The City of Brass: A Novel

Wow! This book completely had be captivated from start to finish!Summary : A Middle Eastern influenced epic Fantasy that starts with Nahri, a cunning thief in Cairo, with hidden healing abilities who (while pretending to heal a possessed girl) accidentally awakens the evil spirit in the girl, and also calls upon a mysterious djinn warrior - who then reluctantly (but also insistently) protects her from terrifying creatures like Ifrits and ghouls, and takes her to the hidden and magnificent City of Brass, Daevabad.Our second point of view is through Ali, the passionate and kind hearted second prince of a Daevabad - a city with 6 diverse tribes of djinn barely holding on to peace after a centuries’ old war. His secret sympathies for the ill-treated mixed blood Shafit (half human/half djinn) put him in a conflicting position with his father, brother and other tribes.* Actually, there is no way to even scratch the surface with a summary on this book! The reimagined history and vast world-building, the deeply complex conflicts where no one is completely right or wrong, deep and compelling characters characters, incredible twists and revelations that will make your heart pound - this book has it all and more!Characters: I absolutely loved the characters! Nahri and Ali (total cinnamon roll, this one) were main characters that made me completely root for and feel for them. And then there’s Dara... the moody and haunted ‘Daeva’ warrior with a seriously complicated past - I can’t even begin to describe him. I think the book itself needs more pages (where is the sequel?? I need it!) for me to wrap my head around this one! Wow. But they were all so amazingly developed, and I loved the dynamics between them so much!And I really liked that there was romance (no triangle) - it’s not the main focus but it’s the kind that makes things more interesting, and I’m really really curious about what’ll happen with that in the next book!The supporting characters are also so well written and complex too! Even the tyrant king so that sometimes you forget he’s not a good guy! The very complicated but deeply loving sibling relationship between Ali and his brother (the crown prince) Muntadhir really tugged on my heart.Actually everyone and everything in this book took turns squeezing my poor heart and even crushing it a few times!And also, as an Arab woman and muslim, it felt amazing to read a book like this - which is so well researched and written (recognizing correct and well used terminology was a delight!).And I really appreciated the positive portrayal of Islam through the character of Ali - whose faith urges him to be more compassionate and fair. But even he is a flawed character, torn and conflicted.It is a world where everyone has their own views, beliefs, and way of looking at events - there is no clear right or wrong side, everything is multilayered, and the book is never biased with the conflicts it presents. That just creates and builds a really compelling story.* I really appreciated the diversity within this world! It’s set in one city that encompasses a variety of cultures inspired by African, Arabian, Chinese, Persian and South Asian! It’s in the characters’ appearances, languages, but also in the magical creatures in the story!Most (the main ones like the types of djinn - with every facet of folklore explored!) I’ve grown up hearing stories about, but then there were also new creatures from Persian, Egyptian, and Greek (I think?) mythology! It was so fascinating and a lot of fun!Oh, and there are magic carpet rides - what more can I want?Overall , this book had me completely enthralled! If you like rich worldbuilding, gray and multilayered characters, epic and complex story telling that will make you question everything in it and blow your mind, scenes that will make your heart pound, and unique and marvelous settings - you don’t want to miss this book! I didn’t want it to end! And now I’m desperate for the sequel and have no clue what to do with this massive book hangover!Also, if you enjoyed The Grisha Trilogy, Throne of Glass series, An Ember in the Ashes, The Wrath and the Dawn — this book has everything you loved in those, but it’s also refreshingly unique at the same time!

Building a believable and realized world is not an easy task. S.A. Chakraborty's debut fantasy novel, The City of Brass, is a near perfect world-building blend of myth, history, and originality. The layers of lore, myth, and back story is so thick and rich though that there is a slight price paid in plotting and characters.We are introduced early on to Nahri in as a young Cairo woman making her living as a con artist during the Napoleonic era occupation of Egypt. She gets by pulling little cons, mostly working marks over with fortune-telling scams and the occasional exorcism. He has magical abilities that she uses for her hustles but beyond that she really has no understanding of where they come from. She also does not understand her natural abilities to understand any language she hears. And in true mythological fashion, she is an orphan who has no idea of who her parents are or of anything else about her family.One day while performing an exorcism of a young girl she interprets as merely mentally ill, she livens it up by incorporating a summons in a language that she thinks she only knows. Little does she know it actually summons a Daeva warrior and awakens the Ifrit Iwithin the girl. That night she is hunted by the fiery Ifrit while Dara, the Daeva rescues her. Realizing that she is at least part Daeva herself (known as a Shafit) and that the Ifrit are now hunting her, they head to Daevabad, a magical city where only Deava's, Djinn, and Shafits may enter.Things aren't rosy in Daevabad, though as there is growing unrest among the Shafits against the pure blood Djinns. Meanwhile the upper-class nobles who still call themselves Daevas maintain a tribalistic disdain for the Djinn, whom they consider usurpers. The youngest prince of Daevabad, Ali, has sympathy for the Shafits who are treated as second class citizens in the enchanted city. He becomes secretly involved with the Tanzeem, thinking he is contributing to a benevolent organization but his naiveté  gets the better of him when they are not what they appear to be.There is quite a bit of naiveté to go around it seems as Nahri herself gets caught up in the internal politics of Daevabad and its history. She is believed to be the only surviving daughter of Manizeh, a legendary healer who died twenty years ago. She was the last of her kind and it was believed that she had no children. She is named Banu Nahidu, the great healer of the city. Yet she shows herself inept at healing creatures straight out of fairy tales.Dara, it turns out, is the ancient protector of her family, but with a tainted and bloody past that inspires fear, hatred, and even awe.  He is not only secretive of his bloody past, but his memories are foggy as well.Though the novel is lean on plot development and is a bit of a slow burn as far as narrative action is concerned, the author makes up for it by incorporating middle-eastern myths and modern world building techniques to bring to life an amazing world in her debut novel which is the first in a planned trilogy. There are layers upon layers of internal lore, mixing known myths about Djinns and Ifrits  along with the author's own creation. She also mixes in subtle Islamic myths about the prophet Suleiman (Solomon).Underlying the heavy lore of The City of Brass is subtle and subversive messages of racism, and especially tribalism. The difference between Djinn and Deavas are really in a name. And yet when Narhi calls Dara a Djinn, he is deeply offended by it. He also shows an illogical hatred for those that call themselves Djinn. And then there are the Shafits who are of blood mixed with humans who are treated poorlyThis beautiful novel is not without blemishes, however. Some of those are with the way the characters act or react to things, especially that of Nahri. As streetwise as she comes across in the beginning of the book, somewhere in the middle of the book, she seems to become less street smart and spends time having her heart flutter when in the presence of Dara to being extremely naive about the what it will take to survive in her adopted city. She shows little interest in learning about her family history, the history of the Deavas or of her supposed mother and family. This is a little frustrating since a good con artist would learn a few things about their surroundings just by instinct.Dara, himself does not come across as a very sympathetic character. He is quite short-tempered and bears a centuries old grudge against the al Qahtani, the ruling family of Daevabad. He is also elitist and rather prejudiced against those who have adopted to calling themselves Djinn as opposed to Daevas. And he is especially disdainful of Shafits.Ali's role comes across later as the good guy, in contrast to Dara's bad boy image. Though he is a competent warrior and member of the city's elite guards, he is also bookish and empathetic to the sufferings about him of the Shafits. He may have the bigger character arc as he will have to deal with his empathy for the suffering against his love and loyalty to his father.King Ghassan al Qahtani is a surprisingly nuanced character. Not evil, but pragmatic in his rule of Daevabad. He also loves his children dearly, yet will cut will not hesitate to cut ties with them if it became necessary.This is a very rich and lush book of will engulf you into a world full of Djinn, Ifrits, and many other magical creatures. And yes, there is even a flying carpet. S.A. Chakraborty's website has a helpful guide to the world of the Daevabad Trilogy. The book also has a glossary in the back. It can come in handy because there is a lot to digest in this world.The novel closes at a cliffhanger and I have the follow-up book The Kingdom of Copper on my too read pile already. This book is Highly Recommended.

assim que comecei esse livro entendi completamente porque tem tanta gente obcecada nele, ele simplesmente é MUITO bom, é um daqueles livros que o melhor é trajetória que você faz acompanhando os personagens. o caos dos últimos capítulos? IMPECÁVEL. não vejo a hora de ler o restante!!

Honestly I bought this book because of its cover....it looked so good I decided to buy it....I'm more of an espionage reader but for some unknown reason I decided to read this book and it just wouldn't let me put it down!! Kudos to the author for spinning a really fine and detailed tale of magic and middle eastern charm. Can't wait to read the next book in the series!!!!

Hace cientos de años seis tribus fueron creadas luego de una terrible guerra, Nahri está a punto de conocerlas. Por accidente ella convoca a un guerrero Djinn durante una de sus presentaciones, ahora ambos deben escapar del Cairo por el inminente peligro en el que se encuentran, el único lugar seguro es Daevabad, la legendaria City of brass. Nahri no sabe que ella está unida a esta ciudad y que su presencia ahí será toda una revelación.A pesar de los cientos de nombres de tribus que tuve que aprenderme, de ciudades, de criaturas míticas, de dialectos, de armas, de vestimenta, de palabras que se usan específicamente para algo, sin contar que tenia que estar adivinando si ciertas palabras eran inventadas o las podía traducir, realmente disfruté este libro. No saben lo bien construido que está el mundo en el que se desarrolla, todo es asombroso, quedé maravillada por el world building. La historia es realmente buena, porque en ocasiones se crea un buen universo pero la historia no es convincente, City of brass no es uno de esos libros, los personajes se ganaron mi corazón, la historia me mantuvo súper enganchada de principio a fin, y hace mucho no me pasaba eso, reí, sufrí, gocé, me enamoré. Tienen que leer este libro.Cabe aclarar que este es un libro introductorio a todo lo demás que sea que vaya a ocurrir, nos ponen en contexto con acontecimientos del pasado y con todo el mundo que conforma está trilogía, eso no quiere decir que sea un libro aburrido donde solo se enseña la historia de Daevabad.Yo le doy 4.8 de 5 ⭐ porque me hubiera gustado que se desarrollara un poco más la interacción de ciertos personajes antes de crear una amistad, digo, con 4 veces que interactúen no pueden crear un súper vínculo.La mala noticia es que este libro por ahora solamente está en inglés, si leen en inglés no duden en comprarlo.

Great speculative fiction writing from S.A. Chakraborty with an engaging story and characters. Set in the Middle East focused on a female protagonist, "City of Brass" examines the "other" from a number of angles, what it's like to be an outsider when one is "home" or in one's own community. The narrative also touches on issues of gender, sexuality, and the politics and realities of people from various tribal and familial loyalties living together in a closed space.Highly recommended and well worth reading!

...Aber fangen wir von vorne an: Die Geschichte handelt um die junge Nahri, welche sich in den Straßen Kairos durchschlägt. Historische gesehen befinden wir uns mitten im Konflikt zwischen dem Osmanischen Reich und den Franzosen im ausgehende 18. bzw. beginnenden 19. Jahrhundert. Während eines Zar-Rituals, einer Zeremonie, die auch heute noch in manchen Teilen Ägyptens stattfindet und der Heilung bzw. der Befreiung von Besessenheit dient, beschwört Nahri versehentlich den Djinni (bzw. Daeva, wie er sich selbst nennt) Dara und erregt die Aufmerksamkeit eines Ifrit, einer Unterart der Djinn. Um Nahri vor den Ifrit zu beschützen, bringt Dara sie nach Daevabad, der Stadt der Daeva, wo sie in die politischen Machtspielchen der herrschenden Familie verwickelt wird.Bücher, die in einem arabisch bzw. nahöstlichen Setting spielen, sind bisher recht rar gesät. Aber noch viel seltener sind Bücher, bei denen sich der Autor tatsächlich mal genug mit der arabischen Mythologie auseinandergesetzt hat, um korrekte Pluralformen zu bilden. Denn "Djinn" ist bereits die Pluralform von Djinni bzw. Djinnia, so etwas wie "Djinns" oder noch schlimmer "Djinne" ist schlichtweg falsch und bei sowas rollen sich mir regelmäßig die Fingernägel hoch, da sich solche Fehler auch sehr einfach vermeiden lassen würden.Hier also schon einmal ein Riesen Pluspunkt für die Autorin.Mal abgesehen von der Grammatik, merkt man während der gesamten Story, dass die Autorin sich auf dem Terrain insgesamt sehr gut auskennt. Arabische Begriffe werden korrekt verwendet und tragen zu einer authentischen Atmosphäre bei. Außerdem tauchen verschiedene Wesen aus dem arabischen und persischen Kulturraum auf, die leider nur gar nicht bis sehr selten in der westlichen Fantasy Literatur Verwendung finden. Für Leute, die sich auf diesem Gebiet nicht so gut auskennen, gibt es am Ende des Buches ein Glossar mit Begriffserklärungen.Die Welt ist in sich stimmig und die Protagonisten im Großen und Ganzen sympathisch. Daher kann ich dieses Buch nur jedem wärmstens empfehlen, der neben den klassischen Drachen-Zwerge-Elfen-usw.-Fantasysettings auch mal in andere Welten eintauchen möchte.