The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty is the first book in a new fantasy trilogy set in the middle east.
Nahri grew up on the streets of Cairo, surviving using her wits and her talents as a thief and swindler. Nahri has a strange gift for healing; she can immediately tell what ales a person and can often heal them. Not knowing anything about this power or where it came from, Nahri’s only goal in life is to save enough money to bribe someone into training her to become a professional healer.
But Nahri’s life is changed forever when she accidentally calls a powerful djinn warrior, Dara, to her side and she learns that all the mythical stories were true and that a part of her belongs in this world of marid’s, bird-men and djinn. With Dara as her captor/escort, Nahri travels to the mythical city of Daevabad where court intrigue rules, politics are played with blood and warring tribes threaten to tear down a peace that is shaky at the best of times.
Will Nahri learn who she truly is and will she be able to adapt to a life beyond her imagining?
I really liked this world behind the curtains. A world of magic; a world where myth and folklore come to life. The world building in this book is just so complete. From the politics to the history, to the character development and setting there just are not any glaring loose ends.
There was actually almost too much world building to the point where the story came second. There were a few times where I was wondering where the book was going and how certain chapters related to the plot. But I think the author is spinning a web to carry though the rest of the trilogy. This book felt more like a build up to the action to come.
I found myself rooting for each of our main characters in turn. First, Nahri with her sass and mysterious past. Then Dara with his lost memory and hard brand of caring. And finally Ali, with his family drama and conflicted moral code. Even the side characters were interesting and well developed.
The ending also really left you wondering… what exactly is going on and who is the one with all the power. I like this in a cliffhanger. You aren’t dying with the cliffhanger but you are definitely intrigued enough to want to know more.
I’ll be interested to see where this one is going. This one gets 4 stars from me.
That’s all for now!
-M-