The City of Brass
S.A. Chakraborty
The Overview
The City of Brass was one of the best books I’ve read in a while- particularly for the original storyline and the intricacy of the universe. But even before I read the book I loved djinn so I’m kind of biased, they’re definitely top-three magical creatures. I hadn’t seen any art or talk about it previously, it was actually just recommended by my library, so I felt like it would be fun to illustrate a scene. I’ve never tried this before so sorry if it’s horrible. Full review below, but would definitely recommend!
I kind of dreaded reading it at first because of the long descriptions at the front of the book with each clan, like I knew I would never be able to keep them straight. For this book at least, we focus mainly on two clans, though I can tell that it will progress further in the next.
Our heroine is Nahri, and from the beginning I can tell that she’s the kind of character I support whole-heartedly. I liked her so much that it kind of annoyed me with the double POVs, like Ali was ok and all but I just wanted to hear all about Nahri. I’ve read books about Cairo in the relative time which the novel is set, so I know that her fierceness and independence was hard-won. She’s literally so cool, she can heal people and cheats the ones that don’t deserve it. She can speak any language instantly and I think that’s one of the coolest abilities a magical character can have. She started off so amazing, I said that I dreaded it for the descriptions but was immediately sold on Nahri. Once it got closer to the end though I felt myself siding against her which I hate doing, I never see any of my characters as perfect, but I like it more when they retain their rationality and she kind of felt like she was slipping. In the next book I’m looking forward to seeing her reconsider her position, even though I can only see her declining further when everyone around her is kind of a snake.
I think the description of the book says a whole lot without saying anything at all, I had no idea that there would be the weird romance element and no idea that Nahri would not always be the primary focus. I think it created some confusing circumstances because at some points I felt like we were supposed to see it from Ali’s point of view and know things we hadn’t yet learned. It wasn’t a love triangle and yet I felt like it was a love triangle- I’m waiting to see how the main characters are really related because I’m concerned they’re going to end up being siblings or something.
I loved the magic. I found myself struggling to follow their limitations a little bit, especially considering the huge clans had subcategories. I had to keep returning to the front of the book to make sure I was associating the right names with the right affinities which was kind of annoying since I was reading on my phone. I felt like the powers intersected a lot more than I had originally anticipated, at some points it just felt like everyone could do everything?
Why Four Stars?
Honestly, I think I gave it four stars because of how much potential I see in the rest of the series. There were a lot of elements where I felt like it was too lengthy, too many words for what was being done. I'm looking forward to seeing where the series goes, but it's also a fairly long read.
Would I Recommend It?
Everything was so thoroughly developed though, I had no idea that this was S.A. Chakraborty’s debut novel. I believe that it’s worth reading almost on that principle alone, it’s so beautifully written and obviously well-researched. I have such high hopes for the rest of the series considering how many concepts were introduced- there’s such potential for expansion. I would totally recommend it for anyone interested in fantasy, in romances that are less plot central, or anyone interested in historical fiction!
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