Line #72 Literature/TheBrotherhoodOfTheBlackFlag


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/51nrqvvshbl_7.jpg]]
2	->''"History remembers the rogues."''
3	-->-- '''Captain Stephen Reynard'''
4
5	''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 {{UsefulNotes/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.
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9	!!This novel provides examples of:
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11	* ActionGirl: Although not at [=McNamara=] or Reynard's level, Catalina is an excellent fencer who can hold her own when crossing swords with hired killers and experienced pirates. She's also a decent shot with a pistol.
12	* AlmightyJanitor: Despite spending over a decade as an officer in the navy and a year as a fencing instructor, [=McNamara=] is still the newest member of Reynard's crew, and as such is assigned all the dirty jobs. However, during [[spoiler:the fight with the ''King's Ransom'', [=McNamara=] puts his swordsmanship to excellent use and saves the life of Reynard's master gunner.]]
13	* AndTheAdventureContinues: At the end of the story, [[spoiler:Arthur Jones is now captain of his own ship, and Michael [=McNamara=] and Dona Catalina are members of his crew. They sail off together on Jones's quest to see as much of the world as he can.]]
14	* AristocratsAreEvil: [[spoiler:Lord Edmund is a close advisor to King George I who is also a Well-Intentioned Extremist determined to dethrone the Hanoverian Dynasty in favor of the Stuarts. He redeems himself, though, at the cost of his life.]]
15	* AuthorAppeal: ''The Brotherhood of the Black Flag'' is Cohen's homage to classic Hollywood swashbuckler films, which he grew up on as a kid.
16	* 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 knows her Shakespeare and the greats of Spanish theater.
17	* BadassInDistress: [[spoiler:[=McNamara=] and Catalina both qualify when they're captured by Reynard.]]
18	* BarBrawl: On his first day in Kingston, [=McNamara=] takes down five pirates trying to extort money from his landlord, making quite a name for himself in the process.
19	* BatmanGambit: [[spoiler:[=McNamara=] and Catalina appropriately come up with one to counter Reynard's XanatosGambit. Admittedly, it's something of a GambitRoulette (see below).]]
20	* BenevolentBoss: Reynard controls his crew through a combination of this and BadBoss when they let him down.
21	* BloodKnight: Captain Lancaster likes leaving a lot of bodies behind in his wake.
22	** [[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 than just asking them if they wanted in on his plan.]]
23	* BoldExplorer: [[spoiler:Arthur Jones becomes this at the end of the novel, our protagonists under his command.]]
24	* 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. Sabatini actually calls him out on this, but Reynard refuses to change his mind.]]
25	* BoringButPractical: For the raid on the ''King's Ransom,'' [=McNamara=] temporarily trades in his colichemarde for a cutlass, as it's a more practical weapon for this kind of a battle.
26	* ButForMeItWasTuesday: Averted. Reynard seems to remember every single one of his gambits and raids.
27	* ChronicHeroSyndrome: [=McNamara=] is always eager to put his sword to worthy use, whether fighting a gang of thugs at a bar to battling pirates on the high seas.
28	* ComicBookFantasyCasting: Cohen modeled [=McNamara=] on Creator/JamesMcAvoy, Dona Catalina on Creator/MorenaBaccarin, and Captain Reynard on Creator/ChristianBale.
29	* ConfusionFu: Reynard fights with a schiavona, which has a unique fighting style that can come off as this.
30	* CoolSword: [=McNamara=]'s colichemarde may be out of fashion, but it's a handy weapon to have around, as it's designed for rapid parrying and withstanding heavy blades. Also, Reynard's custom-made schiavona with the cage hilt made to look like a skeletal hand.
31	* DecoyAntagonist: Captain Brian Lancaster, the last pirate Captain Reynard needs for his collection. [[spoiler:He's captured halfway through the book. The real villain is Captain Reynard himself.]]
32	* DecoyProtagonist: One might think young fencing student Giles Prescott might be the protagonist of the story. It's actually his instructor, Michael [=McNamara=].
33	* TheDreaded: Back when he was a pirate, Captain Reynard put a lot of work into becoming this. [[spoiler:He's still out to become this, on a much larger scale.]]
34	* DroppedABridgeOnHim: Or in the case of [[spoiler:Niccolo Sabatini, a mast.]]
35	* DueToTheDead: Whenever a survivor of the ''Keighley'' dies, his crewmates get together for a drink to share memories of their departed comrade.
36	* EvilAllAlong: [[spoiler:Captain Reynard's reformation was all a lie. It was all a ploy to assemble his pirate armada.]]
37	** [[spoiler:Lord Edmund Alleyn is a Jacobite sympathizer, facilitating Reynard's scheme so the Stuarts can be restored to the English throne.]]
38	** [[spoiler:Sergeant Gilbert as well - he was one of Reynard's many spies.]]
39	* FameThroughInfamy: Reynard's main goal throughout his pirate career. [[spoiler:It's his motivation for helping the Jacobites restore the Stuarts. He couldn't care less about who sits on the throne. He just wants to be remembered for his role in planning and pulling off the coup.]]
40	* FireForgedFriends: The survivors of the ''Keighley'' always have each others' backs. [=McNamara=] is accepted as one of them when he [[spoiler:saves Robert Hale's life.]]
41	* {{Flynning}}: Deliberately invoked. Cohen wrote the sword fights to resemble the ones from classic swashbuckler movies, rather than going for realistic combat.
42	* TheGambler: [=McNamara=] enjoys playing card games, whether with his ''Predator'' shipmates or in Kingston - even though he doesn't usually win - and he known how to play several different games. Odalis Cortez is also a gambler - he and [=McNamara=] bond over a game of Brisca.
43	* GambitRoulette: [[spoiler:[=McNamara=] and Catalina's plan to defeat the armada involves making it to the gun deck unnoticed, successfully capturing one of the rooms of said gun deck, firing on the other ships and getting them to return fire in turn, and get off the ship in one piece. And then there's the little matter of being able to escape their cells in the brig in the first place!]]
44	* GentlemanAdventurer: [=McNamara=] may be the youngest son of a solicitor, but he certainly has the manners of a gentleman.
45	* TheGoldenAgeOfPiracy: The story is set just as this age is coming to an end, when pirates are being hunted down instead of celebrated as heroic rogues.
46	* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:Lord Edmund, when fully faced with the consequences of what he's helped unleashed, becomes this. Also, the men of the Keighley who decide to help [=McNamara=] thwart Reynard.]]
47	* HiddenAgendaHero: [[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.]]
48	* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Sir Nicholas Lawes, King George I, and Sir Robert Walpole are all historical personages. Not to mention all the real-life pirates name-dropped throughout the novel.
49	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler:[=McNamara=] and Catalina use Reynard's reputation for conniving and treachery to turn the other pirates against him.]]
50	** [[spoiler:The bulkheads Reynard installs in the Predator's gun deck to prevent their capture ends up allowing [=McNamara=] and his allies to prevent its re-capture by Reynard's crew.]]
51	** [[spoiler:Sabatini flogs a man to death while the victim is tied to a mast. During the climax, a mast falls on Sabatini, crushing him to death.]]
52	* HonorBeforeReason: When [=McNamara=] [[spoiler:caught his former commanding officer trying to murder someone, he challenged him to a duel instead of alerting the provosts. It cost him his promising military career.]]
53	* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: [[spoiler:'''EVERYBODY''' for trusting the word of a ruthless pirate responsible for thousands of deaths with a reputation for back-stabbing and daring Xanatos Gambits. Then again, when it comes to lying, Reynard is just that good.]]
54	* ImprobableAimingSkills: Averted. The firearms of the time are frequently described as being inaccurate, and the only time bullets typically find their mark is when there are so many targets, they can't help hitting someone, or the target is pretty close.
55	* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:Sabatini flogs a man tied to a mast to death just to warn the crew against helping [=McNamara=]. During the final battle, Sabatini is killed when a mast falls on him.]]
56	* LovableRogue: The reformed Captain Reynard is presented as such. [[spoiler:Whether he still is after he reveals his true colors is up to the reader's discretion.]]
57	* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: [[spoiler:How Reynard disposes of William Atwill, as retribution for trying to have him killed.]]
58	* MeaningfulName: [=McNamara=] means "hero of the sea." "Reynard" not only translates to "fox", but in German, it refers to someone gifted in smooth-talking and clever speech.
59	* MilitaryMaverick: [=McNamara=] seemed to avoid this during his thirteen years in the British Royal Navy until he [[spoiler:challenged his commanding officer to a duel after preventing him from killing someone in a drunken rage.]] Despite his achievements and otherwise clean record, he was kicked out of the navy as a result.
60	* TheMutiny: How Reynard became a captain.
61	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Reynard has moments of this when he reflects on his past crimes. [[spoiler:(It's all an act.) [=McNamara=] as well when he discovers Reynard's true nature, as he never once questioned whether Reynard might be lying.]]
62	* NotInThisForYourRevolution: [[spoiler:Reynard couldn't 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.]]
63	* PlatonicDeclarationOfLove: [[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.]]
64	* RapeAsDrama: Subverted. Although Catalina wasn't raped by [[spoiler:the highwayman that murdered her husband]], a rumor spread that she had been, which led to other sordid rumors that eventually drove her to leave Portugal.
65	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: [[spoiler:Reynard gives [=McNamara=] a brutal one for not thinking that maybe, just ''maybe,'' someone with a reputation such as his wasn't entirely on the level.]]
66	* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler:Lord Edmund tries to thwart the scheme he helped set into motion. It costs him his life. The same thing happen to the more ruthless survivors of the ''Keighley.'']]
67	* ShoutOut: Except for [=McNamara=] and the historical domain characters, '''every''' major character (and even most of the minor ones) are named for actors, authors, and directors who have been involved with pirate/swashbuckling fiction and cinema in some manner. In fact, there are so many in this book that [[ShoutOut/TheBrotherhoodOfTheBlackFlag they have their own page]].
68	* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Because Catalina's late husband, Don Ottavio, was Portugese, her title is rendered in the Portugese form of "Dona" instead of the Spanish form of "Doña."
69	* 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.
70	* VillainCred: When he was a pirate, Reynard wanted to amass as much of this as possible. [[spoiler:He still does, taking it up to eleven]].
71	* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler:Everything Lord Edmund has done to aid Reynard was for the Jacobite cause - and to protect his family from Reynard's wrath.]]
72	* 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.'']]

Context Literature / TheBrotherhoodOfTheBlackFlag