The Cannon and The Quill: The Golden Age of Piracy Reimagined

The Cannon and the Quill series combines extensive historical research with mystery and the paranormal.

Based on the author’s long-running stage show, The Cannon and the Quill is part of the ongoing Stanton Chronicles. 

Book One: We All Be Jacobites Here

1715. While the Scottish Jacobites fight to put James of the House of Stuart on the British throne, a war has begun in the Caribbean, fought by the forgotten few, the Republic of Pirates, led by Benjamin Hornigold. Only 16 years old, Angus MacGregor, nephew of the Highland outlaw, Rob Roy, arrives in Nassau in the Bahamas to help further the cause. Joined by Joseph Stanton, running away from indentured servitude in Boston, Angus embarks on an adventure that brings him face to face with the pirates of the Golden Age: Charles Vane, “Black” Sam Bellamy, and the most famous of them all: Edward “Blackbeard” Thache. Mixing history with the supernatural, The Cannon and the Quill celebrates the fight of those who have little against those who rule the world.

Book Two: Princes of the World

1716.  In the shadow of the ongoing wars between the kings and queens of Europe and their powerful navies, a small group of determined pirates slowly forge a Republic of Pirates in the Bahamas, led by Benjamin Hornigold, Edward Thache, Angus “Quill” MacGregor (nephew of Rob Roy), and Samuel Bellamy—the “Robin Hood of the Seas” and leader of the Jacobite Revolution. Making reluctant alliances with French pirate Olivier “The Vulture” Levasseur and a mysterious magician named Abraxas Abriendo, Sam and the pirates of New Providence fight for their survival and rightful place as Princes of the World.

Book Three: How to Be a Proper Pyrate

1717. With the undoing of the Republic of Pirates in the Bahamas, Samuel Bellamy—the “Robin Hood of the Seas”—and other leaders of the Jacobite Revolution fight to keep the twelve Ancient Objects out of the hands of the powerful Ravenskalds and demonic Mammon Lodge. Angus “Quill” MacGregor (nephew of Rob Roy), still thought by those in the Highlands to be dead, deepens his alliance with Edward Thache—soon to be known as Blackbeard—and a mad gentleman pirate named Stede Bonnet as the Royal Navy and English slave traders intensify their efforts to rid the world of the hostis humani generis forever.  

Book Four: All the Devils Are Here

1717. With the undoing of the Republic of Pirates in the Bahamas, Samuel Bellamy—the “Robin Hood of the Seas”—and other leaders of the Jacobite Revolution fight to keep the twelve Ancient Objects out of the hands of the powerful Ravenskalds and demonic Mammon Lodge. Angus “Quill” MacGregor (nephew of Rob Roy), still thought by those in the Highlands to be dead, deepens his alliance with Edward Thache—soon to be known as Blackbeard—and a mad gentleman pirate named Stede Bonnet as the Royal Navy and English slave traders intensify their efforts to rid the world of the hostis humani generis forever.  

Book Five: With My Proper Blood

1718. As Blackbeard, Stede Bonnet, and Charles Vane terrorize the Caribbean and Atlantic Coast, a group of Colonial lieutenant governors band together to end their reign. Led by newly appointed Governor of the Bahamas, Woodes Rogers, they offer the King's Pardon to any pirate willing to repent. They also recruit a group of former pirate captains to bring the Brethren of the Sea who refuse the pardon to justice. As the battles between them commence, the major European countries begin the War of the Quadruple Alliance. Amidst this global carnage, the demon-worshipping Ravenskalds battle with the Catholic Church–created Star Quorum to possess the Twelve Ancient Objects that are the key to controlling the world.

Praise for The Cannon and the Quill

Covering the expansive Atlantic World is no easy task for most authors, and despite a dark allusion to the evils of capitalism and slavery, Madia's book expertly expresses a robust "Yo Ho Ho, Me Hearties!" through well-researched passages that readers usually find in time-travel adventures or Bruckheimer films!

—Baylus C. Brooks, MA Maritime History, author of Quest for Blackbeard

An extravagant, sweeping tale, encompassing both sides of the Atlantic, by a gifted storyteller with intriguing characters marching you through history, bringing Jacobites and (my favorite) pirates together!  Can't wait for book two of the "Cannon and the Quill" series.

—Captain Horatio Sinbad, Privateer MEKA II, Beaufort, NC, author of Sword of Tortuga

Madia introduces us to colourful characters each playing their part in the map of intrigue, swashbuckling adventure and then a wonderful touch, a link to the future and a historian working in the Smithsonian today. … A great read with tantalizing hints of what is to come. 

—Peter Adams, Author

What an adventure! It begins like a Robert E. Howard novel and never slows down! Great mix of history, mystery, and the paranormal. 

—Doug Emery, Author

The Cannon and the Quill delivers on all the promises it makes at the start. Its short, punchy chapters move easily between plotlines. The stories and characters are superior—no doubt the result of considerable research.    —Amazon Reviewer 

Top of the line descriptive narrative. —Amazon Reviewer 

A great read! I love the way it smoothly transitions from the past to the present and back. —Amazon Reviewer 

It is like Marathon Man, with all of the independent stories set in foreign countries, then weaving the separate strands together. —Amazon Reviewer 

Books Six and Seven are in the process of being written. 

All five books are available at Amazon in paperback and for Kindle and Kindle Unlimited.

My author page at Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=joey+madia&i=stripbooks&crid=2P33WZVUSBWIC&sprefix=joey+madia%2Cstripbooks%2C99&ref=nb_sb_ss_c_2_10_ts-doa-p