I love a good fantasy series. When you find a really good one, it just hits you differently. I’m talking Shades of Magic or Daevabad or even Harry Potter level. These are the stories that I keep going back to when my heart or my mind needs a little break. And now, we have The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi joining those ranks.

The Story

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.

My Thoughts

I absolutely loved The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi. After reading The Daevabad Trilogy, Shannon Chakraborty (S.A. Chakraborty at the time) quickly joined my list of auto-buy authors. I pre-ordered Amina al-Sirafi basically as soon as I could.

I will put the same caveat on this book (and the next two that are coming): This book is DENSE. There is world building and character building. There is a little bit of magic and a whole lot of fantasy. There is travel. THERE ARE SO MANY THINGS, but please understand that it is so worth it.

It’s always exciting when you have the opportunity to read a book with a strong female heroine. Especially great that this particular heroine just happens to be a wee bit older AND a single mother. Yes, it’s fiction, but it’s not everyday that you get to read a book about a badass lady pirate whose name instills fear in other seafarers.

I also loved the friendships in The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi. These are people who went their separate ways, had separate lives, but still had the love in their hearts for each other to have each others’ backs as they traveled.

Honestly, I can’t say enough good things about this book. If I could buy a copy for everyone (who loves fantasy), I absolutely would. Again, it’s a commitment of a book, but you won’t be disappointed.

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