Author: S.A. Chakraborty
Series: Amina al-Sirafi #1
Genre: Adult Fantasy/ Historical Fiction
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Publication Date: February 28, 2023
Edition: 496 pages, Kindle Edition
Source: NetGalley
Pre-Order: Amazon US | Barnes & Noble | BAM | Bookshop | Powell's | Thriftbooks
Synopsis:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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I've been sitting on this review for a while now, this is a publication that falls under the umbrella of Harper Collins, so I was waiting for the strike to end to write/post this review. Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book for review.
This was an amazing book. I have yet to read the Daevabad Trilogy, frankly, I was intimidated by it. Lots of positive reviews for it. But this is a new series so it felt safer to jump into it. But now that I know Chakraborty's writing style, I feel ready to read her other books.
Amina is a new favorite character. She's older, I think in her late 30s or early 40s. I want more protagonists who are older. Teenagers aren't the only ones who can go on adventures. The format took a couple of chapters to get used to since parts of it are written as events are being told to a scribe, and the scribe interjects between chapters adding to the lore and the world-building.
Something else that I love about this book is the positive and non-patriarchal stance on motherhood. Sometimes, when a gook tries to be "feminist" it drags the idea of being a mother, and it doesn't have to be like that. I know that being a mother isn't for everybody, and that's fine. But shaming women are mothers isn't the answer. Amina is a mother, but she's also a fearless badass.
There is a wide cast of characters who all have their own motivations for rejoining Amina's crew. I, once again, am being intentionally vague because I feel like going into this book mostly blind is the best way to read this. It will make reveals hit harder. I am very excited to read more of Amina's adventures.
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