Author: Iskandar Al-Bakri
New Pb233 pp.
Subjects: Fiction, History
Condition: Good
Publisher: Silverfish Books
Published: 2011
20 August 1824. Robert Fullerton has just been appointed the Governor of the Prince of Wales Island (Penang) under the British administration in India. He is intent on intervening in the affairs of Perak, which is under the influence of Siam, despite the reservations of the Colonial Office in London.

To achieve his end of persuading Perak to accept a British resident for ‘protection’, but primarily to gain access to its riches, Fullerton condones privateering, the escalation of piracy in the waters of the state. The story trails the politically influential Malay secret societies during this period.

Indera Sakti was formed in the sixteenth century, after the defeat of the Malaccan army by the Portuguese, by soldiers who vowed to take back the entire peninsula. But it currently consists of “sadistic reptiles who are assassins, pirates and other undesirables”. Darul Kubra, another secret society, was formed to protect the treasures of Malik Al-Mansur, the ruler of Beruas who abandoned the city and fled from the advancing Portuguese.

This is historical fiction, a swashbuckling tale of silat and sorcery, piracy, plunder and magic.