🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Nahri has never believed in magic. Certainly, she has power; on the streets of 18th century Cairo, she’s a con woman of unsurpassed talent. But she knows better than anyone that the trade she uses to get by—palm readings, zars, healings—are all tricks, sleights of hand, learned skills; a means to the delightful end of swindling Ottoman nobles.
But when Nahri accidentally summons an equally sly, darkly mysterious djinn warrior to her side during one of her cons, she’s forced to accept that the magical world she thought only existed in childhood stories is real. For the warrior tells her a new tale: 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 hawks are not what they seem, lies Daevabad, the legendary city of brass, a city to which Nahri is irrevocably bound.
In that city, behind gilded brass walls laced with enchantments, behind the six gates of the six djinn tribes, old resentments are simmering. And when Nahri decides to enter this world, she learns that true power is fierce and brutal. That magic cannot shield her from the dangerous web of court politics. That even the cleverest of schemes can have deadly consequences.
After all, there is a reason they say be careful what you wish for...
I've been excited to read this debut from S.A. Chakraborty. I thought that the idea of a main character that is a con artist accidentally summoning a djinn was something that I hadn't heard of before. This book was an entirely new experience for me. I thought that the world building was interesting. The author introduces readers to the hierarchy of different types of djinn, their powers, and how their world came to be. I also haven't read a book that takes place in Egypt so it was fun for me to learn more about it and the culture.
I haven't been reading adult fantasy for long but I thought that City of Brass was excellent! I would recommend it if you are trying to transition from young adult to adult or if you just want to try reading adult fantasy. I think that some adult fantasy can read like it is trying too hard to be adult by being complicated or unnecessarily long. This is not the case with City of Brass. It was easy to read and to be drawn into the story.
I loved the characters. They were clearly each products of their home lands and were shaped by the choices that they made as a result. They are each extremely flawed in ways that made me question if I even liked them at times while I was reading. This made me want to keep reading even more to see if they were able to be redeemed or would change as the book progressed. I decided that I enjoyed them by the end of the book and can't wait to see where the author will continue their development as the series continues. There are many layers to each of them already that can be explored in the next book. I'm also looking forward to learning more about side characters due to an intriguing ending to the first installment.
The politics and social issues were interesting and I wasn't sure what side I fell on. I believe this was the author's point. There is no right side. There should be equality between the races of djinn as well as freedom of choice. I'm not one for political intrigue and things in books but I found this topic to be particularly interesting. I also believe that it helped that there was so much action taking place periodically over the course of the story. I love battles especially if they involve magic and/or monsters!
There were portions of the book that were a bit slow for me but overall I thought that the book was excellent and executed extremely well. I'm excited to see where the author takes the series next. I thought that the ending was amazing and I cant wait to start reading the next book.
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