Monthly Media #4

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty 

Available anywhere you buy books

This is a standalone fantasy adventure featuring retired pirates and demons chasing powerful magical objects across the historical Indian Ocean – what more do I need to say?

Chakraborty’s writing is beautiful and apparently well-researched, creating a vivid world you can really imagine existed. The characters are fun and complex, with the dynamics of a heist crew teaming up for one last job. The narration was a particularly interesting element: Amina's story is written as if she is dictating it, and features asides to the scribe and extracts from other texts to add context, mythology, or extra entertainment value. I would recommend this to someone who is looking for pirate fantasy, historical fantasy set in the Middle East and Indian Ocean regions, or standalone fantasy stories about adults (the main characters are in their 40s).

Castlevania: Nocturne 

Available on Netflix

Since my last entry of Monthly Media, I finished Castlevania – loved it – and moved on to Castlevania: Nocturne. Although it took a little longer for me to be sold on it than the original, I thought it was amazing overall. I was surprisingly invested in Richter’s story, and I found his romance with Annette a particularly strong point of the show – especially in the second season – I was really rooting for them. Nocturne stayed true to a lot of Castlevania’s strengths for me: a well-developed group cast, excellent fight scenes, and an interesting selection of villains and antiheroes for the characters to play off against. I recommend anyone who enjoyed Castlevania should give it a try, and you should definitely push through into Season 2; I think it works best watched straight through from start to finish.

Plot Twist by Victoria Aveyard and Soman Chainani

Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and other podcast platforms

Although only a few episodes have been released so far, this podcast is quickly becoming one I look forward to each week. It follows the writing and publishing journeys of the two authors’ upcoming books and the so-called ‘plot twists’ in their careers, as they are both writing in new genres. They also delve into topical issues in book publishing, answer questions, and share from their experience behind the scenes of writing, editing, and marketing books. Victoria Aveyard and Soman Chainani’s discussions are clear and entertaining, with a great mix of real-world issues and personal updates about their work.

Since I enjoyed Red Queen when I was younger, this podcast is making me especially excited for Victoria Aveyard’s upcoming book Tempest (adult pirate fantasy!) and the frank discussions about the publishing process and current pressures on authors make for very interesting listening.