Book-Thirsty Thursday: The City of Brass, S.A. Chakraborty

S.A. Chakraborty may not have published a novel before, but The City of Brass is intricately plotted and well worth the busy fantasy reader’s time.

I want to know everything about the world of The City of Brass. 530 pages flew by faster than you can say the name of the author, S.A. Chakraborty. Harper Voyager sent this book my way, and I was prepared to be unimpressed even though the concept intrigued me (after all, it’s a first published novel). Instead, this reviewer has only some minor quibbles and plenty of praise for a very strong first debut.

The City of Brass could have so easily fallen into a starker contrast between good and evil. But instead of simply giving readers that, Chakraborty explores both sides of the history of the titular city, Daevabad, and its rulers — both the long-deposed and thought dead Nahids as well as the Qahtanis who now rule over the city where all kinds of djinn may live. Into this realm comes Nahri, a thief and con woman from Cairo, who just so happens to be of djinn — or, more precisely, Daeva — origins. But Alizayd, better known as Ali, happens to have a very different view of how Daevabad operates, because he’s the second son of the Qahtani king.

So, just to recap, you have political intrigue in a world of magic, where ancient history seems like yesterday to some characters. Throw in plenty of action and plots that never quite seem to go where you think, and you have a recipe for a fascinating tale.

A story like this practically requires good world-building. There is a lot of information to absorb — and a glossary at the end of the book for you to refer to, which ends up being incredibly useful. However, Chakraborty carefully doesn’t lay all of her cards on the table immediately. Things aren’t explained right away. In fact, one particular plot point is hinted at over and over again, but the tension builds before you learn, which is well-done.

Nor are we restricted to learning about the world in Nahri’s chapters. Even though Ali has lived in the world of Daevabad for his entire life, Chakraborty makes sure that things are balanced. It contributes to the sense of wonder and even slight unease, because a reader doesn’t know what’s coming next and is still putting the pieces together just like Nahri.

Does it occasionally feel like there’s an overload of information (even with everything that isn’t completely explained, oddly enough)? Yes, but it seems to go hand-in-hand with the idea that Nahri’s completely new to this world.

Character-wise, Nahri, Dara and Ali make for three lead characters that are each compelling in their own way, even though Dara doesn’t have any point-of-view chapters. There are a lot of hooks for a sequel — and the idea of getting into Dara’s head is one. Indeed, Chakraborty’s site says that this is the first book of a trilogy.

There are a few dialogue issues that could use resolving. Most prominently, there are a lot of uses of okay that read as jarringly modern for a book set in Napoleon’s time, when the word’s most likely American in origin (and didn’t get used until mid-century, at least in written usage; this is pedantry, but it did actually affect my experience of the book, so there you are).

Additionally, some things go untranslated in dialogue. Chakraborty provides enough context to get by (and there are terms in the glossary for her fictional languages, since there are many of them), but as a pedant, I’d like to know. It may have been a case of not being able to work it in effectively.

Next: Review: Steal the Stars, Nat Cassidy

But for a first novel, The City of Brass has a lot more going for it than against it. Against a beautiful backdrop, Chakraborty plays with the idea of history and how it’s written, building up a compelling cast. Give this one a try, fantasy fans.