The Voyage of the Destiny

With famed courtier Sir Walter Ralegh as his speaker/writer, author Robert Nye creates a fictional journal which includes all the elements of high drama the reader would expect of this vicarious peek into Ralegh's very private and intriguing world--his climb from obscurity to the highest levels of court life, the nature of his tumultuous relationship with Queen Elizabeth, his career as a soldier, his secret courtship and marriage, his loathing of the venal King James, his thirteen years in the Tower of London on false charges, and his eventual release by King James to search for gold in the New World.The journal, which begins in 1618, moves back and forth in time, alternating vivid tales of Ralegh's tenuous existence aboard the Destiny, a ship off the coast of Guiana, with his colorful reminiscences of life in Elizabeth's court, when, as a young man he was living the heady life of a courtier. The ebb and flow of the journal creates its own narrative movement and conveys both the vibrant excitement of Ralegh's days as a young man and the melancholy self-reflection which dominates his old age. Sensuous descriptions and self-deprecating wit characterize his revelations about his younger days, while the privation and trauma he experiences at the end of his life elicit both sympathy and admiration as he tries to redeem his pride and reputation while walking a tightrope between his mutinous crew, his duplicitous king, and his Spanish enemies. Though very exciting and full of fascinating period detail, Nye's novel is more than a biography, however. Ralegh tells us that his journal is ultimately a log of three voyages: first, the voyage of the ship Destiny--his present, day to day life; second, the voyage of his history--his past and his fortunes; and, third, the Voyage of Destiny, not his life or his ship but something more than the present, the past, or both together. This third journey is an internal one, and we observe Ralegh making an effort to achieve deeper understanding, not only of himself, but of the real values which give meaning to man's existence, not the values imposed by society. He is accompanied, on both his real and his symbolic journey, by an Indian named Guayacunda, a mysterious man whose tribe was wiped out a hundred years earlier, and whose ancestral heritage, language, culture, and even real name have vanished completely, leaving him without the ancestral values he thinks would give meaning to his existence. As they share their dreams, they search for an understanding of truth which will give value to their separate realities. Multi-leveled and totally satisfying, The Voyage of the Destiny uses the fascinating life of Sir Walter Ralegh to illuminate the search of a thoughtful man for truth and meaning in life beyond what society and its values have imposed, not one truth at the expense of others, but truths which come from a life lived with respect and humility, not with pride or a need for recognition. In that way, Ralegh