Review: "The City of Brass" by S. A. Chakraborty

Quick Summary

Type: Novel, book 1 of Daevabad Trilogy

Genre: Fantasy, historical fiction

Back Cover: "On the streets of eighteenth-century Cairo, Nahri is a con woman of unsurpassed skill. She makes her living swindling Ottoman nobles, hoping to one day earn enough to change her fortunes. But when Nahri accidentally summons Dara, an equally sly, darkly mysterious djinn warrior, during one of her cons, she learns that even the cleverest of schemes can have deadly consequences. Forced to flee Cairo, Dara and Nahri journey together 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 more than what they seem, to Daevabad, the legendary city of brass. It's a city steeped in magic and fire, where blood can be as dangerous as any spell; a city where old resentments run deep and the royal court rules with a tenuous grip; a city to which Nahri is irrevocably bound - and where her very presence threatens to ignite a war that has been simmering for centuries." Read Time: (started May 5) Rating: 4.25 stars

Review

I really enjoyed this book. Like a few of the other books I've read, there wasn't much of a plot - rather, it seems to serve as long exposition for the following two books. Yet despite this feeling, I enjoyed watching the characters develop and reading about the challenges and prejudices they face.

I also think that the politics in this book are quite interesting. Rather than a clear good or bad, there's more nuance. The daevas are ignored, hated, and attacked, but they do their fair share of oppressing; the shafit have no rights, but they take their anger out on innocent daevas.

The only definitively antagonistic character is the king. I do find it hard to like him in any way, and given the nuance with which the author handles Daevabad's politics, I wish the king were a bit more of a morally gray character.

With that being said, the writing style was quite good; the characters interesting and distinct; the plot (what little there was) leaving me wanting more. All in all, I am looking forward to reading the next two books of this trilogy.