Synopsis
Amina al-Sirafi should be content. After a storied and scandalous career as one of the Indian Ocean’s most notorious pirates, she’s survived backstabbing rogues, vengeful merchant princes, several husbands, and one actual demon to retire peacefully with her family to a life of piety, motherhood, and absolutely nothing that hints of the supernatural.
But when she’s tracked down by the obscenely wealthy mother of a former crewman, she’s offered a job no bandit could refuse: retrieve her comrade’s kidnapped daughter for a kingly sum. The chance to have one last adventure with her crew, do right by an old friend, and win a fortune that will secure her family’s future forever? It seems like such an obvious choice that it must be God’s will.
Yet the deeper Amina dives, the more it becomes alarmingly clear there’s more to this job, and the girl’s disappearance, than she was led to believe. For there’s always risk in wanting to become a legend, to seize one last chance at glory, to savor just a bit more power…and the price might be your very soul.
Review
“People have this idea of mothers, that we are soft and gentle and sweet. As though the moment my daughter was laid on my breast, the phrase I would do anything did not take on a depth I could have never understood before.”
This is the first English book I’ve read that has mentioned halwa and as someone from Tirunelveli, the book automatically gets five stars then and there. I don’t make the rules. This might seem disingenuous but this book mentions payasam too – I’ve got no choice.
This is my first Shannon Chakraborty book and I loved it cover to cover – right from the beginning reference to Sinbad the sailor to the Barnes & Noble exclusive short story of how the mistress of poisons joined Amina’s crew. The audiobook is very, very good. Lameece Issaq and Amin El Gamal complement Chakraborty’s writing so well and bring alive the world and the characters.
Talking about the world first, the setting is the medieval time period trade routes around the Indian Ocean ports. Before the European age of exploration began, the Indian Ocean was the center of bustling trade between East Africa, West Asia, India, Southeast Asia, and China. At one point, it was the biggest international trade network and there have been very few fantasy books set around this period. I’ve read books in Tamil with stories set around this time but this is in fact the first English fictional book I’ve read with this setting. And the ports and the culture represented in the books are so accurately researched and presented. The reader with even a working knowledge about the traditions and history of the regions I’ve mentioned above will be able to recognize a lot of the details. The author has taken so much care to lovingly and firmly represent many of the facts around the medieval Indian ocean world. Now I’m not an expert but all the details mentioned feel very believable and this feeling gives Chakraborty’s writing a lot of power.
“You know how I have a tendency to misjudge risk?”
She snorted. “You are an excellent judge of risk. Your problem is that you run toward it.”
Secondly, the characters. Amina by herself is an extraordinary character and deserves a whole essay. If I said the world and the details feel very believable, with Amina, I’m convinced she was a real pirate who used to roam the Arabian shores and that Chakraborty is just a historian. She is complex, real, contradictory, flawed, deep and I feel every feeling she feels. She is also strong, smart, quick witted, quirky, and extremely competent. There is a police station scene about 25% into the book where I feel the author is just showing off what a fascinating character she has created with Amina. It was a delight. And not to be outdone, I love many of the side characters equally – Tinbu, Dalila, Majed, Raksh. Dalila is one of those characters that you fall in love with after just one scene. Furthermore, this list literally includes a demon and an assassin.
“Tinbu, stop yelling at the tree. Dalila, stop stabbing the tree.”
Then we come to the writing, and oh how evocative it is. I was moved to tears twice in one chapter when Jana was told she can’t go to school yet and then later when she asks her mom not to go sailing again. It also rejuvenated my love for nautical fantasy – I love ships and sailing and the stories that happen across the waters. Chakraborty was once again very compelling when the seas were calm and drove me to panic when the waters were rough. I also can’t remember anybody else who captivated me into their world and characters in as few pages as Chakraborty. Every scene rose very quickly and vividly in my mind, every time.
“Stop ogling a demon’s ass. Ogling a demon’s ass is what got you into all these troubles in the first place.”
Finally, the plot. It is a rag tag crew coming out of retirement to band together for one last mission with their lives at stake- This is fast and furious with ships in the Indian Ocean. A diverse cast of characters, thrilling sea adventures with high octane escape sequences, and a core family bonding – what’s not to love. Since it is the medieval period, instead of a high tech surveillance device, you have djinnish artifacts and magic crystals.
In conclusion, I love this book and can’t wait for book 2: The Tapestry of Fate.
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