Fantasy Book Critic: The River Of Silver by S. A. Chakraborty (reviewed by Shazzie)

OFFICIAL AUTHOR BIO: Shannon Chakraborty is the author of the critically acclaimed and internationally bestselling Daevabad Trilogy. Her work has been translated into over a dozen language and nominated for the Hugo, Locus, World Fantasy, Crawford, and Astounding awards. You can find her online at www.sachakraborty.com or on Instagram and Twitter as @SAChakrabooks.

FORMAT/INFO: Bestselling author S. A. Chakraborty’s acclaimed Daevabad Trilogy gets expanded with this new compilation of stories from before, during, and after the events of The City of Brass, The Kingdom of Copper, and The Empire of Gold, all from the perspective of characters both beloved and hated, and even those without a voice in the novels. The River of Silver gathers material both seen and new—including a special coda fans will need to read—making this the perfect complement to those incredible novels.

It will be published by HarperCollins on October 11, 2022 in the U.S and October 13, 2022 in the U.K, in hardback, e-book and audio formats.

OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: I don't read short story compilations because I like my big, long, epic fantasy books, but I read this book because I was absolutely dazzled by the Daevabad Trilogy. It was absolutely bingeable and is one of the most re-readable series I have recommended over the years, and I have barely heard that it didn't work for those who did take my suggestion seriously. When I learnt that this book was planned, I knew I absolutely wanted to read a copy and that I would love it.

The Daevabad Trilogy took readers to a tale that involved ancient ruins and magic, one with a society that was close to breaking due to communal tension. It followed mainly two characters, Nahri and Alizayd, and while the rest of the characters were well defined and given sufficient page time and depth, readers didn't get to follow their perspectives during the course of the trilogy. The author has attempted to fill in those gaps with these short stories, and I admit that she does so wonderfully.

The author is considerate and thoughtful enough to begin every short story with a small note that tells the reader when it took place relative to the events in the trilogy, and also mentions what books it contains spoilers for. I will mention here that I think readers need to read the trilogy before they pick this up. While many of these stories can be read after the first or second books, I think they can provide maximum enjoyment post reading them all.

Every story in this book is a carefully crafted piece that needs to be savoured. With most short story collections, I have clear favourites and others I tolerate, but here, I enjoyed all of them equally. I flipped the pages eagerly, but I did not want to run out of them either. Not only does it contain perspectives that readers are unfamiliar with, but it adds a lot to the fascinating world, and the city of Daevabad in particular. The author gives us more glimpses into the cities different factions, and its hidden splendour and cruelty, with stories told from the points of view of characters from Banu Manizeh and Ghassan to Jamshid.

CONCLUSION: Readers of the Daevabad Trilogy will want to read this, and will undoubtedly enjoy it. It contains the same beautiful writing, and contains thoughtfully written stories to put many characters in a different light. I urge all the readers that haven't read it yet, to pick all the four books up, because they're absolutely worth it, and an experience that they will not want to miss.