The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi ♦ Shannon Chakraborty | Review

I must honestly say that I had never heard of author Shannon Chakraborty before reading this book. Her well-known book series The Daevabad Trilogy also completely passed me by. But meanwhile it was allowed to move into my shelf. The reason for this is The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi which I got in an Exclusive Edition by FairyLoot.

Shannon Chakraborty, the bestselling author of The City of Brass, spins a new trilogy of magic and mayhem on the high seas in this tale of pirates and sorcerers, forbidden artifacts and ancient mysteries, in one woman’s determined quest to seize a final chance at glory—and write her own legend.

Amina al-Sirafi should be content. After a storied and scandalous career as one of the Indian Ocean’s most notorious pirates, she’s survived backstabbing rogues, vengeful merchant princes, several husbands, and one actual demon to retire peacefully with her family to a life of piety, motherhood, and absolutely nothing that hints of the supernatural.

But when she’s tracked down by the obscenely wealthy mother of a former crewman, she’s offered a job no bandit could refuse: retrieve her comrade’s kidnapped daughter for a kingly sum. The chance to have one last adventure with her crew, do right by an old friend, and win a fortune that will secure her family’s future forever? It seems like such an obvious choice that it must be God’s will.

Yet the deeper Amina dives, the more it becomes alarmingly clear there’s more to this job, and the girl’s disappearance, than she was led to believe. For there’s always risk in wanting to become a legend, to seize one last chance at glory, to savor just a bit more power…and the price might be your very soul.

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi ♦ Shannon Chakraborty

Opinion

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty is an adventurous and entertaining high-seas journey with courageous lady pirates, demon husbands, poisoners, some magic, sea monsters, and a cast of endearing characters. The author conjured up such a breathtaking historical and mythical setting, that it didn’t take me long to be drawn into the story.

I loved how strong, but also with flaws the main character Amina al-Sirafi came around. She sure was a pirate and definitely a good one once. It could feel her struggles to go on another adventures but leaving her little girl behind. I enjoyed how she reunited with her most trusted inner circle of her crew and stormed out onto the wide-open sea to save another young woman from her biggest mistake.

While reading, I often had the feeling I’m actually living in this adventure on the broad seas, I could feel salty wind in my hair. The dark fantasy elements, such as demons and sea monsters, in a somewhat medieval Indian Ocean setting combined with diverse characters and multiple religious backgrounds made me devour the book. I could never tell what the next twist and uncovered mystery would bring and to where this group of adventurers would set sail to.

As much as I enjoyed the plot in its whole, I had a bot of a hard time with the last quarter of the book. The weird magic and discovered sea monsters seemed a bit forced to get a bit more tension in the action. Especially the weird feathered creatures were too much for me. I think a different explanation of how Amina could have survived would have irritated me less.

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Conclusion

But the overall package of The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi was terrific, and the book was able to carry me away and inspire me. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for the next volume because I am sure Amina and her crew still have some fantastic adventures ahead of them.

Amina al-Sirafi – The Series

About Shannon Chakraborty

Chakraborty ist die Autorin gefeierten und international veröffentlichten The Daevabad Trilogy. Ihre Arbeit wurde für die Preise Locus, World Fantasy, Crawford und Astounding nominiert. Wenn sie nicht gerade in Büchern über Betrüger des 13. Jahrhunderts und abbasidische politische Intrigen versunken ist, geht sie gerne wandern, strickt und kocht unnötig komplizierte mittelalterliche Gerichte nach.

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• The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi (Shannon Chakraborty) by Bookshelf Therapy

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