Pirate's Wager: Prequel to the Mardan's Mark Series

Mardan's Mark #0.5

by Kathrese McKee

The ultimate betrayal and a wager lost.
Thirteen-year-old Samazor struggles daily to find shelter and food in Port Azor, but when his father loses a bet with an infamous pirate captain, Samazor learns his freedom is at stake. Life as a slave on a pirate ship is full of danger, but there’s adventure, too. Abandoned and alone, Samazor must watch his back and make the right friends to stay alive. Knowing who to trust is tricky, and mistakes are costly. Can he survive until he is ransomed? And what happens if that day never comes? Pirate’s Wager is a coming of age story, the exciting prequel to the Mardan’s Mark series, sure to delight young adults and the young at heart. Don’t miss out on this swashbuckling epic fantasy adventure about survival, brotherhood, pirates, and life on the high seas. Get your copy today.

Genres: Fantasy

112 pages, Paperback

Published December 6, 2018

About the author

Texas author, Kathrese McKee, writes epic adventures for young adults and anyone else who enjoys pirates and princesses combined with life's difficult questions. She is committed to exciting stories, appropriate content, and quality craftsmanship.

Once upon a time, Kathrese worked as a systems engineer. Then, she taught Reading and ESL at the middle school level. These days, she edits fiction, writes fantasy, and turns a blind eye to the feral dust bunnies lurking beneath her desk. Connect with her at kathresemckee.com.

Mardan's Mark, the first book in the Mardan's Mark series, has won a couple of awards:

Winner: 2014 Novel Rocket Launch Pad Contest, MG/YA Category
Finalist: 2014 Phoenix Rattler writing contest, Christian Writers of the West (CWOW) - Arizona's ACFW affiliate

Pirate's Wager, the prequel to the Mardan's Mark series was a finalist in The Wishing Shelf Contest in 2019.

Reviews

[deborah o'carroll (offline during 2026)]

(Posted with reviews for the rest of the series here!)

This was my first introduction to the Mardan’s Mark series, and I ended up reading it again after I read the first two books and the other companion novella, because now that I’d met the characters elsewhere, I wanted to re-experience this as their backstory.

It was a fascinating introduction to some of the main characters of Mardan’s Mark, in this case Sam, Aldan, and Linus, as well as the pirates of the ship “Cathartid.”

A very quick read, Pirate’s Wager is a novella that introduced me to the world of Marst and Norland and definitely left me intrigued to read more. It follows young Samazor (“Sam”), as he ends up a slave on a pirate ship and forms a friendship with fellow slave lads Aldan and Linus. I loved getting to meet them (my first read) and get to remember where they started out (my second read)!

The good writing drew me in, and the detail totally immersed me in the story. I loved the characters and almost-Caribbean-esque fantasy port/ship setting, though it was a little gritty and stressful at times, because nautical story with pirates enslaving our hero. (There actually were no fantasy elements in this particular one, so it felt more like Kingdom Adventure!)

If you want a small taste of this world, it’s a good place to start, and if you’re already a Mardan’s Mark fan, it’s delightful to have the backstory on how these unlikely friends become a band of brothers! (I lurve them. Especially Aldan. That is all. <3)

I read a free advance copy of this story through the author's newsletter. All opinions are my own.

[Sarah Ryder]

I enjoyed reading how Sam became one of Rozar’s slaves and his meeting and getting to know Aldan and Linus, but I did feel emotionally disconnected from the story due to how short it is (it’s basically a novelette). It also doesn’t focus a lot on building the brothers’ connection we see later on in Mardan’s Mark like I thought it would.

Still a good story, just not exactly what I was expecting in some ways.


‼️Content‼️

Violence: fighting with weapons and hand to hand (not detailed); boys are whipped (not detailed); injuries and blood (not detailed)

Drug/Alcohol: a man drinks and gets drunk

Other: a character is gambled/sold into slavery; characters are slaves; gambling

[Cynthia]

I read this story when I received the opportunity to critique it, and it was as exciting as its description indicates. Adventure, vivid descriptions, emotion, and a good pace make this book an engaging read.

[R.J. Rodda]

I liked this. It’s the story of a boy enslaved through the reckless actions of his father and is well told. Be aware this is a prequel and it is short. It is a complete story that is satisfying on its own but this made me want to read more.

[OldBird]

In which we meet Samazor, a young lad who ends up enslaved on a pirate ship out of Port Azor. Aboard, he learns the ropes of life at sea alongside two other out of place youngsters. But teens are never far from rebellion, and there's always a price to be paid.

Gritty without being gross, this is wonderfully well-written fantasy fare. It's only a short story as part of the setup to the Mardan's Mark books, so it's scope is quite small. But all that focus is put on the characters of Sam and the mysteriously favoured "slaves" Aldan and Linus, leaving us with an impression of interesting child characters caught up in something much bigger... Although if you want to know what, there's a series for that! Definitely worth checking out more by this author.

-I received a free ARC copy of this ebook-

[Jessica Dowell]

Who knew that seven short chapters could wreak such havoc on a person's emotions?! Maybe it's because I'm a mother now with an extra dose of hormones, but Sam's story definitely affected me more than I was expecting. Sold as a slave to Captain Rozar when his father loses a bet, it's no wonder he becomes the gruff, suspicious character we see in Mardan's Mark. I just wanted to hug him and make it okay! This is the story of how he meets Aldan and Linus and how the three form the brotherhood. Heart wrenching and heart warming at the same time, this novella will give you new insight to one of your favorite supporting characters in the Mardan's Mark series. It's a short read, but you will not feel cheated and it will not take you long to get drawn into the story either. Enjoy!

[Candy Briggs]

This is a short novella. But I did enjoy it. Samazor is thirteen and he works sometimes for Lady Zalmor. His father has a gambling problem and has put Sam up as collateral When his father loses, he is taken to a pirate ship as a slave. He works hard and tries to do as he is told. The writing was very good. It was smooth, easy to read and kept your interest. The boy left a friend behind, Meg, who at one time was their families housekeeper.

I received this ARC from the author and voluntarily reviewed it.

[Gretchen]

A Solid Prequel or Standalone

Pirate’s Wager is a solid story that stands on its own. It also provides insight into Sam’s character by exploring his background and how he became a part of the crew.
If this is the first of Kathrese McKee’s books you’ve read, it gives you a good taste into her excellent worldbuilding, tight plotting, and complex characters.

[Jackie]

An amazing fast paced tale of pirates. Samazor is only 13 yrs old. Life isn’t easy but even made more difficult by his father, who loses a bet. He ends up on a Pirate ship as a slave. At least it’s adventurous. Couldn’t get enough.

[Audrey]

Good read

What an interesting story. How sad that a young man gets used as collateral and forfeited to a pirate and his crew.