You plague of a woman, if you would just listen to reason!
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi
By S.A. Chakraborty
Genre: Adult Fantasy
About: Amina al-Sirafi is a retired pirate. A mother with a bad knee and too many enemies to risk the open sea again. But when a relative of one of her crewmates comes to her home, she isn't asking for help: she's demanding it. Amina will need to take to the life she left behind to save a family she owes more than she's willing to admit.
The Good
Who doesn't love pirates? And pirates in a magical setting? With beings of chaos, deadly moons and sea beasts? This is an action packed adventure that's a joy to read. Amina is brave, hilarious, loving and a kick-ass nakhudha. I loved her relationship with her daughter, the banter in her crew and, the best of them all in terms of fun, her demon husband. It's an epic adventure from first to last and the characters are all ones you fall deeply in love with.
The Bad
As much as I enjoyed reading this, it wasn't one of those stories I had to devour. I think it lacked urgency because the narration is Amina's recollection of what's already happened, rather than us being in on the adventure with her. The back and forth with the scribe (and I loved the twist with the scribe) is often funny and has such lines as, "Let me tell you about the night I accidently married a demon." Yet all the same it brings you out of the story - quite literally - and makes it seem less urgent to continue. The stakes are lowered for the reader as you can't help but feel that everything must have worked out, otherwise Amina wouldn't be having such fun recollecting this adventure.
The Somewhat Iffy
The mystery of Asif is one that did really interest me and was a great hook in the beginning of the story. However, I still feel unclear with what actually happened. His death is explained (and revisited), but the deal he made with Raksh didn't make any sense to me. It was a joke, but one that didn't benefit Asif in the slightest? For him to have given up his soul yet to have gotten nothing out of it didn't read right to me.
And I both liked and didn't like the story being set in the same world as the Daevabad trilogy. Seeing brief glimpses of Daeva was fun, as was seeing the marid - and which makes total sense to be part of a pirate book. However, the peri's involvement in the story felt too similar to the other books, Amina walking in the literal footsteps of Nahri.
Overall
I can't wait for more adventures of Amina al-Sirafi! The world is exciting, the characters loveable, and the magic endless.
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