The City of Brass (Daevabad Trilogy)

Product Information

Fantastic Slurs: Several examples: "Dirtbloods" for shafit, "sand flies" for Geziris, "crocodiles" for Ayaanle. Daevas are derided as "fire worshipers" by djinn for continuing to practice Zoroastrianism. SULEIMAN’S SEAL: The seal ring Suleiman once used to control the djinn, given to the Nahids and later stolen by the Qahtanis. The bearer of Suleiman’s ring can nullify any magic.

The book has two perspectives, one of which is Nahri, who, at the beginning was primarily the kind of MC I love to read about. She was sharp-tongued, independent and a likeable con artist, who makes her living on the streets of Cairo by swindling nobles and also has the ability to sense illness in others and to heal some ailments. I mean, right!?

Customer reviews

Deliberate Values Dissonance: Sobek , the crocodilian god of the Nile, appears in Empire of Gold and horrifies Nahri and Ali by reminiscing about how his followers used to practice Human Sacrifice for him. Ali reflects a couple of times that it's a good thing his ancestors ended that kind of worship. The characters were all very meh. Nahri and Ali were both quite bland and didn’t really have any character traits. Like you know paper? That blank white thin sheet of nothing? That’s exactly what reminds me of them. And while Dara wasn’t the BEST character, at least he had an actual, you know, personality. And he roasted Ali so that was extremely entertaining. Daevabad is the melting pot of several djinn tribes and has a bloodied history of its own. Established by the Daeva tribe (who happen to be Nahiri’s ancestors), it was overthrown by the Qahtani’s of the Geziri tribe many centuries ago. The two tribes have been living together begrudgingly ever since. Thrown in the mix are the human half-bloods, Shafits, who live a poor and desperate life in this city. At the start of the story, Ali finds himself embroiled in city politics much against the will of his father, King Ghassan. Nahiri’s arrival to Daevabad further complicates matters.

The peris have a strict code of noninterference with anyone they consider an "inferior being" and execute any fellow who breaks it. However, they can arm lesser creatures with peri weapons or advice and send them out to do the dirty work. They give Nahri a daeva-killing dagger to kill Dara in The Empire of Gold. She winds up calling them on their "noninterference" bluff by using it on herself at a crucial moment.Flying carpets. Shape-shifters. Clan warfare. Personal ambitions. Power politics. Racial and religious tensions. The Daevas from whom modern djinn are descended were nigh-legendary figures, riding the winds and living for thousands of years. They were punished by Suleiman for tormenting humanity, though, resulting in the loss of most of their power. ownvoices Muslim rep!!! in fantasy!!!! which is so so important!!!! (I can’t comment on the rep so I recommend you read May’s ownvoices review!) Shedu and Lammasu: The shedu are winged lions and the emblem of the Nahid dynasty, who were the original rulers of the djinn. The Nahid trained them and brought them to their capital city, but they slowly vanished from the world alongside other magical creatures and haven't been seen for centuries by the time of the series. But if you are not inclined to Google the world-building of your new favorite fantasy novel, the Daevabad trilogy offers a hugely entertaining story, filled with memorable characters, great twists, and an intricate setting to get lost in.

But the bloodletting and loss of his beloved Nahri have unleashed the worst demons of Dara’s dark past. To vanquish them, he must face some ugly truths about his history and put himself at the mercy of those he once considered enemies. In The City of Brass, Nahiri, an orphaned hustler/healer living in the streets of Cairo, accidentally summons a handsome, brooding djinn, Dara. He tells Nahiri of her magical origins and takes her on a reluctant journey to Daevabad, the magical city the djinns call home. Knowing a djinn's name gives you power over them, especially if you're an ifrit or marid. Ali was never taught this, and answering the marid when asked allows them to use him as a weapon in the first book. Really Gets Around: Beyond a certain point, it's easier to list which members of Muntadhir's party circuit he hasn't slept with.The world building is so….complex it actually crossed over into the line of “complicated” and overshadows ANYTHING ELSE Monster in the Moat: Played With: the moat itself is the monster. The djinn's capital city is in the middle of a lake of Murder Water that tears apart anyone who so much as dips a toe in. They use it as a defensive feature (and for executions), but it originated in a Curse against them by the marid, from whom they stole the lake. Anti-Magic: One of the basic powers of Suleiman's Seal is shutting down the magic of everyone but the holder, which Ghassan is only too happy to demonstrate.