What if Māori exploration had not stopped with Aotearoa — but pushed on toward iron, silk, and empire? THE RISING TIDE charts the voyage no one took, grounded in the trade routes, navigation, and archaeology of the real Pacific.
Eighty survivors land a single waka on an unknown shore. They carry the rivalries of Hawaiki with them — and their chief makes the one decision that changes everything: leave the old quarrels behind, and turn toward the horizon instead.
Gold and iron. Sails made of silk. The crocodile coast of the great dry land, the spice islands, and the trading ports of Java. A young man named Whetu, who keeps asking what else might be possible.
The wider world does not give up its riches freely. Famines, grasping kings, pirates in the strait, cannon on the water. Every league sailed brings its own risk — and its own reward.
THE RISING TIDE is built on a simple thesis: civilisations are not given, they are built — one voyage, one trade, one alliance at a time. It's a premise we chose this book for, and the one we'll keep choosing.
Set in the year 1300, THE RISING TIDE follows a small band of voyagers who choose trade and unity over the old rivalries of home — and, against every likelihood, begin to build something that lasts. It's alternate history grounded in real archaeology, wayfinding, and Pacific trade networks, not invention for its own sake.
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"Iron makes kingdoms." — the question THE RISING TIDE was written to ask of a history that took a different turn.
A voyaging epic for anyone who wants their historical fiction grounded in real navigation, real trade, and a genuinely different premise than the usual alternate-history turn.
A companion study guide maps the novel's 14th-century policy questions — trade, immigration, education, defence — directly onto the choices New Zealand faces today.
Inspection copies and trade terms available on request, ahead of the next print run. Get in touch to arrange a copy.
Free, no obligation — for teachers, librarians, and booksellers considering THE RISING TIDE.
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