The Kingdom of Copper
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Picking up 5 years after the dramatic conclusion to The City of Brass, The Kingdom of Copper resolves most of my frustrations with the first book of the series. Most of the worldbuilding had previously been introduced, so I was able to focus more on the actual plot and politics than on trying to remember which name corresponded to which magical being. S.A. Chakraborty also retained my favorite aspect of the first book; the incredibly complex politics and relationship dynamics. I really enjoy books where the author is able to skillfully balance multiple factions vying for power against each other without having a black and white good/evil dichotomy. Some characters are more idealistic and others more selfish, but most are just trying to survive or doing what they feel is best. My absolute favorite is when different groups we’re rooting for end up at odds with each
other. Not all scenarios can have a win-win, and I deeply respect authors who can pit protagonists against each other without having everyone be selfish or having someone act out of character to force a conflict.
On a related note, finally we got some character development! Dara, Nahri, and Ali all learn some hard lessons and actually grow from the experience. Even side characters such as Ali’s brother start to show growth and more depth. I really enjoyed the shifting dynamics between the siblings and Nahri - they’re all doing their best, but they’re trying to build stable relationships on quicksand. Chakraborty expertly wove in commentary on the power dynamics inherent in race, class, and gender throughout. Several times more privileged characters hurt others around them simply because they were blind to the power imbalance, and often characters were forced to circumnavigate problems or challenges they didn’t have the power to resolve directly.
As with many political dramas, the setup starts slow and the action slowly builds over the course of the book. By the time we hit the finale, things had REALLY escalated. The first half to two-thirds of the book works well as an evening reader, but I couldn’t put it down once we got into the endgame. If you weren’t sold on the first because of the complexity or flat character arcs, I think the second is worth coming back to. Next up on my list is the third and last in the series, and I’m looking forward to see if it can maintain the 5 star rating or if I drop it back down to match the rating of book 1.
I paired this with my best approximation of Turkish coffee, a popular drink in Cairo. I didn’t have any of the right ingredients so I just used my smallest saucepan and tried to get a better fine grind on the coffee by using a mortar and pestle. Final verdict: much like the series, it grows on you! The first few sips were way too sweet for me, but once I got used to the differences from how I normally drink coffee I quite enjoyed it.
