Sea of Poppies
At the heart of this epic saga; set just before the Opium Wars; is an old slaving-ship; the Ibis. Its destiny is a tumultuous voyage across the Indian Ocean; its crew a motley array of sailors and stowaways; coolies and convicts. In a time of colonial upheaval; fate has thrown together a truly diverse cast of Indians and Westerners; from a bankrupt Raja to a widowed villager; from an evangelical English opium trader to a mulatto American freedman.
River of Smoke
As hypnotic as an opium dream and pretty unputdownable' Daily Mail In September 1838 a storm blows up on the Indian Ocean and the Ibis; a ship carrying a consignment of convicts and indentured laborers from Calcutta to Mauritius; is caught up in the whirlwind. When the seas settle; five men have disappeared - two lascars; two convicts and one of the passengers. Did the same storm upend the fortunes of those aboard the Anahita; an opium carrier heading towards Canton? And what fate befell those aboard the Redruth; a sturdy two-masted brig heading East out of Cornwall?
Flood of Fire
The thrilling climax to the Ibis trilogy that began with the phenomenal Booker-shortlisted Sea of Poppies. It is 1839 and tension has been rapidly mounting between China and British India following the crackdown on opium smuggling by Beijing. With no resolution in sight; the colonial government declares war. One of the vessels requisitioned for the attack; the Hind; travels eastwards from Bengal to China; sailing into the midst of the First Opium War.
