I seem to be drawn this year to adventures on the high seas: lady pirates, survivors of shipwrecks, badass dude divers, and even more badass lady divers. So it’s only fitting that I continue with Shannon Chakraborty’s second Amina al-Sirafi novel, The Tapestry of Fate because Amina al-Sirafi is, of course, a badass lady pirate.
If there’s one trope I cannot resist, it’s the retiree with a very specific skill set called out for one last job. If you read the first Amina book, you’ll know that her one last job turned into more of a series of last jobs. This book picks up where the last left off, with Amina rounding up her band of sailors, pirates, poisoners, navigators, and lifelong friends to find the second and third Transgressions at the behest of the supernatural, but not especially super-friendly, peri. The third Transgression is really the focal point of this book – it’s a spindle that somehow can unravel a person’s fate. They suspect that Amina’s meddlesome, very sexy, vaguely demonic husband has something to do with the Spindle’s current situation. She is loathe to get involved with him again, and she is also torn about leaving her 11 year old daughter at home while she goes on another quest.
This is exactly why I love a middle-aged protagonist. I am also a middle aged lady and although I do not have a vaguely demonic husband or swashbuckling skills, I can relate absolutely to Amina’s motherly preoccupations. She has a bad knee, she feels vaguely guilty about working, her daughter is growing before her very eyes (how did she get so tall…?) But also, Amina simply can’t not be a pirate. Add to that her loyal band of pirate friends who have known her for over half her life, the weirdo backstory of the Spindle that (not really a spoiler) focuses on women’s ambition – spinning is a woman’s trade, after all – and her journey(s) from faith and back again, and what you get is a great adventure that takes seriously the feminine experience – which sometimes includes piracy. I mean, god forbid ladies have hobbies, am I right?
PS: For another real adventure with middle-aged protagonist, I also recommend Dragonsbane by Barbara Hambley.
