The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi

The intro of the book is heavily medieval Arabian Sea and drew me in very thoroughly. Then it gets into a "coming out of retirement for One Last Job" and "Getting the Band Back Together" plot and something about it just didn't feel right. Too modern a voice, maybe, not historical feeling enough?

Luckily, about halfway in, the fantasy adventure aspect took over and whatever was bothering me faded away. The adventures to track down the antagonist, and the magical realm/creatures Amina encounters, are vividly written and compelling. The way everything worked out is very satisfying.

I enjoyed reading about an older protagonist with the aches and regrets and wisdom of age. And that despite all that, Amina is still impulsive and not very show more subtle, leading to mistakes and danger.

But i was a little confused about her husband - is she supposed to hate him, like she does the villain? It seems to be a lot of bickering and not true dislike, even as she claims to loathe him. He's certainly interesting, though, and I can see why there might be difficulty in having straightforward emotions about him.

There is a lot of violence and bloodshed, as befits the story. Amina and her companions all have their own traumas from the past, which do affect how they interact or respond to the adventures. I wonder if these new, extremely traumatic events will also affect them, once they have time to rest, or if they'll be conveniently packed away in the tradition of fiction. show less

First off- the audiobook for this is phenomenal. Lameece Issaq really imbues Amina with chatty auntie catching you up on what she's been up to, her joys and her weariness, along with asides to the scribe Jamal (whom she's telling this tale to). This book also came at the right time for me, as a new mother while I think about who I am (and making room for motherhood in my nest of identities while not losing my former sense of self). I really enjoyed seeing an older protagonist- in a sea of teenagers dealing with immortal beings (which in hindsight the Daevabad trilogy kind of does- I still need to read [b:The Empire of Gold|52166786|The Empire of Gold (The Daevabad Trilogy, #3)|S.A. show more Chakraborty|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1572578104l/52166786._SY75_.jpg|61384460]), it's great to see an older crew. I'm also not familiar with the medieval Indian Ocean and I like seeing rich historical environments for fantasy that I don't know!

I also recognize Dalila is like... every single D&D/Pathfinder character I've made, a vaguely creepy science lady who just... collects things in jars. Oops.

I got to the final 10% and I wondered how things would resolve and then realized oh, this is just part one of a new series- so hooray, more adventures of the Marawati crew! show less

Adventures galore!

This is a fantasy in a historical setting: Islamic world around the Indian Ocean in the 12th century. Thank you, author, for such a wonderfully classic, colourful adventure story. It reminded me of all those books I devoured as a kid, with the atmosphere of Thousand and One Nights and Sinbad’s travels. Modern sensibilities are part of the package – it didn’t bother me this time. It’s a fantasy universe, after all.

Amina al-Sirafi is a famous sea adventurer, pirate, smuggler. Only now she is middle-aged, has a bad knee, and is living quietly with her family. Naturally, someone finds her and wants to hire her to find a missing/kidnapped family member. “Just one job”, right? Come on, Amina, you are a character show more in a book, you know you shouldn’t say such things!

This job will get very complicated. Very. There will be evil sorcerers, mysterious caves, supernatural creatures, demons, monsters, battles, narrow escapes, unexpected bargains, and some humour. Somehow, I expected the book to be more “serious” than it was. It didn’t matter, I had fun! I’ll be reading the next book, of course.

I enjoyed the Author’s note at the end, where Shannon Chakraborty talked about her research and sources. It sounded fascinating! When am I supposed to read all that, eh? Oh, well.

Quotes:

”You are an excellent judge of risk. Your problem is that you run towards it.”

”I am not distracted,” I insisted. ”I am murderously focused.”

”Since when have you lost all sense of self-preservation? I thought you were pirates!”
”We are reformed.”

”To the eternal waters of chaos we go,” I muttered and set off. show less

This is an historical fantasy novel, set in the medieval Indian Ocean, starring a female Muslim pirate captain who is pulled out of retirement for one last job. She has to reunite her old crew, which has been scattered all over the seas, and then journey into a magical realm in order to rescue a young woman, defeat an evil sorcerer, and possibly prevent a magical apocalypse.

I had a lot of good fun with it, particularly the first half or so. The main character is a fun narrator, with a strong sense of voice, and there are lots of laugh-out-loud hijinks as she outwits her enemies, moving from place to place, and tries to come to terms with a past that she's attempting to put behind her.

I also really appreciated how the book forces a show more western reader to reorient their perspective. I'm used to thinking of the world and its history in terms of landmasses: European history, North American history, African history, Asian history, and so on. But Adventures centers the ocean: if you think of the key geographic area as being the Indian Ocean, then Madagascar, Aden, India, and China are all part of the same, incredibly cosmopolitan, region. It's a real place but I for one got to explore it like it was a new realm.

That said, I found the ending of the book kind of disappointing. It seemed to me that surely the climax would revolve around some daring sailing, some nautical cleverness from Amina and her crew... but things go in a different direction. Not bad, but I think a book that had stuck the landing more could have really won me over. That said, this is evidently the first of three planned books, and I would happily pick up further installments. show less

A ship's captain has withdrawn from the sea to care for her young daughter and to keep out of the sight of those who she believes may hold grudges. She is drawn back into the world by the demands of a powerful old woman and is driven to reconnect with senior members of her old crew -- her first mate, her navigator, her chief poisoner, an ex-lover. (The first chapter all by itself is a delightful attention-grabber.)

These are plenty of adventures and voyages here -- not unlike those of Sinbad. As the reader, one encounters the demons, the monsters, the elemental powers. But there is a strong narrative thread tying it all together. Where is the old woman's granddaughter? What of the Moon of Saba?

This book by Shannon Chakraborty is the show more set-up of a new series, one that draws on Arabic culture in much the same way The City of Brass, The Kingdom of Copper and The Empire of Gold did. The story here doesn't seem quite as complex as the books that made up the Daevabad Trilogy, but it does establish the personalities gathered around our brave sea captain.

If you're in the right mood, this book is a good deal of fun! The author knows well just how to bring in plot twists so that the reader is caught off guard. Magic is not always benign; generally speaking, it's more likely not to be. And be cautious of any contract entered into with those who have the means to wield such powers! show less

Having been looking forward to this book since it was announced, I've also had my fingers crossed that it was going to be as good as I hoped. So far, mission accomplished, as Chakraborty's main character is great, being a one-time pirate who spent her prime living like there was no tomorrow, but who now has to deal with the consequences of those acts. If you were going to pigeon-hole this novel in terms of sub-genre, I'd call it sword and sorcery, with Amina the warrior confronting an Italo-Norman wannabe master of the universe (this novel's setting is after the First Crusade). Now the only problem is waiting for the next book to come out. If I have any particular critique it might be in regards to pacing. I found that Chakraborty's show more "Daevabad" books started collapsing under the weight of all their plot points, whereas with these books, it looks like Amina is going to power up very quickly, leading one to wonder what the ultimate climax is going to look like; it should be a good ride though. show less

Six stars!

I have been in a reading slump for approximately six months. I’ve started dozens of books, but I haven’t vibed with any of them. Finally after so many false starts, I picked this book and it was the best decision I could have made.

And why not, the book had everything I could want in a fantasy novel, pirates, a fierce FMC that is in my age range, and she’s still kicking ass, mythical creatures, “demons”, a really bad bad-guy, magic. Not to mention the diversity of the characters and the representation. At first I thought the mention of religion (the FMC is Muslim) would take me out of the story, but it did not. It was the main focus of the story, but it what was mentioned made sense in the story.

Retired pirate show more captain, Amina Al-Sirafi was forced into one last adventure. Reuniting her former crew and ship, is more difficult that expected and noting really goes as planned from then on. The writing was amazing. I was completely caught up in the story; even the exposition kept me totally fascinated. I was emotionally invested in the quest and the characters. The story was like nothing I had ever heard prior. I would definitely read about the further adventures of Amina and her loyal crew. show less