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Amina al-Sirafi Q5: Setting
The setting of this book, the medieval Indian ocean, is one that isn't well-represented in Anglophone literature. What did you think of it? Did you find the setting interesting, compelling, exotic? Did its presentation suffer from the curse of Orientalism? Are you looking forward to more books in the region (whether from Chakrabory or others)?
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?
Comments
I found the setting utterly fascinating. I want to write an RPG set there, though my Outremer setting would be very close. I want other people to live there through their characters. This is like Dream Time Middle East. I am pretty familiar with this setting through my work on Outremer, and I loved what the author did with it.
The Franks have taken Jerusalem and still keep it, so it is between 1100 and 1187
Chakraborty made the decision to showcase objective magic. In doing so, she decisively moved from historical fiction to alt-historical fiction. She is obviously not interested in historical realism. I think you are reading the wrong book, one that you expected and she didn't write.
Personally I think she made the right decision. I don't think anyone can really get into the mind-set of pre-modern humans. Whatever they do is a construct of their own, based on their interpretations. Thus it is just as true to do as Chakraborty did and run it like an RPG, with different modern people playing different ancient roles. This doesn't invalidate the story.
Of course, I would have no way of knowing what she wrote before I read it. Right or wrong, I read the book that was selected for the group read and reacted to it based on my own experiences and perceptions.
I'm sorry if you feel I was criticizing you, but I think if you had different expectations - or like I did no expectations at all - coming in, your read might have been very different. Perhaps she used the real historical setting because the historical setting is ready-made, and also intriguing in its own right, as well as mostly unexplored by modern fiction. She went to the trouble of researching stuff because it's fascinating and interesting on its own, so why not if you are so inclined? She could have changed the names to protect the innocent, but I should think the presence of objectively real, tangible magic - as opposed to subjectively real and intangible magic - would be a giant red flag saying 'this is made up shit, yo!'
I tend to approach these modern fantasies the same - hoping I’ll like this one, but prepared to be let down. This one let me down. Most do. But not all! I really quite liked Senlin Ascends (less it’s sequels, but book 4 brought it all together). And I like it enough to explore 3 more volumes. It was set in a fantasy world of Ur, which at once resembled a steampunk ancient Mesopotamia (not really except for names , the tower, and the use of sheckels) and the English countryside. So you see I can be open minded about new fiction. The Vorrh was another series that mightily impressed me.
I grew into my opinion of this particular book over the reading of it. And I didn’t dislike it - I only thought it was ‘ok’ meaning I didn’t like it or dislike it. But I disliked aspects of it. The main reason for that were the predictable plot, characters, and yes even setting. I’m curious why you thought the setting was so interesting? I thought Outremer tread similar ground much more convincingly.
Well OK then. In Outremer, I wanted to bring in the Red Sea, Aden and the Hadramout, Oman, Socotra... many things that she brought into The Adventures. I researched many of the same sources, and I kept recognizing bits of them throughout. But It was too peripherally connected to Outremer to fold it in neatly. This was like a game played in a version of Outremer I wrote in an alternate universe. Perhaps that is what entranced me, because its predictable characters, plot, and setting seemed wonderful to me. I guess I am too naive.
Haha
Perish the thought...
This conversation has been helpful to me and stimulated a few thoughts.
1) @clash_bowley if you were going to write an RPG I'd strongly recommend Tim Severin as mentioned in other discussion threads - there's a host of fascinating stuff about ship construction, navigation, crew make-up, social interaction around the Indian Ocean, and the necessity to know what you're doing weather-wise.
2) @Apocryphal your comment about it being more like an RPG campaign summary was spot on and crystalised my thoughts about the book being a series of episodic events rather than a plot (I'm not going to try to define exactly how a plot differs from a series of events, but I feel that it does
). I was thinking more like an old-style Star Trek TOS season but with a bit more eye to a whole-season quest, but a campaign summary sums it up even better, I think.
So yes, I thought it was OK but not great, and it hasn't made me want to rush out and get other books by Shannon Chakraborty. I am glad it's in a kind of non-standard setting but feel that more could have been made of this. I liked the crew dynamics, but wished I could have followed them a bit more rather than having to go sort out Falco. I liked the choice of Amina as central character but wasn't sure it needed the "here's a fearfully large pile of dosh" motive to get her going. And so on - lots of things to like, but lots of things that took the edge off for me.
I am thinking seriously of a supplement for Outremer focused on the Indian Ocean, so I will pick up the Sinbad Voyage. Thank you for the recommendation, Richard!