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The City of Brass (The Daevabad Trilogy, #1)

S.A. Chakraborty

Start date: April 1, 2019

Finish date: April 30, 2019

Discussion: Book of the Month

Why we're reading this: Goodreads Book of the Month, April 2019
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What Members Thought

Jul 17, 2019 Mel Lenore rated it really liked it

Update: yep. I just wasn’t in the mood for this book at the time. Upon reread I greatly enjoyed it. I stand by the beginning being a bit less interesting as we got to know the characters. However, by the end I was willing to stay up way past my bedtime to find out what happened.

I'm bumping this up a half star because I truly think I just wasn't in the mood to read this. Ali really got on my nerves for the first 3/4 of the book. He seemed like a weak character with no growth. By the end, I reall ...more

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Jun 20, 2019 Elisa rated it really liked it

Shelves: bingo-reads

(read for r/fantasy 2019 bingo)

I really, really enjoyed this book, and only knocked it down a star because of some pacing issues. The setting is incredibly interesting and vibrant and the characters, while flawed, were likeable. I like that there are several layers of mystery and intrigue in this book, and look forward to learning more in the next installment.

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May 14, 2024 Sacha rated it liked it

Shelves: 2024-r-fantasy-bingo

The last chapter saved this book for me. I know this is Chakraborty's first book, and it definitely reads that way. I really enjoyed 'The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi' so I know her writing has improved, but this book felt so info-dumpy that it became a really slow read. The pacing was the biggest issue. If this book would have been edited down to even 100 pages less, I think I would have enjoyed it more.

Worldbuilding:
This was probably the strongest portion of the writing. The history, the cul The last chapter saved this book for me. I know this is Chakraborty's first book, and it definitely reads that way. I really enjoyed 'The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi' so I know her writing has improved, but this book felt so info-dumpy that it became a really slow read. The pacing was the biggest issue. If this book would have been edited down to even 100 pages less, I think I would have enjoyed it more.

Worldbuilding:
This was probably the strongest portion of the writing. The history, the culture, and the descriptions were all really well done and full on display. While there were times it became exposition dumps and telling rather than showing, that was minor so I tended not to have issues with it. Where the issues rose were when to much time was spent building the world so that the pacing suffered. I was wishing more time was spent on plot rather than building a fantastic world. It was a rather long book and a majority of that seemed to be on descriptions. I am very much a plot driven reader, so I did struggle somewhat.

Characters:
I enjoyed most of the characters that Chakraborty created, however, at least in the beginning a seemingly important individual (who might come back into play due to how much was spent describing who he was and how important he was to Nahri) was never mentioned again afterwards. They also seemed to blend into one another besides those in the love triangle hinted at. All the side characters fell very flat and I found myself not caring to read about them. The love triangle also made it feel very YA despite this being an adult fantasy.

I enjoyed reading from Nahri's perspective...at the beginning. She was introduced as a con artist that had a strange ability to heal, but we barely get to see any of her independent life. For the majority of the book she was captive and unable to do much of what she wanted. Her strong personality also seemed to dwindle throughout. Ari was similarly frustrating. While he was a fantastic character, and one whom we get to see more religious aspects that I thoroughly enjoyed, he came off very rigid and not willing to learn anything new or take into account anything other people's perspectives. I actually liked Dara the best and wish we got some chapters from his perspective. My fingers are crossed for him in the next book.

Magic system:
This is an interesting bit because Nahri, being the main character, doesn't know a lot about it. Therefore, we are not told a lot about it until she starts to understand. Rather than a set system, we are given different types of magical creatures, all which align with an element. That part was very cool and I enjoyed that, but there wasn't a lot of full on magic happening for a big chunk of this book. ...more

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