MWSA Review

Q. Fulvius: A Pirate’s Life, book two in the Fulvius Chronicles by M. G. Haynes, describes a few years in the life of an escaped Roman centurion and his mates. Fulvius joins a pirate colony on an island in the Adriatic Sea and improves the lives of the Illyrians with his military knowledge, making them safer and more prosperous. He experiences true family support for the first time in his life and is conflicted between his desire for independence and the pull of the community’s needs. After a year of settling in, outside events threaten the colony as it is caught between the Macedonians in the east who want to take over the Greek coast and part of Italy and the Romans who want to stop them. The Romans also want to capture the escaped centurion and punish him. Life is not easy in the third century, but the centurion and his friends have been trained to fight, and their skills save the lives of many in the village. You’ll find lots of plot twists in this very easy read.

Review by Nancy Kauffman (May 2022)

Author's Synopsis

Book two of The Fulvius Chronicles, this installment continues to follow Fulvius and his disreputable gang after their narrow escape from a legionary death sentence during the Second Punic War. Fleeing across the Adriatic Sea they find new allies and a new vocation, piracy. Taking naturally to littoral banditry, Fulvius and his new charges grow steadily in both power and wealth until the wider politics of the region intrude upon their piratical nirvana in a way none of them expected. Fulvius is forced to deal with the sudden return of an old, vengeful enemy, an opportunity for enrichment simply too good to pass up, and ultimately, betrayal within his own ranks just to survive, much less find any way to prosper. In the end, all his schemes come crashing down around him, and the members of the pirate community--to say nothing of Fulvius himself--must fight for their very lives in a massive and swirling battle royale along the Illyrian coast.

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Fiction—Historical Fiction

Number of Pages: 313