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A review by aforestofbooks
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by S.A. Chakraborty
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
I can probably speak for most people when I say that after the conclusion of The City of Brass trilogy, I was aching for more. I missed the world, the magical creatures, the intensity of the plot and politics…So when The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi was announced, I was so excited! I got even more excited when it was announced that our main character is a middle-aged retired pirate, who is also a mother. I haven’t ready any high fantasy books with main characters of this demographic (even though I know a few books like this exist), but as I get older (despite being single and childless), it’s something that interests me more and more. Because why should only the young, able-bodied, romantics be allowed to go on adventures to fight evil and take down villainous kings and queens. What happens to these young people when they grow up? I can’t imagine it’s easy to give up on a life of excitement and near-death experiences (lol). The adrenaline rush is probably addicting. And living a life of normalcy would eventually get boring, no? This book is just about that. Amina from the get-go is longing for the ocean, her ship, her crew, and her life before she had Marjana. Yet she’s pushed aside her desires and dreams in order to be a good mother, denying that part of her that longs for more. It’s so applicable and relatable to the present. How many women struggle with trying to balance their careers and motherhood? How many sacrifices do we make in order to do all the things society expects us to do? And some of these sacrifices aren’t even done willingly. We all know how differently women are treated in the workplace purely for having children, and how it affects their chance of promotions, projects, and raises. This book tackles this subject in a more subtle way, obviously taking into consideration the setting of the story. But it’s important just the same.
This book is fast-paced and intense. I loved every second of it because it constantly felt like something was happening. And while some books can suffer because of the fast-paced narrative, I think Shannon did an incredible job of fleshing out her characters in such a short span of time. And most of that I think is due to the dialogue. Wow, was the dialogue addicting. I don’t know how else to describe it, but I had a flashback to that scene in Empire of Gold between Muntadhir and Dara and the back and forth they had…it was that, but this entire book. And it was so much fun! I fell in love with every character, even though Dalila scared the hell out of me in the beginning, two seconds after, I literally thought “okay, I would die for her”. Despite the time that has passed since the crew has been together, once they were reunited, it felt like nothing had changed. As the reader, you fall into their casual banter, and it just feels so right.
The one thing I did miss in this book was the court politics and intrigue I was so used to in The City of Brass. While there is definitely a lot going on in this book, the setting is completely different, and it really reads more like a fire-side tale you would tell your companions at the end of a long day of travelling. What I loved was the one-sided dialogue between Amina and Jamal as she narrates her story, and the short chapters we got that described the different versions of the Tale of the Moon of Saba, as well as records and narrations of people who had come across Amina, Majed, or Dalila in their early days at sea. It was the perfect break between the more intense scenes.
And speaking of intense scenes…this book turned so dark so fast. It was not something I was expecting, though considering everything it did make sense. But once Amina and her crew get to Socotra, some of the scenes they come across are very disturbing, so something to be mindful of.
A quote I want to highlight especially though:
<blockquote>”Our stories always want to make villains larger than life. They should be snarling or scarred, hunchbacked or otherwise marred in a way society doesn’t like. It makes them easier to demonize.”</blockquote>
The Frank in this story is our villain, and I really appreciated having a villain who isn’t scarred or deemed “ugly” as a way to represent how evil he really is. In contrast, we get a really lovely nawakhida at the end of the book, who is not just brave, but also has a really good heart. Someone else I hope we get to see again in future books.
And as for Socotra…I went down a rabbit hole of YouTube videos and articles about the island and the Dragon Blood trees and the caves. The pictures are really cool and kind of creepy? Caves always creep me out, but even the Dragon Blood trees feel like something out of legend.
Anyway, back to Amina. I have to talk about Raksh. And all the swearing. We didn’t get a lot of swearing in The City of Brass, but this book was on a whole other level. And I loved absolutely every second of it. If there is ever a reason to swear, it’s when Raksh is around. I don’t want to spoil things for people who haven’t read the book yet, but Raksh was a fun character. It was nice to see a character who is so strong and powerful, but he’s also a coward who needs saving. It’s a nice role reversal lol. The dynamic between him and Amina was such a joy to read, and there were so many good/satisfying scenes between the two of them.
My one complaint about The Empire of Gold was with the characterization of Ali and how it changed drastically compared to the first two books. I think seeing a character who is so religious and devoted to Islam, turn into something else, really affected how much I enjoyed the conclusion to the trilogy. One thing I liked about Amina was that she’s reformed from her life before, where she used to drink and gamble and toe the line between adultery. She’s changed, and she prays now, but still struggles with the desires she has towards drinking and sex. I think this book did justice to Amina’s character and made her feel more “real” in a way.
One nice thing about this book is seeing how many of Amina’s decisions revolve around her daughter. I hope we get to see Marjana more in the next books. Speaking of…we got to see an old friend in this book, who I hope will make a reappearance too! There were so many aspects of this story, especially mentions of daeva and magical creatures like the marid, that reminded me a lot of Daevabad.
I can’t finish off this review without mentioning the cat. Payasam is adorable and deserves all the food and cuddles. Cats need to exist in every book tbh. They just make everything better and so much more hopeful.
4.75/5 stars. One of my highly anticipated reads of 2023. This didn’t necessarily take me by surprise, because it’s Shannon of course, but I’m so excited to be able to look forward to more books by her. Highly recommend if you’re looking for a pirate book with witty dialogue and banter, plus sea monsters with tentacles, and a fast-paced high-risk adventure!
This book is fast-paced and intense. I loved every second of it because it constantly felt like something was happening. And while some books can suffer because of the fast-paced narrative, I think Shannon did an incredible job of fleshing out her characters in such a short span of time. And most of that I think is due to the dialogue. Wow, was the dialogue addicting. I don’t know how else to describe it, but I had a flashback to that scene in Empire of Gold between Muntadhir and Dara and the back and forth they had…it was that, but this entire book. And it was so much fun! I fell in love with every character, even though Dalila scared the hell out of me in the beginning, two seconds after, I literally thought “okay, I would die for her”. Despite the time that has passed since the crew has been together, once they were reunited, it felt like nothing had changed. As the reader, you fall into their casual banter, and it just feels so right.
The one thing I did miss in this book was the court politics and intrigue I was so used to in The City of Brass. While there is definitely a lot going on in this book, the setting is completely different, and it really reads more like a fire-side tale you would tell your companions at the end of a long day of travelling. What I loved was the one-sided dialogue between Amina and Jamal as she narrates her story, and the short chapters we got that described the different versions of the Tale of the Moon of Saba, as well as records and narrations of people who had come across Amina, Majed, or Dalila in their early days at sea. It was the perfect break between the more intense scenes.
And speaking of intense scenes…this book turned so dark so fast. It was not something I was expecting, though considering everything it did make sense. But once Amina and her crew get to Socotra, some of the scenes they come across are very disturbing, so something to be mindful of.
A quote I want to highlight especially though:
<blockquote>”Our stories always want to make villains larger than life. They should be snarling or scarred, hunchbacked or otherwise marred in a way society doesn’t like. It makes them easier to demonize.”</blockquote>
The Frank in this story is our villain, and I really appreciated having a villain who isn’t scarred or deemed “ugly” as a way to represent how evil he really is. In contrast, we get a really lovely nawakhida at the end of the book, who is not just brave, but also has a really good heart. Someone else I hope we get to see again in future books.
And as for Socotra…I went down a rabbit hole of YouTube videos and articles about the island and the Dragon Blood trees and the caves. The pictures are really cool and kind of creepy? Caves always creep me out, but even the Dragon Blood trees feel like something out of legend.
Anyway, back to Amina. I have to talk about Raksh. And all the swearing. We didn’t get a lot of swearing in The City of Brass, but this book was on a whole other level. And I loved absolutely every second of it. If there is ever a reason to swear, it’s when Raksh is around. I don’t want to spoil things for people who haven’t read the book yet, but Raksh was a fun character. It was nice to see a character who is so strong and powerful, but he’s also a coward who needs saving. It’s a nice role reversal lol. The dynamic between him and Amina was such a joy to read, and there were so many good/satisfying scenes between the two of them.
My one complaint about The Empire of Gold was with the characterization of Ali and how it changed drastically compared to the first two books. I think seeing a character who is so religious and devoted to Islam, turn into something else, really affected how much I enjoyed the conclusion to the trilogy. One thing I liked about Amina was that she’s reformed from her life before, where she used to drink and gamble and toe the line between adultery. She’s changed, and she prays now, but still struggles with the desires she has towards drinking and sex. I think this book did justice to Amina’s character and made her feel more “real” in a way.
One nice thing about this book is seeing how many of Amina’s decisions revolve around her daughter. I hope we get to see Marjana more in the next books. Speaking of…we got to see an old friend in this book, who I hope will make a reappearance too! There were so many aspects of this story, especially mentions of daeva and magical creatures like the marid, that reminded me a lot of Daevabad.
I can’t finish off this review without mentioning the cat. Payasam is adorable and deserves all the food and cuddles. Cats need to exist in every book tbh. They just make everything better and so much more hopeful.
4.75/5 stars. One of my highly anticipated reads of 2023. This didn’t necessarily take me by surprise, because it’s Shannon of course, but I’m so excited to be able to look forward to more books by her. Highly recommend if you’re looking for a pirate book with witty dialogue and banter, plus sea monsters with tentacles, and a fast-paced high-risk adventure!