The City of Brass
A Novel
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4.4 • 726 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
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.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Immerse yourself in the opulent, complex world of The City of Brass, S.A. Chakraborty’s thrilling historical-fantasy debut. The rich may pay her to heal them, but con artist Nahri doesn’t believe in magic. That is, until one of her phony spells actually works, summoning a mysterious spirit warrior who leads her on an epic adventure through a magical Middle Eastern kingdom. We loved Chakraborty’s vivid world-building, which made the magical story line feel like it was grounded in a real, relatable world—so much so that we dove right into The Kingdom of Copper, the next book in the Daevabad Trilogy.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The familiar fantasy theme of a young person learning of a hidden supernatural legacy is given new life in this promising debut novel, set in late-18th-century Egypt. Twenty-something Nahri, who has the ability to sense illness in others and to heal some ailments, supports herself as a fortune-teller and con artist in Cairo. Her routine, if precarious, existence, is shattered when a girl she is trying to help is possessed by an ifrit. Nahri only avoids being killed through the intervention of Dara, a djinn, who reveals that Nahri is from a family of magical healers. Chakraborty combines the plot's many surprises with vivid prose ("The cemetery ran along the city's eastern edge, a spine of crumbling bones and rotting tissue where everyone from Cairo's founders to its addicts were buried"), and leavens the action with wry humor. There is enough material here a feisty, independent lead searching for answers, reminiscent of Star Wars's Rey, and a richly imagined alternate world to support a potential series.
Customer Reviews
Refreshing and different
If you’re into fantasy books, this series offers a refreshingly different take on magic and fantasy worldbuilding because it’s one of the few that aren’t Euro-centric. I really enjoyed reading about Middle Eastern/central Asian fantasy creatures and cultures. I thought the story was also pretty interesting and I like the main character Nahri a lot. I think I would have given it 5 stars if it had stronger romantic subplot(s). I think there was good potential but the romance elements failed to sizzle for me.
Outstanding!
City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty will make you side-eye that dusty lamp from the garage sale and seriously consider giving it a rub because let’s be honest, if a smokeshow djinn shows up offering to fix your life or at least set your enemies on fire, I’m calling it a win.
Nahri is a twenty-year-old grifter in 18th-century French-occupied Cairo with a talent for healing, learning languages, and liberating gold from gullible aristocrats. One fake exorcism later, she accidentally summons a djinn, evil spirits crash the party, and suddenly Cairo becomes a flaming death trap. Typical Tuesday.
Her new travel buddy? Darayavahoush—ancient warrior djinn, fire elemental, and walking HR violation. Together, they head for Daevabad, the magical capital of people who really, really know how to hold a grudge. Think Game of Thrones, but everyone’s immortal and made of smoke.
Daevabad is barely held together by King Ghassan, who rules like a guy one coffee short of a nervous breakdown. His second son, Ali, is 18, deeply religious, great with a sword, and secretly funding the oppressed underclass behind daddy’s back. Because what could go wrong with that?
This book has it all: magic rings, flaming swords, djinn politics, secret identities, assassins, uprisings, and about sixteen different ways to die horribly… none of which are boring or overly gory, which I appreciate because I like my trauma stylish.
Chakraborty is Scheherazade with a degree in Middle Eastern history and a flair for political intrigue. She doesn’t just drop you into a world, she makes sure you understand how centuries of war, colonization, and family drama turned it into the hot, magical mess it is.
Yes, there are a ton of tribal names, bloodlines, grudges, and invented words. Yes, you’ll lose track. But don’t panic, the glossary at the back is a gift from the book gods, and honestly, it should’ve been spiral-bound and laminated.
City of Brass is smart, sharp, immersive, and addictive. It won’t take you a thousand and one nights to finish, but you’ll wish it did because when it ends, you’ll want to scream “GIVE ME BOOK TWO!” into the void until The Kingdom of Copper appears and fixes your life. Or sets it on fire. Either works.
Smart and stunning
Smart characters, magical universe, rich lore, devious politics… 10/10.