Book Review: The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi

I know this cover makes you think there's a kraken attack in this story. There is not a kraken, it's much more unique.

The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty is an adult historical fantasy novel centered on an 12th century female pirate captain and her crew in the waters off of Yemen. This book is in the same universe at the author's famous Daevabad Trilogy (City of Brass (2017), Kingdom of Copper (2019), and Empire of Gold (2020), written as S.A. Chakraborty) although about one thousand years before those books take place. This author also has separate short stories and a collection of short stories set in the Daevabad universe.

Amina Al-Sirafi is a retired pirate captain, living out her days with her daughter and mother in an unassuming corner of Yemen. However, when a wealthy woman arrives knowing a little too much about Amina, the captain is forcibly pulled from retirement to find the wealthy woman's missing granddaughter. Success means riches beyond any of her former plunder, but failure means her daughter will be killed. Amina reunites with her old crew of misfits and her all important ship to sail the seas once more, but finds far more adventure than anyone bargained for.

There's a lot to like about this novel. Amina is an interesting character, a mother--which fantasy often kills off--and an older character than most fantasies focus on. The rest of her crew is entertaining as well. I hadn't seen most of the magical things they encountered before, which kept things feeling fresh and new. Despite it being a long book, it didn't take that long for me to read. 

On the downside, the "one last adventure" trope was at the forefront, which isn't my favorite. It also felt like the beginning (after Amina gets her goal for the novel) was quite slow, and a lot of it was figuring out what was going on. I'd say from the 20% to the 45% mark was too slow for my taste. 

This book is for you if you enjoyed the Daevabad Trilogy, because I have to assume there are easter eggs in there for you. (I didn't read her other trilogy so I don't know for sure.) It's also or you if you enjoyed the maternal main character of The Broken Earth Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin or if you're looking for fantasy with Islamic influence. It's not for you if you dislike the "one last adventure" trope, dislike pirates, or need the pacing to be quick throughout. It's also not for you if you're going to complain about Muslim characters.


Have you read The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi? Have you read City of Brass and know how they relate? Let's discuss in the comments!