A review by wardenred
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by S.A. Chakraborty

adventurous challenging reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

To be a woman is to have your story misremembered. 

This book is a perfect combination of some of my very favorite fantasy tropes. Coming out of retirement for one last job! Getting the gang back together! A badass older protagonist who is also a parent! Naval adventure! Female pirate captain! I seriously adore all these, so of course I had to read this book and, quite predictably, I liked it a lot. 

Admittedly, it wasn't super easy to get into; I think the first 100-120 pages took me longer than the rest of the book combined. The prose here is rich and evocative and voicey, but in a way that took me some getting used to (might be an ESL thing?), especially combined with the historical Arabian peninsula/Indian ocean setting. It's a part of the world I admit I know little about, and what I do know is filtered through the lens of European history. Yes, that's something I certainly want to rectify! But for now, figuring out the feel of the historical period + all the fantasy elements + the prose made for a combination that stalled me a bit. I think that maybe, a bit counterintuitively, it would be easier for me to get immersed if the action started earlier and I could absorb everything else through it. But the set-up here certainly took a long time. Fortunately, eventually the pacing picked up and when I got all the promised adventure, I couldn't stop reading.

There's a great balance of characterization, plot, and worldbuilding to be found here. All the elements blend together to create a truly exciting fantasy story. I loved Amina in particular as the protagonist: she has the kind of dominating presence I would expect from a woman in her position. Her struggles to balance her past and her present, her history and her burning love for her daughter, her womanhood and being in the position of leadership in a cutthroat man-dominated world, her religion and the kind of things she does/lets others do as a pirate and the people she surrounds herself with—all of that was super well-crafted and never turned overdramatic. I adored her crewmates, as well, in particular Dalila and Majed. Especially Dalila. She's my venomous favorite.

I also appreciated how gradually the secrets of the past resurfaced, adding to the plot one by one and merging together, and all the quests within quests that formed the larger adventure. In some ways, the plot reminded me of a well-crafted tabletop campaign, and that's definitely a compliment. 

I do feel that the beginning could be made a bit tighter for a better effect, but overall, this definitely goes on my list of my favorite 2024 reads!
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