THE RIVER OF SILVER is a group of stories arranged alongside and between the main books of the Daevabad trilogy, showing hidden moments with characters you know and (maybe) love already.

To me, the best way to read this would be to read the stories alongside the main trilogy, in the order indicated at the start of each chapter. Because most of these stories were originally drafted as part of the writing process for the other books, they contribute to but are unable to alter the emotional landscape and general trajectory of the series. They work well as companion stories to the trilogy, but are unable to stand on their own for someone who hasn’t read the other books. There are some excellent sections relating to events before the main trilogy featuring characters not seen before, and I enjoyed. This book is absolutely worth reading if you want more of Jamshid and Muntadhir, singly and together. Many of the stories touch on the arc of their relationship, and for me the highlight of the book is a story featuring both of them which takes place near (or perhaps slightly after) the end of EMPIRE OF GOLD. Anyone hoping also or instead for more of Nahri, Ali, or Dara shouldn’t be disappointed either.

CW for cursing (brief), sexual content (brief), grief (graphic), xenophobia, pregnancy (backstory), sexual harassment, sexual assault (brief), panic attacks, alcohol, fire/fire injury, blood (graphic), gore (brief), torture, body horror, violence (graphic), torture, emotional abuse, toxic relationship, suicidal thoughts (brief), genocide (backstory), self harm, suicide attempt (backstory), parental death (backstory), death (graphic).

This book was everything I was hoping it would be! As a huge fan of the Daevabad Trilogy, I was so happy to get more stories that take place in the same universe.

Each story is set up with a spoiler warning so readers who haven't read the entire trilogy know whether to read the story or not. The stories are also prefaced with where they fit into the trilogy, which is helpful to know for the context of how the story fits in. (It also helped that I had reread the trilogy recently.)

My favorite story was definitely the last one. I recommend this for all fans of the Daevabad Trilogy!

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for a requested advance copy for review. All opinions are my own.

I love the Daevabad trilogy so freaking much and returning to the world and characters that I love was amazing. I loved the extra insights and scenes we got. They were just as full of emotion and as beautifully written as the full books. I absolutely got teary revisiting Nahri and Ali, Dara, and Muntadhir and Jamshid. I would have read 1000 more pages, but as it is, I read it all in one sitting.
This is essential reading if you loved the trilogy.

The River of Silver is a compilation of short stories and deleted scenes from The City of Brass trilogy. I absolutely loved revisiting this world. I especially enjoyed the portions with Nahri. It was like getting a behind the scenes peek of a movie. If you love City of Brass trilogy, you will enjoy revisiting this world and its beloved characters.

Who wants to do a reread of the original trilogy?

Thank you @netgalley and @harpervoyager for the eArc of this book. I ended up getting an audiobook copy and reading both versions.

The River of Silver follows all of our favorite (and not so favorite) characters from the Daevabad Trilogy, before, after, and during the events that take place within those three treasured books.

There has been a recent trend of authors returning to previously published series, creating prequels, novella’s, or complete rewrites of our favorite books. Most of these experiments have found themselves falling short of expectations. The River of Silver does not. This book is emotional and insightful. All the questions a reader could think of, any scene a reader could have wanted more from, and any character interaction a reader was craving has been fulfilled within this book. In fact, I personally, found myself relating to and feeling for characters that I had previously despised in the original trilogy. Which honestly, just speaks volumes about Chakraborty's excellent writing. This is a perfect edition to an already epic trilogy, I am anticipating putting another beautiful S.A. Chakraborty book on my shelf!

Fantastic! If you’re a fan of the Daevabad trilogy then you need this book. I enjoy short stories a lot. Especially ones from series I really enjoy. I love having a little bit more of a look into the world.

*thank you to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

I was so excited to return to Daevabad, because Chakraborty created such a rich universe that brimmed with magic and political intrigue. However, after reading these stories, I feel like there wasn’t enough meat left on the bone to warrant an additional book. Most of these stories rehash events from the original trilogy, and the new stories probably would have worked better as novellas. I would still read a story about Dara, Zaynab, and Aqisa though.

<i>Thank you NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

The River of Silver: Tales from the Daevabad Trilogy (The Daevabad Trilogy, #3.5)
by S.A. Chakraborty
The collection of stories related to the trilogy of the Daevabad. Its an amazing collection of stories that bring to the reader part of the process of creating the trilogy. The collection shows not only some of the back story of the series, but also parts of the tale that she did not include in the original series. It shows the duality of the nature of the trilogy, looking at race, magic and acceptance. The Book shows not only the problems of political nature, but the Lgtbqia struggles of the characters.

The River of Silver will be a must read for fans of the original trilogy. This collection consists of stories told from primarily secondary character views, although there are some sprinklings of Dara, Ali, and Nahri to be had within. Each is forwarded by a note describing where the story takes place, and they are scattered across the timeline of the trilogy, from before, during, and after. It was the stories told during the trilogy, meant to fill holes or were cut scenes, that I had the most difficulty connecting to, as I have difficulty remembering exactly what happened in a trilogy that was so deeply immersive and packed with detail on its own. These stories would be best read in conjunction with the original trilogy.

Now, the stories set before and after the trilogy were, in my opinion, the strongest. I enjoyed reading these and they had more definitive arcs than feeling like an in media res.

Overall, this is for diehard fans who want more. Fans of Jamshid will be particularly thrilled.

I absolutely LOVED the Daevabad Trilogy. It’s one of those that I wistfully think about all the time now that the series is completed. A few weeks ago I got a copy of this new book of deleted and background scenes. It was so great to get to go back and revisit the characters and places that I’m so fond of.

In the foreword the author talks about how during the stress of the pandemic she went back over these snippets as a form of comfort in the chaos. As hard as the pandemic was this is definitely a little silver (no pun intended!) lining for me.

These are some of my favorite books ever and I believe everyone should read them. They are hefty and especially in the beginning you’ll need to go slow and refer to the glossary, maps, and cast list frequently. (I’d recommend a print copy for ease of flipping back and forth.) However, they are so worth the time.

Also, this whole book is chocked full of spoilers for the series. Don’t start here. Aaannddd, the final scene sheds a little light on how Nahri and Alizayd proceed after The Empire of Gold. 🙌🏻👍🏻👊🏻

Thanks to @netgalley and @harpervoyagerus for an advanced copy of this book. It will be released on 10/11/22.

I absolutely loved the Daevabad trilogy and I am so glad that S.A. Chakraborty has come out with these related short stories! I liked that every chapter title indicated whose story was being told to avoid confusion. Fans of the original series will definitely enjoy the background details and additional world building in these short stories.

Beyond amazing! This book was an incredible read and I can't recommend it enough. This is a book you'll want on your shelf and to give as a gift. Everyone needs to read it.

This is such a masterpiece of an addition to the Daevabad Trilogy. The companion stories that make up the River of Silver tie together the books so beautifully and gave a lovely extra bit of behind the scenes insight into the characters that we met throughout the primary plot lines. I especially loved the added background for Manizheh, Rustam and Duriya, it was such a heartbreakingly beautiful look into the complex and heart wrenching histories that ultimately led to the events in the Empire of Gold.

I don't think I'll ever be able to get enough of S.A. Chakraborty's stunning prose and spectacular world building, Thank you S.A. Chakraborty and Harper Voyager for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC!

This collection of short stories and deleted scenes is set before, during, and after the events of the Daevabad trilogy. It gives you extra insight into the events and character motives, actions, and character relationships in this series. The look into the past helps explore the events of book one and gives more insight into the politics of Daevabad. It was easy and comforting to fall back into the mythical world of Daevabad and its complex politics.

I devoured this book in one sitting. It's an emotional rollercoaster that will have you laughing one moment, and then brutally stomping on your heart the next. It was incredibly heartbreaking to have to say goodbye to these characters. This book is everything a reader could have asked for and more. Chakraborty once again sucks you right back into the world of Daevabad with her powerful writing, strong characters, and storytelling skills.

This is a world that I will happily revisit any time the author decides to bless us with more content.

Some of these stories worked better for me than others. Probably for personal reasons I had a really slow start, but once I got halfway through I absolutely devoured the rest of this collection and felt all of the feels. It was a very interesting experience getting to know these characters more deeply without any major new plot points or revelations- it truly was just like being given a chance to visit and check in with the characters and learn more about them so we can love on them more. And probably make more internet memes. I can't wait for them.

I appreciated that Chakraborty gave us context for timing on where all the stories fit within the trilogy.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for the review copy!

If you love the Daevabad Trilogy, as I do, you need to get a copy of The River of Silver ASAP. It's such a perfect accompaniment to the trilogy. I absolutely loved getting to read these deleted and additional scenes.

I'll be honest, when I first found out that this was being published, I was somewhat disappointed. I knew that S.A. Chakraborty was working on a "pirate book" and all I wanted in 2022 was for it to be published. So, to learn this was coming out instead was a bit disappointing as I'm generally not a fan of short stories. However, the Daevabad Trilogy is my favorite series ever, so I decided to accept anything I could get and was not disappointed in the slightest.

This was fantastic! It was better than anything that I could have ever hoped for. Everything to love about the main Daevabad Trilogy exists in this collection. You've got complex characters, complicated politics, morally grey decisions, beautiful prose, the ability to understand why everyone does what they do, etc... It's perfection.

I loved getting reimmersed in my favorite series with some character different viewpoints. I especially loved the pre and post trilogy scenes. There were scenes from Hatset, Rustam, and Muntadhir that I absolutely adored. It made me want to read the whole trilogy over again from their POVs. Actually, I am 100% here for any additional books in this world, if that ever happens.

If you, like me, don't like short stories, you don't need to worry here. You already know everything that you need to know about the world and characters to enjoy these stories without having to re-learn everything. I was immediately immersed in every chapter that I read.

This is perfect. I am so thankful that it exists. Now to keep myself from going back and reading the whole trilogy all over again.

Thank you NetGalley, Harper Voyager, and Avon Books for a e-copy. All opinions are 100% my own.

I really enjoyed this reunion with characters from the Daevabad Trilogy! Chakraborty describes gravitating back to this world in the midst of global pandemic and I have to agree that this was exactly what I needed.. This is a collection of outtakes, alternate chapters, and extensions of different characters' stories, but it doesn't feel recycled or unfinished. Instead, this feels like a bunch of material that there just wasn't time to get to the first time around. This was a treat.

“This is only the beginning of our story. Your story. And you can make it whatever you want it to be.”

THE RIVER OF SILVER is a set of short stories from the world of Daevabad, vignettes set before, between, and after the three main books and deleted scenes that didn’t make it into the original series. This collection is so good and so satisfying. The Daevabad Trilogy is one of my favorite fantasy series and I was thrilled to have the chance to immerse myself in the incredible world the Chakraborty has created yet again. I’ve missed the characters, and I loved getting to spend more time with them and experience perspectives we didn’t get to see in the original series. It was also a delight to enjoy these stories without the same high stakes present in the three main books. And the romance! We get more glimpses of Muntadhir and Jamshid, Nahri and Ali, and even a little hint about Zaynab and Aqisa. This collection feels like such an indulgent gift to fans of the series and I’m so glad we received it. Thanks to Harper Voyager for the eARC! This book is out in print 10/11 and available now via audiobook.

Content warnings: suicide attempts, injury, beating/violence, sexual assault, loss/grief

I have been recommending the Daevabad trilogy to everyone I know as the best fantasy trilogy I've read in recent years, so I was thrilled to see this book of short stories appear. "The River of Silver" contains stories that happen before, during, and after the trilogy, from a variety of different viewpoints. They give us insight to characters and situations that maybe didn't get enough time in the books, filling in some of the edges of the story.

I absolutely loved these stories, and frequently found myself wishing they had lasted longer. One of the most impressive things about the Daevabad trilogy to me was that Chakraborty shied away from having true heroes and villains--everyone is the hero of their own story and has their own motivations for what they do. This continues to be clear here.

Anyone who read and enjoyed the original trilogy shouldn't hesitate to pick up River of Silver, and if you haven't read the trilogy yet then go pick it up right away.

How wonderful to be back amongst the characters and setting of one of the best trilogies! Each story added just a bit extra to familiar scenes. I loved each story and how it added the perfect extras to the previous books.