"The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi" Discuss Everything *Spoilers*

[SFFBC, Ancillary Mod]

Come chat here about all things Amina!

A few questions to get us started:

1. What did you think of the world?
2. What did you think of the interview/story-like style of the narrative?
3. What did you think of Amina's choices?
4. What worked or didn't for you?
5. Overall thoughts?

Non-spoiler thread here: First impressions

[Alex]

I read this book in 2023 and loved it. It contains a great story about parents re-examining their expectations of their children and vice versa. Any parent will likely identify with Amina’s struggle to pursue her own ambition, knowing that it will likely come at the expense of time with her daughter. During COVID lockdowns I remember feeling like I could be good at my job or a good Dad, but not both and Amina’s guilt was all too real.

Raksh was a favorite of mine and I thought that was a totally unique and fun approach to a character that could have been ominous and one-note in less deft hands.

I thought the narrator reveal at the end was a lovely twist and made me appreciate the foundation that built the ending and the poignancy it brought to the theme of parents and expectations.

Mainly, though, it was just a well-constructed story and I’m glad more people are going to check it out as part of this group!

[Rose]

Alex, I agree, I really enjoyed this story. It's so refreshing to have a middle-aged woman as a protagonist, a captain, a mother, a friend, and a real bad-ass. I loved the setting and the worldbuilding, it was so cool to read a "medieval" story set in a completely non-western context.

I also liked how this book told a complete story, while leaving room for future books with Amina's further adventures. I thought that was deftly done - the promise of future stories to be told without a cliffhanger.

And great queer representation, love that.

I don't usually like starting new/still in progress series, but I'm glad the group chose this one, and glad I read it.

[Sarah]

The audio narrator on this one was amazing! I loved all the tongue-in-cheek.

Did anyone else think it felt on the long side? I loved the adventure but the middle did lag for me.

[Ryan]

Agree that it was a bit too long, but everything else was great. The characters are fun, funny, and well-developed. The narration is consistently engaging, with the plot moving swiftly. Overall, the story is a fun adventure full of magic and mystery, yet everything wraps up nicely at the end.

If anyone read Chakraborty's previous series, Daevabad, I liked that we got more of a glimpse into the lives of the peris.

[Rosie]

I listened to this book last year on audio as well and loved it. What everyone has said above, love the none Western setting, how all the characters, even the ones that don't appear for long still felt like full people, even with a brief meeting sometimes.

Raksh is brilliant and I think the kind of people a person gathers and keeps around them is a great example of what kind of person the leader is.

The narrator was great and I'm really looking forward to more stories about Amina. Also looking to go through Chakraborty's other book series.

I appreciate the difference between Amina's reputation and the reality of the person, as the stories that get spread about someone will always be somewhat unrelated to reality.

[Clare]

This was even better than I hoped it would be. It's been sitting on my shelf since it came out last year, I was a little worried that it wouldn't be as good as I was expecting and it's a longer book to pick up and get started on.

I'm so glad I did, it was so refreshing to have a female protagonist who had the age and experience to make it believable that people would both fear and follow her. I also agree that it highlighted the guilt and fear a mother has when she does things for herself. It was a wonderful way to start off 2024.

I hope it's not too long before we get to read more of Amina's adventures.

[Rosie]

One thing I enjoyed especially was the mention of and visiting of places in a different part of the world than I know, while events like the Crusades are distant events in foreign lands.

Really makes me want to read up on the history of that part of the world from Medieval times.

[Gabi]

This was a fun read. I loved the setting and geographical/ historical bits and pieces. I, too, listened to it and the narrators were great.

Highlight was certainly Raksh, such a great chaotic character. sufficiently grey to be interesting. The main baddy though was way too one dimensional to add anything to the story.

It's not the first time that I regret that GR only has a five star rating system. I would give this 4 stars as well, cause it was such a nice popcorn read, but it comes nowhere near the impact "My real children" has on me, which I also gave 4 stars.
I'm certain in a year I will have forgotten what this novel was about while the Jo Walton one will stay with me.

So here is completely different 4 stars :).

[Olga]

First of all, I loved the narration! Voice actors did their job perfectly. Not sure that I'd have enjoyed the story as much if it were an eye read. Sidebars were a great touch.

As for the story itself, I enjoyed following Amina's adventures, especially in the second half of the book, but it wasn't a wow-experience. Maybe I had too high expectations going into the book, maybe it's just because the whole naval-piraty theme doesn't resonate with me as much. There is nothing I feel the need to criticise, but at the same time 4 stars feels like the most I can give the book at this point. Maybe when the other two instalments come out and I binge read all three my opinion will change. I did like the setting up for the other books and look forward to finding out how the things turn out for the crew of Marawati.

Raksh. He's so amazingly bad and selfish (and mostly blind to the fact). I love how Shannon portrayed him in a way, that I can't completely hate and despise him. There's something about him that makes me want to see him reformed and reunited with his family, no matter how naive and simplistic it may sound. And oh I want to "see" his face when he finds out about his daughter.

Amina herself did not impress me at first. She was supposed to be some super legend pirate captain, but the way she told the story (not even the events she described) were in such a dissonance with all the hype around her. It was difficult for me to create an image of her in my head because of it. But after she got to the magic island, it all somehow clicked into place. She became the hero I expected her to be from the very beginning.

[Sarah]

I completely agree - I gave it 4 stars too because there was nothing I could fault. But at the same time I’m not sure I would have made it through without that narrator.

[Rosie]

I find the dissonance between the legend and Amina herself to be pretty interesting.

It makes sense to me that the legends built up around her really aren't that accurate, they're fantasies made up by people who don't want to be embarrassed that they got robbed by pirates, especially a woman, or the natural embellishment that stories being told to people always go through.

Right at the beginning, we have a direct example of the stories being made up by people, when she saves those two boys on the boat from the sea spirit and then they run home and tell a bunch of lies about it.

I really liked that she feels like a real person, having to deal with this reputation she's got, as what real person could make all the stories people have made up be true and not rumour mongering?

[CBRetriever]

Sarah wrote: "I completely agree - I gave it 4 stars too because there was nothing I could fault. But at the same time I’m not sure I would have made it through without that narrator."

it's been a fairly fast read for me and the only reason I haven't finished it yet is because of the other books I'm reading. It's pretty gruesome in parts (I'm 50% into it) but the clash/differences in religious, ethnic backgrounds and cultures is pretty good.

[CBRetriever]

finished and yes, it sets up a possibility of a series but it could be stopped at this point as there isn't a cliffhanger

edit to change thee to there

[Kaia]

I started trying to read this in 2023, and it wasn't the right time for me. I'm glad I took another shot at it because this time, I really got sucked in. I enjoyed much of what has been mentioned already - the world the story is set in, informed by the real history of that region, the exploration of family dynamics, especially mother and child, and the great, layered main characters of Amina and Raksh. I saw in the author's note that she started the book in March 2020, and I wonder how much of that experience of writing while also parenting and homeschooling and everything else informed the relationships between the parents and children in the story. Like Alex mentioned in the first post, I could really relate to Amina's feelings of guilt and being pulled between work / personal desires and child / being a good parent.

While I found the story to be very engaging, I did feel like there were a few too many obstacles before Amina was able to get to the main climax - I still enjoyed these parts, but it was starting to feel a bit long toward the last part of the book.

I loved the author's Daevabad trilogy, and if you haven't read those books and you enjoyed this one, I would definitely recommend you give them a try.

[Rosie]

I'm planning to read the Daevabad trilogy while waiting for the next Amina book. One the things I especially loved was the found family of Amina's crew, how much the care and trust each other, but also tease with that familiarity of shared experience and knowing each other. I love all their interactions.

[Ellen]

Really enjoyed this. I loved Amina and her struggles with herself.
Listened to the audio and it was very well done and made it fun.
I was reminded of The Arabian Nights. Read those stories many times as a child.

[Bonnie]

Hello! I am here to rain on the parade!

All my Friends & Following, as well as everyone here, rated it 4 or 5 stars. But from me, only two.

4. What worked or didn't for you?
liked the setting - interesting to have the fantasy set in Indian Ocean, 1200s, sort of Sinbad the Sailor tales.
liked hearing alternate views about the Crusaders.
Raksh was a bit of a character.
I liked the period phrases, like "Peace be upon you."

Many times I didn't care for the language. Too many "My mouth dropped open in shock" / "Yusuf's mouth fell open in genuine shock" type phrases and F-bombs -- 30+. (Wouldn't some "period" or on-the-high-seas cuss word be better?) Contemporary dialog and attitude.

Could be just me... have had a lot of books and shows lately of parents with children in peril, and parents in peril trying to get back to their beloved children. A LOT.

They kept calling themselves pirates, but they did not seem like pirates -- in fact I don't think they ever WERE pirates; they were sailors who did occasional smuggling. But middle-aged smugglers doesn't sound as dramatic? This could be a deeper lesson about legends that grow, except Amina said herself she was a pirate. She seemed appalled at any misdeeds though.

[Thomasrice]

I really liked the world it describes. The combination of fantasy and history is just wow. I will say right away that Amina's choice seems logical and plausible to me. When I read it, I forgot about all my other affairs. I had to look for assignment writing services, I remember finding https://ca.edubirdie.com/assignment-w... for this. I read the book in 3 days in the end. Then I reread it again. There are just moments in it that catch your attention, and the world and characters are memorable.