#BookBeginnings The City of Brass

Today we’re reading The City of Brass: A Novel (The Daevabad Trilogy) by S. A Chakraborty for Book Beginnings on Fridays.

Book Beginnings is a fun meme hosted by Rose City Reader blog. To participate, share the first sentence or so of a novel you are reading and your thoughts about it. When you are finished, add your URL to the Book Beginnings page linked above. Hope to see you there!

 

book-beginnings-button-The City of Brass

The City of Brass: A Novel* (The Daevabad Trilogy) by S. A Chakraborty

(*Amazon Affiliate link)

Summary:

Living in eighteenth-century Cairo, Nahri is a multilingual con woman. She has never had a reason to believe in magic, at least not until she accidentally summons a mysterious djinn warrior named Dara during one of her scams. Now Nahri is forced to reconsider both her beliefs and her place in the world.

This is S. A Chakraborty debut fantasy novel. It is the first of The Daevabad Trilogy.

First Sentence of The City of Brass:

He was an easy mark.

Nahri smiled behind her veil, watching the two men bicker as they approached her stall.

Discussion:

I really like the main character’s voice so far. She’s quite smart and cunning. It’s also set in an interesting time and place, at least at the beginning.

I don’t read a lot of fantasy, but a friend who loves books lent me her copy (Thanks, Shan.) I’m looking forward to reading more.

What do you think? Have you read The City of Brass? Do you think you might enjoy it?

14 Comments

  1. Anne@Headfullofbooks

    Hmm…I love books set in exotic settings. This one is tempting me.

    • Roberta

      Exotic is the perfect word for it. The setting is strongly developed and the descriptions are really engaging. Not the kind that make you want to skip them.

  2. Sassy Brit @ Alternative-Read.com

    Love the sound of this one. Great setting, and yes, the narrator does sound cunning. 😉

    Here is mine this week: http://bit.ly/2Gia95s

    Happy reading! Have a great weekend. 😉

  3. I don’t read much fantasy either but I do love a conman story so that alone has me interested. The beginning is another point in this book’s favor so I think I’m going to have to add it to my TBR. I hope you’re enjoying it!

    • Roberta

      I hope it isn’t a spoiler, but I’m getting the vibe that there are other cons involved. We’ll see.

  4. Catherine @ Book Club Librarian

    Love the character description, “multilingual con woman.” I heard this author speak on a panel of debut writers and she was great. I have an ARC of the book, only need to find enough time to fit it in to my reading schedule.

    • Roberta

      Actually I came up with the “multilingual” part because she has a gift with languages.

      Fantastic that you got to hear the author speak. I’m envious.

  5. Laurel-Rain Snow

    I don’t read fantasy very often, but there is something exotic and intriguing about this one. Thanks for sharing, and for visiting my blog.

  6. Kathy Martin

    Sounds interesting. I do enjoy fantasy. This week I have Final Siege by Scarlett Cole. Happy reading!

  7. Yvonne@FictionBooks

    Hi Roberta,

    Whilst I am afraid that, along with science fiction, fantasy is not a genre I generally read at all, I am always interested in checking out books which are featured on fellow bloggers’ sites.

    I like the descriptive writing style of this author and the way the story starts to unfold from the word go. The cover art is also amazing, as are the fantastic ratings and reviews the book has so far attracted.

    I hope that you continue to enjoy the read and thanks for sharing 🙂

    Yvonne

  8. Ashley S.

    I love the sound of this one! Thanks for sharing! Happy reading! 🙂

  9. Jo-Ann

    What a great setting! Glad you like the main character, she sounds like an interesting one, for sure. Love those opening lines, too. Have a great weekend! 🙂

    Jo-Ann

  10. Literary Feline

    I hope you enjoy this one! I really like the sound of it. A con woman and a djinn warrior . . . That sounds too good to pass up! Thank you for bringing this one to my attention.

  11. Karen

    I’m not a fantasy reader, but this one does sound interesting. Have you finished it? If so, what did you think? Should I add it to my “to read” list?

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