The City of Brass

After multiple disappointing fantasy books, this one came through for me. ☺️ At first I thought it might be too lighthearted, but that tone only really existed in the banter between Dara and Nahri at the beginning. It got quite a bit darker by the end.

I like the world a lot, though I have to admit to being quite muddled about the history even now. It’s explained, but it’s complex (at least for my little brain), and involves some shifting alliances that are hard to track. I didn’t want to google anything for fear of accidentally reading spoilers! But the focus is political/court shenanigans which is a favorite for me in fantasy.

The last 100-ish pages are intense. I was surprised by how much happened and where it all went plot-wise. I was stressed. I also enjoy the characters - Nahri, Ali, Dara, Muntadhir. I like how Chakraborty achieved writing characters who I had mixed feelings about (I am a fan of unlikable, truly flawed characters), but whose motivations I generally understood, and who had a lot of conflict with each other.

Reasons why it’s not a 5 star:
1. There are a couple of deaths early on in the book that felt like they should matter far more than they did. If I’m supposed to believe this character and the dead person were close, the character should have feelings of grief beyond the one time immediately after the death.
2. I enjoyed the romance between Dara and Nahri, but I didn’t quite believe how fast it happened given the interactions I saw. I wish there had been more vulnerable scenes on their journey and a little less banter.
3. Zaynab is introduced but little is done with her. Maybe she does more in the later books. Initially I thought the book was going to judge her for being manipulative and conniving, which always annoys me if the world is such that women don’t have any other way to hold power. But by the end, sympathy for her situation is on the page, so I was satisfied. I just wish she got more page time.

Overall, I had a fun time with this one! It’s got its problems, but I was able to be swept up in the story.

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 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.)

This book is a fantastic journey into another world, one rich with history and intrigue, steeped in magic, and lushly detailed.

A street-savvy charlatan with a few mysterious magical gifts finds herself whisked away into a magical world she never imagined. In some ways, it's almost like the classic magical academy setup, albeit without said academy -- a magical birthright pulls someone from their (comparatively) mundane existence, shows them undreamt power that is coupled with undreamt peril.

Despite that somewhat familiar broad outline, Chakraborty's tale manages to twist and turn throughout, presenting the reader with histories and expectations, letting them settle and then twisting them around entirely. She has a gift for making something feel established, then suddenly tossing it aside to reveal a new truth that feels as shocking as if you'd known the prior state of affairs all your life. An early chapter included a death I found as shocking and powerful as if he'd been a long established character when he'd only been introduced a few pages earlier!

As a result of that skillful presentation, the story's depiction of the tribal politics in an unfamiliar magical world feels both ancient and alive. Those tribal politics are the central pillar of the plot, and the author really pulled me into a world steeped in ancient grudges and modern grievances. Characters would be a villain in one light, then seem suddenly heroic in another as new interactions or perspectives brought more of their identity into play. As a result, Daevabad felt rich and full, even though we mostly just saw it from the palaces and the eyes of nobility.

The historical setting means the use of Arabic and other terminology is sprinkled apologetically throughout, in a way that an entirely imaginary world would be mocked for using, but it remains mostly obvious from context, with the added benefit that for Kindle readers, the dictionary recognizes a majority of the words which are less common in English literature. While that's of little aid to fans of paper, the author also includes a helpful glossary which covers those, as well as the more fantastical additions, so it's something to keep in mind if you're tripping over it.

Fans of historical settings should be aware that while this story begins in 18th century Cairo, occupied by Napoleon, it quickly departs and never returns. If you're hoping for a historical setting with a dash of djinn, this isn't quite it. Perhaps that's something for the sequels, but in this book that is the stepping off point, rather than the true framing of the tale.

The author's writing is well-polished and filled with delightful twists of phrase. The characters are well-crafted, believable, yet distinct, and deep enough that they can each be cast as heroic or villainous from moment to moment.

While not a cliffhanger ending, I'm eagerly awaiting the publication of the next installment in this series.