★★★★☆ | book one of 2023 | e-book
— what a brilliant first read of the year!
The City of Brass by S. A. Chakraborty is the first book in the Daevabad Trilogy. The tale is heavily grounded in Middle Eastern folklore and includes Arabian nights influences (I’m not all that familiar with Arabian nights but that is the consensus). The book is set in Egypt, and also Daevabad, the fictional land of the Daeva, Djinn and Shafit. As an ancient history graduate, I loved the setting of the book. It brings me joy to recognise things like the Euphrates River, and the use of ziggurats in the Daevabad capital, not to mention the setting of Cairo. The book includes a rich fantasy world and a diverse range of characters set within a highly political city.
I did find it confusing at times, I wasn’t sure if it was because I didn’t pay enough attention to something important early on in the book, or if it really just wasn’t all that clear throughout. I found it difficult to keep the machinations of the world in order, the difference between the Djinn and the Daeva, which tribes liked whom and which were enemies. It didn’t necessarily ruin the book for me because I personally love deep world building, complex political situations and when authors are uncompromising with their world, however, I often found myself reading but not completely understanding what was going on.
The general air of confusion I had while reading it made it difficult to ascertain which characters were on whose side, however I still enjoyed the diverse cast of people. Loved the MC Nahri in the beginning as a conwoman who basically fell into this new world, but towards the end she became less interesting to me. Ali is a complex character who I really enjoyed being in the mind of, and Dara, well, he always gave me weird vibes but I also can’t help but feel bad for the guy and I definitely liked him a lot for the first half / 3/4 of the book — definitely harbouring conflicting feelings for him. The book was more violent than I was anticipating, but overall I think it added to the authenticity of the story, and heightened the risks.
Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book. I struggled to put it down despite my comprehension issues at times. My confusion around some of the terms and the world itself didn't really affect my enjoyment, and the ending has me picking up the next book right away.
Have you read this book or this series? Let me know what you think of it!