Fantasy published by Harper Voyager 28 Feb 23
I really enjoyed this book. Amina’s dry wit is very entertaining. I absolutely love her character and how she struggles with balancing her love of the sea and piracy with motherhood.
I also really love how Shannon tries to maintain historical accuracy for the time period, along with geographic location, while also weaving in fantastical elements of magic and folklore. This is fantasy at its finest for sure.
The found-family aspect of Amina’s crew is perfect. It’s such a wild cast of characters and I adore everyone. The harrowing life at sea, demon love interest, and steely determination of everyone kept me glued to the book. There are a few moments where the pacing feels a bit off. That’s the only reason I didn’t give it an A+. But this is really an awesome fantasy adventure, and I’d definitely recommend adding this one to your TBR.
Grade: A
Summary:
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.
Read an excerpt.
