Pirates

There is nothing romantic about piracy. From the earliest records we have, dating back centuries, pirates used violence to capture cargo and prisoners for ransom. They are thieves, the epitome of menace, who will undertake despicable deeds to increase their wealth and their own quality of life. Why then, are they such an appealing and enduring subject to write about?

I think it stems from their complete disregard of the rules. Most of us spend our lives surrounded by and obeying hundreds of rules and laws, and on the whole that works out very well for us in terms of a peaceful life. Occasionally though even the most law-abiding of us feels the need to rebel in the face of some seemingly stupid act of bureaucracy. 'I've had enough!' we might vent as we have to fill in yet another form to achieve some menial and trivial task. We know however that a true pirate by now would have shot the poor civil servant behind the counter and laid waste to the Council office - in fact they would have destroyed the office even before filling in the form. Thankfully we do not carry on in that way but a pirate - a man or woman of decisive action, the ultimate rebel - has licence to do whatever they want. That makes them a very attractive figure for a rollicking tale of piratical adventure.

---

Space

Pirates are written large into our maritime history and continue to this day. According to Wikipedia piracy has cost as much as US$25 billion over the last 20 years in the waters between the Red Sea and Indian Ocean, off the Somali coast, in the Strait of Malacca and Singapore, and in the Gulf of Guinea. Wherever there is valuable trade, people in desperate economic circumstances will see piracy as a viable option to improve their lot. For people who have very little to lose, the rewards become very attractive. There is no reason to believe that this paradigm will change as the trade routes leave the oceans of Earth for the vast cold spaces between worlds. The technical challenges increase, but then they always have.

Space provides a new environment in which to devise even more outrageous buccaneering devices, dangers and rewards.

---

Inspiration

One of the best accounts of real pirates I have read is that by Stephan Talty in his book Empire of Blue Water. They were hard ruthless people, willing to fight not for honour or King and Country, but simply profit.

When I was thinking about the story, two significant images provided inspiration. They are:

Who knows what real space pirates will look like , but my guess is those images won't be far off.

---

Technology

Science fiction writing demands that you at least set some ground rules for what is and is not possible in your world. For example, it becomes very difficult to keep a narrative coherent if you're attempting interstellar travel, but your ships can't go faster than the speed of light. Your characters will be hanging around in space for years. In a similar way it helps if you assume your ships can generate artificial gravity so you don't have to keep stopping people from floating away.

Orlando Jax is set in a world where there is faster than light travel and artificial gravity. There isn't "Beam me up Scotty" style matter transference technology. If there were, the Claw wouldn’t have to ram the Eversence for the pirates to be able to board. The Claw is a true space ship, but in the pirate tradition, is built to land on water when on a planet's surface. It's a spaceship-flying boat combination which I like.

---

Lore

It is incumbent on every writer of fiction that includes pirates, to add to the canon of pirate lore. With Orlando Jax, one of my contributions is The Sea Psalm for Every Man Jack:

For gold, for silver, for currency and spice,
For jet, for jade, for emerald and ice,
Let’s get busy lads, every man Jack!

For silk, for sapphire, for diamond and fur,
For wine, for spirit, for amethyst and myrrh,
Let’s get busy lads, every man Jack!

For oil, for opal, for platinum and musk,
For salt, for saffron, for tobacco and tusk,
Let’s get busy lads, every man Jack!

A life free from love, a life out of law,
A life of fighting, red in tooth and claw,
Let’s get busy lads, every man Jack!

With dagger and sabre, nano and carbine,
Here we come darlin’ to make yours all mine,
Let’s get busy lads, every man Jack!

To live to fight to plunder for treasure,
In the pirate life we take our pleasure.
So let’s get busy lads, every man Jack!

---

Orlando Jax is available as a paperback from Amazon and an ebook from Kindle.

For Amazon and Kindle it is probably best to buy through your own local country store. Simply search for "Orlando Jax: The Death of Orlando Jax". I know the following links work in Australia.

Orlando Jax ebook on Amazon Kindle Orlando Jax paperback on Amazon

---

---