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It is not always easy to do the right thing, Amina al-Sirafi. More often than not, it is a lonely, thankless ordeal. That does not mean it is not worth doing.” Amina is a retired pirate with tales told about her that are almost as tall as she is. Used to living in anonymity and enjoying her peace with her daughter, she finds herself set upon by a wealthy mother of a former friend who demands her services in recovering a kidnapped girl. Though she hesitates in accepting, Amina knows deep down that she still longs for adventure and agrees to take this one last job. But nothing is quite as it seems, and the more that Amina learns about this task, the more she finds that this conflict goes deeper and is more dangerous than she could have imagined. My original goal for this novel was to have the setting be as historically accurate as possible with only the plot and magical details invented…which was an excellent way to end up both repeatedly humbled and reminded of the slippery malleability of the past. Hilary Mantel famously said once that “history is not the past. It is what is left in the sieve when the centuries have run through it.” Except of course the centuries have not run unobjectively through it; history is the creation of those who tell it with all their unconscious biases and outright intentions. The characters are easily my favorite part of this book. Amina al-Sirafi is a badass pirate mom who is fed up with all of the magical bullshit in her world. Having left her pirate life behind she is both terrified and thrilled when she is roped into "one last adventure." I adore every single member of her crew. Though this is the first time we have met these characters, you can feel the history and connections that bond them together. Their banter was both heartwarming and hilarious. My favorite character was, to no one's surprise, the beautifully useless himbo chaos demon Rashk. I am not distracted,” I insisted. “I am murderously focused.”And just like that, I fell in 💕lurve💕.
I can only imagine what Ray Harryhausen would do with such a rich trove of material. Above is a still from The 7th Voyage of Sindbad I have traveled widely enough that I take everything written about “foreigners” with doubt and know better than to judge a community by their worst individuals.”
I really like it so far! I like how the past is peppered in and I have just enough questions that I want answers, but am still able to pay attention.
After retiring, Amina lives a quiet life with her daughter Marjana. A woman named Salima tells Amina that her granddaughter Dunya is missing. Dunya’s father was Asif, one of Amina’s crew members who died under unclear circumstances. Dunya has disappeared after meeting with a Frankish mercenary and occultist named Falco Palamenestra. Amina recruits a team of her former crewmates to retrieve Dunya. These include Dalila, an expert poisoner; Tinbu, her first mate; and Majed, her navigator. They sail aboard the Marawati. You’re completely stranded on a deserted island with just one other person. Between Amina, Dalila, Tinbu or Majed, who would you choose to be stranded with and why? I initially thought Yusuf was a guard, but it seems he has a soft spot for Tinbu. Maybe they have another hand to help them break him out? i love that this is a fantasy novel that centers a sex-positive devout muslim woman in control of her own story. i don’t love that this is written like YA when it is marketed as adult. But when she’s offered a job no bandit could refuse, she jumps at the chance for one final adventure with her old crew that will make her a legend and offers a fortune that will secure her and her family’s future forever.You recreate the world so vividly and with such authority, the reader feels transported – tell us about your research. What was one of the most interesting things your research uncovered?
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