The City of Brass: Book Review

The City of Brass by S. A. Chakraborty is a wonderful novel that invokes stories about djinn as she creates a fantasy world based in the 18th century worth exploring. The world she builds are influenced by religion and politics much like our own so it is easy to relate to the characters.

The City of Brass: Summary

Nahri, a woman who cons people using fortune telling, is pursued by a monster that she summoned accidentally. This monster summons the undead and attempts to kill Nahri. Dara, a djinn warrior comes to her rescue and takes her on a journey to the city where she came from. Nahri wants to find out what happened to her family and who she is and has to trust Dara, a mysterious djinn, to escape the monsters pursuing her.

Can Nahri trust this djinn that appeared out of nowhere. Dara might know what happened to her family but he is keeping things from here. It is up to Nahri to decide what her future holds for her and what her role is in not only her life, but the life of many people who look up to her new role.

Conclusion

Chakraborty does an amazing job building an amazing world where djinn exist and how they keep the city running with their magic. The politics she infuses with the cities works wonderfully and creates problems that fuels the story.

I enjoyed the trilogy and would recommend the books to anyone that loves fantasy novels. These books have a great spin on the fantasy genre and do a great job writing about djinn, something we don’t see much in books. It reminds me of The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker. Both do a wonderful job of showing djinn humanity and doing magic with great character development.

I am eagerly waiting for the final installment in the Daveabad trilogy, The Empire of Gold. Not many books pique my interest like this series has. I can’t wait to see what she does with the latest novel and where she takes her world building ability to!