Shannon Chakraborty, "The Tapestry of Fate" (Harper Voyager, 2026)

About this episode

Shannon Chakraborty discusses her novel The Tapestry of Fate and its themes of adventure, magic, and historical context.

Shannon Chakraborty’s novel The Tapestry of Fate, the second installment in the The Adventures of Amina-al Sarafi, encounters the titular Amina at a time of transition. trying to balance her work on her ship chasing arcane artifacts and time on land spent raising her daughter Marjana. After interference from her estranged husband, Amina finds herself and her crew on a possibly futile quest to steal a spindle from a mysterious sorceress on an island that no one can escape. Despite the presence of magic that complicates the perception of reality itself, Amina remains determined to find a way home for herself and her crew. In this interview, Chakraborty describes her longstanding affection for the history of the Indian Ocean in the 12th century, the wealth of primary sources we have from that time period, and the process of sharing her love of history with readers. She discusses the role of magic and gender in the medieval Islamicate world, research rabbit holes, and the importance of middle aged protagonists in fantasy. We also chat about crafting a fun adventure story and the role of textiles and religion across time. The Tapestry of Fate is a joyful and empathetic novel full of…

People in this episode

Host: Marshall Poe

Guest: Shannon Chakraborty

Topics covered

• fantasy literature
• historical fiction
• magic and gender
• adventure stories
• medieval Islamicate world
• Indian Ocean history

Keywords

• Shannon Chakraborty
• The Tapestry of Fate
• fantasy
• Amina-al Sarafi
• Indian Ocean
• magic
• gender
• adventure
• medieval

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Harper Voyager

Books & works: The Tapestry of Fate

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