Pirates of the Caribbean: Jack Sparrow: The Coming Storm is the first in the series of young reader books written by Rob Kidd dealing with the early life of Jack Sparrow. It was released on June 1, 2006.
Publisher's summary[]
Before the Black Pearl, there was a teenage stowaway named Jack Sparrow...
Adventure-seeking teenager Jack Sparrow has assembled a motley crew, and they’re on the quest of a lifetime. Their goal: to locate and procure the legendary Sword of Cortés, which will grant them unimaginable power. But will this ragtag team of adventurers survive their first mission, or will they succumb to the power of the sea, vicious pirates, ancient curses, and stormy threats from the forces of nature?
Plot[]
Young Arabella Smith is working in her drunkard father's Tortuga Tavern, the Faithful Bride, when she overhears a sailor and a pirate named "Handsome Todd" discussing the legend of Stone-Eyed Sam and the Isla Esquelética, which stories say Sam cursed with the magical Sword of Cortés. Moments later, Jack Sparrow, at this point a young stowaway with dreams of captaining his own ship, stumbles into the bar in search of his stolen satchel. Believing he has found it under the seat of Captain Torrents, an infamous pirate with the ability to control storms, Jack attempts to steal it back, only to be caught by a furious Torrents.
Arabella manages to rescue Jack from the ensuing bar fight by slipping him out of the back of the tavern, where Jack discovers that the satchel isn't his after all. Among the miscellaneous items Jack finds in the bag is an empty sheath, which Arabella realizes is the Scabbard to the Sword of Cortés. Jack manages to recruit Arabella, who is desperate to leave her downtrodden life in Tortuga behind, into joining him on a quest to reunite the sheath with the Sword and thus gain unimaginable powers. They make plans to meet up a few days later and set sail for Isla Esquelética on an abandoned old fishing boat called the Barnacle.
As Captain Jack and Arabella are about to make their escape, a wealthy young boy named Fitzwilliam P. Dalton III, who had stumbled upon Jack's misplaced map to the ship and set of life plans (Commandeer a Boat, Find the Sword of Cortés, Eliminate Captain "Torniquet" (meaning Captain Torrents), Acquire Perfect Hat, Become Captain, Rule Entire Caribbean, Live Happily Ever After), arrives at the Barnacle and insists on accompanying them on their journey in order to escape his boring, pampered life as an aristocrat. Jack is vehemently opposed to the idea of a spoiled rich kid like Fitzwilliam joining his crew but is forced to allow him aboard after losing a duel to him. He, Fitzwilliam, and Arabella leave Tortuga and sail for several days.
Stone-Eyed Sam's remains
During the journey, a storm almost sinks their boat, but they manage to reach an unknown island. On the island, the trio encounter a pair of young sailors named Jean Magliore and Tumen, as well as Jean's sister Constance (who was magically transformed into a cat by Tia Dalma), who also want to join Jack's crew. After Jack mentions the Sword of Cortés, Tumen and Jean guide him, Arabella, and Fitzwilliam to a "dead" city on the island. Once in the city, they realize they're on Isla Esquelética. While exploring the city, the group enters a palace, where they come across the skeleton of the city's pirate king, Stone-Eyed Sam, which was said to have been holding the Sword, but the crew quickly realizes that someone else has beaten them to it. Jack collects Sam's legendary stone eye from the remains, and the group finds a set of left footprints nearby, figuring it must have been the notorious pirate Left-Foot Louis who made off with the Sword. They find Sam's hidden treasure room and fill their pockets with gold and jewels, but they also encounter Captain Torrents, who wants the scabbard back. Jack and the rest of the crew escape to the beach, but Torrents quickly follows them.
A huge battle ensues over the scabbard, in which Torrents conjures a massive storm and attempts to kill Jack with lightning, but Jack is able to defeat Torrents by splashing him with rainwater. Jack claims to have shown "little Benny" this trick, adding that he hoped he would remember it. With Torrents out of the way, Jack and his friends make their departure on the Barnacle to resume their quest for the Sword.
Appearances[]
Individuals[]
- Jack Sparrow
- Fitzwilliam P. Dalton III (First appearance)
- Earl of Dalton (First mentioned)
- Little Benny (First mentioned)
- Davy Jones (Mentioned only)
- Left-Foot Louis (First mentioned)
- Constance Magliore (First appearance)
- Jean Magliore (First appearance)
- Arabella Smith (First appearance)
- Stone-Eyed Sam (First appearance)
- Handsome Todd (First appearance)
- Hernán Cortés (Mentioned only)
- Tia Dalma (Mentioned only)
- Torrents (First appearance)
- Tumen (First appearance)
- Smith (First mentioned)
- Anna Dalton (First mentioned)
- Devil (Mentioned only)
Creatures and species[]
Objects and weapons[]
- Bandana
- Barrel
- Anchor
- Map
- Compass
- Axe
- Knife
- Rapier
- Scabbard of the Sword of Cortés (First appearance)
- Sword of Cortés (First mentioned)
- Stone-Eyed Sam's stone eye (First appearance)
- Treasure
- Stone-Eyed Sam's Treasure (First appearance)
- Doubloon (First appearance)
- Piece of eight (money)
- Crown
- Aztec gold (Mentioned only)
Locations[]
- Antigua (First mentioned)
- Hispaniola (Mentioned only)
- Isla Esquelética (First appearance)
- Tortuga
- Isla Puerta (First mentioned)
- Aztec Empire (First mentioned)
- England (Mentioned only)
- Panama (Mentioned only)
Organizations and titles[]
- Crew of the Barnacle (First appearance)
- Captain
- Earl
- Pope (First mentioned)
- Master
Ships[]
- Barnacle (First appearance)
- Monkeebutt (First appearance)
- Flying Dutchman (Mentioned only)
- Seraph (First mentioned)
Miscellanea[]
- Adventure
- Aye, aye
- Curse
- Dead men tell no tales (term)
- Deal
- Destiny (Mentioned only)
- Et cetera
- Freedom
- Hurricane
- Legend
- Lightning
- Marriage (Mentioned only)
- Pirates of the Caribbean (phrase) (First mentioned)
- Storm
- Tide
- X marks the spot
- Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life for Me)
Trivia[]
The cover of the 2017 edition.
- In Chapter One the customers in the Faithful Bride tavern sing Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me. In an excerpt at the end of Irene Trimble's Dead Man's Chest novelization they sing High Barbaree.
- The term "The Coming Storm" would later be used as the title of an extended scene from At World's End.
- When the crew of the Barnacle discovers the treasure of Stone-Eyed Sam, Fitzwilliam swears "By the King's blood". Even though it is assumable that the mentioned king is the ruler of Great Britain, the timeline established in the films On Stranger Tides and Dead Men Tell No Tales sets the scene around 1706 when Great Britain was historically ruled by Queen Anne.
- When Jack Sparrow defeats Captain Torrents with a lightning, he mentions "little Benny" and "that trick" which he showed him "with the kite and the key". Even though that looks like a clear reference to Benjamin Franklin and his experiments with electricity, the timeline established in the films sets the scene around 1706, a year when Franklin was just a baby.
