- Paperback: 260 pages
- Publisher: isthmus books (12 April 2010)
- ISBN-10: 0956512208
- ISBN-13: 978-0956512208
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 3.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 671,711 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
All for Poor Jack
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| |||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Amazon.co.uk Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
As someone who has admired Steve Tilston's music for nearly 40 years, I was intrigued to hear that he'd written a novel and particularly that it was set in the 15th Century, as many of his classic songs have historical themes- Slip Jigs and Reels, The Naked Highwayman, Tom Paine, King of the Coiners ,Coronado and the Turk, The Turncoat, amongst others. I usually read crime novels when I read fiction and the last couple of novels that I really rated were "Engleby" by Sebastian Faulks and Blake Morrison's two novels. I thoroughly enjoyed reading "All for Poor Jack" with its detailed settings in 15th century Bristol and the New World and it reminded me of the historical novels of GA Henty and Henry Treece I read a long time back (albeit if they'd been given a dose of Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy or some input from Sam Peckinpah !) , basically an exciting adventure story set in the parallel worlds of the New World and its warring native American tribes and late medieval Bristol. Without giving too much away, the story follows the harrowing experiences of two brothers, Matthew and Simon Tyrell, one taken prisoner by a Pequot tribe when shipwrecked on a pre-Cabot voyage of discovery and the other an outlaw on the run in the badlands beyond the Clifton Gorge in Bristol in 1485, just as news of the Battle of Bosworth is filtering through. A sound piece of story-telling, colourful, vivid, humorous and well-observed, dipping into a period of history which is brought to life with no concessions to political correctness and which shows, human beings forced into decisions in situations where their survival is at stake. A good old-fashioned clear narrative in which well-defined characters bring a period of history to life- a bit like one of Steve's songs, really !
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I suppose I shouldn't have been surprized given Steve's history of writing compelling lyrics, but this novel reads as if it came from the pen of a seasoned writer. The pacing is outstanding and the end of each chapter left me unable to resist starting the next (ok, that's a flowery way of saying it's a page-turner).
As would be expected, the English characters are well-drawn and authentic, right down to their dialect (I think ... I am a yank after all). One of the interesting tidbits I picked up was that Bristol began as "Bristow", and evolved into "Bristol" due to the accents of the locals, who would typically add an "l" to the ends of words and syllables ending with vowel sounds.
The new world "salvages" were also well-written, obviously the result of a great deal of research. I was happy to see that the author didn't fall into the trap of having them speak pidgin English to each other, but the use of modern idioms was a little disconcerting at the beginning.
My sole disappointment was the lack of nautical action, which I had been anticipating given the occupations of the protagonists. However, I see why he made the choices he made and can only hope that his next work rectifies this "lack".
As would be expected, the English characters are well-drawn and authentic, right down to their dialect (I think ... I am a yank after all). One of the interesting tidbits I picked up was that Bristol began as "Bristow", and evolved into "Bristol" due to the accents of the locals, who would typically add an "l" to the ends of words and syllables ending with vowel sounds.
The new world "salvages" were also well-written, obviously the result of a great deal of research. I was happy to see that the author didn't fall into the trap of having them speak pidgin English to each other, but the use of modern idioms was a little disconcerting at the beginning.
My sole disappointment was the lack of nautical action, which I had been anticipating given the occupations of the protagonists. However, I see why he made the choices he made and can only hope that his next work rectifies this "lack".
Format:Paperback
This book hits the ground running and doesn't give up until it crosses the finishing line.
I'm familiar with Steve's work as a national treasure, er singer/songwriter and so was expecting it to be good work.
He never disappoints then and he didn't disappoint here.
Far from it, this is exceptional - gripping from beginning to end.
I really cared.
It would make the most brilliant action movie.
Steve, if you can work in a madcap gross-out wedding scene full of vampires and impossibly pretty teens who save the world from alien invasion then I'm sure Hollywood would sit up and take note.
Maybe next time, eh.
I'm familiar with Steve's work as a national treasure, er singer/songwriter and so was expecting it to be good work.
He never disappoints then and he didn't disappoint here.
Far from it, this is exceptional - gripping from beginning to end.
I really cared.
It would make the most brilliant action movie.
Steve, if you can work in a madcap gross-out wedding scene full of vampires and impossibly pretty teens who save the world from alien invasion then I'm sure Hollywood would sit up and take note.
Maybe next time, eh.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
First novel by a talented singer-songwriter
As someone who has admired Steve Tilston's music for nearly 40 years, I was intrigued to hear that he'd written a novel and particularly that it was set in the 15th Century, as... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Conatus
Wonderful!
Steve's tall tale wouldn't let me sleep. His superb musical storytelling has been masterfully carried over to the written word. Read more
Published 15 months ago by William R. Mayfield
Review of "All for poor Jack"
Steve's narrative is fast paced, exciting, and historically informative.It is written in such a way as to make the reader forget that he/she is reading something that has been... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Mr. J. Regan
Life's a long song...
For lovers of adventure, exploration and the historical, this novel really does hit all the spots! A gripping, colourful read - I couldn't put it down until I'd read it from cover... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Cybele
A Great Read
As I know Steve personally I thought I would (unlike some reviewers) make some brief comments. This is a well researched story that is a compelling read. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Dr. Paul Ruffle
All For Poor Jack - compelling page turner par excellence!
Like many Folk Club promoters, I have always been entranced by Steve Tilston's consummate skill as a songwriter. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Moor Poet
Superb debut - can't wait for the next one!
Steve Tilston is a friend and also one of my favourite songwriters, so I was intrigued when he released this novel. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Bill Prince
An outstanding first novel
Yesterday, knowing that I had more than 8 hours to spend on the railway, I took a copy of All For Poor Jack for company. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Richard Howell
Rattling good read
I found myself immediately immersed in the speed of the tale and the vivid characters etched in it. After a dozen or so pages I dwelt briefly on the fact that I knew Steve as a... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Mike Silver
A cracking tale by any measure
A tale of two brothers, All For Poor Jack is a novel set in the late 15th Century, a period of history largely ignored in modern literature. Read more
Published 21 months ago by SweetSong
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Fiction > Historical
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
