The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty | book review

【 THE ADVENTURES OF AMINA AL-SIRAFI】

Genre: Fantasy
Audience: Adult
Author: Shannon Chakraborty
Published: February 2023
Publisher: HarperVoyager
Pages: 496 (paperback)

This was so damn good.

It has a slow start – that can’t be denied. But it’s so worth it.

After the first half, this takes off and was nonstop – I was blown away by how epic this became.

The world is amazing – set in like 13th century (or thereabouts) on the Arabian Sea and surrounds, and following Amina’s reluctant adventures back into her old pirating life.

Raksh was hilarious, adorably (un)lovable and 110% trouble. I thought Amina was an inspiring character and so real – the author captures the heart and identity of an adventuring woman so well.

There is so much fun to be had with this story, so many wonderful characters, and I’m really looking forward to seeing what the author does next with this world.

You may also like …

Title: The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi
Series: Amina al-Sirafi
Author: Shannon Chakraborty
Add it on Goodreads

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.