Do you think these people are all interesting and well-drawn characters? Are they more than one-dimensional stand-ins? Do you have favourites?

Is Falco a believable villain?

One observation is the parallel between Jamal/Dunya and Marjana. Both childredn have strong, protective (grand-)mothers, both are kept secluded from the world, and both have identities different from their assigned role (trans man and half-djinn). Both are strong drivers of the plot. How do you think these characters are similar or different, and how do you think their trajectories will differ?

Raksh is the only non-human with a lot of "screen" time. Does he come across as something other from the human characters? Do his motivations both make sense and are believably alien?

The only person to buck the trend is the non-human Raksh, who gains agency when he's bound to a human.

Similarly, Amina gains strength and magical senses from her contact with the peris, and Falco and crew gain from their pacts with the supernatural.

Amina and her crew are only really happy when they're on the seas, free from the restrictions of settled society.

What do you think of this analysis of the book? Do you think it's accurate? Do you agree with what it says about human interactions, where connections to people limit you, but only connections to the supernatural will enhance you?

How are these families different and what makes them the same? What do these different relationships say about motherhood and perceptions of what mothers should be like?

Contrast how Amina and Salima treat their children. Salima is cruel for keeping Jamal/Dunya trapped in the home, but Amina does the same with Marjana. Is Amina cruel? Is either parent justified in their actions?

How did you get on with the non-English words and the short glossary?

Did you learn anything new from the book? Is there anything you'd have wanted it to cover?

For those reading the Arabian Nights, did you get any references from there? There are plenty of names: Amina, Marjana, Clever Dalila; Sinbad gets a mention. What else?

Did the frankly transparent set-up detract from your enjoyment of the book? Are you looking forward to additional books in the series? Would you have preferred a self-contained book?

It's on rails.

Yet, there's a lot of the detail that unusual for modern, Anglophone fantasy books. The medieval Indian ocean setting, with all its diversity. The protagonist being a middle-aged mother. Middle-eastern mythology. The destruction of the McGuffin at the end.

How did that work for you? Was the predictability dull, or was it a comfortable platform? Were the unusual aspects enough to capture your interest?

When not buried in books about medieval seafarers and con artists, she enjoys hiking, knitting, and re-creating unnecessarily complicated historical dishes.

You can find her online at www.sachakraborty.com or on Twitter and Instagram at @SAChakrabooks, where she likes to talk about history, politics, and Islamic art. She currently lives in New Jersey with her husband, daughter, and an ever-increasing number of cats.

Shannon Chakraborty, the bestselling author of The City of Brass, launches a new trilogy of magic and mayhem with this tale of pirates and sorcerers, forbidden artefacts and ancient mysteries, and one woman’s quest to seize a final chance at glory…

A pirate of infamy and one of the most storied and scandalous captains to sail the seven seas.

Amina al-Sirafi has 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 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.

Yet the deeper Amina dives the higher the stakes. For there’s always risk in wanting to become a legend, to seize one last chance at glory, to savour just a bit more power…and the price might be your very soul.