History Literature / TheBrotherhoodOfTheBlackFlag

''The Brotherhood of the Black Flag'' is a 2017 historical thriller by Creator/IanNathanielCohen. Set in {{UsefulNotes/England}}, 1721, it tells the story of Michael [=McNamara=], a former British naval officer forced to emigrate to Jamaica to seek his fortune after his expulsion from the navy. He soon meets up with Captain Stephen Reynard, a notorious pirate turned pirate hunter as part of a quest for redemption, and the lovely Dona Catalina Moore. As a member of Reynard's crew, [=McNamara=] faces off against hazardous seas, untrusting shipmates, and bloodthirsty pirates...and finds himself ensnared in a conspiracy that threatens thousands of lives.

''The Brotherhood of the Black Flag'' is a 2017 historical thriller by Creator/IanNathanielCohen. Set in England, 1721, it tells the story of Michael [=McNamara=], a former British naval officer forced to emigrate to Jamaica to seek his fortune after his expulsion from the navy. He soon meets up with Captain Stephen Reynard, a notorious pirate turned pirate hunter as part of a quest for redemption, and the lovely Dona Catalina Moore. As a member of Reynard's crew, [=McNamara=] faces off against hazardous seas, untrusting shipmates, and bloodthirsty pirates...and finds himself ensnared in a conspiracy that threatens thousands of lives.

* VillainCred: When he was a pirate, Reynard wanted to amass as much of this as possible. [[spoiler:He still does, taking it UpToEleven]].

* FameThroughInfamy: Reynard's main goal throughout his pirate career. [[spoiler:It's his motivation for helping the Jacobites restore the Stuarts. He could care less about who sits on the throne. He just wants to be remembered for his role in planning and pulling off the coup.]]

* NotInThisForYourRevolution: [[spoiler:Reynard could care less about whether the Jacobites succeed in restoring the Stuarts once he's done his part. He's just after the eternal infamy his part in the raid will bring him.]]

* RealityEnsues: [[spoiler:[=McNamara=] points out that murdering King George won't automatically mean smooth sailing for the Stuarts to retake the throne. Reynard throws it back at him by saying he's fully aware of this. He just doesn't care, because he has his own agenda.]]
** [[spoiler:At the end of the book, after everything she's been through, Catalina isn't ready to return [=McNamara=]'s declaration of love, saying she needs more time. [=McNamara=] promises to give her as much as she needs.]]

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Numerous scenes were cut from the final draft, including:
** In one of the early drafts, Frederick Cavendish and Michael [=McNamara=] originally had one final duel with each other, which Cavendish won as a reminder to [=McNamara=] that there was always someone better with a sword.
** James "Young Jim" Knowles told his backstory to [=McNamara=] during the voyage to Ciudad d'Esperanza - his alcoholic father murdered Jim's brother, and he killed his father in turn. He then ran away and joined the navy until the ''Keighley'' was captured by Reynard. It was cut for pacing reasons.
** During the raid on [[spoiler:Catalina's mansion in Liguanea, two royal marines were supposed to accompany our heroes, only to get killed off during the fight. Cohen felt this was unnecessary and made the scene too cluttered, so they were taken out. One of the marines was to have been named Cornwell, after Creator/BernardCornwell, author of the ''Literature/{{Sharpe}}'' series]].
** [[spoiler:Odalis Cortez was supposed to have been the pirate Sabatini flogged to death as a warning to the rest of the crew. Cohen changed it to a random crew member to avoid the VasquezAlwaysDies trope and so there would be more diversity among the heroes.]]
** The ''Adetoro'' originally didn't have a name, which would have been a running joke throughout the epilogue.

* BadassBookworm: [=McNamara=] enjoys reading when he has the time, from general fiction to fencing treatises, and is good enough with a sword to get work as a fencing instructor, later starting his own school in Kingston. Reynard has a small library on his ship, and Catalina is familiar with Shakespeare and the greats of Spanish theater.

* MeaningfulName: [=McNamara=] means "hero of the sea."

* TheMutiny: After a botched raid, Reynard led one against his own captain, taking command himself after killing him.

* NotInThisForYourRevolution: [[spoiler:Reynard could care less about whether the Jacobites succeed in restoring the Stuarts once he's done his part. He's just after the eternal infamy and to announce the power of his new pirate armada.]]

* VasquezAlwaysDies: Averted. [[spoiler:Odalis Cortez]] was originally killed off in an earlier draft. but Cohen changed his mind to deliberately avoid invoking this trope and to make the protagonists more diverse.

* ChronicHeroSyndrome: [=McNamara=] is always eager to put his sword to worthy use, whether fighting a gang of thugs at a bar to fighting pirates on the high seas.

''The Brotherhood of the Black Flag'' is a 2017 self-published novel by Creator/IanNathanielCohen. Set in England, 1721, it tells the story of Michael [=McNamara=], a former British naval officer forced to emigrate to Jamaica to seek his fortune after his expulsion from the navy. He soon meets up with Captain Stephen Reynard, a notorious pirate turned pirate hunter as part of a quest for redemption, and the lovely Dona Catalina Moore. As a member of Reynard's crew, [=McNamara=] faces off against hazardous seas, untrusting shipmates, and bloodthirsty pirates...and finds himself ensnared in a conspiracy that threatens thousands of lives.

* WhatTheHellHero: [[spoiler:[=McNamara=] never once questions whether Captain Reynard is anything other than the romantic redemption seeker he claims to be, despite his numerous tales of how conniving and devious he was as a pirate. His need for a new path in life overrides his sense of caution - and he gets called out on this ''hard.'']]

* BadassBookworm: [=McNamara=] enjoys reading when he has the time, from general fiction to fencing treatises, and is good enough with a sword to get work as a fencing instructor, later starting his own school in Kingston.

* BondVillainStupidity: [[spoiler:Reynard leaves [=McNamara=] and Catalina alive as his captives aboard his ship instead of just killing them, so they can witness his triumph and be helpless to do anything about it.]]

** [[spoiler:Reynard easily could have recruited the other pirates without hunting them down and fighting them. He did it anyway because he thought it was more fun.]]