City of Brass

by S. A. Chakraborty

544 pages

English language

Published Sept. 11, 2017 by HarperCollins Publishers Limited.

ISBN:: 978-0-06-269095-1

(5 reviews)

"Step into The City of Brass, the spellbinding debut from S. A. Chakraborty--an imaginative alchemy of The Golem and the Jinni, The Grace of Kings, and Uprooted, in which the future of a magical Middle Eastern kingdom rests in the hands of a clever and defiant young con artist with miraculous healing gifts. Nahri has never believed in magic. Certainly, she has power; on the streets of eighteenth-century Cairo, she's a con woman of unsurpassed talent. But she knows better than anyone that the trade she uses to get by--palm readings, zars, healings--are all tricks, sleights of hand, learned skills; a means to the delightful end of swindling Ottoman nobles and a reliable way to survive. But when Nahri accidentally summons an equally sly, darkly mysterious djinn warrior to her side during one of her cons, she's forced to question all she believes. For the warrior tells her an extraordinary tale: across hot, windswept sands teeming with creatures of fire, and rivers where the mythical marid sleep; past ruins of once-magnificent human metropolises, and mountains where the circling birds of prey are not what they seem, lies Daevabad, the legendary city of brass--a city to which Nahri is irrevocably bound. In Daevabad, behind gilded brass walls laced with enchantments, behind the six gates of the six djinn tribes, old resentments are simmering. A young prince dreams of rebellion. And when Nahri decides to enter this world, she learns that true power is fierce and brutal. That magic cannot shield her from the dangerous web of court politics. That even the cleverest of schemes can have deadly consequences. After all, there is a reason they say to be careful what you wish for"--

"A brilliantly imagined historical fantasy in which a young con artist in eighteenth century Cairo discovers she's the last descendant of a powerful family of djinn healers. With the help of an outcast immortal warrior and a rebellious prince, she must claim her magical birthright in order to prevent a war that threatens to destroy the entire djinn kingdom. Perfect for fans of The Grace of Kings, The Golem and the Jinni, and The Queen of the Tearling"--

2 editions

enne📚 reviewed The City of Brass by S. A. Chakraborty (The Daevabad Trilogy, #1)

The City of Brass

4 stars

City of Brass is the first book in SA Chakraborty's Daevabad medieval Muslim fantasy trilogy. The premise is that an Egyptian thief with mysterious healing powers accidentally summons a warrior djinn; it turns out she is the last of a race of Nahid djinn and is whisked away to a hidden city of Daevabad where she is immediately embroiled in politics.

What I enjoyed the most out of this book was the multilayered and dynamic political and personal tensions. The current Geziri rulers destroyed the previous Nahid/Daeva rulers, now living as ~second class citizens in Daevabad. The historical (and present) conflict between them revolves around Shafit half-djinn who are both required to live in Daevabad and also forced to live in squalor. For me, this is fantasy politics at its best where everybody's grievances and actions are understandable and often there's no good answers.

The two alternating perspectives of this …

The two alternating perspectives of this book are from Nahri (the aforementioned Egyptian thief) with her warrior djinn Dara (who is loathed by Geziri and celebrated by Daeva), and the second Geziri prince Ali (stuck up, rule bound, named after Dara's mortal enemy, supports Shafit to the consternation of his father the king and his older brother heir). All of this leads to complicated and messy interactions between the whole cast, where the backdrop of history tinges every relationship.

The start of the book was a bit rocky for me, and had a lot of what felt like info-dumping by Dara on their way to Daevabad. On top of that, it took me a little bit to digest all the different djinn races and fit that into the slow historical reveals. That said, once everything got going, the relationships and politics were great fun to read and the ending really landed a good climax with intriguing developments for the next book.

(I read this because it was off of the #SFFBookClub's backlog, and also because of screamsbeneath's review of the whole series.)

astralmodem reviewed City of Brass by S. A. Chakraborty

Almost great

4 stars

Content warning big spoilers!

The City of Brass was a very conflicting read for me. Initially I was hooked, and intrigued by both POV characters (Nahri, Ali), as well as Dara. Although soon after introductions, the plot seemed to gradually take a backseat to world building. This, combined with jumps in time within the story, worsened the already semi-uneasy pacing. Prior to their arrival to Daevabad, I was very annoyed with both Dara and Nahri, and confused by their seemingly forced romance. I had put the book down a number of times already, and considered dropping it for good. I'm glad that I didn't, as soon afterwards the plot picked up substantially. Ali grew on me quite a bit more after his meeting with Nahri; his chapters becoming the highlight of the read. I was also mostly enthralled with Nahri again, although frustrated that she almost became a secondary character in much of her own story. Excited to see what role she takes on in the following books, as I was a big fan of the independent, resourceful thief we met in Cairo.

Ultimately City of Brass was a worthy read, if not bogged down a bit by it's faults. I felt the action scenes throughout were really well done, as were the court politics (if not a bit confusing); not to mention the city of Daevabad itself (hell, the whole setting) was absolutely captivating as it was described. I'm willing to forgive the pacing issues and clumsy, forced dialogue at parts as this was Chakraborty's debut novel. The ending really 'sealed' the deal for me, and I will be continuing the series as soon as I can!