Pirata: The Black Flag

Name: Pirata: The Black Flag
Rating: 4 (1684 reviews)

by Simon Scarrow Book 1 in the Pirata series.

First published 2019

Amazon

4.0(1,684)

The Adriatic, AD 25. The orphan Telemachus joins the crew of the merchant ship Selene after saving one of its sailors from an attack. His first voyage becomes a fight for survival when pirates capture the ship and force him into a world where legal trade, smuggling and piracy overlap. The experience begins his transformation from vulnerable recruit into a sailor able to understand the loyalties and violence of the sea.

Captivity teaches Telemachus that the categories of merchant and pirate are less stable than he imagined. Sailors change masters, cargoes change owners and survival may depend on accepting rules set by men outside Roman law. His first experiences at sea therefore become an education in power as well as seamanship, preparing him for the divided loyalties that will shape the later voyages.