The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi: A Novel

Shannon Chakraborty

Feb 2023 · HarperAudio · Narrated by Lameece Issaq and Amin El Gamal

About this audiobook

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.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

Ratings and reviews

I will start with how unrealistic the premise of this story is since it has new beliefs integrated into a time period where they were not accepted. Women's rights, religious tolerance, and LGBTQ are examples of things that would not be accepted in this time period as much as they were accepted in this book. These things were met with more hostility. That being said, I listened to this as if it were a comedy. The narration was great! They did things I will not spoil for you but were a bit unique, and worked. It was an easy listen and highly entertaining which is exactly what I wanted for a summer read.

Wonderful narrator(s) and great start to a series!

About the author

Shannon Chakraborty is the author of the critically acclaimed and internationally bestselling Daevabad Trilogy. Her work has been translated into over a dozen languages and nominated for the Hugo, Locus, World Fantasy, Crawford, and Astounding awards. You can find her online at sachakraborty.com or on Instagram and Twitter as @SAChakrabooks.