The City of Brass
⭐⭐⭐
The City of Brass is not for the faint of heart. It leaps straight into a high-drama political fantasy based in Middle Eastern culture and mythology. If you’re already somewhat familiar with this context it's not too bad, but if you’ve never heard of Djinn, Nahids, Shafit (or more) the book doesn’t do a lot to clue you in. There is a glossary in the back but I don’t like flipping back and forth. I was mostly able to keep up, but I’m previously familiar with at least a few of the nonhuman variations.
If you’re in the mood for complexity, S.A. Chakraborty delivers. She balances human/Daeva, Daeva/Daeva, and Daeva/other magical creature politics as we slowly learn with the main character where current factions stand and the long history filled with intrigue and betrayals.
The various cultures and factions all felt fully fleshed out and distinct from one another, and I enjoyed the political maneuvering. I especially liked the slow process of watching Ali shift from naive manchild to a young man growing into his power. He still has a lot of growing to do by the end of the book, but he’s one of the most sympathetic characters and I have high hopes for him in the rest of the series.
Often set as a foil to Ali is Dara, a centuries-old warrior who has recently escaped his confines. Where Ali is young and untested, Dara is cynical and world-weary. I appreciated him in the first half of the book as a morally grey protagonist haunted by his past. But staying vague to avoid spoilers… I had some STRONG opinions about his life choices in the climax. Dara also has an intense but questionable relationship with Nahri throughout the book. I’m withholding judgment on this for now, as she starts an interesting arc at the end that won’t really play out until books 2 or 3. But as far as first impressions go I’m really not sure what Dara brings to the relationship. I’ll be really interested to see how the author handles the character growth for Nahri and Dara both together and individually. There’s incredible potential here, but it could just as easily end up an exercise in frustration. Fingers crossed for the rest of the series! I’m looking forward to getting them as soon as I’m off the library waitlist.
In honor of the book’s Arabic roots I found an Arak cocktail called the Ramallah Sunrise. Arak is a popular Middle Eastern liquor with a strong anise flavor. The cocktail ended up absolutely beautiful, although it’s supposed to be lighter in color. I’ve been avoiding buying proper collins glasses and instead have been pretending that a stemless champagne glass works just as well. Technically it does! As long as you skip the soda. Let me know if you try it and what you think!
Ramallah Sunrise
1.5 oz. Arak
.25 oz. St. Germaine
4 oz. Grapefruit juice
Soda
Combine Arak, St. Germaine, and grapefruit. Shake and strain over ice in a Collins glass, and add a splash of soda to fill. Garnish with twist of lemon peel.
Note - I cheated and used Ouzo instead of Arak. Its the Greek equivalent, and I’ve had a bottle of it in the back of my pantry for a couple years that I’ve been trying to use up. The cocktail was very anise-forward, but played surprisingly well with the grapefruit and elderflower mixers. I would definitely try this again with the proper liquor.
