I absolutely loves this book. Fantastic world-building, amazing action, and some wonderful characters. While the book focuses on Amina I'd love to see further volumes exploring her crew.

Do you remember when the first Pirates of the Caribbean came out? That theme song can still drum up strong feelings in response, one that longs for adventure, laughs, and swashbuckling adventures. Well that's exactly what this book does (only better in my opinion).

Amina is retired, with a child and family she's still supporting from her notorious past as a pirate. However, she's lured out of her decade-long retirement by the wealthy mother of one of her former (and now dead) comrades. Apparently, her granddaughter has been kidnapped by a Frank who is seeking mystical treasures in the area. Will Amina please fetch and return her for a million dinars? With promises of riches that would secure her family's future, the chance to avenge her old comrade's daughter, and the alluring temptation of returning to a life she's missed, Amina agrees.

I do not know if I have the words to properly sum up just how amazing this book is. It's chock full of amazing characters, tight pacing that never left me bored, dialogue that had me laughing aloud, and a found-family trope that brought tears to my eyes.

Not only that, but we get an MC who's middle aged?? Finally! There are far too many women in books that tend to fall under the same youthful stereotypes. However, Amina is no doe-eyed heroine. She's a tall, muscular ex-pirate, sturdy and weathered with experiences. She may not be quite as spry as she used to be, but that doesn't mean she's any less capable. And with age comes new and different perspectives as well. Amina embodies the struggle of both desiring more for herself, to fulfill lifelong dreams of exploring and seeing the world while also wanting to be a good mother who's there for her child. It's a topic that I'm sure many can relate to. Throughout the book, we see her start to embrace both sides of herself, no longer denying that her longing to be out at sea is something that is a part of her and also needs attention.

Can we also talk about her ex-husband? OMG, I LOVE this fun little twist! It just makes it all the more delicious when you get all the full details and their interactions are just *chef's kiss* perfection. His character reminds me a lot of Loki in that he's definitely not one to be trusted and clearly makes decisions all based on self centeredness...but you can't help but love him a little, you know? Just me?

This is the start of a very promising trilogy and I cannot recommend this enough! It's sheer joy in a fantasy book, full of Middle Eastern pirates, magic, sea monsters, sorcery, and at its heart, a pirate mom you will be cheering for the whole way through.

This book was amazing! I loved Chakraborty’s Daevabad trilogy so when I saw she had started a new series I just had to read it, and I’m glad I did! Chakraborty’s writing style and world building is once again magical and engrossing. Her characters were very well written, especially Amina. I loved Amina as a main character and rooted for her throughout the book. I definitely recommend this book to anyone that liked the Daevabad trilogy or likes fantasy adventure novels. I can’t wait to read what happens in the next installment!

shannon chakraborty can do no wrong.

the adventures of amina al-sirafi follows amina. a retired pirate who has given up an adventurous life at sea to raise her daughter. when presented with an opportunity to never want for anything again, amina decides to return to the sea in search of a missing girl. once getting her old crew back together, they embark on a magical journey filled with daunting creatures, epic tasks, and an overarching joyous tale leaving readers wanting more.

i for one cannot wait until the next book comes out. as an avid lover of the daevabad trilogy, this book lived up to the standards carried over from that series. i anxiously await amina’s next installment, as this book was sheer joy and the perfect kind of escapism. 5/5 stars!

thank you to both netgalley & avon and harper voyager for an e-arc. all thoughts and opinions are my own!

In short, I loved this book. It had adventure, magic, blackmail, and enough twists and turns to keep me hooked all the way through. Seriously, I had this book finished in less than a week (most books take me close to a couple of weeks to get through, so to finish a book within a week should be a clue to just how much I liked this book). This book reminded me a bit of the Pirates of the Carribean movies, so if you happen to be a fan of those movies, I highly recommend getting a copy of this book when it comes out in March.

Let me first say that I have read every book Shannon Chakrabotry has ever written, and I will continue to do so. Forever. She has written a trilogy that I highly recommend - to everyone I meet, And while I didn't enjoy this book as much as her previous ones, I still loved it, which just proves what a great author she really is. And what a ride! An excellent thriller/story and I think anyone regardless of age (teen, adult_ would enjoy the twists and turns and the brilliant original plot. Wonderful, captivating writing gives this novel the depth and ability to pull in any reader. Vivid, descriptive story-telling, with interesting characters that have depth to them, and skillfully rendered, and I also enjoyed the well-written fighting pirate scenes! I highly recommend this author and all of her other books I have read have been nothing less than fantastic. She is definitely an auto-buy author for me, and I can't wait to own this novel in print.

I didn't realize this was a planned trilogy, but i'm so glad it is because I need more of Amina's adventures. This book serves to set up Amina, her crew, and their circumstances, providing a lot of background alongside the present day story. With a character like Amina, who is older and has already retired out of her life of piracy, there's a whole other trilogy's worth of stories the readers are missing out on. The author does a great job of filling the readers in on some of these details while maintaining an air of mystery around Amina's life and her actual exploits. The story is written from Amina's pov, but is styled as her dictating it to her scholar friend Jamal, which was a fun way to structure the narrative and fit well with the kind of story being told. The book starts with the wealthy mother of one of Amina's former (and now dead) comrades pulling her out of retirement with demands that she find her granddaughter who has been kidnapped by a Frank who is seeking mystical treasures in the area. Of course, there's more to the story than there seems and as Amina builds up her crew and reconnects with old friends, she discovers that the mysterious Frank is much more dangerous than expected. I loved this story, I can't wait to read the rest of Amina's adventures.

Genre: historical fantasy
12th century, Gulf of Aden, Indian Ocean

Amina al-Sirafi, retired pirate, mother, and nukhudha (captain) of the Marawati, wishes nothing more than to spend her days with her daughter, support her family, and fly under the radar. Her retirement is abruptly interrupted when a wealthy and powerful woman demands that the legendary pirate find her kidnapped granddaughter. While the riches are a draw (she really needs a new roof), she’s inclined to turn the mission down until the woman threatens her family. As a mother, Amina can’t afford to say no, and she gathers her crew, all also enjoying their semi-retirement, and sets out to search for the girl, and the rumors of the powerful Frankish sorcerer who has kidnapped her.

I have so much I want to say about this book, and it’ll never fit in one caption or one review. It’s simply brilliant. We do get a lot of setup through the first third of the book, but it is worth it as Chakraborty sets up her characters and introduces us to meticulously researched 12th century middle eastern ship life.

Amina is the middle aged fantasy heroine we older readers absolutely need in our lives. She’s fierce and bold, but with the sagacity of middle age rather than the brashness of the younger heroines we often see. Like most mothers I know, she’s the meanest, fiercest person in the room but with the empathy required to approach situations that have no clear moral path. A natural leader on the decks of her ship, her crew trusts her with their lives, but Chakraborty doesn’t need to write that onto the page explicitly as we can sense it throughout.

Every character on board the Marawati is messy. They’ve had successful and unsuccessful adventures, they’ve lost friends and family, and they face unknown challenges. They aren’t framed as “good pirates” either. They are criminals who bribe and steal and raid, though in their retirements they have tried to return to the sounder side of the law, because in middle age that’s the prudent path. Amina herself has tried to return to her Isalmic faith - but she can’t completely shake the days where she (paraphrased) “strayed closer to adultery than not, drank too much, and was too hungover for the morning call to prayer” but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t put her trust in a benevolent and fair Creator.

The format of the book may throw some readers initially - it’s framed as Amina relating the story to a scribe, who occasionally interrupts to get details right or question a telling. There are insets of legends to help frame the mission details - because of course it turns into more than rescuing a kidnapped teenager, and of course there is raw magic and power that Amina and her crew encounter. They encounter demons and marid, along with the Frankish sorcerer and other legendary creatures like daevas and peris.

As soon as Chakraborty announced this project, I’ve been following her research and eagerly awaiting this book. It was my most anticipated book of early 2023, and I was thrilled to receive an eARC from @harpervoyagerus for review. I can’t wait to see the finished copy with its maps and its bibliography. This publishes 3/27/23 and is the first in a new series, so no advanced reading is required.

Shannon Chakraborty knocks it out of the park with this wildly entertaining, well-written, and exciting trilogy starter following an uneasily retired pirate captain who gets drawn back into the life she left behind for one last job. Amina al-Sirafi is a middle-aged woman who has not been back to sea since the birth of her beloved daughter many years ago, but whose infamy as one of the most storied pirates in the land draws the attention of a rich woman (the mother of one of Sirafi's former crewmates, in fact) who is desperately searching for her missing granddaughter. The reward for finding the girl will be riches enough to set up Amina-al-Sirafi and her own daughter for the rest of their lives and then some, but she quickly finds out that this mission is neither as clear-cut or as simple as it might have seemed. Our pirate protagonist will have to scrape the very bottom of her well of tricks and skills, reform her old crew, and join forces with the most unlikely of allies if she hopes to survive this incredible journey that will take her places beyond anyone's wildest dreams.

An enchanting and delightful story told masterfully by an author whose character-work and ability to create vivid and wonderous worlds is clearly at the top of their game. The way the story is told evokes the feeling of reading a classic adventure tale without any of the hang-ups one might expect from employing that kind of structure. This is a funny and thrilling tale that readers of Chakraborty's previous books will devour and then thank their lucky stars knowing that there are more adventures to come for Amina al-Sirafi. An immediate recommendation for fans of the author, and as a standalone book and series starter an easy recommendation for genre fans.

Is this book a nautical pirate adventure? An Ocean 11-esque thriller? An emotional journey of motherhood and middle age? A magical reinvention of history that blends geopolitical conflicts, Islam, and mythology? Answer: all of the above! I had a fantastic time getting to know Amina Al-Sirafi and her misfit band of friends. I think my favorite part may have actually been the recruitment montage, when she sails around unearthing her old crew for one last legendary adventure. This sequence possessed all of the "getting the band back together" energy I could have wanted from an ensemble-based heist narratives, I almost wish the story had stuck to the phenomenal energy it built up between Amina and her core group. With the introduction of Rakesh and the meatier plot elements the relationships in the book took a backseat to the propulsion of the narrative, which while contributing to a great story, felt a bit like a loss. Even so, this swashbuckling saga was equal parts heart-warming, heart-rending, and rip-roaring fun.

FOR THE PUBLISHERS: WHY NOT MAKE THIS A 5-BOOK SERIES THOUGH???? OR MORE? OR MORE!

FOR THE READERS: LISTEN UP BOOK HOTTIES: PREORDER PREORDER PREORDER PREORDER PREORDER PREORDER PREORDER PREORDER PREORDER PREORDER PREORDER PREORDER PREORDER PREORDER

Amina al-Sirafi is a hot mom whose biggest concern is completing home repairs before the rainy season, she is definitely not-a-pirate and definitely does-not-miss-the-wind-in-her-hair, furthermore, she has no idea where those rumors about a trail of ex husbands and teeth sharpened to points and mysterious robberies-cum-poisonings came from. When she is mercilessly dragged/bribed/blackmailed into un-retiring from her illustrious career on the high sees to save a kidnapped teen, she must reassemble her wayward but lovable crew (to the tune of Thin Lizzy's The Boys are Back in Town) and steal back the young heiress despite having little to no clues about where she and her kidnapper - a European crusader (ugh, gross) would-be wizard who is searching for magic powers to rival the gods - might be taking her. Adventure is afoot!

Ok get serious. I loved how much the research the author did about this time period and geographical setting came through in her story-telling. The boats, the trade routes, the cities and their governance, belief systems, wonderful; there are references to famed Islamic explorers, the Banu Sasan, the Crusades, greek fire, and probably a lot of things I didn't catch. The author includes a bibliography and further reading recommendations as well, which I love.
This story has everything: a middle-aged mom MC, pirates from every corner of the Arabian Sea, great escapes, swindles, evil magic, good? magic, magical creatures, semi-divine beings, a treasure hunt, sword fights, maps, A CAT - need I go on?! But really, the book did not feel overwhelmed by this, it felt each new piece fit naturally into the story.
I love the character of Amina - she is a mom, yes, and that is most certainly her highest priority - but it is not her only identity. She has loves and hopes and passions beyond what she can provide for her daughter, and although she can sometimes feel ashamed when they compete with her daughter for her attention and effort, she does not deny that they are a part of her. She is finding a way to be both things. I LOVE THAT FOR HER. I LOVE THAT FOR US, GIVE US MOMS WHO ARE ALSO PIRATES!!!! I also love that the story is told in her irreverent voice, her side commentary and sarcasm made me cackle multiple times while reading. The other characters are also great - we get depth in such short passages, few lines of dialogue are given to her compatriots but they still feel like they jump off the page.

I will say there were things I would change - I don't know that the "contemporaneous historical documents" that were included at the beginning of each chapter in the first half of the book were really necessary. Especially in combination with the narration of the book as an interview or recorded tale; that is, I think just one of those things could've been done, using both took me out of the story often and I think, made the story slower. Noticeably, this drops off in the second half of the book and the story speeds up considerably without that extra weight. Along that line, I thought the pacing was a bit off. The entire first half of the book felt slow and cumbersome and I think they don't even really get started on their journey (debatable) until near 40% into the book. At that point I was thinking, ok this is cute, it's cool, they had some fun hijinks, but it's slow and I don't feel the excitement of reading a fantasy novel. BUT - very important - I ate my words. The story picks up and takes off VERY quickly after 50% - and by the end of the book I was really swept away by the adventure of it all, I wanted to share this story with others.

I really hope you will read it and love it. I really hope (if the author wants) the publisher will give us a book for each talisman (honestly, I would read twenty books of Amina's adventures)(and twenty more of her daughters or grandfather's)(they would look so good on our shelves, don't you think??). I'm so excited to see where the crew goes next (oh I hope they make it to China SO MUCH) and so excited to see Jamal's future with them. I can't wait to get Raksh back in future stories (he's awful but he's so fun too, you know?) and I hope hope hope Amina's daughter will join them. (I don't know why I just feel like she'd love it)(fingers crossed for a stowaway story).

Amina al-Sirafi, former Nakhudha of the Marawati, has left her days of plundering, pillaging, and pirating far behind her. Actually, she hasn't stepped foot near the ocean since the birth of her daughter, 10 years ago. She had zero intention of ever seeing her ship or former crewmates again until she was tracked down by the wealthy mother of one of her former crewmen. The job she is offered is one no one can easily refuse. Find her late friend's kidnapped daughter and receive a sum that will assure her family will have riches for ages to come. Amina agrees but, like all great adventures, things are not as easy as they seem. As the stakes get higher, lies are uncovered, and plans are forced to change, Amina must become the legend of all the stories told about her in the past if she has any hope of returning home.

This book has everything. Magic, pirate adventures, politics, gay and trans representation, a cat who fails at being a cat, demons, found family, funny banter, mystical artifacts, gruesome violence, and one 40-year-old badass retired pirate and mother. I had high hopes for this book and it really managed to exceed them. Chakraborty masterfully delves deep into various lore and mythologies to tell a riveting and high-stakes seafaring adventure. The prose is fluid, the story compelling, and there was not a single dull moment throughout this entire book.

SA Chakraborty has done it again! While this story is completely different from her Daevabad series, it’s just as triumphant in its execution.

Amina Al-Sirafi is a retired sailor (pirate really) of notorious reputation, when a heist/rescue comes her way, drawing her back out onto the high seas. She assembles her crew once again and encounters other figures from her past along the way (demon husband is my personal favorite)

Amina’s voice is wry and funny, full of mischief and sarcasm. I also enjoyed that she was a mother (a middle-aged mother at that) which we don’t get enough of in fantasy!

This book was incredibly entertaining, of course well-write!, and a perfect adventure story.

I am simultaneously very happy with the decision to request an e-arc of this and also mad at myself because I LOVED this book and now I have to wait until MARCH to get my hands on a copy!

This was SUCH a fun read... there was not one single scene or chapter or moment that felt superfluous or like it was dragging on... and I could see everything happening SO VIVIDLY. Chakraborty really wrote the hell out of this book.

I loved the characters, specifically the Marawati crew and their dynamic together -- top notch!

I could see everything in this book -- the environment, the characters, the action-- SO vividly... and not because it was overly descriptive or anything. It was just... efficiently descriptive? I loved it.