The City of Brass

Kingdom of Brass is a book I've heard only good things about this year and I've really enjoyed books based in the more Arabian style settings since I was young. There is something really exotic and magical about the Egyptian feel and desert sands that make you feel you are truly escaping to a mystical land and City of Brass brings all of these elements together to give us a book filled with magic, folk tales, tribal histories and politics.

It took me ages to read City of Brass but this was absolutely not a reflection on the book, I had to put it down for a while in order to read some short loan new release books that had arrived at my local library but even taking a few weeks break I was still able to pick right back up about 30% of the way through and immerse myself back in the beautiful writing of S. A. Chakraborty because the story is utterly engaging and full of so many different threads.

Starting out in Cairo we follow Nahri, a thief and con artist who is trying to survive on her wits and a gift of healing. Unintentionally she summons a Djinn called Dara who arrives to save her from the magical Ifrit who magically appear and try to kill her. Before she knows it she is off on a flying carpet with the strangely attractive and mysterious Dara who tells her to escape the Ifrit she must go with him He tells her she is part of the Daeva tribe known as the Nahid tribe who used to rule over the Daeva people in the city of Daevebad, her people are now extinct having been hunted to extinction by the current ruling family and that he plans to take her there so she can give hope to her people and hopefully lay claim to her home.

Running alongside Nahri's story we have that of Prince Alizyad, the second son of the current King of Daevabad. He is struggling with the inequalities he sees around him and how the pureblooded Daeva people treat those of mixed blood, known as the Shafit. The Shafit are treated as second class citizens and have children stolen from the or women sold into prostitution. He is determined to try and help change things in his homeland but to do so he must go against the laws of his father and betray his family.

This story is one rich with political intrigue. There are lots of times when we are treated to information about the origins of our current political state in Daevabad, the wars that were fought that brought an end to the rule of the Nahid family and how the Shafit people have come to exist and how our current King has begun with good intentions to help them but now is reneging on those promises. I found this made it a really immersive book, I loved building this exotic and complex world in my mind and liked having the detail about how we got to where we are. It built slowly and even at the end of City of Brass there are still unanswered questions about aspects of the past we know we need to uncover that this gives us a real hunger for book 2, Kingdom of Copper which is due for release in 2019. I did get a little confused at points with Daeva v's Djinn and some of the different tribal alliances but I'd keep reading a little more and most times things would iron themselves out.

This was also a book where we have wonderful alliances forming and reforming throughout. We begin with Nahri's blossoming friendship with Dara and then as the book progresses we watch as she meets Prince Ali and gets to spend time with him and learn more about Daevebad and his family, despite knowing that his family overthrew her own Nahid tribe years before. There is lots going on and we have a really good triangle between these 3 and I loved both Dara and Ali and couldn't decide which one I wanted to cheer for as both gave a different perspective to the world in which Nahri finds herself and with this book you are never quite sure of the evil lurking from the past which is greater.

An amazing ending with this book, there's so much for us to explore when we get Kingdom of Copper next year. We get a cliffhanger ending with real mystery as to who a particular character might be and whether Nahri might actually be the last surviving member of her family. I am really excited to get the second installment in this series.

Absolutely deserving of a 5 out of 5 stars from me and definitely a contender for one of my best books of 2018.

I really enjoyed City of Brass and the rich and detailed world that Chakraborty creates. The characters and plot were great. I will definitely read the next book in the series. However, the book was not paced very well, especially in the first half where there was too much convenient info-dumping. I hope that the next book keeps up with the fast-paced story in the second half of this book.

What a fun, unique fantasy read! It was refreshing to read something with an Arabian flavour and mythology to it and top that off with good characters, a bit of romance and a bit of intrigue and mystery and The City of Brass is a well-rounded adventure well worth reading. I enjoyed the world-building with its magical flare, but also based in a reality you can almost believe exists. The three main characters are driven by surprisingly complicated and realistic reasons that make them interesting and much more real and not cookie cutter caricatures - something that would be all too easy in a setting and story like this. Overall I was pleasantly surprised and I very much look forward to the next book!

fantasy, adventure, political intrigue, dark secrets, and lots of fun! Can't wait for the second book!

This is a great debut novel and I am looking forward to more from this author.

This book follows Nahri, an orphan living in Cairo. Nahri makes her living from the marks that come to her shop. She has some healing abilities that she uses as well. Mostly, she survives by being a con artist.

Nahri is asked to perform a ritual to heal a girl. She takes the job, believing the family to be her next marks. The ritual requires her to call upon a Djinn warrior. Nahri doesn't believe in Djinn and she isn't superstitious. But, as she is doing the ritual, something definitely happens. Something that will turn her life upside down.

Meanwhile, we also follow Ali. Prince Alizayd Katani of Daevabad. Ali is second born and trains to serve his brother when he is king. Ali is a deeply devout Daeva. He sees the way the Shaffit are treated in his city. The Shaffit are not pure blooded and they are treated poorly by the Daeva. Ali hopes one day he can change all that. He knows they just want a chance to live and support their families. He dreams of creating jobs for them and improving their living conditions.

Fate will bring Nahri and Ali together. Hopefully they will survive it.

This book started out pretty slow for me. That is the only reason I gave it 4 stars. The second half was amazing! I loved the characters, the cultures, and the magic. I will definitely read the next book.

So much to say about this outstanding debut novel! First I'd like to address the issues around the author, then I'll delve into the book itself. (It's fantastic, though!)

So the book has been touted as an “own voices” novel, seemingly much to the author's chagrin. She is Muslim, but she's a white convert (Chakraborty is her married name). She has striven to correct the misconception about her ethnicity when she finds it, tweeting about it and talking about it in interviews. (This interview is a good example.) Because the book is pure fantasy, in a fantasy realm after the first few chapters, I'm not too worried about it not actually being written by a middle-eastern author. She does note in the interview I linked that she's not qualified to write some stories because of her ethnicity, and I appreciate that recognition of privilege. As far as I can tell, (as a white person myself) she did justice to the bits of mythology that she included. (Given the reception by people who were so excited about it being an Own Voices book, I think I'm probably right.) Her twitter (@SChakrabs) is FULL of links to minority authors and retweets about their books. I am very impressed by the level of her advocacy for minority authors.

So that aside, I LOVED THIS BOOK. I almost always enjoy fantasy inspired by non-western mythology: Children of Blood and Bone was fantastic, and though Forest of a Thousand Lanterns had a western fairytale at its heart, being reimagined through an Asian lense was really neat to read. The Bear and The Nightingale and The Girl in the Tower were Russian inspired, as were The Crown's Game/The Crown's Fate. I really do try to pick up non-western inspired fantasy when I can. City of Brass scratched that itch perfectly.

City of Brass opens in Cairo, where our heroine, Nahri, is a con-woman with small healing magics. When a ritual goes awry, she's thrust into the world of the djinn. It's when Nahri and her accidental bodyguard, Dara, arrive at the Djinns' city of Daevabad that the story really gets started.

I'm still a little confused about the difference between djinn and Daeva; Daeva seem to be one of the tribes but also the name for the entire race, and some of them get offended at being called djinn but some of them don't? I'm not really sure about that distinction. There is a clear line between djinn and Ifrit, though - Ifrit are immensely powerful, immortal beings who refused to subject themselves to punishment many centuries ago. I'm not sure I actually see a downside to being Ifrit, other than the djinn all think they're evil. The Ifrit, however, are out to get Nahri, and Dara's not having any of THAT.

I love Dara - he's a fascinating character, with a violent, mysterious backstory. I'm very eager to read more about him and figure out exactly what's up with his background. Nahri is also awesome - a little arrogant, but by the end of the book she's starting to learn she might need help from those around her. Unfortunately, also by the end of the book she doesn't know who to trust. The naive djinn prince, Ali, is the third main character of the book, and while I can see him having an interesting story, his personality is still a little flat. Hopefully the second book will see advancement in all three of these characters' personalities.

And I can't WAIT for the second book! City of Brass didn't exactly end on a cliffhanger, but it did leave many questions unanswered and our main characters' fates uncertain. Unfortunately, I can't find any information on the sequel, just that it's being edited. No release date or title yet.

Read this book. It's fantastic.

You can find all my reviews at Goddess in the Stacks.

WTF, an entire year before the next book?! AHH!

Talk about a cliffhanger.

“The City of Brass” is the first in a trilogy written by S.A. Chakraborty. This novel follows Nahri, who lives in 18th century Cairo. One night while working on one of her cons, she accidentally summons a mysterious djinn warrior. The warrior takes Nahri to Daevabad, which is the legendary city of brass, which is the city that Nahri is permanently bounded to. The city's walls are walls laced with enchantments, and behind the six gates of the six djinn tribes, old resentments are festering.

I found the setting quite interesting. I also enjoyed learning about the djinn and the different beings of the four elements. The story was very interesting, and I enjoyed the novel, I gave the novel a 4/5 stars.

For the first 75% or so of this book, I thought it was a fairly standard “first book in a YA trilogy” novel. You have the young heroine who is more powerful than she believes herself to be, the brooding love interest with the mysterious past, the oppressive society that mistreats people similar to the heroine. The supernatural elements, and the society of daevas/djinn, were fairly unique and definitely interesting, but by themselves they didn't feel like enough to carry the story. It felt not bad, just fairly uneventful. Then, at around that 75% mark, the book takes a sharp right turn away from your expectations and it makes it so much stronger. You realize that Chakraborty has done a great job of leading the reader in a certain direction, while also setting up the surprise twist so that it still feels earned. It will be interesting to see where she goes next with this story.

Damn this book was awesome. Not only was it physically gorgeous (cover art swoon) but it was such a rich and original story. It was really unlike any other fantasy book I've ever read, and I loved how the stories of the characters wove together to create a truly intricate and captivating tale. Can't wait for the next book.

4.25 out of 5 stars

My thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Nahri is a supernaturally good healer. She uses this gift to further her aims as a con woman, not realizing that her skills are the result of a unique hereditary magic. When she accidentally summons an ill-tempered djinn warrior to her aid, she's swept into an unknown mystical world where her mere presence creates ramifications that are thousands of years in the making.

There is a general charm and pace to S.A. Chakraborty's writing that made for a delightful reading experience with the feel of a summer blockbuster popcorn movie. This densely packed world is filled with myriad characters, races, rivalries, and complicated histories. As such, the expansive vocabulary and terminology was sometimes difficult to parse, but I was so sucked into the culture and the feel of the world that it did not matter.

The City of Brass is an excellent debut novel that seamlessly blends together rich cultural worldbuilding, solid action, complex politics, and a set of nuanced characters. Each character is holding onto secrets that unfurl as the book goes on. With each subsequent reveal, more questions emerge as the stakes rise, and this dynamic leaves me excited for future installments in the series.

See this review and others at The Speculative Shelf.