I Read Books: The City Of Brass

The City Of Brass

Nahri is a thief/con-woman in French-occupied Cairo, surviving through her wits and also her uncanny healing abilities. Unfortunately as an orphan and vagabond she can’t get proper medical training so resorts to conducting a zar, an exorcism. She chants something from her forgotten past.

This invites unwelcome attention, from a daeva warrior (don’t call him a djinn) and various more evil magical creatures. It turns out Nahri is a descendant of the old rulers of Daevabad, the great city of the djinn.

There’s a bit of complicated history, but basically the prophet Sulieman (Soloman) was empowered to stop the djinn from messing with humankind, splitting them into six tribes, reducing their magic etc. Also there’s the ifrit who would not accept his limits, and instead got some other magic (possibly from hell). And one of the things is the limitation on shafit, the offspring of djinn and humans, who are brought to Daevabad and kept there, which causes trouble. Especially as a different tribe took control of the city some time ago, which gives us our second viewpoint character, Ali, younger son of the king, being brought up to be his brother’s general.

He's an actual believer in their creed (Islam) and so in the equality of all in the city, which causes problems.

Nahri and Dara, the Daeva warrior, are attacked by ifrit, and head for Daevabad. This middle-eastern flavoured gritty rogue fantasy adventure turns into political epic fantasy, with maybe a touch of romance. Yet as the last healer of the line of Daevabad’s former rulers, the king eyes Nahri for a political marriage…

Read This: For some fun fantasy adventure using Arab folklore and magic in interesting ways
Don’t Read This: It’s the first in a fantasy trilogy and you can’t be having with that