Genre: Fantasy Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rep: POC, Gay
Ironically, I recently picked up The River of Silver by S.A. Chakraborty for the exact reason the author wrote the book; I was going through personal issues and I needed some familiarity in my life. Like Chakraborty, I was excited to revisit a world I already knew and loved. The River of Silver turned out to be the exact mixture of comfort and adventure that I needed!
The book is an anthology of short stories that take place in the same world as Chakraborty’s Daevabad trilogy. There are stories for many of the characters we all know and love, that span a huge time period, from before the other novels to after them. It also included an alternative ending to The Empire of Gold.
Once again, I find myself at a loss for words to adequately describe the immense talent that Chakraborty so clearly has in abundance! I love that she decided to revisit this world and expand on so many of her characters. I was a little worried that I wouldn’t feel as connected to this book since the stories follow quite a few different characters, but that worry was completely unfounded. I ended up loving that I got a deeper look into the histories and lives of characters I already knew, especially Hatset’s and Rustam’s stories.
My favorite part of the book is that it is so immersive just like Chakraborty’s other books. I truly felt like I was in Daevabad while reading, and that feeling of escaping reality is indescribable. Likewise, I have only found a handful of authors who have this uncanny ability to fully transport their readers to another world.
Chakraborty has a solid place among my favorite authors, and I can’t wait to read The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi when it comes out next year!
The Biased Bibliophile 