River of silver

Love. Love. Love.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Voyager for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was over eager and didn’t do a reread before this, which definitely isn’t the most ideal way to go into it. This is also a story collection so it would be a bit confusing if someone where to decide to start with this. Or read and trying to remember certain details.

That being said, it was absolutely excellent. You get additional stories on all the characters you want to hear from. The balance of prequel, during the story, and alternative epilogue is also delightful. I definitely plan to go back when I do my reread and read this again as a companion novel in a tandem read type experience.

Without giving too much away, if you liked the Daevabad trilogy in the slightest you will adore this. Definitely a must read and super well put together with plenty of context so nothing is confusing or jarring.

This was just a treat. If you enjoyed the Daevabad Trilogy and wish you could see more from all of the characters, pick this up ASAP. I enjoyed every single story and I lost all interest in every other book I was reading in tandem with this one which is why I finished it so quickly because I put every other book down and just binged this one.

If you are like me and you missed the Daevabad series the minute you finished it, this is the perfect fix for your book hangover. I loved the short stories of the characters I love and miss. This whole series is a 5 star read.

This was a good addition to the series. I've forgotten a lot of the events and even some of these characters but I could still follow along and enjoy the stories anyway. Definitely something to read immediately after the trilogy or as you go along

It's always very very hard to rate a collection of short stories. If you hated one story, does it ruin the whole collection? If you hated the last story, does that take away from your love of the middle stories?? Yes, the answer is yes. This must be really really tough for an author, to know if they get one story "wrong," they might lose their audience.

Well, I will forever and always give Chakraborty mad props for writing one of my favorite series ever, but I could have done without this. It felt unnecessary. I don't feel the need to go through all my rationale; I made sure to make notes after almost every story.

I've given the entire trilogy 5 stars forever and always, but I had to take away a star here because this was slow and boring, without any sort of cohesion (unless you read the original trilogy alongside... ain't nobody got time for that).

Even with the slow pacing, I would have given it five on general principle if not for the last story, which, general spoiler, took away my last hope for my favorite ship. I've said I would read an encyclopedia from Chakraborty, and I would... boredom would not be enough for me to take a star off this wonderful writer! But sinking my ship???

You're dead to me.
(I am totally 100% kidding!)

HOWEVER, no matter who you ship, I URGE you to read the alternate epilogue any way you can (I alluded to this too in my review of the third book) because it hints at a continuation of the story that would be ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!! I NEED THAT STORY!!! I hope very much she keeps going with this world, our world needs it.

If you enjoyed the Daevabad series, then you will like this book! It offers great insight to characters and their stories from the series for a little extra knowledge. I love being able to visit the characters from a series I love and reading extra stories about them or getting to know some characters even more. I recommend reading this along with a reread of the series for a full experience!

I really enjoyed this extra look into the world of Daevabad! I feel like it was really enlightening about different aspects of characters that weren't given their own POV and helped to enhance my reading experience of the trilogy. I loved getting to see more of Muntadhir and Jamshid's relationship through their scenes and getting to see the hope for them at the end. I also loved the final scene between Ali and Nahri! It was so pure and sweet and heartfelt, and I really hope that one day they will be healed enough to be together.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc.

I was so excited to get this arc that I rushed to finish what I was currently reading. I wanted to move onto this as soon as possible. Ugh, the nostalgia. I want to reread The Daevabad trilogy so bad after this book. I recognized a lot of characters names, but I didn’t truly remember most of them. I loved the story of Jamshid’s parents—although I hated feeling sympathetic towards his mom. I also enjoyed the story with the shafit and her gardening. Truly I loved all the tales. I love these books so much and will always be thrilled to get more of the world. I’m looking forward to buying the Fairyloot edition.

We are BACK in Daevabad and personally I could not be more excited! Just a heads up to anyone who’s unaware—The River of Silver is a supplementary collection of cut chapters and short stories set in the world of the Daevabad trilogy, so if you have not read that yet then this will not be the place to start! That would be The City of Brass, and I cannot recommend the series enough.

For any longstanding and die-hard fans, this book has been a long time coming. We’ve been begging for (& sometimes even receiving) bonus material from the series, especially for beloved supporting characters like Muntadhir and Zaynab. So I’m happy to report that it’s a well-rounded selection, beautifully consistent with the rest of the books. ⁣⁣

The author begins by giving some background on her journey writing this series, as well as why she ended up returning to Daevabad after finishing the initial trilogy. She describes trying to fit what she believed to be the ‘requirements’ of ‘epic fantasy’, before readjusting to focus on the journey of Nahri, Ali and Dara. I also appreciated Chakraborty’s candor in acknowledging her writing struggles during the start of the pandemic. This eventually led to her writing this book, so obviously I’m not mad at the result, but I’m sure it was frustrating wanting to begin a new project but only being able to return to your previous work.

There are 15 stories in this collection, including an alternate epilogue. Even breaking down the character who’s perspective we follow for each chapter could be spoiler-adjacent, so instead I’ll simply assure you that every person you want to hear from is represented. There’s five chapters set before the events of the trilogy, eight during those books, the alternate epilogue and one final scene that takes place after the events of the trilogy. Of course, we get more from the points of view for Nahri, Ali and Dara, but also scenes from Zaynab, Jamshid, Muntadhir and a handful of parents. Additionally, there’s a couple of characters we get to hear from for the first time.

I’m so excited that they’re releasing The River of Silver in a physical format as well—especially for us shelf-completionists! The US hardcover is currently scheduled to be released on October 11th of this year. But if in the mean time you’re unsure whether to try the audio, I can definitely recommend it! This book has the same narrator as the last three, Soneela Nankani, and she does an impeccable job. The River of Silver was a comforting final goodbye to beloved characters we couldn’t quite let go of during the early aughts of an uncertain period of time. And now that it’s out in the world, fans of S.A. Chakraborty’s have something new to look forward to: The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi.

A few surprise to have short vignettes for several City of Brass secondary characters. I especially appreciated that the author put the stories in the trilogy timeline and indicated whether or not it contained spoilers. Would be best read, I think, alongside the original books.

When I first picked up Chakraborty’s “City of Brass” in the summer of 2020, I found more than an engagingly intrigue-thick plot and a rich cast of complex characters. It was a new, unique and fully fleshed out fantasy world the likes of which I had never encountered before in my reading. I absolutely loved being fully immersed deep within it, as it felt like the perfect escape from a reality that felt like a chaotic, crumbling mess. I quickly tore through the first book in the trilogy, devoured “Kingdom of Copper,” and after I did the same for “Empire of Gold.” Once finished, I tried to convince myself that any kind of continuation would probably be too much of a good thing, especially after the author wrapped up everything so tightly and so satisfactorily. My consolation efforts unfortunately fell short, and I was sad to say goodbye to the Daevabad world.

Until now.

Things have undeniably changed in the past few years, to say the least. But while I am no longer genuinely frightened to be within several feet of any living, breathing person, the world has unfortunately found new and innovative ways to be a stressful place to inhabit. So to be able to return to the city of Daevabad to spend time with so many familiar faces is a delight that’s almost beyond words. It almost feels like returning home after being away from far too long. And I’m quite sure that other fans of Chakraborty’s trilogy will feel very much the same about this wonderful new collection of stories.

AMAZING, STUPENDOUS, WILL READ AGAIN AND AGAIN!

When I received an Arc for this I was beyond excited and nervous. The Daevabad trilogy is hands down my favorite series of all time, and I was nervous getting into this novella with POVs of different characters we don't usually get in the trilogy. I was worried it would ruin my perspective of the characters since I have already made up my mind on them...but this was perfect. S.A. Chakraborty is a master in character writing, and made me love and appreciate them and their magical world all the more.

I loved this book so much. I am a big fan of the Daevabad trilogy, and it was really nice coming back to this universe and reading more about the characters. All of the short stories and deleted scenes were really good and added interesting background about Nahri, Ali, Dara, and even the other characters, which we didn't know much about before. I was glad to find out more about them and this was certainly a necessary read for me.

Overall, The River of Silver is a beautiful book, and it made me so happy to delve into this world one more time. I can't wait until the physical copy comes out so that I can buy it. If you loved City of Brass, I highly recommend reading this novella.

Thank you S. A. Chakraborty, Avon and Harper Voyager publishers for the opportunity to read an ARC of The River of Silver.

The Daevabad trilogy remains my all time favorite book series and this anthology was such a wonderful return to my favorite characters at different points in the trilogy.

This anthology was put together which such care, each story was organized chronologically and contained context of where it fell within the series.

Almost every story touched my heart and stole a few tears. Each was beautifully written and an absolute treat to read. I also would absolutely die if the alternative epilogue became a series. In short, this was a everything I hoped for when I first heard Shannon talk about it on Instagram.

I highly recommend for any fans of the original trilogy.

All the opinions above are my own.

I would love to interview S.A. Chakraborty for pop-culturalist. I’m so in love with her writing style and I love how immersive her worlds are. This book was everything I’ve hoped for and more!!

This work is a collection of short stories that are set in the world of the Daevabad Trilogy. The stories range from years before the first book was set to just after the third book. They offer insight into the “villains” of the trilogy, the main characters, and some important secondary characters.

If you’ve read the Daevabad Trilogy, you MUST read this work. It adds so much depth to the world. The stories added information about secondary characters that were some of my favorites, as well as including some interesting and relevant worldbuilding. Not to mention that the last story was everything that I wanted it to be – what a beautiful way to end this fantasy trilogy.

The author included spoiler warnings at the beginning of each short story, letting the reader know which book(s) the short story contained spoilers for. I think this could be an awesome companion read for someone first reading (or rereading) the trilogy, as you could flip through and use the short stories to supplement the book you just finished.

The characters are still well developed and relatable, and these short stories give them even more depth. There were no errors in the work even though it’s just a draft. In short, there’s nothing that I disliked about this read.

It was a joy to come back to this world and gain insight into these characters and many of the events of the original trilogy. I highly recommend this work to anyone who has read the Daevabad trilogy. And if you haven’t read the trilogy, what are you waiting for?

I received a complimentary copy of this work through NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

The Daevabad Trilogy is one of my favorite fantasy trilogies published within the previous decade, and The River of Silver is everything I ever wanted from a short story collection. We are once again transported to the lush world of Daevabad and greet the complex characters. With these stories, we learn more about the background of and between characters that are only mentioned or hinted at in the main trilogy.

What a way to bid farewell to this world.

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for the ARC!

I was super excited to recieve an advance copy of this book and boy was it even more than I had hoped. The collection of deleted scenes, alternative ending, and extra scenes were amazing. It was so good to be back in this world. It makes me want to reread the entire trilogy!

River of Silver was the perfect send off to the Daevabad Trilogy. The short stories that shed light both on the past, present, and future not only provided me with a strange sense of closure but were wildly entertaining. Reading this has made me hope that Chakraborty is a trend setter and that more authors will consider revisiting their worlds to provide us with similar stories.
While I believe Chakraborty's end choice not to include these extra scenes in her final drafts was the right call, I'm so so glad we got to read them. The depth and insight we were provided with made me want to read the series all over again having the knowledge I do now of different characters.
I loved loved every moment of thes stories, every paragraph added to the already impeccable trilogy.
If I could give this book ten stars I would!
Please do yourself a favor and return to the world of Daevabad by pre-ordering this beauty. I have my digital copy but I am certainly going to be purchasing a physical copy this fall.

This could not have come at a better time. I needed to return to Daevabad in the worst way.

The River of Silver is collection of short stories from a range of characters and covering events before, during and after the books (City of Brass, Kingdom of Copper, and Empire of Gold). Perspectives include Manizheh, Duriya, Hatset, Muntadhir, Jamshid, Dara, Nahri, Ali, Zaynab, and a scout. They aren't really essential to trilogy plot, so you technically won't be missing anything if you don't read this. At the same time, yes you will, because build out the character perspectives nicely and provide a welcome escape from real life. Of the new perspectives, Duriya's was my favorite. So you should definitely read this. It's been months since I finished Empire of Gold and I'm still obsessed with this world. I listened to River of Silver on audiobook when it came out, which was fantastic but reading it now is even better. The final story from Nahri's perspective gave me so much joy that I read it several times in a row. I love how Chakraborty shows Nahri's path of healing herself.

I would highly recommend it to any readers of the Daevabad trilogy. You could technically read it concurrently, but I really enjoyed the experience of revisiting the characters and considering their positions from a new light. Even though I own the audiobook, I will 100% be buying a hardcopy when it comes out in the fall.