Shannon Chakraborty, the bestselling author of The City of Brass, spins a new trilogy of magic and mayhem on the high seas in this tale of pirates and sorcerers, forbidden artifacts and ancient mysteries, in one woman’s determined quest to seize a final chance at glory—and write her own legend.
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.
Publishing Date: February 28, 2023
Genre: Fantasy
Age Group: Adult
My Rating: 4/5
This book hooked me from page one. The storytelling style is one that I think will be perfect on audio - so if you're an audio reader, I'd recommend that.
Pros:
The Accessibility: Even though this story has fantastical elements, it is super easy to read. It has an addictive quality where it is easy to get sucked into the storytelling.
The Characters: I really like how this story has characters that are more funny. I love the Daevabad Trilogy (also by S.A. Chakraborty), but that definitely feels serious. This was funny, and I loved it.
Cons:
The Intrigue of Book 2: I will be reading book two because I love Chakraborty's writing. However, I can see how some readers will be satisfied with just this one installment. It wraps up nicely, which I personally do not love for the first book in a series. I prefer open questions (and perhaps a dreaded cliffhanger). This incentivizes me to pick up the next book without waiting years.
The Length/Pacing: Parts of this book felt a little fast. Others felt a bit slow. The writing and humor kept me going, but I do think that there are parts of this novel which hit a slump.
Overall, I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in morally gray characters, pirates, and heists!
Thank you Harper Voyager for the ARC.
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