The River of Silver (The Daevabad Trilogy)

by S. A. Chakraborty

[Quirky Cat]

When S.A. Chakraborty concluded The Daevabad Trilogy, I thought that was it – that it was all over. Then she hinted at something else she was working on from this world, and my hopes lifted right back up into the stratosphere. And here it is - The River of Silver, an anthology of short stories set around the main series of events.

Have you ever felt like there was more to explore in The Daevabad Trilogy? Or did you ever want to see a piece of the story through a different character's perspective? Well, I have good news for you because The River of Silver does exactly that.

This anthology collects fifteen short stories from this world. Some are set before the series kicks off, some happen directly in the middle, and others follow the conclusion. In other words, it's a nice variety of stories to dive into.

Continue reading to see my quick take on each short in this anthology. If you look below, you'll see that every short story is basically named after the primary perspective, which is different – but quite effective!

Manizheh
Rating: ★★★★
Set decades before The City of Brass. I think this short hurt a lot more than I expected. It's easy to feel sympathy for Manizheh's character, at least at first. Once my brain picked up on what was happening – and remembered all the pain she caused – things got a bit more complicated.

Duriya
Rating: ★★★★★
Set about a year before Manizheh's perspective (above) takes place. Oh, I love this one so, SO much. Duriya is Nahri's mother, and while we hear quite a bit about her (or her family line) we don't get to know a whole lot about the woman herself. So it was refreshing to see the world from her eyes, even if just for a little bit.

Hatset
Rating: ★★★★★
Set decades before The City of Brass. Since we learned more about one mother (Duriya), it only makes sense that we would also learn about another famous mother. Hatset is the mother of Ali and Zaynab, and once again, it was refreshing to see her take on the world. I sort of love how carefully she planned everything out. Gotta respect that.

Muntadhir
Rating: ★★★★
Set a few years before The City of Brass. Muntadhir gets a chance to have his say in this story. Readers can even see a bit of his budding romance (I'll leave it at that, so I don't spoil anything for those that haven't read the books yet).

Jamshid
Rating: ★★★★
Set a year after Muntadhir's chapter. Jamshid reminds me of a puppy – he's loyal, dependable, and desperate to make those he cares about happy. It hurts to see, even in the early days before, everything got so complicated and messed up.

Dara
Rating: ★★★★★
Set early in The City of Brass. Dara! I missed seeing Dara's perspective, so this was fun to dive back into. This small moment from Dara and Nahri's chaotic run makes it easier to see them as two people in a shitty situation.

Jamshid
Rating: ★★★★
Set near the end of The City of Brass. Back to Jamshid! I love the rep in this short story, and it did a good job of reminding us of the complexity of Jamshid's situation. He's being torn by love and loyalties, and it's going to cost him.

Ali
Rating: ★★★★
Set after The City of Brass. This is our first look at Ali's perspective (for this anthology, that is). The whole story is a satirical take on folktales, which I adore the concept of. However, I did struggle to get into it a little bit.

The Scout
Rating: ★★★★
Originally the alternative prologue for The Kingdom of Copper. I hate to say it, but I'm happy that this wasn't the prologue we got. It's still a worthwhile read, and in fairness, it probably does set the right tone. But still.

Nahri
Rating: ★★★★★
Set during The Kingdom of Copper. Finally! I had missed Nahri so much, so I was really looking forward to finding a few of her short stories in this anthology. This short hits hard in that it contains a conversation between Nahri and Muntadhir while they were (unwillingly) married. As you might imagine, it's quite intense and has a lot of implications. Still, it made me like Muntadhir a bit more.

Ali
Rating: ★★★★★
Set during The Kingdom of Copper. I forgot about this! So at one point, Ali was put in charge of several things (a few of which he demanded to take control over because this is Ali we're talking about). One such thing was designing a garden for Nahri. I love it.

Zaynab
Rating: ★★★★
Set after The Kingdom of Copper. I was not expecting to see a short from Zaynab's perspective, but I'm here for it! You can really tell that she's her mother's daughter, especially in this anthology, where both get a chance to shine.

Muntadhir
Rating: ★★★★★
Set at the end of The Empire of Gold. Haha! This one absolutely made me laugh. Picture “ruin that dress” but with a slightly more formal twist. It's perfect. I actually wish this had made it into the original novel.

An Alternative Epilogue to The Empire of Gold
Rating: ★★★★
As the title indicates, this was originally to be the epilogue for The Empire of Gold. I can see why this was almost the epilogue. It does a great job of showing us what sort of path Dara will have to follow if he wants to keep true to his word. But I can also see why the other epilogue was chosen.

Nahri
Rating: ★★★★★
Set a little over a year after The Empire of Gold. Aww. This is arguably the sweetest inclusion to the entire series, and you have to read it. Especially if you ship Nahri/Ali, that is all I will say.

Thanks to Harper Voyager and #NetGalley for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

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