The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi: A Novel

What a rousing tale. I’m not normally a fantasy reader but the female adventure pirate had me hooked right away and what a great tale of adventure. Fast paced, well written and such a great lead character!! Thoroughly enjoyable

I liked this book a lot, but I didn't love it. I would say this is 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 stars. Truthfully, I picked it up because of the cover art. It reminded me of The Priory of the Orange Tree, which I did love. This is the first book in a proposed trilogy. I can see how the trilogy can continue, but this is a complete story with a satisfying ending.I'm not sure how historically accurate this is, but I enjoyed this tale of a pirate and her adventures. We are introduced to many mythical creatures and I enjoyed the battles. I feel the tone of the story moves between young adult and adult. There is no explicit sex, just people getting together off screen. Since I would like more of Amina's adventures, and more of her relationship to her daughter, I can see myself reading the next book in the series.

A classic Arabic dessert, Knafeh is created with cheese, spun dough, and sweet syrup with pistachio nuts are then sprinkled on top. The taste, the depth of flavor is both humbling and awe inspiring. It remains one of my very favorite things in the world. It is pure, unbridled joy, a triumph of Arabic ingenuity and talent.The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi resonates with me as truly "Knafeh for the reader's soul". Filled with strange names and far-away places, the deep sharp crunch of terrifying monsters and magical beings give way to smooth, sharply defined characters. The characters are vivid and memorable and move across a dazzling world filled with violence, misery, and drenched in the sweetest of hopes.Shannon has a talent of introducing the dizzying cast of rogues and drawing the reader into this amazing world. The characters dance and sing, fight and love. They are all three dimensional with grudges and history, sore knees and secrets. They fight, they clash, and each is worthy of a novel all on their own. Shannon has a gift for deeply researching the time periods, plucking stories and ships from the real world, and knitting them together in a tapestry of action and excitement that has kept me up late more than once.Yes, the words and names can be different and confusing. Trust the process. Shannon always includes a glossary to help us along the way. Allow the wonder of Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi pour over your spirit and enjoy the wild ride. Hurry up, the Nakhudha is waiting for you.

What an adventure! This was the perfect summer book. Do you like pirates, sea monsters, sorcerers, and mature characters who’ve lived a life full of both triumph and regret? This book is for you!Amina is a retired pirate who lives a quiet life with her daughter. When offered a job that will ensure a safe and stable life for her family, she jumps at the opportunity. She gathers a crew of fascinating (and shady) characters and sets sail. What begins as a simple mission turns into a dangerous quest filled with sorcerers, magical sea monsters, and divine entities with unknowable agendas.It was SO refreshing to read a fantasy book with a middle-aged protagonist. She wrestles with her legacy and struggles to reconcile her love for her daughter with her yearning for adventure. I loved exploring the rich history of seafaring in the Indian Ocean and learning about the mythology of that region.I recommend this if you want a tropical adventure filled with magic, myth, and memorable characters!

After the smashing success of the Daevabad trilogy, fans of Shannon Chakraborty know exactly what to expect from her. She consistently provides: complex characters with complex morality; an in-depth immersion in Middle Eastern mythology, geography and faith; and a gradual build up to a crescendo of non-stop action. The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi brilliantly delivers all of the above.If you ever wondered how the story of Sinbad would be improved if the lead character were a middle-aged woman whose strength and wit have already reached legendary status in her own time, the character of Amina al-Sirafi is your answer. Magical forces outside her control, and no small amount of greed and political machinations, pull al-Sirafi away from her bucolic life in semi-retirement and cause her to reassemble her eclectic, eccentric, and highly-skilled pirate crew to help save a young woman. Along the way there is plenty of swashbuckling, a jailbreak, and enough witty banter to fill the hold of the largest frigate. There's even a cameo by a beloved Daevabad character.Chakraborty does not weave her tales out of whole cloth, instead relying on her deep, scholarly appreciation of her source material. Serious readers would do well to plumb the depths of the mutli-page bibliography she provides at the end of the book. But you don't have to be a scholar to love this story. Anyone who loves to watch a scruffy team of big-hearted rogues pull together to use their wits to defeat an unambiguous evil will find much to love in this book.Be forewarned, as with City of Brass, things move slowly at the beginning of Amina al-Sirafi, but the payoff in the second half of the book more than compensates for the slow early pace. As always, Chakraborty's prose is rich and evocative without feeling overwrought, and her dialogue is as sharp as a pirate's scimitar. Everything about the Adventures of al-Sirafi is a delight, and it's easily a must-read for 2023.

Bem escrito, narrativa dinâmica, história interessante. Amina é super carismática e pokas ideia, personagens de suporte também são bem definidos. A ambientação é impecável.

Really enjoyable fantasy loved every minute of it

Le livre est arrivé tâché, comme montré sur la photo. C'est vraiment dommage car autrement il est en parfait état. Ayant déjà lu le livre sur mon kindle (5 étoiles pour le contenu), je voulais un bel exemplaire pour ma bibliothèque, donc je suis un peu déçue.

Per 20€ di libro, la fine della stampa della spina del libro non coincide con l’effettivo bordo, poi la grafica stampata è piuttosto rovinata

In diesem Buch taucht man in eine wundervolle Welt mit Piraten, Djinns, Geistern, Menschen in einer Welt rund um das rote Meer ein. Es geht um Beziehungen, Verantwortung, Freundschaft und natürlich Gut & Böse. Also alles was zu einem guten Fantasybuch gehört.An verregneten Tagen kann man sich mit diesem Buch einen schönen Tag erlesen.