Alias Hook: A Novel
by Lisa Jensen
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""Every child knows how the story ends. The wicked pirate captain is flung overboard, caught in the jaws of the monster crocodile who drags him down to a watery grave. But it was not yet my time to die. It's my fate to be trapped here forever, in a nightmare of childhood fancy, with that infernal, eternal boy." Meet Captain James Benjamin Hook, a witty, educated Restoration-era privateer cursed to play villain to a pack of malicious little boys in a pointless war that never ends. But show more everything changes when Stella Parrish, a forbidden grown woman, dreams her way to the Neverland in defiance of Pan's rules. From the glamour of the Fairy Revels, to the secret ceremonies of the First Tribes, to the mysterious underwater temple beneath the Mermaid Lagoon, the magical forces of the Neverland open up for Stella as they never have for Hook. And in the pirate captain himself, she begins to see someone far more complex than the storybook villain. With Stella's knowledge of folk and fairy tales, she might be Hook's last chance for redemption and release if they can break his curse before Pan and his warrior boys hunt her down and drag Hook back to their neverending game, in this beautifully and romantically written adult fairy tale perfect for fans of Gregory Maguire and Paula Brackston"-- show lessTags
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Member Reviews
Everyone know how the story ends: Peter Pan is victorious and Hook gets eaten by the crocodile. Except that's not the whole story because Hook's curse in the Neverland is that he can never leave and he can never die. Doomed to an eternity of skirmishes with Pan and losing his crew over and over again, Hook is stuck in Neverland. Until a grown woman named, Stella, arrives in Neverland. Is she a ploy of Pan's to torture Hook in new ways or could she possibly hold the secret to Hook's desire to escape the land all children dream about?
Peter Pan is one of my favourite novels and I'm always happy to encounter a good re-imagining of Barrie's tale. Alias Hook definitely falls into this category. Focusing on Hook, Jensen creates a Neverland show more that is darker and harsher than we've seen and makes James Hook a flawed but sympathetic human being stuck in a land that seems designed to punish him. With elements of historical fiction as well as fantasy, this novel will appeal to Pan fans as well as readers who enjoy a tale of self-discovery and redemption. show less
Peter Pan is one of my favourite novels and I'm always happy to encounter a good re-imagining of Barrie's tale. Alias Hook definitely falls into this category. Focusing on Hook, Jensen creates a Neverland show more that is darker and harsher than we've seen and makes James Hook a flawed but sympathetic human being stuck in a land that seems designed to punish him. With elements of historical fiction as well as fantasy, this novel will appeal to Pan fans as well as readers who enjoy a tale of self-discovery and redemption. show less
This review and others posted over at my blog.
Hook, nemesis to the beloved Peter Pan, has been trapped in Neverland for centuries. Unable to die, he’s forced to endlessly battle Pan, living at the boy’s whim, and watching crew after crew die at the hands of the savage Lost Boys and their cruel master. Then one day, a grown woman appears in the Neverland – this has never happened before, as grown women are not allowed by Peter Pan. Hook doesn’t know if she was sent to destroy him, but he takes her captive in the hopes of finding a way to use her against Pan. However, she’ll show him more about himself than he ever thought possible.
Finally, a story from Hook’s perspective (if there are others out there in this vein, please let show more me know!). I love to hear from the villains, especially when they’re complex characters (a la Elphaba from Wicked) and boy did Jensen create a very complex Hook. She deepened Pan’s character as well and added so many layers to the traditional story, really making it her own. I was totally engrossed throughout the whole book. I loved Hook immediately – he was world-weary and desperate for death, yet determined to keep his men safe from Pan’s murderous games, but would still fly into a rage. I wanted him to succeed and wanted to smack him when his rash actions caused a setback in his quest against Pan. He wanted to better himself, but it wasn’t easy. I was enamored with him – if you’re looking for a sexy pirate captain, look no further than James Hookbridge.
It’s hard to talk about this book without talking about the plot, and I think it’s better to let the book speak for itself. The pacing was excellent, the characters varied and complex, the atmosphere was vibrant and Hook’s language was spot on. It’s clear Jensen did her research on nautical terms and the linguistics of the time, creating an authentic feel (for someone who knows nothing about ships or older languages anyway). I wanted to fly through this book to find out what happens, but at the same time I never wanted it to end. And the ending!
If you’re at all interested in a different perspective on the Hook versus Pan relationship, I highly reccomend this. show less
Hook, nemesis to the beloved Peter Pan, has been trapped in Neverland for centuries. Unable to die, he’s forced to endlessly battle Pan, living at the boy’s whim, and watching crew after crew die at the hands of the savage Lost Boys and their cruel master. Then one day, a grown woman appears in the Neverland – this has never happened before, as grown women are not allowed by Peter Pan. Hook doesn’t know if she was sent to destroy him, but he takes her captive in the hopes of finding a way to use her against Pan. However, she’ll show him more about himself than he ever thought possible.
Finally, a story from Hook’s perspective (if there are others out there in this vein, please let show more me know!). I love to hear from the villains, especially when they’re complex characters (a la Elphaba from Wicked) and boy did Jensen create a very complex Hook. She deepened Pan’s character as well and added so many layers to the traditional story, really making it her own. I was totally engrossed throughout the whole book. I loved Hook immediately – he was world-weary and desperate for death, yet determined to keep his men safe from Pan’s murderous games, but would still fly into a rage. I wanted him to succeed and wanted to smack him when his rash actions caused a setback in his quest against Pan. He wanted to better himself, but it wasn’t easy. I was enamored with him – if you’re looking for a sexy pirate captain, look no further than James Hookbridge.
It’s hard to talk about this book without talking about the plot, and I think it’s better to let the book speak for itself. The pacing was excellent, the characters varied and complex, the atmosphere was vibrant and Hook’s language was spot on. It’s clear Jensen did her research on nautical terms and the linguistics of the time, creating an authentic feel (for someone who knows nothing about ships or older languages anyway). I wanted to fly through this book to find out what happens, but at the same time I never wanted it to end. And the ending!
If you’re at all interested in a different perspective on the Hook versus Pan relationship, I highly reccomend this. show less
So, what if the shoe was on the other foot, and the adorable little Peter Pan, isn't so adorable?
What if he's an impish murdering maniac? Oh, and Captain Hook, who is actually a fairly decent guy, is trapped in Neverland and forced to fight Pan forever.
I was drawn to this book because I typically enjoy re-tellings and unique character perspectives. I read J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan a few years and thought it was very endearing. On a side note, my husband wishes he was Captain Hook, so I'm strangely the perfect audience for this, lol.
Overall, 3.5 stars. I expected the book to be a little more romantic. It was more of an adventure, with heavy focus on trying to escape Neverland. Much like many vampire characters, Hook is at the point that show more he hates his life and being immortal. Realistically, that's fine. However, as he was the only narrator, I became impatient with it. I really wish part of the story had been told from Stella's perspective; a grown woman so desperate to be a mother that she dreams herself to Neverland to care for the lost boys.
But it was a fun read. Well-researched, and captured the feel of the world created by J.M. Barrie. The ending is very sweet. I'd watch a movie version of it! show less
What if he's an impish murdering maniac? Oh, and Captain Hook, who is actually a fairly decent guy, is trapped in Neverland and forced to fight Pan forever.
I was drawn to this book because I typically enjoy re-tellings and unique character perspectives. I read J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan a few years and thought it was very endearing. On a side note, my husband wishes he was Captain Hook, so I'm strangely the perfect audience for this, lol.
Overall, 3.5 stars. I expected the book to be a little more romantic. It was more of an adventure, with heavy focus on trying to escape Neverland. Much like many vampire characters, Hook is at the point that show more he hates his life and being immortal. Realistically, that's fine. However, as he was the only narrator, I became impatient with it. I really wish part of the story had been told from Stella's perspective; a grown woman so desperate to be a mother that she dreams herself to Neverland to care for the lost boys.
But it was a fun read. Well-researched, and captured the feel of the world created by J.M. Barrie. The ending is very sweet. I'd watch a movie version of it! show less
I was only accompanying a friend at the book store when I saw this on the shelves, and I knew I had to have it. As a lover of Barrie's Peter Pan, I felt the most compassion for two characters: poor Wendy who wanted adventure, only to end up playing a never ending game of House, and Captain Hook with his melancholy eyes, inferior companions, and loneliness at night. But we know Wendy gets her happy ending.
With this novel, I was more than sated. Lisa Jensen does justice to the "redskins," breathes life into those insipid mermaids, adds a whole new dimension to the fairies, and best of all, we get inside the mind of the Captain.
Alias Hook is a proper fairy tale. It's got adventure, sword fighting, magic, and a hero you root for. He's an show more unlikely hero, yes, and he never thinks of himself as one, but the reader knows better. Like all good fairy tales it's got romance. I was suspicious of how I would feel about Stella Parrish, but watching her story unfold, as well as their romance (perfectly and realistically paced), I loved her fiercely. These are two characters you love both together as a couple, and separately as individuals. She is no Xena, so don't expect that, but the lady has "got salt," and she's got all the wit James Hookbridge needs in a partner. Their lives are intertwined. Their bond, their creative swearing, it's all very natural.
I was delighted to read about the "truth" of the mermaids, and the fairies too. There is magic, but there is also culture, something lacking in children's tales. And here, I must note as well how pleased I am at the age of these two main characters. They are not twenty something, but aged appropriately so that they have lived, really lived, and you love them all the more for their broken bits, their darkness, their ugly. It's a fairy tale for adults, and that's something the world needs more of.
I spent much of the book wowed by the beautiful prose, riveted, and hungry for that creepy Pan to get what he deserved. The way I turned out to feel compassion for the boy was just so right, so human. That's what Alias Hook is. It is a novel that is raw and real, a fairy tale which is really about life, about hope, and love, and choices. A story about growing up, and second chances.
It is a story about redemption.
And like all great stories, you give a hearty cheer for the heroes in the end.
If you really love books, you will understand how after reading the last words I closed the book and held it to my chest. show less
With this novel, I was more than sated. Lisa Jensen does justice to the "redskins," breathes life into those insipid mermaids, adds a whole new dimension to the fairies, and best of all, we get inside the mind of the Captain.
Alias Hook is a proper fairy tale. It's got adventure, sword fighting, magic, and a hero you root for. He's an show more unlikely hero, yes, and he never thinks of himself as one, but the reader knows better. Like all good fairy tales it's got romance. I was suspicious of how I would feel about Stella Parrish, but watching her story unfold, as well as their romance (perfectly and realistically paced), I loved her fiercely. These are two characters you love both together as a couple, and separately as individuals. She is no Xena, so don't expect that, but the lady has "got salt," and she's got all the wit James Hookbridge needs in a partner. Their lives are intertwined. Their bond, their creative swearing, it's all very natural.
I was delighted to read about the "truth" of the mermaids, and the fairies too. There is magic, but there is also culture, something lacking in children's tales. And here, I must note as well how pleased I am at the age of these two main characters. They are not twenty something, but aged appropriately so that they have lived, really lived, and you love them all the more for their broken bits, their darkness, their ugly. It's a fairy tale for adults, and that's something the world needs more of.
I spent much of the book wowed by the beautiful prose, riveted, and hungry for that creepy Pan to get what he deserved. The way I turned out to feel compassion for the boy was just so right, so human. That's what Alias Hook is. It is a novel that is raw and real, a fairy tale which is really about life, about hope, and love, and choices. A story about growing up, and second chances.
It is a story about redemption.
And like all great stories, you give a hearty cheer for the heroes in the end.
If you really love books, you will understand how after reading the last words I closed the book and held it to my chest. show less
I picked this up ¬because I’m one of the seemingly-few people who’ve read Jensen’s previous novel, ‘Witch From the Sea,’ which was a highly entertaining historical fantasy of the swashbuckling life. Here, she continues on with the pirate theme, writing a riff on ‘Peter Pan’ from the point of view of Captain Hook.
I have to admit that I had my doubts about the premise. Stories based in another author’s world are often suspect: there are so many ways in which it can go horribly wrong. Probably due to my attitude, it took me a little while to get into the book – but then, it fully won me over.
Captain Hook, the story posits, was Captain Hookbridge – a wealthy, 17th century rake who lived a cruel and dissolute life as a show more privateer until the curse of a woman he’d wronged sent him into the Neverland. Trapped and unable to die, he endures endless years as the nemesis of Peter Pan that J.M. Barrie’s stories introduced us all to. But one day, the unthinkable happens – an adult woman is found in Neverland. Parrish is escaping the trauma she endured as a nurse during WWII – but no one in Neverland is prepared for what her arrival might mean.
Peter Pan is a particularly difficult story to work with, I think, because it has so much about it to love – while simultaneously being deeply problematic from a modern point of view. I feel that in ‘Alias Hook’ Jensen succeed in capturing the magic that readers such as myself remember from childhood – while simultaneously creating a romantic adventure for adults – which also has a lot to say about what it actually means to ‘grow up.’ Jensen’s message about maturity – specifically ‘manhood’ - is one that a great many people today could stand to take to heart.
As a child – Barrie’s Peter Pan worked for me. The idea of never growing up was undeniably attractive. And, as an adult, ‘Alias Hook’ worked for me. It shows the limitations (and heartlessness) of aspects of childhood [her Pan is a dangerous tyrant in all his innocence]; discusses the problems caused when people don’t learn and grow with the years, and shows the possibility of a richness to life that children have not yet glimpsed. The conclusion is sweet and satisfying, full of the possibility of healing and redemption, without being overly sentimental.
I’m glad to see that, although it might’ve taken quite a while, Jensen’s been picked up by a major publisher. Hopefully more tales of the sea will be forthcoming!
Advance copy of this book was provided by NetGalley. Many thanks for the opportunity to read - as always, my opinion is my own. show less
I have to admit that I had my doubts about the premise. Stories based in another author’s world are often suspect: there are so many ways in which it can go horribly wrong. Probably due to my attitude, it took me a little while to get into the book – but then, it fully won me over.
Captain Hook, the story posits, was Captain Hookbridge – a wealthy, 17th century rake who lived a cruel and dissolute life as a show more privateer until the curse of a woman he’d wronged sent him into the Neverland. Trapped and unable to die, he endures endless years as the nemesis of Peter Pan that J.M. Barrie’s stories introduced us all to. But one day, the unthinkable happens – an adult woman is found in Neverland. Parrish is escaping the trauma she endured as a nurse during WWII – but no one in Neverland is prepared for what her arrival might mean.
Peter Pan is a particularly difficult story to work with, I think, because it has so much about it to love – while simultaneously being deeply problematic from a modern point of view. I feel that in ‘Alias Hook’ Jensen succeed in capturing the magic that readers such as myself remember from childhood – while simultaneously creating a romantic adventure for adults – which also has a lot to say about what it actually means to ‘grow up.’ Jensen’s message about maturity – specifically ‘manhood’ - is one that a great many people today could stand to take to heart.
As a child – Barrie’s Peter Pan worked for me. The idea of never growing up was undeniably attractive. And, as an adult, ‘Alias Hook’ worked for me. It shows the limitations (and heartlessness) of aspects of childhood [her Pan is a dangerous tyrant in all his innocence]; discusses the problems caused when people don’t learn and grow with the years, and shows the possibility of a richness to life that children have not yet glimpsed. The conclusion is sweet and satisfying, full of the possibility of healing and redemption, without being overly sentimental.
I’m glad to see that, although it might’ve taken quite a while, Jensen’s been picked up by a major publisher. Hopefully more tales of the sea will be forthcoming!
Advance copy of this book was provided by NetGalley. Many thanks for the opportunity to read - as always, my opinion is my own. show less
Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales
Quick & Dirty: Lisa Jensen takes a well-known story and turns it on its head, managing to make Captain James Hook someone you can root for in this engaging and bewitching story.
Opening Sentence: Second star to the right of what?
The Review:
I wasn’t sure what I was going to think of this book at first. On one hand, I have for some reason never liked the story of Peter Pan. I’m not sure why, but I just never connected to the story. On the other hand, I love a good bad boy in my fiction: Trent in The Hollows series, Spike on Buffy, Loki in the Avengers movie. So, I figured this book could go either way in terms of whether I liked it or not. Thankfully, I fell on the side of liking it.
In the early 18th show more century, James Benjamin Hookbridge was just a regular guy. Misfortune falls on him and turns him to piracy, which then eventually leads him to being cursed to a place that supposedly only exists in dreams: Neverland. There, he must continually fight a horde of young boys, led by the infamous Peter Pan. Hook is doomed to die time after time, only to be resurrected to go through it all again. After two hundred years, he is ready to die for real, eager to find a way around the curse. Then one day, something happens that has never happened before: a grown woman appears in Neverland. Stella Parrish. As Hook begins to open up to her, he begins to feel something he hasn’t felt in a long time. Hope. Maybe his torment won’t last forever. Pan isn’t happy about a woman showing up in his land, however, and Stella faces danger at every turn. Will Hook lose both Stella and his newfound hope, or will they be able to end the curse forever?
There are a number of positive things to say about this book. It’s remarkably well written and engaging. I found myself immediately engrossed, as the book opens with Hook resurrecting to find himself among his dead crew. This serves to put Hook in a sympathetic light, when all we’ve ever seen him as is a villain. As we learn more about his past and get to see Peter Pan in a light we’ve never seen before, that sympathy grows. I will say it’s possible some readers may have problems identifying with Hook because of his past deeds, but I personally had no such problem.
One of my favorite books from high school is William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. I find the idea that being separated from society will lead people to follow their baser instincts incredibly intriguing. The same idea is displayed here with Pan and his Lost Boys. With no true authority figures, they have no moral compass, and it is incredibly disturbing to see. Maybe never growing up is not such a good thing after all.
On the negative side, the beginning of the book does occasionally drag a bit, mainly due to going back and forth in Hook’s timeline. This back and forth is necessary for the reader to learn what brought Hook to this point, but it does disrupt the flow of the story. Once the story stays firmly in Neverland though, the pace picks up considerably.
All in all, I found this an incredibly intriguing and satisfying read. I believe fans of the Peter Pan story will enjoy this take on the tale. I am also proof that those who aren’t as fond of Peter Pan can also really enjoy this unique version of the story. I’m looking forward to reading more from this author!
Notable Scene:
The Neverland, they call it, the infant paradise, the puerile Eden where grown-ups dare not tread. They are wise to fear it. but all children visit in their dreams. He finds them by their longing, stray boys for his tribe and girls to tell him stories.
They are not always English children, although he is partial to London.
They have erected a statue to him there. Fancy, a public statue of Pan, the boy tyrant in his motley of leaves, like a king or a hero. While Hook is reviled, the evil pirate, the villain. There is no statue to me.
I’ve heard all the stories. I know the world thinks me not only a simpering fop but a great coward, so affrighted by the crocodile I would empty my bowels at the first sinister tick of its clock. But it’s the ticking itself I can’t bear, the tolling of the minutes, the very seconds, that I am forced to spend in the Neverland for all eternity. Elsewhere, time is passing in the normal way, but not here. Not for me and the boy.
“It’s Hook or me this time,” the boy jeered as the massacre began. But it’s never him. And it’s never me. Since then, he has defeated me innumerable times, but never quite to the death. He wills it so, and his will rules all. How often have I felt my skin pierced, imagined in my wounded delirium that Death has relented and come for me at last? Yet every time, my blood stops leaking, my flesh knits. Sooner or later, my eyes open again to yet another bleak new day, with nothing to show for my pains but another scar on the wreckage of my body.
Is it any wonder I so often tried to kill him? Would not his death break the enchantment of this awful place and release us both? But I never best him. He flies. He has youth and innocence on his side, and the heartlessness that comes with them. I have only heartlessness, and it is never, ever enough.
FTC Advisory: Thomas Dunne Books/Macmillan provided me with a copy of Alias Hook. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. show less
Quick & Dirty: Lisa Jensen takes a well-known story and turns it on its head, managing to make Captain James Hook someone you can root for in this engaging and bewitching story.
Opening Sentence: Second star to the right of what?
The Review:
I wasn’t sure what I was going to think of this book at first. On one hand, I have for some reason never liked the story of Peter Pan. I’m not sure why, but I just never connected to the story. On the other hand, I love a good bad boy in my fiction: Trent in The Hollows series, Spike on Buffy, Loki in the Avengers movie. So, I figured this book could go either way in terms of whether I liked it or not. Thankfully, I fell on the side of liking it.
In the early 18th show more century, James Benjamin Hookbridge was just a regular guy. Misfortune falls on him and turns him to piracy, which then eventually leads him to being cursed to a place that supposedly only exists in dreams: Neverland. There, he must continually fight a horde of young boys, led by the infamous Peter Pan. Hook is doomed to die time after time, only to be resurrected to go through it all again. After two hundred years, he is ready to die for real, eager to find a way around the curse. Then one day, something happens that has never happened before: a grown woman appears in Neverland. Stella Parrish. As Hook begins to open up to her, he begins to feel something he hasn’t felt in a long time. Hope. Maybe his torment won’t last forever. Pan isn’t happy about a woman showing up in his land, however, and Stella faces danger at every turn. Will Hook lose both Stella and his newfound hope, or will they be able to end the curse forever?
There are a number of positive things to say about this book. It’s remarkably well written and engaging. I found myself immediately engrossed, as the book opens with Hook resurrecting to find himself among his dead crew. This serves to put Hook in a sympathetic light, when all we’ve ever seen him as is a villain. As we learn more about his past and get to see Peter Pan in a light we’ve never seen before, that sympathy grows. I will say it’s possible some readers may have problems identifying with Hook because of his past deeds, but I personally had no such problem.
One of my favorite books from high school is William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. I find the idea that being separated from society will lead people to follow their baser instincts incredibly intriguing. The same idea is displayed here with Pan and his Lost Boys. With no true authority figures, they have no moral compass, and it is incredibly disturbing to see. Maybe never growing up is not such a good thing after all.
On the negative side, the beginning of the book does occasionally drag a bit, mainly due to going back and forth in Hook’s timeline. This back and forth is necessary for the reader to learn what brought Hook to this point, but it does disrupt the flow of the story. Once the story stays firmly in Neverland though, the pace picks up considerably.
All in all, I found this an incredibly intriguing and satisfying read. I believe fans of the Peter Pan story will enjoy this take on the tale. I am also proof that those who aren’t as fond of Peter Pan can also really enjoy this unique version of the story. I’m looking forward to reading more from this author!
Notable Scene:
The Neverland, they call it, the infant paradise, the puerile Eden where grown-ups dare not tread. They are wise to fear it. but all children visit in their dreams. He finds them by their longing, stray boys for his tribe and girls to tell him stories.
They are not always English children, although he is partial to London.
They have erected a statue to him there. Fancy, a public statue of Pan, the boy tyrant in his motley of leaves, like a king or a hero. While Hook is reviled, the evil pirate, the villain. There is no statue to me.
I’ve heard all the stories. I know the world thinks me not only a simpering fop but a great coward, so affrighted by the crocodile I would empty my bowels at the first sinister tick of its clock. But it’s the ticking itself I can’t bear, the tolling of the minutes, the very seconds, that I am forced to spend in the Neverland for all eternity. Elsewhere, time is passing in the normal way, but not here. Not for me and the boy.
“It’s Hook or me this time,” the boy jeered as the massacre began. But it’s never him. And it’s never me. Since then, he has defeated me innumerable times, but never quite to the death. He wills it so, and his will rules all. How often have I felt my skin pierced, imagined in my wounded delirium that Death has relented and come for me at last? Yet every time, my blood stops leaking, my flesh knits. Sooner or later, my eyes open again to yet another bleak new day, with nothing to show for my pains but another scar on the wreckage of my body.
Is it any wonder I so often tried to kill him? Would not his death break the enchantment of this awful place and release us both? But I never best him. He flies. He has youth and innocence on his side, and the heartlessness that comes with them. I have only heartlessness, and it is never, ever enough.
FTC Advisory: Thomas Dunne Books/Macmillan provided me with a copy of Alias Hook. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. show less
I would like to thank NetGalley & Thomas Dunne Books for granting me the opportunity to read this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. Though I received this e-book for free that in no way impacts my review.
This version of the popular children's tale Peter and Wendy is one of selfless love and heartrending loss as well as redemption. The two main male characters in Alias Hook are like bits of flotsam, forever trapped in a perilous riptide, clashing together only to be torn apart so that they might once again come together in a vicious cycle of unending strife. Unlike the original tale, this one approaches the story from Captain Hook's point of view. At present the closest comparison of James Benjamin Hookbridge prior to his captivity in Neverland would be to equate him to the character of Angel in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, before he is turned. Though the son of a prosperous merchant, James had a magnetic quality that allowed him to be viewed on equal footing with members of the peerage. Indeed James is rather like an overgrown child, believing himself to be immortal, and certain he had plenty of time to accomplish everything he ever desired out of life. His continued resistance to his father's plans that he settle down and marry, lead him, in a roundabout manner, to become a pirate.
It is a James own immaturity that lands him in Neverland, trapped there by a spell that a voudon priestess put on him. When James and crew survive a terrible storm at sea to arrive at Neverland, they considered it a haven, for it appears deserted. This feeling of safety is short lived after they are attacked by a band of Indian's, followed soon after by a gleeful Pan and his boys.
Pan is thrilled to pirate ship trapped in Neverland. The fact that the captain is a tall, dark, and sinister looking adult makes it that much better, for now the boys have someone to fight. Yet 40-year-old Captain Hook is no match for sprightly young boys who can fly, meaning that Pan wins every single fight. It doesn't help that Pan has a fierce temper, which is rather at odds with his sense of honor. The look a feral glee in Pan's eyes when he uses an axe from Hook's own ship, the Jolie Rouge, to cut off Hook's hand actually frightens Hook, for he knows that boys are vicious and brutal, with no real understand of the consequences of their actions. When Hook revives he finds his entire crew slaughtered.
Yet the game plays itself out repeatedly over the next two hundred years, during which neither Pan nor Hook age. Each time Hook loses a crew member(s), new ones are found wandering lost on the island, always near Pirate's Beach. When Hook discovers where his crew members come from he is saddened, but as they seem unaware of the situation it is only a Hook who suffers.
Everything continues as it always does, with Hook praying for a true death each time he is struck down. Yet his prayers are never answered and he always finds himself returned to his ship, alive once more so that Pan might play his games. And Hook is always dragged back into the games, either because he gives in to his overwhelming bloodlust, allowing that to overrule all else, or out of his desire to try to save his crew from grisly deaths. Hook is resigned to his hellish fate.
Then one day a stranger appears. Another adult, though oddly dressed. Stranger yet, it is a female, despite the trousers she's wearing. Hook rescues her and hides her until he can determine if Pan finally got himself a real mother, or if he's set her up as a spy on his ship knowing Hook would take her, or if she somehow found a way through the enchantment trapping him in Neverland. Upon his discovery that she is in Neverland without Pan's knowledge Hook hides her, knowing that if Pan learns of her he will kill her, for she has broken his cardinal rule of no adults allowed.
What is Stella Parrish's role in this version of the story? For there is danger in her being in Neverland. She's a new variable that could alter the balance, putting Neverland at serious risk. This danger would not be only for Pan, but for all the beings that sought refuge there, magical and human alike. Should the wrong choice be made all the fairies, loreleis, Indians, and other beings that thrived in Neverland would likely be lost from our world, forever. Once Stella and Hook learn of the danger she poses to Neverland Stella understands just how crucial it is to maintain Neverland for children around the world, more than ever.
Ms. Jensen made a very wise choice in having her female protagonist come from 1950; while WWII was still fresh in people's minds, children still possessed a level of innocence that seems to disappear at younger and younger ages in the present day. Had Jensen brought Stella from the modern day the feeling of innocence and childish wonder likely wouldn't have carried the same weight, given the extreme onslaught of video games (especially First-Person Shooters (FPS)), television shows, and social media that kids today are exposed to. Reading books, or having stories read to them, passes out of style at a much younger age for so many kids today, which of course lessens their exposure to the magic that is Neverland, in turn impacting the level of innocence necessary for Neverland to exist. Not to mention Stella may not have been able to summon the necessary belief in the magic of Neverland were she trying to find it today.
Back in Neverland Hook is given warning that this is his third and final chance to ever escape Neverland (not that he'd even been aware that there had been two previous chances for him to leave). But can he figure out what he must do in order to finally be free of Neverland? Is Stella there to help him, or is she there for some other reason? Can Hook redeem himself before it is too late, and can he manage it without putting Neverland in peril?
To see this well known children's tale through the eyes of the antagonist was certainly fascinating. He fit the role well, for he never really grew up himself. He'd run from his responsibilities, considered himself immortal, and justified all the choices he'd made in such a way as to avoid feeling any guilt over them. Essentially he was a child in an adult's body, or at least he was when he arrived in Neverland. Aside from flying were there really all that many differences between Hook and Pan?
Personally I'd say yes, for I don't think that Hook had retained his innocence. Rather he retained all the other parts of childhood and thrown them behind a shield of callousness. He'd had carnal knowledge of women, so right there his innocence was long gone by the time he reached Neverland. So why didn't he stay dead after Pan killed him each time? Was it simply Pan's will that kept him returning time after time? And how could Pan and the other boys remain innocent after taking other human lives? As well written and engaging as I found this tale to be, it clearly left me with some questions that shall stay with me for some time to come. show less
"Every child knows how the story ends. The wicked pirate captain is flung overboard, caught in the jaws of the monster crocodile who drags him down to a watery grave. But it was not yet my time to die. It's my fate to be trapped here forever, in a nightmare of childhood fancy, with that infernal, eternal boy."show more
Meet Captain James Benjamin Hook, a witty, educated Restoration-era privateer cursed to play villain to a pack of malicious little boys in a pointless war that never ends. But everything changes when Stella Parrish, a
forbidden grown woman, dreams her way to the Neverland in defiance of Pan’s rules. From the glamour of the Fairy Revels, to the secret ceremonies of the First Tribes, to the mysterious underwater temple beneath the Mermaid Lagoon, the magical forces of the Neverland open up for Stella as they never have for Hook. And in the pirate captain himself, she begins to see someone far more complex than the storybook villain.
With Stella’s knowledge of folk and fairy tales, she might be Hook’s last chance for redemption and release if they can break his curse before Pan and his warrior boys hunt her down and drag Hook back to their neverending game. Alias Hook by Lisa Jensen is a beautifully and romantically written adult fairy tale perfect for fans of Gregory Maguire and Paula Brackston.
This version of the popular children's tale Peter and Wendy is one of selfless love and heartrending loss as well as redemption. The two main male characters in Alias Hook are like bits of flotsam, forever trapped in a perilous riptide, clashing together only to be torn apart so that they might once again come together in a vicious cycle of unending strife. Unlike the original tale, this one approaches the story from Captain Hook's point of view. At present the closest comparison of James Benjamin Hookbridge prior to his captivity in Neverland would be to equate him to the character of Angel in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, before he is turned. Though the son of a prosperous merchant, James had a magnetic quality that allowed him to be viewed on equal footing with members of the peerage. Indeed James is rather like an overgrown child, believing himself to be immortal, and certain he had plenty of time to accomplish everything he ever desired out of life. His continued resistance to his father's plans that he settle down and marry, lead him, in a roundabout manner, to become a pirate.
It is a James own immaturity that lands him in Neverland, trapped there by a spell that a voudon priestess put on him. When James and crew survive a terrible storm at sea to arrive at Neverland, they considered it a haven, for it appears deserted. This feeling of safety is short lived after they are attacked by a band of Indian's, followed soon after by a gleeful Pan and his boys.
Pan is thrilled to pirate ship trapped in Neverland. The fact that the captain is a tall, dark, and sinister looking adult makes it that much better, for now the boys have someone to fight. Yet 40-year-old Captain Hook is no match for sprightly young boys who can fly, meaning that Pan wins every single fight. It doesn't help that Pan has a fierce temper, which is rather at odds with his sense of honor. The look a feral glee in Pan's eyes when he uses an axe from Hook's own ship, the Jolie Rouge, to cut off Hook's hand actually frightens Hook, for he knows that boys are vicious and brutal, with no real understand of the consequences of their actions. When Hook revives he finds his entire crew slaughtered.
Yet the game plays itself out repeatedly over the next two hundred years, during which neither Pan nor Hook age. Each time Hook loses a crew member(s), new ones are found wandering lost on the island, always near Pirate's Beach. When Hook discovers where his crew members come from he is saddened, but as they seem unaware of the situation it is only a Hook who suffers.
Everything continues as it always does, with Hook praying for a true death each time he is struck down. Yet his prayers are never answered and he always finds himself returned to his ship, alive once more so that Pan might play his games. And Hook is always dragged back into the games, either because he gives in to his overwhelming bloodlust, allowing that to overrule all else, or out of his desire to try to save his crew from grisly deaths. Hook is resigned to his hellish fate.
Then one day a stranger appears. Another adult, though oddly dressed. Stranger yet, it is a female, despite the trousers she's wearing. Hook rescues her and hides her until he can determine if Pan finally got himself a real mother, or if he's set her up as a spy on his ship knowing Hook would take her, or if she somehow found a way through the enchantment trapping him in Neverland. Upon his discovery that she is in Neverland without Pan's knowledge Hook hides her, knowing that if Pan learns of her he will kill her, for she has broken his cardinal rule of no adults allowed.
What is Stella Parrish's role in this version of the story? For there is danger in her being in Neverland. She's a new variable that could alter the balance, putting Neverland at serious risk. This danger would not be only for Pan, but for all the beings that sought refuge there, magical and human alike. Should the wrong choice be made all the fairies, loreleis, Indians, and other beings that thrived in Neverland would likely be lost from our world, forever. Once Stella and Hook learn of the danger she poses to Neverland Stella understands just how crucial it is to maintain Neverland for children around the world, more than ever.
Ms. Jensen made a very wise choice in having her female protagonist come from 1950; while WWII was still fresh in people's minds, children still possessed a level of innocence that seems to disappear at younger and younger ages in the present day. Had Jensen brought Stella from the modern day the feeling of innocence and childish wonder likely wouldn't have carried the same weight, given the extreme onslaught of video games (especially First-Person Shooters (FPS)), television shows, and social media that kids today are exposed to. Reading books, or having stories read to them, passes out of style at a much younger age for so many kids today, which of course lessens their exposure to the magic that is Neverland, in turn impacting the level of innocence necessary for Neverland to exist. Not to mention Stella may not have been able to summon the necessary belief in the magic of Neverland were she trying to find it today.
Back in Neverland Hook is given warning that this is his third and final chance to ever escape Neverland (not that he'd even been aware that there had been two previous chances for him to leave). But can he figure out what he must do in order to finally be free of Neverland? Is Stella there to help him, or is she there for some other reason? Can Hook redeem himself before it is too late, and can he manage it without putting Neverland in peril?
To see this well known children's tale through the eyes of the antagonist was certainly fascinating. He fit the role well, for he never really grew up himself. He'd run from his responsibilities, considered himself immortal, and justified all the choices he'd made in such a way as to avoid feeling any guilt over them. Essentially he was a child in an adult's body, or at least he was when he arrived in Neverland. Aside from flying were there really all that many differences between Hook and Pan?
Personally I'd say yes, for I don't think that Hook had retained his innocence. Rather he retained all the other parts of childhood and thrown them behind a shield of callousness. He'd had carnal knowledge of women, so right there his innocence was long gone by the time he reached Neverland. So why didn't he stay dead after Pan killed him each time? Was it simply Pan's will that kept him returning time after time? And how could Pan and the other boys remain innocent after taking other human lives? As well written and engaging as I found this tale to be, it clearly left me with some questions that shall stay with me for some time to come. show less
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