The Daevabad Trilogy is one of my absolute favorite fantasy series of all time. I had gotten the first book from a subscription box and put off reading it because The City of Brass is a pretty big book. This trilogy is DENSE, but so worth it. When I saw that S.A. Chakraborty (also published as Shannon Chakraborty as well) came out with a series of short stories set in the same world, The River of Silver, I obviously bought it as soon as I could.

The Story

Bestselling author S. A. Chakraborty’s acclaimed Daevabad Trilogy gets expanded with this new compilation of stories from before, during, and after the events of The City of Brass, The Kingdom of Copper, and The Empire of Gold, all from the perspective of characters both beloved and hated, and even those without a voice in the novels. The River of Silver gathers material both seen and new–including a special coda fans will need to read–making this the perfect complement to those incredible novels.

Now together in one place, these stories of Daevabad enrich a world already teeming with magic and wonder. Explore this magical kingdom, hidden from human eyes. A place where djinn live and thrive, fight and love. A world where princes question their power, and powerful demons can help you…or destroy you.

A prospective new queen joins a court whose lethal history may overwhelm her own political savvy…

An imprisoned royal from a fallen dynasty and a young woman wrenched from her home cross paths in an enchanted garden…

A pair of scouts stumble upon a secret in a cursed winter wood that will turn over their world…

From Manizheh’s first steps towards rebellion to adventures that take place after The Empire of Gold, this is a must-have collection for those who can’t get enough of Nahri, Ali, and Dara and all that unfolded around them.

My Thoughts

Once DVDs started coming out with behind the scenes footage or deleted scenes, I positively DEVOURED that kind of content. This is the best way to describe what The River of Silver was like. It was bonus content from a book series that I loved, diving deeper into the characters that we loved but probably didn’t know as well.

Honestly, this was just so beautiful. They’re all short stories, so it’s low stakes. She prefaces each with some context on where the story takes place in the grand Daevabad timeline, as well as whether or not there are any spoilers for the books. I don’t know if I just didn’t remember the books, but I also don’t think any of the spoilers were too intense (though I could be wrong because a lot happens in the books).

S.A. Chakraborty also wrote a little preface about how The River of Silver came to be. She was struggling to write new things when the pandemic hit, but found both creativity and purpose in returning to a world that she was more familiar with. She mentioned that the stories just kind of flowed, which is a lovely sentiment because it means they just needed to be told.

I absolutely loved this book, but I’d also say that it’s definitely designed for people who love the original trilogy. I wouldn’t treat this as a standalone book that you can just “pick up.”

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