There’s a moment when reading The City of Brass where confusion turns into clarity—and suddenly, you’re in. Names start sticking. Alliances begin to make sense. The stakes sharpen. For me, that moment came about halfway through, and from there, I was hooked. It’s not a perfect start, but it is a promising one.
Hype Report
Goodreads: 4.1 | Storygraph: 4.17
My Take: 3.5 – slightly overhyped but still well worth the read.
Aesthetic
The Cover
The City of Brass has a beautifully illustrated cover. The hammered brass texture of the city silhouette at the bottom, the fine-line brass mandala, and the brassy fire sparks also create a sense of unity. Meanwhile, the central flame adds movement, anchored by the solitary figure at its base. The palette and composition work together to create a visually balanced and appealing image.
The type looks both historical and Middle Eastern, but not overly done. The simplicity lends itself to legibility and understated gracefulness.
The fantastical imagery lets us know right away that this is a fantasy novel. It also shows us a setting and imbues the importance of fire as a story element. The emotional tone – thrilling.
Interior
The chapters in The City of Brass ebook tell the chapter number and the character whose point of view the story is written in. There are two POVs in this book.
The formatting is clean and efficient. Not a lot of styling. There is a small map.
The City of Brass has descriptions of all of the cultural tribes and a glossary to help you keep the players straight. I wish I had realized this before reading the book (I read it as an ebook and didn’t discover it until the end). A physical copy is recommended for this reason.
Did the design affect whether I bought the book?
No. This one I bought because I was researching epic series written by women for a list, and The City of Brass popped up with loads of great reviews and recommendations. So I put it on my TBR and snapped it up one day when I found the ebook on sale.
Summary
In Short
A con woman with healing gifts accidentally summons a djinn warrior and must flee Cairo with him to a magical kingdom where her presence threatens to ignite a centuries-old war.
From the Publisher
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Library Journal| Vulture | The Verge | SYFYWire
Step into The City of Brass, the spellbinding epic fantasy debut from S. A. Chakraborty, an imaginative alchemy of The Golem and the Jinni, The Grace of Kings, and Uprooted, in which the future of a magical Middle Eastern kingdom rests in the hands of a clever and defiant young con artist with miraculous healing gifts.
Nahri has never believed in supernatural magic. Certainly, she has power; on the streets of eighteenth-century Cairo, this female protagonist is a con woman of unsurpassed talent. But she knows better than anyone that the trades she uses to get by—palm readings, zars, and a mysterious gift for healing—are all tricks, both the means to the delightful end of swindling Ottoman nobles and a reliable way to survive.
But when Nahri accidentally summons Dara, an equally sly, darkly mysterious djinn warrior, to her side during one of her cons, this portal fantasy adventure catapults her into a world she’s forced to reconsider her beliefs. For Dara tells Nahri an extraordinary 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 birds of prey are more than what they seem, lies Daevabad, the legendary city of brass―a hidden city to which Nahri is irrevocably bound.
In Daevabad, within gilded brass walls laced with enchantments and behind the six gates of the six djinn tribes, old resentments and political intrigue run deep. And when Nahri decides to enter this world, her arrival threatens to ignite a war that has been simmering for centuries.
Spurning Dara’s warning of the treachery surrounding her, she embarks on a hesitant friendship with Alizayd, an idealistic prince who dreams of rebellion. All too soon, Nahri learns that true power is fierce and brutal. That magic cannot shield her from the dangerous web of court politics in this high fantasy world. That even the cleverest of schemes can have deadly consequences.
“That’s a very narrow-minded way of looking at it. I prefer to think of myself as a merchant of delicate tasks.”
Character Analysis
The City of Brass is very character-driven. Each character has capital S – Secrets. The more that is revealed, the less you know. These folks are complex and driven by motivations that are not always evident. If you can believe anything, it is that everyone thinks that they are right and that their own convictions are the truest – except, perhaps, Nahri, our main character. She knows that she has a past she can’t really remember and has done some shady stuff. Survival is hard when you are a girl on your own in old-time Cairo. Her self-awareness and general badassery make her a fun character to follow.
Writing Style
Chakraborty parses out just enough information to keep the reader hooked. Something is revealed, but it raises more questions. She had me reading out of her hands.
There were certainly ups and downs, but the overall pace of The City of Brass is moderate-fast. A lot happens in this first book – world development, character building, culture building, and hinting at centuries worth of backstory that is just too convoluted to guess at. It is easy to see how this setup will take two more books to resolve. Despite the fact that the story ends with all kinds of things left in the air, the initial story does wrap up enough to make it feel like a complete book.
The word smoky is used to describe basically everything except for actual smoke. This was a little bit irritating, but considering the Daevas are made of fire, I can excuse it.
“You’re my Banu Nahida. This is my city….Nothing will keep me from either of you.”
Themes
Duty & Loyalty: Who is owed your loyalty? Your religion, your country, your family, your friends, or yourself?
Slavery. This is not a small thing in The City of Brass. Slavery and subjugation are explored from different points of view. Human trafficking (or semi-human) is a major plot point.
Being different, and how standing out can be perceived as both a bad thing and a good one. The concept of otherness is important throughout the socio-political environment in The City of Brass.
Being true to oneself, to include levels of self-discovery, is an important through-line.
“In what world do men and women pay the same price for passion? You’ll be the one blamed.”
Critical Evaluation
The City of Brass really sets the stage for the themes to make some kind of point. We get glimpses of opposing points of view, but this story is much more about set-up than denouement. Questions are raised, but few are answered. The success of these themes will ultimately be determined in the sequels.
“Greatness takes time, Banu Nahida. Often the mightiest things have the humblest beginnings.”
Personal Opinion
Right out of the gate, I liked Nahri and was excited to see where her story would take us. As time went on, I continued to be engaged, but was often pulled out of the story by my own difficulty understanding what was going on. I had to stop and think about who was who and what I knew about them (the different tribes). Once I got about halfway through the book, I felt more comfortable with the players, and the storyline picked up the pace, and the second half just flew by.
I enjoyed the cast and the interesting world-building in The City of Brass. It was an interesting premise to take a historically real place and events (high level) and overlay this whole other world on top of it. I’m sure I mentally butchered most every person and place name.
“He didn’t even flinch; instead he raised his hand and looked at the jagged pieces of glass embedded in his skin with mock surprise. ‘There,’ he deadpanned. ‘I’m injured.’”
Recommendation
Fantasy lovers with an interest in Middle Eastern cultures should jump into The City of Brass!
Political intrigue, but make it magic. If you liked Rebel of the Sands trilogy, the Daevabad series starter will give you some of those same vibes.
If you are easily overwhelmed by stories with lots of new names and places to keep track of, maybe steer clear.
Read on a hot day with a cool beverage, so when you start sweating about the intrigue, you can blame it on the weather.
Notes
I read The City of Brass to fulfill the Playing Card Reading Challenge prompt: Read an epic series starter. It could easily fulfill several other prompts like read a book set in a desert or read a fantasy novel as well.
There are romantic elements, but they are PG. No spice in this one. I have seen it listed as YA (Young Adult) in some places.
How cool a gift would it be to immediately understand any language that was spoken around you?
Buy This Book
May your life be as full as your bookshelf and as long as your TBR list.
Happy Reading!
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