Review: The City of Brass by S.K Chakraborty

S.K Chakraborty’s debut has drawn a lot of press recently, popping up on numerous Must Read and Best of November lists. All these accolades are much-deserved, as The City of Brass is a lush fantasy inspired by the Middle East, dotted with magic carpets, a mystical city of djinn, an ancient djinn warrior, and a con artist with a murky past.

First and foremost, Brass is beautiful to read. It’s lush and richly described, not only in its descriptions but in its worldbuilding, which extends far further than what appears on the page. It takes chapters upon chapters to get a real sense of the world we’re visiting, and we learn about it alongside Nahri, a con-woman who accidentally summons an ancient djinn warrior to her side during a job and has to accompany him to the legendary City of Brass or be killed by ifrit pursuing her.

There’s so much to know and learn (and at 500+ pages we’re barely scraping the surface) so at times the book may feel slow as you unravel all the historical underpinnings here, stemming from an ancient war that has present-day implications for Nahri and Ali, a prince struggling to balance his loyalty to his family with his morals.

Though I found Ali deeply annoying, and Nahri way more interesting, their stories intersect well when Nahri finally arrives in the City of Brass.Though it’s drawn comparisons to Uprooted, which definitely matches it in terms of sheer magical material. But I’d wager Brass is probably closer in line to V.E Scwhab’s A Darker Shade of Magic, another series that does an incredible job building to a head. As you approach the finale, the plot tightens and grows in intensity, until there’s a running chorus of “Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit” in your head.

But Brass is very much a series book, which is probably my only complaint about it. Though it definitely stuffs its pages full of world and character, it’s not very concerned with leaving you satisfied in this first book. This is a subjective problem, and definitely won’t be one for serialized readers who like being left hanging for a time, but if you like your books to read more like standalones, you may want to wait until the next installment is out. But it’s so good you’ll be missing out if you wait so…don’t.

Rating: 4/5 stars