The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by S.A. ChakrabortyMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
"Praise be to God, who in His glory created the earth and its diversity of lands and languages, peoples and tongues. In these vast marvels, so numerous a human eye cannot gaze upon more than a sliver, is there not proof of His Magnificence?"
And thus begins one of the best five-star fantasy novels I've ever been blessed enough to read!
Chakraborty has taught me never to judge an author solely by her first book.
I initially picked up Book 1 of Chakraborty's Daevabad Trilogy and was disappointed in the execution, so I didn't have high hopes for this one (also the first in what promises to be another threesome).
And boy oh boy, I just LOVE it when I discover a new author to love! In the years between her first book and this most recent one, Chakraborty has evolved and written a book worth screaming about from the tops of trees: BEHOLD SOMETHING SO FRESH, SO VITALLY WRITTEN, IF YOU DON'T READ IT YOU'RE MISSING OUT ON HALF YOUR READING LIFE!
In these pages we find a Muslim FEMALE nakhudha (ship captain) so mythical, she makes Sinbad look like an amateur. Amina al-Sarafi is so memorable because, in all my literary journeys, I haven't encountered anyone remotely like her! No longer young (we need more middle-aged heroines! Woot woot!), the book tells of how the ex-pirate queen gets dragged back to a life of adventure so she could save both her daughter, and the child of another. Add in some supernatural elements, a healthy clash of East vs. West, and that incredible monster you see on the beautiful cover, and you get this fantastic page-turner!
"Both my grandfather and father had impressed upon me from an early age that we shared the sea with countless other peoples; if God had not meant for such diversity, he would have made us all alike."
It is wholely wondrous to this reader, so used to Western texts, to read Persian, Sanskrit and Arab terms, to encounter verses from the Qur'an's holy writ instead of from that of my own religion. And to recognize in greater detail how truly similar we brothers and sisters - children of Abraham - are.
And yes, this is one of those books one is grateful to read using a Kindle, so I could easily look up the unfamiliar words and recognize the misbaha as similar to our rosary, the maghrib to our vespers.
And the fantastical creatures like the peri (similar to our angels) and monsters which we have no English equivalent for populate this rich tale thrumming with action and peppered with insights that pierce every feminine heart.
For which woman has not felt the twin tensions of balancing duties at home and at work? Who has not felt guilty for enjoying undomestic pleasures, the satisfaction in meeting professional challenges head on, and solving them?
"The door called to me like the ghost of a lover, a haunting I did not want and yet couldn’t deny...Our hearts may be spoken for by those with sweet eyes, little smiles, and so very many needs, but that does not mean that which makes us us is gone."
This is more than a rip-roaring good read. It is downright revolutionary, with its mix of Muslim and Christian protagonists, its distinct pan-Arab focus, its representation of characters outside the usual dual gender assignments, and above all, its portrayal of womanhood in all its glory, and its acceptance of uniquely feminine struggles with identity and ambition.
My e-book is not enough. I NEED a hardcopy on my shelves, and shall hunt down the rest of the books in the trilogy as soon as they are published. What a gift, what a joy to be alive in the era of Amina al-Sirafi!
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