The City of Brass
Ratings335
Average rating4
I'm sure someone will enjoy this sub-genre and give a better assessment of what to expect than I can. This is not a topic I seek out for myself.
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So, for as long as I've known about the Daevabad series — years — I thought it was a young adult fantasy series. I've mostly out grown the idea of young adult fantasy series. After reading so many of them, they really do all start to feel similar. That's really the only reason I haven't picked up The City of Brass before. Bad excuse? Oh definitely. But when I finally went digging through Goodreads in search of something to read, I looked a little closer at it this time. And lo and behold, it is not a young adult fantasy. Goodreads places it solidly in the adult category, so I snapped it right up, and gobbled it down in a little less than two days. So what I'm saying is, whoops I regret not picking this up earlier.
The world Chakraborty paints in this novel is a stunningly painted. It's a world that mirrors our own — Cairo is a main setting at the beginning of the book — but vastly differs in other ways. Djinn and other such creatures/peoples exist, and their magic is littered throughout the pages of The City of Brass. Chakraborty does a fantastic job of making Daevabad feel tangible. The descriptions are just enough for the world to unfold in your mind, without making it seem tediously detailed.
Nahiri is our main character, and she starts the novel as something of a con woman. She's got magic that no one else does in the city — she can see when people ailing, and heal them and herself (seemingly) with a touch of her hands. I liked her right away — she's competent, and willing to do what she needs to in order to survive. She's a woman in a world where it is absolutely not easy to be a woman. You get the sense she's tired of this life, and of course, things happen and suddenly she's thrown out of it, and into a new world entirely — Daevabad. She's resistant to the new culture she has to live in, and fights every new thing she's got to do.
Very quickly into the book Nahiri runs into Dara, who is a daeva — a proud djinn who used to be a slave. He's a little arrogant, but a lot (eventually) in love with Nahiri. Dara is also extremely old, older than he should be, by daeva standards. He's something of a berserker — Dara turns almost feral when it's time to protect her. Since that's one of my favorite romance tropes, I was totally in love with him. We learn more about his past at the very end of the book, and what he was made to do, and its rough. You feel bad for him, while also hating him a little bit.
The other characters are interesting, but most are highly irritating. Especially Alizayd, the second-born son of the King of Daevabad. It felt like every time he opened his mouth on page I was rolling my eyes. Dude is stubborn, and unwilling to look at something from any different angle other than his own. It's his way or the highway, apparently. He's judgemental, rude, arrogant, and just plain mean sometimes. I have been told he gets better, but right now he is firmly in my do not like list. Ali's brother and sister are also a little annoying, but in vastly different ways.
The overall plot is a little thin on the ground at first, but once it settles it is easy to follow. I really enjoyed the world of the daeva, and will absolutely be heading right into the next book. Four and a half stars out of five, simply because Ali was really really irritating.
Even though i really like this book, I can't define what I think about it. I mean, I can't manage to sort out good and bad guys in it... The universe and the world building are awesome even though it's hard to follow names, tribes, statues... A good thing that the author decided to use two POV, we followed two very different characters so it helps to grasp every part of the story. But really, I don't know what to think about Dara : I like him a lot at the beginning, but there are some dark parts so I cannot decide. In all, I can't wait for the next book, maybe it would help me to have one more precise review ahaha
If you are ready for a magic carpet ride, pick up this book. Filled with djinn magic, fights, and political intrigue. Although I am not a fan of the enemies to lovers trope, I did not mind this one as it wasn't so much enemies as hesitant to trust.
This story is thick with politics and religion that make it painfully slow.
I disliked every character by the end of this book. The Ali POVs were especially difficult to get through, as he's an incredibly self-righteous religious fanatic.
I wish I had DNF'ed this one. I kept hoping it would turn around, but it did not. The cliffhangers didn't give me any confidence that the second installment would be worthwhile.
I'll give it 2 stars only because it taught me a little mythology I was previously unfamiliar with. Otherwise this story left me in an absolutely terrible mood.
This book struggled with the muddy middle.
The beginning was good, fast paced enough to keep me hooked on the story, with the two characters being hunted but then it seemed to take them forever to get where they were going with no real change in either of the characters. Ali had more of a storyline through these moments and changed, but I do wish that he had a bit more to his character and he reached the moment that pushed him over the edge sooner
There were times when I rolled my eyes so much they hurt because of the characters' decisions. I know they are young, but no one can be that naive.
The world is interesting.
The ending was good. But I disliked the sudden change in Daras character. RED FLAG but that's a personal opinion not something with the story.
Overall I liked it. writing was smooth and the world Immersive.
Will be continuing the series.
3.5
This was my first read of 2022. And I am so happy I pick up a this book when I did. I do wish I had the book and not the audio because I was going confused with the names. But when I got the names right. I was so into the book. First Dara for my was a love hate. I loved him sometimes and I hated him the other times. Nahri had so much hard stuff happened to her. But she kept on pushing for herself. And I love that. She didn't put her love for someone put her down. She kept on going with the love or not. She was doing everything she did for herself. (If you want something right, you have to do yourself). Ali at first was okay but then I saw him get to be better. Yes I thought some times he was like a small boy. But he loves his family. But at the end it made me cry so much.
This book was going to be a 4.5 star but the very end got me to give it a 5 star.
The City of Brass is certainly unique as far as the setting is concerned, and that is by far its strongest selling point. The author put a lot of effort into this world and it shows.
The plot and the characters' development seemed weirdly at odds with each other. The romantic relationship between two of the major characters is poorly set up, about as healthy of a relationship as in 50 Shades of Grey, and keeps ruining the otherwise totally serviceable plot of political scheming among immortal djinn.
The prose is decent, with some excellent lines of dialogue here and there, but nothing that keeps you engaged on its own.
I won't continue this series, but I'd still call my time with this book well spent.
I'd been itching for some political fantasy, and this certainly fit the bill. If you're looking for a solid court intrigue story where everyone is in the morally questionable category, this is a great one. At times, the romantic elements felt a little stilted to me, but the overall story and exploration of Djinn mythology makes up for that. The ending definitely is set up for the sequels though, so don't read this if you just want a stand alone.
3.5 starsThis book reminded me so much of [b:The Thief 448873 The Thief (The Queen's Thief, #1) Megan Whalen Turner https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1427740839l/448873.SY75.jpg 1069505] by Megan Whalen Turner. It seemed a simple setup for what had the potential to be a wonderful world filled with political intrigue. However, I had doubts that any of the sequels could be as good as the [b:The Queen of Attolia 40158 The Queen of Attolia (The Queen's Thief, #2) Megan Whalen Turner https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1293505506l/40158.SX50.jpg 1124161].
I really liked it until 2/3.
Nahri abruptly stood, as angry with herself as she was with Dara. She was done showing weakness before this man. “Well, if that's all that matters, surely Muntadhir will do,” she declared, a savage edge creeping into her voice. “The Qahtanis seem fertile enough, and the dowry will probably make me the richest woman in Daevabad.”
She might as well have struck him. Dara recoiled, and she turned on her heel. “I'm going back to the palace.”
“Nahri . . . Nahri, wait.” He was between her and the exit in a heartbeat; she'd forgotten how fast he could move. “Please. Don't leave like this. Just let me explain . . .”
“To hell with your explanations,” she snapped. “That's what you always say. That's what today was supposed to be, remember? You promising to tell me about your past, not parading me in front of a bunch of priests and trying to convince me to marry another man.” Nahri pushed past him. “Just leave me alone.”
He grabbed her wrist. “You want to know about my past?” he hissed, his voice dangerously low. His fingers scalded her skin and he jerked back, letting her go. “Fine, Nahri, here's my story: I was banished from Daevabad when I was barely older than your Ali, exiled from my home for following orders your family gave me. That's why I survived the war. That's why I wasn't in Daevabad to save my family from being slaughtered when the djinn broke through the gates.”
His eyes blazed. “I spent the rest of my life—my short life, I assure you—fighting the very family you're so eager to join, the people who would have seen our entire tribe wiped out. And then the ifrit found me.” He held up his hand, the slave ring sparkling in the sunlight. “I never had anything like this . . . anything like you.” His voice cracked. “Do you think this is easy for me? Do you think I enjoy imagining your life with another?”
His rushed confession—the horror behind his words—dulled her anger, the utter misery in his face moving her despite her own hurt. But . . . it still didn't excuse his actions.
“You . . . you could have told me all this, Dara.” Her voice shook slightly as she said his name. “We could have tried to fix things together, instead of you plotting out my life with strangers!”
Dara shook his head. Grief still shadowed his eyes, but he spoke firmly. “There's nothing to fix, Nahri. This is what I am. It's a conclusion I suspect you'd have come to soon enough anyway. I wanted you to have another choice in hand when you did.” Something bitter stole into his expression. “Don't worry. I'm sure the Pramukhs will provide you with dowry enough.”
The words were her own, but they cut deep when turned back on her. “And that's what you think of me, isn't it? Regardless of your feelings, I'm still the dirt-blood-raised thief. The con artist after the biggest score.” She gathered the edges of her chador, her hands shaking with anger and something else, something deeper than anger that she didn't want to admit to. She'd be damned if she was going to cry in front of him. “Never mind that I might have done those things to survive . . . and that I might have fought for you just as hard.” She drew herself up, and he dropped his gaze under her glare. “I don't need you to plan my future here, Dara. I don't need anyone to.”
This time when she left, he didn't try to stop her.
I've been meaning to read this book for a while since the cover is so beautiful. It's nice that this book and its sequel both fit PopSugar prompts this year, so I can read them back to back! I haven't been doing that the last couple of years because I've been focusing more on the challenges than finishing series. My goal next year is to use as many books from the fewest series/by the fewest authors in as many prompts as I can.
I went into this book with no expectations, which hasn't happened lately. I'm glad that I listened to this book because there's no way I could have pronounced all of the Egyptian/Middle Eastern names/terms (without feeling guilty and a little offensive). This book is definitely one of the slower books I've read this year, while still having a captivating story.
I wasn't surprised by the twist in the epilogue, but maybe that's just because I read too many of these books
I love this book so much! The characters are so complex and interesting. The political intrigue is fantastic. The history of the tribes and world building are fascinating. There were so many times when I gasped, laughed, or otherwise exclaimed out loud. What an excellent debut novel.
Let me just cry myself to sleep over how amazing this book is!! When I tell you it had me laughing at one page and crying at the next I'm not joking. Can't wait to read the next part.
I relistened to the entire series after starting a River of Silver...what a comfort and joy it was to be back in this world. Absolutely one of favorite series of all time. I love the characters and politics, and I think it's one of the most realistic representations of cultural and generational hate, bigotry and trauma I've seen in spec fic.
tws: [to come]
never in my life have i enjoyed a love triangle like this
also the politics were extremely complex but worked my brain and i loved it. this book is heavy with the mythology and history and i loved it!!!
Four and a half stars. Really, really interesting. But there is something that keeps me from giving it the highest score. Anyway, and given what you have to read nowadays, it's a must.
The only thing going for this novel is the nice cover. That's it. You get the beginnings of “just okay” world building which quickly become something like ‘baby's first historical fantasy' level of cringe, characters who are not well-fleshed out and are just plain boring, and a plot that limped along ... ugh. So disappointing and frustrating.
I agree with lots of others who mentioned that this is YA fantasy masquerading as adult fantasy. All the angst, eye-rolling cringe, and even the love triangle is all there. I love me some YA but don't freaking mislead!!