The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty – Review

Published: February 28, 2023

Publisher: Harper Voyager

Series: Amina al-Sirafi #1

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 496 (Hardcover)

My Rating: 5 Stars

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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.

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Hell yes, give me all the lady pirate books! Guys, I knew this was going to be such a fun read as soon as I read the synopsis and I was totally right! It’s amazing, definitely a new favorite!

Amina al-Sirafi has hung up the proverbial pirate hat and has settled down to raise her daughter and be with her family rather than traipsing across the Indian Ocean on her ship, the Marawati. After a decade of domestic life, Amina is tempted back to the sea when the mother of one of her former crewmates comes to her with an undeniably good offer to rescue her granddaughter from the man who kidnapped her. Though she is loath to leave her young daughter behind, Amina accepts the offer with the thought that the payout will set her family up to live comfortably for the rest of their lives and she hopes it will alleviate the guilt she feels for the death of her former crewmate. Thus begins the high stakes adventure that leads Amina, Dalila the poisoner, Tinbu her first mate, and Majed the navigator, and the rest of the Marawati’s crew to numerous countries and into unimaginable danger.

If the synopsis and my little plot teaser aren’t enough to make you want to read this book, here’s a few more things I loved. Amina is not a young, beautiful prodigy heroine – she’s 40, she’s got a gold tooth and scars, and she’s like 6 feet tall. She’s also a mother (a ferocious, protective one) and when we first meet her, she’s very happy to live her quiet life away from past adventures, though you can tell she longs for the sea. It’s rare to have an older heroine and especially one who’s also a mother and I really appreciate seeing that in fantasy! It’s also a tale of friends reunited after many years and they share tidbits of their wilder past together. Oh, and did I mention there are magical artifacts just waiting to be found? And beasts and beings of legend? I’m pretty sure this is set in the same world that Chakraborty’s Daevabad trilogy is set in and I have my fingers crossed for a character cameo at some point. Either way, there’s strange dark magic, lovable rogues, terrifying enemies, and a clear set up for several more exciting books where Amina chases down more magical artifacts!

I delighted in every page of this book and I absolutely can’t wait to read more tales of harrowing pirate adventures. This book isn’t all lighthearted either, there are darker themes, violence and gore, and bad guys that resemble Davy Jones’s crew from Pirates of the Caribbean. What I’m saying is, go buy this and read it because you can’t tell me you won’t have a great time doing so.