The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi

Another great book by Shannon Chakraborty!

Amina är en väldigt bra start in i fantasy för er som precis som jag nyligen började läsa igen i vuxen ålder. Charaktärerna är trovärdiga och roliga att läsa, man vill veta mer och mer om dem ju mer man läser men den som tar showen är verkligen huvudkaraktären Amina som man följer i en fisrt person perspektiv.Om ni är intresserade av en crew av karaktärer som är mycket äldre och faktiskt visar sin ålder är boken perfekt. Att läsa om en moder och se hennes perspektiv på världen var något jag verkligen gillade och hur hbtq+ karaktärerna vävdes in utan problem var också ett stort plus.Boken utspelar sig i en intressant del av världen som man oftast inte läser om i fantasy vilket kändes väldigt fresh.För att summera så rekommenderar jag starkt denna boken till alla som vill läsa om en stark äldre kvinnlig karaktär i en bit av världen man ofta inte läser om i fantasy som får gå igen prövningar i både moderskap och sin tro.

Una auténtica preciosidad. Ha venido en muy buen estado (en otras ocasiones que he comprado libros por aquí han venido golpeados o ligeramente estropeados, pero este ha llegado perfecto). La edición es una maravilla, está en inglés y tapa dura. Con muchas ganas de leerlo, he leído muy buenas opiniones del libro.

It has been a while since I have been this confident about giving a book 5 stars. The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi is an adventurous fantasy tale about a former pirate captain who is lured out of retirement for one last adventure to rescue the daughter of a former crewman. This story has everything, adventure, high stakes, humour, horror, mystery, magic, monsters, twists, and characters you will absolutely love in all their morally questionable glory. It was absolutely unputdownable. I am now interested in learning more about the history and culture of the Indian Ocean during the medieval era, and want more stories rooted in myths and legends from this area. Luckily the author was kind enough to include her research sources, what a legend.

Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi is an entertaining sea adventure-historical-fantasy of a woman pirate sailing the Arabian Gulf and Indian Ocean in the 12th century. This is the world of Sinbad the Sailor, of Ibn Battuta, of Oman’s beautiful rich naval history of seafaring dhows. Amina is also awesome! She is no plucky sassy teenage girl (the overdone protagonist of choice in this genre), but rather, she is 40-something swashbuckling pirate comfortable with herself and confident in her own abilities.The story is funny and adventurous, and moves at a great pace. The only negative that I would say is that writer (who also does this with her City of Brass series) likes to insert contemporary social/political commentary in her work. I agree with her politics (I can tell that she is quite progressive) so it is not a criticism of her political beliefs themselves, but rather the way they are presented. It is sometimes quite jarring to have modern developed political thoughts and commentary about the vagaries of the "rich folk" jump out of a rich tapestry of medieval Islamic and maritime fantasy. It's not that people of that time weren't political, but the way it is presented is not very organic.I am just so grateful to see this time and place represented and finally, a mature adult female voice enjoying herself in adventure story that's not all Kate Chopin and Sylvia Plath, or some YA fantasy romance that happens to take place in a vague historical setting. It is very clear to me that the author did a lot of research to craft this world.

Brilliant