It was said that Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese navigator was able to circumnavigate around the world in the quest of finding the Spice Islands. However, no one knows the events that transpired before and after his untimely death. Yet, there are speculations about these events, and Sugbo by King Macachor is an artistic retelling of a historical adventure that transpired hundreds of years ago.
Released in 2015, Sugbo follows the story of Jonas, a young man from Seville whose ambitions of changing his future made him decide to jump onto one of Magellan’s ships. Hearing about the great voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, there is nothing that could stop the young man from joining Magellan’s crew, may it be illegal or not. With unrelenting determination, the ship set sail with a hopeful Jonas in it. The journey was not uneventful, for it was full of challenges that can break any person down. He suffers from monotony, disease, and hunger until one day, he, fortunately, finds his Ilang-Ilang, a beautiful princess in Sugbo. It was like Jonas had found the treasure, but circumstances arose, and the adventure continued.
The writer, King Macachor, has always loved writing. After finishing a Bachelor’s degree in English, he proceeded to study law and was able to become a lawyer in Spain. However, his career as a lawyer was short-lived because he was recruited as a manager and then promoted to a senior manager in another bank. When he became an English teacher in his later years, he has found out his ability to write novels, resulting in a long journey to writing his first book. Coming across Ferdinand Magellan’s birthplace in Portugal during one of his tours in Europe, he was inspired to write the book due to his curiosity about Magellan’s untimely death. The questions that lingered in his mind made him question history, leading him to write about Magellan’s death, but instead of focusing on violence, death, and clashes with the natives he instead, used love as a foundation for his work. It is how Sugbo came together.
Sugbo is not only a historical retelling of events, but it is also a story of love between two people and how they can overcome the challenges brought about by their differences. However, the book is also factual and is packed with information that came from history books. Macachor’s ability to build formidable characters can make the readers fall in love with the pages with each turn. As the story is also about the journey across the Atlantic Ocean, the author paints a beautiful picture of what it was like to be a part of a circumnavigation crew and offers a different perspective from the eyes of those who had journeyed with Magellan. Furthermore, Macachor does not fail to show the hardships that the crew faced during their journey, making the story more adventurous than it seems.
It is a story to look forward to as its unique theme will bring readers back hundreds of years into the center of the ocean.
If you want to find out more about King Macachor and his works, you can check him out at:
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