"Pirates of the Caribbean: The Complete Visual Guide" gives a backstory to Sparrow in which he was born on a pirate ship during a typhoon in the Indian Ocean and was trained to fence by an Italian. Books following Sparrow's adventures before the events of the film include a twelve-book series focusing on his teenage years entitled ', and a five-books ' series. In 2011, Ann C. Crispin wrote a novel titled "", which follows Jack's adventures as a merchant captain for the East India Trading Company.