head into adventure...
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| ... with Joan Fallon |
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| About the Books |
THE PIRATE (BOOK 2 in THE CITY OF DREAMS TRILOGY)
GENRE: Historical adventure novel
Early one morning, the ambitious pirate, al-Awar, makes a lightning raid on the shipyard in Málaga and kidnaps Bakr, a master shipbuilder.
No-one has any idea why the pirates have taken them or where they have gone, but they know that only one of two fates await them: death or slavery.
When Aisha, Bakr’s wife receives the news, she is heartbroken but refuses to believe that she will never see her husband alive again. She is determined to find where the pirates have taken him. With the entire Mediterranean to hide in, it won't be easy.
At the heart of this novel is the tender story of Aisha and Bakr’s deep love for each other. It is that love which helps him to survive and gives her the strength to never stop searching for him.
This exciting, action-packed novel takes the reader into the medieval world of the merchants and seafarers who sail along the western coast of the Mediterranean, and the pirates who terrorise them.
THE REASON I WROTE THIS BOOK:
When I first went to live in Andalusia twenty-five years ago I was fascinated by the Moorish legacy that was visible almost everywhere and decided to write a series of historical novels about the Moorish occupation of Spain, starting with the al-Andaluz trilogy.
Set in Córdoba it followed the history of the Omayyad dynasty and the fictitious adventures of a family of artisans. The actual events of history meant that the Omayyad dynasty was driven from Córdoba in 1013 AD and the new caliph was forced to move his court to the Mediterranean city of Málaga. I still had a lot I wanted to explore about that period of history, so I decided to start a second trilogy called The City of Dreams and moved the surviving members of my family of artisans to Málaga as well.
In the 11th century Málaga, unlike Córdoba, was a thriving international port and I wanted to reflect that new aspect of Moorish life in one of the books in the series. So in Book 2, my hero is a shipbuilder who is kidnapped by pirates—a frequent occurrence at that time—and his adventures as he plots his escape. Below is a short extract from the beginning of the novel.
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| Read An Excerpt |
Bakr opened his eyes to total blackness, not the darkness of a starless night but that of a pitch-black hole, with no chink of light to alleviate it. Where the hell was he? His head was pounding and when he tried to sit up he realised that he was bound hand and foot, face down in the slimy hold of a ship. Gradually, as his senses returned to him, he became aware of the gentle roll of the sea; they were anchored in sheltered water.
A low groan came from somewhere on his right. He wasn’t alone.
‘Who’s there?’ he whispered.
‘Bakr? Is that you. Thanks be to Allah. I thought you were dead and I was alone in this infernal place.’
‘Asim? What happened? Where are we?’ Asim was the yard’s foreman.
‘Don’t you remember anything? The pirate ship? Nothing?’
‘No, my mind is a blank and my head is pounding as if all the devils in hell were hammering in it.’
‘Not surprised. Gave you a pretty heavy blow, they did. Wonder they didn’t kill you. I thought they had by the way you went down. Like a poleaxed bull.’
‘So it was pirates?’
‘Looked like that to me. To be honest it was all over so fast I didn’t take much in. Too busy fighting them off. Then the next thing I knew there was a sack over my head and some big bugger had me over his shoulder.’
Despite the situation Bakr had to smile; Asim was as round as he was tall. It would have had to have been a strong man to lift him.
‘How many did they take?’ he asked.
‘As far as I know, just you, me and Kamil; he’s in here somewhere. Probably still unconscious. Or dead.’
Bakr needed a moment to process all this news. Pirate raids were nothing new along the coast; in fact they were a regular and costly occurrence. Thieves and cutthroats by another name, that’s all they were. No-one was safe from them and the khalifa’s navy were useless at controlling them.
But why them? Pirates usually attacked merchant ships, or kidnapped women and children to sell as slaves in North Africa. Sometimes the less successful ones raided the coastal villages for food and anything else worth taking, but to attack a shipbuilding yard; this seemed odd. And during the day, too. At night the yard was securely locked and Bakr paid a couple of ex-soldiers to patrol the area in case anyone tried to break in. He had never expected an attack first thing in the morning.
He pulled at his bonds but only succeeded in making them bite deeper into his flesh. A stream of oaths flew off his lips as he struggled to get free.
‘There’s no point trying to get loose, sayyad. I’ve been trying for the last hour and almost cut my hands off in the attempt. It’s impossible.’
‘So you’ve been awake the whole time?’ asked Bakr.
‘Yes, more’s the pity. I’ve envied you and Kamil, lying there snoring away in peaceful oblivion.’
‘Well man, what have you learnt about where we are?’
‘I have a good idea. If you remember the wind was coming from the west this morning. When they set sail they had the wind behind them, so I reckon they’re heading east.’
‘And then where?’
‘Well, they will want to keep close to the shore so they will either turn south and head for North Africa or go north.’
‘The Balearic Islands?’
‘That would be my guess. If they were headed for North Africa they would have sailed south when they left Malaqah.’
‘But where are we now? How long have we been sailing?’ asked Bakr.
‘Well, it’s hard to tell when you’re shut in this filthy hold, with no glimpse of the sky, but the fact that my stomach is empty and my body thinks it’s time to go to sleep, I’d guess that we’ve been sailing all day and it’s now night-time.’
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| ile dragonera |
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| Alcazaba of Málaga |
About Joan Fallon
Born in Dumfries, Scotland, Joan has been living in Spain for the last twenty-five years. A history graduate, turned teacher and now a successful author, Joan has written nineteen books. Her writing encompasses both historical fiction, contemporary women’s fiction and non-fiction.
Many of her novels are set in Málaga, particularly the historical ones which focus on two distinct periods in the country’s history, the Spanish Civil War and Moorish Spain.
Now she has turned her attention to writing 21st century crime novels. This new series is entitled The Jacaranda Dunne Mysteries and it also is located in Málaga.
Joan is a member of the Society of Authors, the Alliance of Independent Authors, El Colectivo Malagueño de Escritores and the Irish Writer's Union.
website https://joanfallon.co.uk/
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I love your Al-Andaluz trilogy, Joan! It has deffo had an inspiring effect on me as I dig into the history of this part of Spain after the Reconquista.
ReplyDeleteI agree - super books!
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