What do you think?
Rate this book
Flint's Island
"There is still treasure not yet lifted" - Treasure Island. 31 Aug 1760. Long John Silver returns. Tom Whelan 17 narrates fatal trip ashore for abstinent first mate Arrow to cautious Captain Edward Samuels on Baltimore brig Jane. Chest shot, missing pistol, empty brandy bottle, one-legged shipwrecked cook on crutch. Greed, mutiny, betrayal -- survival?
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1972
20 people are currently reading
42 people want to read
About the author
Leonard Wibberley
155 books41 followersAlso wrote under his full name Leonard Patrick O'Connor Wibberley and under
Patrick O'Connor as well as pseudonyms Christopher Webb and Leonard Holton
Patrick O'Connor as well as pseudonyms Christopher Webb and Leonard Holton
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
April 4, 2021
Treasure Island is one of my all time favorite adventure stories. Why not going back to that island considering the fact that there was something left of the treasures when the Hispaniola left. On the island we find Long John Silver. What is his new role? Will the captain of the Jane stand a chance against the old cutthroat? I really enjoyed going back to the island and couldn't put the book down. Of course you met all the old characters and found yourself right in the Golden Age of Piracy. The author didn't invent the wheel anew but this book is fine for all Treasure Island fans (like me)!
December 13, 2018
I like the Foreword:
Foreword
Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island
I was perhaps eight years old at the time, and when I heard Sister Elizabeth read the very first words, I realized that there had to be a sequel to that wonderful story. You recall, of course, that most captivating of opening sentences: "Squire Trelawney, Dr. Livesey and the rest of these gentlemen, having asked me to write down the whole particulars about Treasure Island, from the beginning to the end, keeping nothing back but the bearings of the island, and that only because there is still treasure not yet lifted..."
That sentence I first heard nearly half a century ago, and the "treasure not yet lifted" has haunted me ever since almost as constantly as the "seafaring man with one leg" haunted young Jim Hawkins.
I was greatly cast down to find, when the good nun had finished reading the book, that Stevenson had written no sequel and in fact was no longer among us. For two score years I waited for a sequel to appear from another hand, but waited in vain. The years went by. Boy grew into man, man into father, father into grandfather, and still the treasure remained buried and the island with its booming surf remained unvisited. At last I realized I must myself, however unworthy, attempt to supply the story of what happened to the rest of the treasure or die with that question, raised in childhood, unanswered.
There was no case here, I hope you will see immediately, of my pushing myself forward or eagerly volunteering; of hinting that what Stevenson could do I could do as readily. Far from it. I held back as long as I might, until the tally of the years began to mount to the point where the thing had to be done, if it was to be done at all.
I make no pretense in this work to being able to match the clean narrative style, the ear for speech, the insight into character and manners in which Stevenson excelled. I only hope that, having had to use three of his characters, I have not distorted them. Three? Four really, for in these pages you will find Long John Silver, Mr. Arrow, Benjamin Gunn (in a minor role), and the terrible pirate, Flint, whose treasure it all was. Stevenson paints Flint in Treasure Island in a masterly line or two--the Squire recalls his topmasts sighted off Port of Spain, and the cowardly captain turning tail. Bill Bones, with the horrors, says, "I seen Old Flint in the corner there behind you, as plain as print." And then there is the panic of the pirates when Ben Gunn imitates Flint's voice as they plunge through the woods toward the treasure cache. Flint took over my own work without my willing it. He seemed to be always present as I wrote. I can truthfully say that when I started this tale I had no idea how it would end. Flint told me.
A word more and I am done. Treasure Island is essentially and English tale. Flint's Island is American in that those involved come from no cozy English hamlet but from the broader, starker streets of Salem in what was then British America. It seemed right to me that this should be so, for the lonely in on the Bristol road is eternally Stevenson's, as well as the Squire's great house and the decent dwelling of Dr. Livesey. To have a second adventure start from such a scene (tempting as the contrast between rural England and the Spanish Main undoubtedly is) would be to push trespass beyond civilized bounds. Again, British America in the eighteenth century was the scene of much piracy, its sea lanes known to many marauders. Tew (Stevenson's Pew?), Kidd, Blackbeard, Lafitte, Roberts, and a score of others knew the colonial coasts from Salem to Port of Spain. So my tale concerns New and not Old England. This may offend some, but there is not a particle of nationalism in it. I have scarcely to remind the reader that Stevenson, who wrote so well of English inns and ports, was a Scot, and I, who write in some kind of Salem and of Savannah, am of the soil and air of Ireland.
Leonard Wibberley
Hermosa Beach September 1971
.
Foreword
Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island
I was perhaps eight years old at the time, and when I heard Sister Elizabeth read the very first words, I realized that there had to be a sequel to that wonderful story. You recall, of course, that most captivating of opening sentences: "Squire Trelawney, Dr. Livesey and the rest of these gentlemen, having asked me to write down the whole particulars about Treasure Island, from the beginning to the end, keeping nothing back but the bearings of the island, and that only because there is still treasure not yet lifted..."
That sentence I first heard nearly half a century ago, and the "treasure not yet lifted" has haunted me ever since almost as constantly as the "seafaring man with one leg" haunted young Jim Hawkins.
I was greatly cast down to find, when the good nun had finished reading the book, that Stevenson had written no sequel and in fact was no longer among us. For two score years I waited for a sequel to appear from another hand, but waited in vain. The years went by. Boy grew into man, man into father, father into grandfather, and still the treasure remained buried and the island with its booming surf remained unvisited. At last I realized I must myself, however unworthy, attempt to supply the story of what happened to the rest of the treasure or die with that question, raised in childhood, unanswered.
There was no case here, I hope you will see immediately, of my pushing myself forward or eagerly volunteering; of hinting that what Stevenson could do I could do as readily. Far from it. I held back as long as I might, until the tally of the years began to mount to the point where the thing had to be done, if it was to be done at all.
I make no pretense in this work to being able to match the clean narrative style, the ear for speech, the insight into character and manners in which Stevenson excelled. I only hope that, having had to use three of his characters, I have not distorted them. Three? Four really, for in these pages you will find Long John Silver, Mr. Arrow, Benjamin Gunn (in a minor role), and the terrible pirate, Flint, whose treasure it all was. Stevenson paints Flint in Treasure Island in a masterly line or two--the Squire recalls his topmasts sighted off Port of Spain, and the cowardly captain turning tail. Bill Bones, with the horrors, says, "I seen Old Flint in the corner there behind you, as plain as print." And then there is the panic of the pirates when Ben Gunn imitates Flint's voice as they plunge through the woods toward the treasure cache. Flint took over my own work without my willing it. He seemed to be always present as I wrote. I can truthfully say that when I started this tale I had no idea how it would end. Flint told me.
A word more and I am done. Treasure Island is essentially and English tale. Flint's Island is American in that those involved come from no cozy English hamlet but from the broader, starker streets of Salem in what was then British America. It seemed right to me that this should be so, for the lonely in on the Bristol road is eternally Stevenson's, as well as the Squire's great house and the decent dwelling of Dr. Livesey. To have a second adventure start from such a scene (tempting as the contrast between rural England and the Spanish Main undoubtedly is) would be to push trespass beyond civilized bounds. Again, British America in the eighteenth century was the scene of much piracy, its sea lanes known to many marauders. Tew (Stevenson's Pew?), Kidd, Blackbeard, Lafitte, Roberts, and a score of others knew the colonial coasts from Salem to Port of Spain. So my tale concerns New and not Old England. This may offend some, but there is not a particle of nationalism in it. I have scarcely to remind the reader that Stevenson, who wrote so well of English inns and ports, was a Scot, and I, who write in some kind of Salem and of Savannah, am of the soil and air of Ireland.
Leonard Wibberley
Hermosa Beach September 1971
.
August 5, 2015
Love it! Always did want to know what happened to the treasure not yet lifted! Although the writing is ok and story is not spectacular, it was never intended to be--the introduction/prologue introduces the book as the imaginings of a man who was captured by Treasure Island, and since no one yet has offered a satisfactory tale for the rest of the treasure, he felt compelled to at least attempt it. In that, I tip my hat to him--even if his tale was not the same richness as Treasure Island, I still enjoyed sailing the high seas with him and it was truly a pleasure to meet once again the infamous Long John Silvers.
September 8, 2016
I really liked this book. It's a good adventure tale!
March 16, 2014
31 Aug 1760. Tom Whelan p 22 17 p 56, under Captain Edward Samuels "middle name .. Caution" p 75 of Baltimore brig Jane, narrates trip ashore with first mate Mr Arrow for much-needed repair lumber. Despite "aversion to hard liquor", abstinent Arrow dies bleeding from chest shot in deserted stockade, one pistol missing, brandy bottle emptied. Long John Silver stumps up on leg and crutch, smoothly decries innocence, but readers of Treasure Island recognize the bringer of mutiny and death.
"Off we went then" p 151. Easy fast read. Boy skims over sea, who sails where, without adult rambling or deep lessons in history, geography, or philosophy.
"You're a mean one, Mr Grinch" from cartoon song. Devil hides, Master of Lies, "serpent". Suspense see-saws over betrayal, disasters, triumphs, escapes, more losses than gains. Brutality of deceptive pirate - death, starvation, thirst, exposure - exceeds natural danger from sea storms. Silver infects wounds with germs and minds with greed.
Typo when Peasbody suddenly appears in Georgia? "Peasbody, who had been very much the hero with the cutlass stroke he had received in the mutiny, volunteered immediately, and it was a surprise to me to find such stout courage in a man of such meanness of mind" p 149.
Searching Florida Keys "extends many miles into the Caribbean Sea" p 151, Samuels rescues Green "foremost .. in mutiny" p 152 deserted on Pine Island, six, three wounded, marooned on Shark Island p 159. When caught up with, hardly a spoiler to say Silver kills everyone.
Terrific rant about lawyers. "I however, continued to go to sea. p 166.
Typo:
p 138 "only two hands joined us" Hogan and Smigley in the yawl, yet Peasbody in Georgia
p 147 "Peasbody's and the captain's scalp wound being now all but healed" p 147
p 149 "Peasbody, who had been very much the hero with the cutlass stroke he had received in the mutiny, volunteered immediately, and it was a surprise to me to find such stout courage in a man of such meanness of mind"
"Off we went then" p 151. Easy fast read. Boy skims over sea, who sails where, without adult rambling or deep lessons in history, geography, or philosophy.
"You're a mean one, Mr Grinch" from cartoon song. Devil hides, Master of Lies, "serpent". Suspense see-saws over betrayal, disasters, triumphs, escapes, more losses than gains. Brutality of deceptive pirate - death, starvation, thirst, exposure - exceeds natural danger from sea storms. Silver infects wounds with germs and minds with greed.
Typo when Peasbody suddenly appears in Georgia? "Peasbody, who had been very much the hero with the cutlass stroke he had received in the mutiny, volunteered immediately, and it was a surprise to me to find such stout courage in a man of such meanness of mind" p 149.
Searching Florida Keys "extends many miles into the Caribbean Sea" p 151, Samuels rescues Green "foremost .. in mutiny" p 152 deserted on Pine Island, six, three wounded, marooned on Shark Island p 159. When caught up with, hardly a spoiler to say Silver kills everyone.
Terrific rant about lawyers. "I however, continued to go to sea. p 166.
Typo:
p 138 "only two hands joined us" Hogan and Smigley in the yawl, yet Peasbody in Georgia
p 147 "Peasbody's and the captain's scalp wound being now all but healed" p 147
p 149 "Peasbody, who had been very much the hero with the cutlass stroke he had received in the mutiny, volunteered immediately, and it was a surprise to me to find such stout courage in a man of such meanness of mind"
August 28, 2018
I imagine I am probably one of the few people to have read Flint's Island without reading Treasure Island--or anything else by Robert Louis Stevenson for that matter--but now I am tempted. Wibberley loves his pirates, and while I guess this would be better having read Treasure Island it was nonetheless very enjoyable. Wibberley is very good about sketching in the background, so I never felt lost. And after awhile, Flint's Island takes off on its own. As with most of Wibberley's work this owes a lot to the 19th century style of storytelling: Not a lot of subtext just a lot of fun.
April 17, 2018
It has it's moments but not enough of the foulest anti-hero of piratedom -Long John for me. Wonderful descriptive passages - you feel the salt wind - and the story is solid.
May 30, 2019
Loved it. Really took me back to books I read about pirates as a child. Written well. I could actually picture the characters in my mind.
July 28, 2022
Flint's mark, which was death, lay over the whole island, and I wondered how many of us would leave our bones in this terrible place. I think the thought was common to the crew. They were quiet about their work, reflecting perhaps that they were not the first to come for Flint's hoard, and others who had tried for the old pirate's treasure had paid for it with their lives.
I very much enjoyed this "sequel" to Treasure Island. Wibberley's writing is strong, the story is exciting, and the language just about invokes Stevenson's mood.
Wibberley takes a much-appreciated different tack in writing supplemental material to Treasure Island: he approaches the story with a minimal amount of returning characters. He visits the island and the story through the eyes of an entirely new protagonist, Tom Whelan, who is not simply a Jim Hawkins stand-in. There is a new crew, "bound out of Salem, Massachusetts, in the Baltimore brig Jane." It's regrettable that Wibberley resorts to using Stevenson's characters as I do think he had a great tale to tell without them. That and all the callbacks to the original story keep this from garnering a higher rating. It's good, though I do think it could have been great.
There be a might too many callbacks and tips o' the tricorne to the original story, as well as some risky large contrivances with original characters to be restin' easy, 'tis unfortunate. But by the powers, Flint's Island be an enjoyable seafarin' venture.
"There's a power of men been killed on that there island," he added. "I think it must be one of the wickedest places on the face of the earth."
I very much enjoyed this "sequel" to Treasure Island. Wibberley's writing is strong, the story is exciting, and the language just about invokes Stevenson's mood.
Wibberley takes a much-appreciated different tack in writing supplemental material to Treasure Island: he approaches the story with a minimal amount of returning characters. He visits the island and the story through the eyes of an entirely new protagonist, Tom Whelan, who is not simply a Jim Hawkins stand-in. There is a new crew, "bound out of Salem, Massachusetts, in the Baltimore brig Jane." It's regrettable that Wibberley resorts to using Stevenson's characters as I do think he had a great tale to tell without them. That and all the callbacks to the original story keep this from garnering a higher rating. It's good, though I do think it could have been great.
There be a might too many callbacks and tips o' the tricorne to the original story, as well as some risky large contrivances with original characters to be restin' easy, 'tis unfortunate. But by the powers, Flint's Island be an enjoyable seafarin' venture.
"There's a power of men been killed on that there island," he added. "I think it must be one of the wickedest places on the face of the earth."
July 15, 2024
I'm giving this book five stars, though four and a half might be closer. The first sixty percent of the book is a gem. The author handles sailing and the characters really well. Once they leave the island, it loses some narrative drive and ends a bit soft. I still recommend this book highly. Among the many Treasure Island pastiches, this is by far my favorite.
November 1, 2021
Rippingly good stuff. A very worthy sequel.
April 25, 2016
A nice sequel to the famous "Treasure Island", I actually liked it better! It was easier to follow, had more identifiable characters, and the story moved at a crisper pace, and was just more interesting.
Long John Silver once again shows he can talk himself out of any situation, over and over again. In the end, justice is served, although not quite the way the hero of the story envisioned.
Recommended for lovers of pirate tales.
Long John Silver once again shows he can talk himself out of any situation, over and over again. In the end, justice is served, although not quite the way the hero of the story envisioned.
Recommended for lovers of pirate tales.
June 3, 2008
Dave read this about 7 years ago, after Treasure Island (which is one of Dave's favorite books). He said it didn't compare to the first. (different authors mind you) But he did like this author's book, "John Treegate's Musket".
May 27, 2008
Sequel to Treasure Island. Definitely not as good as the original by any means, but still enjoyable.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews