novel as a skillful blend of "high seas adventure with sorcery and black magic." Kim Newman based the name of a vampire in his "Anno Dracula" series on the main character of "On Stranger Tides". Ron Gilbert has been widely quoted that the "Monkey Island" series of adventure games was inspired by Disneyland's "Pirates of the Caribbean" ride. However, he stated in a blog that the ride was mainly
On Stranger Tides now resurrected and assuming a new identity. Combining his male magic with Beth's female magic, he vanquishes Blackbeard and marries Beth. The book ends as he prepares for the voyage out of Jamaica. Orson Scott Card states that the novel "is as good as storytelling ever gets," adding that "Powers writes in a clean, elegant style that illuminates without slowing down the tale. The story promises marvels and horrors, and delivers them all." David Langford wrote that "On Stranger Tides" "immediately hooks you and drags you along in sympathy with one central character's appalling misfortunes on the Spanish Main, [and]