This was my first SA Chakraborty book and, while I'm still excited to pick up The City of Brass, this one was a huge disappointment. I admit I had expectations, but who doesn't expect to love a book about pirates written by the author of The Daevabad trilogy?

I'm going to start with the good :

1. The characters. While I didn't particularly fall in love with all the characters or feel espacially connected to them, I did very much appreciate the representation in this. Amina is a single mother in her 40s, not your typical 16 year-old MC, and I loved that. This book wouldn't have worked with a 16 year-old pirate. The rest of her crew was also older and you could see they each were their own person with a life before and after first sailing with Amina. Dunya's character was also handled beautifully, I think.

2. The setting and the culture. I loved the care that went into giving this book a real setting. It's very easy in fantasy books about pirates to just make up the names of a couple islands and you're set, but Chakraborty really made the Indian Ocean come to life, staying true to the culture and customs of the time and adding a feminist twist to them through Amina's eyes.

3. The magic and mythology. The way magic worked and the different creatures Amina encountered were interesting. I liked the idea of the Trangressions and how they tied to Arabian mythlogy. (I can't say much because sopilers)

And now the bad :

1. THE PACING. This book was extremely slow. It took me 10 days to get through the first 30%. I seriously considered DNFing it more than once because I felt like we weren't going anywhere. I wasn't hooked, I wasn't invested, the characters and the setting were fine but I was incredibly bored. And then when things started happening, I feel like it was still slow. If you like fast-paced books, this one is definitely not for you.

2. The plot. If you make Amina a her crew a group of 16 year-olds and change the setting to a made up fantasy world, this becomes a very basic and incredibly slow-paced YA fantasy. There was nothing spectacular about the plot, it's something we've seen 1000 times already (which isn't bad, I just expected more). There's even a time when Amina shows up at a random island and it all becomes like Alice in Wonderland. I don't know, I just expected a more original, thought out and less nonsensical plot.

3. The villain. He's just bad for the sake of it.

I realize I'm in the minority here, but right now I feel like this is a 2.5 for me and I'm so sad because I really wanted to love it. I also believe this would be much more enjoyable as an audiobook.

I received an ARC of the book from the publisher, via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Chakraborty's The City of Brass is one of my favourite books ever and The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi delivers as always. One thing that truly makes this book a stand out is the way Chakraborty had so skilfully balanced research with entertainment. Despite being a treasure trove of information and insights into the Indian Ocean and its surrounding world (as further supported by the Author's Note at the end which proves how thoroughly researched everything was), it never once felt like a tedious lecture or an overdose of exposition. In fact, I pretty much found myself screaming my head off at the end of the every chapter cause I was too engrossed in the plot. The highly memorable cast where every character's unique voice really shines through helped as well.

Chakraborty had clearly perfected the art of storytelling here but there are in my opinion two further points that makes this book a must read. The first is it's message of inclusivity. Whether in terms of age or religion, how she had contextualised this within a ship's setting beautifully and engaging demonstrates the need for us to be more tolerant and accepting. That working together is necessary survival. The second is the way it highlights reading without privileging the written form. That is to say, Chakraborty makes it clear through her story that while reading is important, stories can be told in many different forms. A line that I particularly love is: "Those of us who make the sea our home carry libraries in our head...scholars who travel the world to study could learn just as much if they would speak to the sailors, porters, and caravan hands who ferry them and their books to such faraway lands." As a comparatist, this absolutely thrilled me.

7.5/10
A fun adventure romp with pirates and magical creatures that would be really enjoyable and then would dive into an annoying romance that really brought it down IMO. Will def read the sequels, really liked Amina, although a lot of the side characters blended together. The villain was nothing special, but I did like a lot of the magical elements in this story! The PotC inspiration was a little too blatant in some spots but didn't really impact my enjoyment.

There was a framing device in the story of present day Amina telling the story to a chronicler and I thought these sections were a bit cheesy and overdone, but they didn't show up too frequently.

I think if the sequel dialed up the grit by 25% and dialed down talking about demon's asses by 100%, it'll be a really awesome book.

Publishing goes in waves, not least one publisher has a hit with a new tweak on a genre, and all the others want a piece of the action. The Middle-Eastern fantasy genre, full of djinns, ifrits and deserts has had a moment, and that is partially due to Chakraborty's City Of Brass sequence. They weren't my favourite of the sub-genre, but they were a very readable fantasy epic. The Adventures Of Amina Al-Airafi appears to follow in its footsteps, but is actually a much more fun and canny piece of work. Its a seafaring fantasy pirate adventure (the word Adventures is in the title for a reason), riffing and co-existing with Sinbad, but also happily doing its own thing. And like many books with "The Adventures..." name it sets up further books without promising a tight trilogy. And the character, her supporting cast and the world has more than enough in it to support that.

The book opens with notorious pirate Amina Al-Sirafi retired, living in hiding trying to raise a daughter. She has some regrets about her past life, though mainly no longer seeing her crew, though much of that is left as a mystery (partially to enable prequels and flashbacks, but also because an actual pirate doing actual piracy, is less sympathetic in direct telling). However someone requires her services to find a kidnapped daughter, and so Amina has to get her gang and her ship back together, using low level non-violent piracy in general. And then we ping about the Islamic world, on a quest, uncovering more of Amina's backstory, and the father of her daughter, up and unto other realms.

Chakraborty has cracked the difficulty in the adventure genre, which is creating characters you care about without bogging the adventure down with too much introspection. This is proper page turning stuff, slowly unfolding into fantasy rather than hitting you with it at the beginning (even though with her as a writer you might be expecting it). It also has that quality of the best TV pilots, that it sets up a story with myriad potential storyline threads without ever feeling incomplete in itself. And has the sense of the epic about it, any sealost parable will end up waving at the Oddessy, but with very much its own feminist flavour.

The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi is a rousing pirate adventure that sees the infamous Captain Amina make a comeback to the high seas after a decade on dry land. Piracy wasn't as fruitful as one might have expected and Amina is tempted out of retirement by one last mission that will set up her family for generations. All she has to do is track down a former comrade's daughter who's been kidnapped by a maniacal foreign warrior intent on finding and wielding an object of immense and devastating power.

Chakraborty brandishes her signature sumptuous prose to great effect as she describes the exotic settings, rich mythology and the raw, relatable emotions of the characters. The story is grounded in a staggering amount of historical research that brings the time period into stunning relief.

Chakraborty's natural wit, and the stark contrast between some of the personalities on board Amina's crew brings a delicious serving of humour to the story. Amina's backstory, and her established relationships with her crew, also adds a subtle tension to both the character dynamics and the central storyline.

The storyline may start on the slower side as Amina looks to reassemble her crew, but the pace soon rockets as the action explodes with prison breaks, murderous sea creatures, and the general mayhem caused by knowledge and magic in the wrong hands.

Chakraborty does a spectacular job at delivering a resolution that brings this particular story to a satisfying close, but leaves the door wide open to the possibility of many more adventures for Amina and her charismatic crew. I'll definitely be here for every last one, should she decide to write them.

3.5 stars

Headlines:
Historical female pirating muslim
Sexually liberated MC
Second half win

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi was a second half winner for me after slowing pacing in the first half. Amina was a mature woman, done with pirating and more about raising her daughter until events twisted her arm back into the world. I found the life on land a little slow and lacking excitement but put us to sea with that cast of characters and I was much more interested.

Amina as a character was rich. I found her sarcastic, witty and full of clever banter and able to convince many into her quests and scrapes. She was sexually open-minded, feminist and strong; it would be difficult not to like her character. The characters on her ship were interesting and a mixture of loyalty and skepticism. There were plenty of fantastical creatures and mysticism to keep that later plot turning.

When the husband (she'd had a few before) turned up again, count me interested to the power of 100. The dynamic between these two was funny, full of tension and mystery. A good nod to Chakraborty for the authentic inclusion of the questioning trans character, they weren't wholly defined but finding their way with the acceptance and protection of Amina.

The early pacing of the book is what brings my rating down but I'm looking forward to the world in the second installment where there's less world building and hopefully more pirating!

Thank you to Harper Voyager for the eARC.

I loved it! I need more adult pirate books with middle aged heroines who are also amazing mothers. Sign me up. The only thing that threw me a little was the sudden switch into full on fantasy mode about 100 pages from the end. Whilst there were some fantasy elements throughout, there was suddenly an island with talking birds and it just confused me. Still really enjoyed it overall though.

This book was such a delight and the fastest I’ve read a book so far this year! I read City of Brass a few years ago before I was into epic fantasy and don’t remember a thing that happened so I’ve un-hauled it. But this book is making me regret it because it was great! I’m definitely getting the urge to re-read City of Brass and read the sequels too!

I loved the setting of this book with pirates in the Indian Ocean in the 11th/12th Century which was so cool. Admittedly I don’t know much about this time period in this area of the world but it was fascinating (and is bringing out the history nerd in me because I now want to learn all about it!). Of course, the plot in this book is not set in reality as we deal with a whole host of mythical creatures (which were also so cool).

I enjoyed the characters in this one - particularly Amina herself. I enjoyed the discussion Chakraborty weaved through that just because someone becomes a mother doesn’t mean they can’t have other dreams and ambitions. With Amina, as much as she loves her daughter, she longs to be back on the sea and go for one last adventure! It was also so refreshing to have a fantasy book about a middle-aged woman who sure has a dodgy knee and isn’t as spritely as she used to be but is still a total badass!! I also really enjoyed the supporting cast of characters and I really hated the villain.

The plot of this takes a second to get going while we find out what is enough to get Amina to leave her daughter to go back to sea again and what she is really up against. Once it did get going though, it was great. The ending of this book also perfectly sets up where we’re headed in future instalments.

The writing in this was luscious and I loved how it was told from the perspective of Amina chronicling her past to a scribe. It means we get fun little inserts from future Amina and the scribe Jamal of what will come. However, in some places, this was done in the middle of the text which took me out of the story a bit as I had to realise future Amina was talking and then had to get into the plot again.

Overall I loved this and can’t wait for future instalments of this series! A 4.5 star read for me!

Amazon Summary

Amina al-Sirafi has 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 offered a job no bandit could refuse, she jumps at the chance for one final adventure with her old crew that will make her a legend and offers a fortune that will secure her and her family’s future forever.

Yet the deeper Amina dives the higher the stakes. For there’s always risk in wanting to become a legend, to seize one last chance at glory, to savour just a bit more power…and the price might be your very soul.

My Review
For me seafaring adventures are not always done aswell as this. Amina is a badass, 40 year old retired pirate mom and i love her. The world building was great and so are the characters. I couldn't stop reading but do wish i had read her earlier works first.

This is my first time reading a book by Shannon Chakraborty. I have not read Chakraborty's previous highly acclaimed trilogy City of Brass, so as a reader I am going in blind with zero expectations.

Chakraborty's writing is addictive and compelling. The minute I dived into the book my attention is caught by Chakraborty's prose and eloquent writing style. The story follows the perspective of Amina Al-Sirafi an infamous pirate as she reflects her life to a someone else. But what is unique about this book is how sometimes Amina has conversations with the narrator in a few fourth wall breaking moments. I find this quite interesting as I have never read a book that writes the story in this manner.

Honestly, I have a soft spot for pirate stories especially if the story is lead by a female character. Amina is a strong character out of the gate. Her charisma and charm really got me immersed into the story. Yet what I didn't expect is how Amina's characterization didn't go the way I thought it would. Her strong impression weakens as the story progresses. For me characterization is important to my enjoyment of the story; even though, I liked the story at first, slowly but surely my ratings drop.

This book is an okay book, I would still recommend it to other readers because I can see this being a hit still.

An absolute tour de force- earthy, pacy and with a truly wonderful heroine in Amina. I loved this take on piracy featuring a time and set of characters totally different to the usual roster of Blackbeard et al- and much better for it. I particularly liked that Amina and her compatriots are getting older, and that they have concerns that often throw the life or death stakes of the adventure into sharper relief or greater perspective. I was also utterly thrilled to realise this was building up to a series of Amina books- I could read one a day for the next decade and not get bored with her.

Very highly reccomended.

I will probably read anything Shannon Chakraborty ever writes!

After falling in love with her Daevabad Trilogy this was a much anticipated book for me!

I loved every minute of this book, the adventure and action and the characters are everything I was hoping for.

If you like the sound of that and have a an inkling for pirates and sea adventures pick this up you will not be disappointed!

I was gripped from beginning the end. While there was a time where it started to slow a little I was still invested in the story and where it was going.
Intrigued to learn more about the world and characters.
The plot went in directions I didn't expect but enjoyed following along.
Seeing Amina, a badass pirate returning to the life she left behind. She is a loving mother who wants to protect her daughter while finding a way to give her a better life.
I liked that Amina was slightly older main character than I usually read.
I loved Rashk the Demon husband. His personality. I hope he returns in the sequel.

This book also has a trans side character. While I am not trans I think Shannon handled the conversation around gender identity well.

I'm intrigued to where Amina goes next.

This took me an embarrassingly long time to read through, but only because I got sidetracked by fantasy romance for a little while and then was sick (x2), plus insomnia is a b*tch. My attention span has been seriously awful while reading this.
So... I am definitely giving this a reread when I feel like my head can handle words a bit better as it most definitely deserves it.

It was action-packed, heartfelt, touching and super adventure-y from start to finish. It did have a bit of a slow start from ~0-25%, that said, I also believe it's the first in possibly a trilogy, so a slow start is to be expected!

Amina as a lead character is just 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻 and I loved her crew as well. Looking forward to reading more about them!

My amazing track record with pirates continues...

4.4/5⭐

Thanks to NetGallery and HarperCollins UK for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review

4.5/5.0

My first time reading a SAC novel and it certainly did not disappoint.

I was completely transported by her writing style - I could feel the wind through my hair and taste the sea salt on my lips. And I felt the characters were my long lost friends who I was sharing these incredible adventures with.

I absolutely cannot wait for the next instalment in this series.

Many thanks to NetGalley for the e-arc of this incredible book.

A really fun beginning to a new fantasy series! I loved reading about a middle-aged female protagonist, Amina was very well fleshed out as a character and I was touched by her grappling with her own dreams and identity separate from her being a mother. I felt the story was a bit slow to get going, but I enjoyed reading nevertheless.

4.5 rounded to 5!

This was such a fabulous read, I literally have no words to describe how good of a book The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi was. I'm a huge fan of Shannon, but in all honesty, I didn't expect to like the book that much but, wow! I don't know but the way the author weaves stories that fall perfectly into place in the grand scheme of things, I'm in awe of that. Filled with snarky banter and following a wonderful band of misfits, this book held everything from plot to magic to characters in tow. It was fast paced, and just enough action to keep me turning the pages.

Definitely recommending this to all those who loved The Daevabad Trilogy, the only difference is you're following older protagonists and though there's magic, it isn't as much as in the former. Shannon still delivers though, mind you!

This book is just perfect! I've just finished the final page and I'm already chomping at the bit to continue this series.
Amina Al-Sirafi is a middle-aged mother, living in poverty and doing everything she possibly can to protect her beloved daughter when she's drawn back into the world of a smuggler and pirate. She's joined by the most amazing diverse and fantastically rendered cast of characters and goes on a action filled adventure.
I loved everything, the phenomenal world building, the brilliant, intelligent and very dry Amina. The characters were a total breath of fresh air and I was so sad to say goodbye to them, especially Raksh who's earnt a special place in my heart!
This is a truly fantastic novel which I can't recommend enough..
Thank you so much to the publishers and Netgalley for providing an arc in return for an honest review. Now go and read it!!!!

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi
4.5 out of 5 stars

After an adventurous life at sea, full of pirates, fights, multiple husbands, and encounter with a demon, Amina al-Sirafi enjoys her early retirement. She leads a simple existence, raising her bellowed daughter and staying out of trouble. Until she is tracked down by a wealthy woman looking for the best crew to retrieve her kidnapped granddaughter. Reluctant at first, Amina agrees and starts to assemble her old team. Soon, she realises that the task might be beyond her incredible skills, but it is too late to refuse, as her daughter's life is in danger now...

This novel is a fast-paced narrative full of action, fights, magic and surprising creatures. S. A. Chakraborty takes her readers on an adventure that soon speeds out of control. There is everything in this novel: fights, pirates, magic, mysteries, poisons, old friends, old enemies, strong female characters, bloody rituals, demons and other supernatural creatures. The fact that it all makes sense proves Chakraborty’s skills as a storyteller. Her novel is a light and captivating read. It made me laugh, and it made me emotional at times. I could not stop reading it and recommend it to all fantasy novel fans, especially those happening at sea.

Thank you, NetGalley and publisher, for providing the arc of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Before starting this book, I had been thinking to myself how long it has been since I’d got so engrossed in the action of a story that I just wanted to keep going at the end of each chapter, and not stop to analyse it. Then, I met Amina al-Sirafi and I was immediately transported to her shack in the mountains of 12th Century Salalah, then aboard the Marawati feeling the sea breeze on my face as it rocked over the waves of the Indian Ocean.

Similarly to the Daevabad series, I loved the rich detail and atmosphere created by Shannon Chakraborty’s trademark masterful worldbuilding. It is undoubtedly my favourite element of her writing and the reason why I rushed to request an Advance Reader Copy of this book as soon as it became available. As I read it, I was once again left wondering how much time she must have spent on research! The book spans several regions: starting in what is now Oman on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula, it moves down to Yemen and then across the Gulf of Aden to Mogadishu. The fact that this book is set at a time when cities like Mogadishu and Aden are centres of trade and civilisation rather than just associated with perpetual war and famine as they are now was a beautiful reminder of the cycles of civilisation and the rise and fall of nations; history is much longer than the last couple of hundred years! Chakraborty successfully does this all without entirely romanticising them too. Her choice of Socotra as the setting of the more fantastical elements of this book makes perfect sense and I was practically waiting for her to incorporate it as soon as I discovered the region where the story took place! I also enjoyed the insight into the life at sea at that time portrayed in this book; the small details of day-to-day life, the relationships between shipmates, the acute understanding of nature, especially the stars, as an essential skill, and more.

As the title suggests, this book is centred around Amina al-Sirafi, a retired pirate who is forced to return to her seafaring ways to save a missing woman and the world along the way! Knowing Chakraborty’s unreserved (but balanced as a Muslim writer) approach to the gritty aspects of human beings and life, I thought this type of character was perfect for her to write and she didn’t disappoint. She created a well-rounded, rough around the edges, sarcastically funny but deeply compassionate character who made perfect sense in her context as a woman leader in a male-dominated field after a long career tackling the challenges of life at sea. However, while Amina al-Sirafi has a very dominant personality, necessary for her position, Chakraborty doesn’t disparage women who live more traditional lives or have different personalities and indeed portrays them with tenderness and respect – where they deserved it, at least!

To talk about Chakraborty’s inclusion of Islam and Muslims is complicated, as is real life. She is Muslim and clearly wants it to be very present in this book in a positive, lived way, even more than her previous works, I feel. There are abundant references to du’a and praying and repentance and avoiding major sin. It is frustratingly rare to find the co-existence of deep flaws and heartfelt repentance in Muslim characters in modern Western literature, so seeing these characteristics in Amina was very exciting for me as this is exactly what I always hope for in the portrayal of complete and multi-faceted Muslim characters. Unfortunately, I was disappointed by her apparent condoning of same-sex relationships and her eagerness to change the pronouns used with a potentially transgender character, which do not represent the Islamic view of these issues, although I understand that Amina’s perspective may well be accurate for some in her position. The reference to “pronouns” also very quickly took me out of the historical setting that had been so carefully crafted. Surely there must be a way for Muslim writers to explore these questions in a way that is authentic to the characters and our Islamic faith. For now, I am still waiting for that book. This relatively minor plot point aside, I felt like Chakraborty had thought very carefully about how someone living Amina’s life might have practised Islam. In the afterword, Chakraborty mentions that her research showed a prevalence of “magic” and superstition in that time and place so that is accurate too. How do you balance accuracy and not condoning sin? In this case, Amina didn’t personally commit any of the sins mentioned above; she just didn’t stop others doing them. I suspect this was how Chakraborty decided to approach this challenge and through this preserve the authenticity of her characters’ real lives and experiences.

An additional dimension to Amina al-Sirafi’s character is her role as a mother. Although a book is ultimately up to the reader individually to interpret, sometimes it’s nice when the writer emphasises or guides you towards a certain aspect of the story that they would like you to notice. In the case of this book, that is certainly the case and the focus is on motherhood and the sacrifices that mothers make and the different ways they try to find a balance.

I must confess that fantasy is not one of my favourite genres, so it’s unlikely I enjoyed those parts of the story as much as other readers. However, compared to the Daevabad series, this book contained less fantastical scenes, so it wasn’t such an issue for me. Again like that series, though, my biggest discomfort, perhaps, was with the creative license used to mix fantasy with the story of Prophet Sulayman, peace be upon him, and the Queen of Saba (Sheba) as well as elements of the Unseen (Ghaib غيب), which I feel should be kept to what Allah has directly told us. In my opinion, delving into this and creating our own theories about it can lead to the blurring of the boundaries between fact and fiction in the mind of the reader. I also discussed this issue in my podcast episode about City of Brass, for those interested in exploring it further. I should also note that there are numerous instances of swearing and intimacy in this book, but I feel that Chakraborty navigates the latter delicately to avoid falling into gratuitousness.

To conclude, while I had some reservations about the book which somewhat disturbed my enjoyment of it, I generally found it an excellent work of literature and an exciting and captivating adventure! The quality of Chakraborty’s writing never disappoints and I love that she chooses to set her stories in the rich cultures of the Muslim world, encouraging Muslim (and non-Muslim) readers to perhaps explore the immense historical – and therefore contemporary – importance of these regions. Her characters are always very entertaining and the value of Chakraborty’s willingness to put in the work to portray complete, flawed Muslims should not be understated. Will I read the sequel? Although my taste does not incline me towards fantasy, I think it is very likely that I will jump at it when it comes out too, in sha Allah!