Monday, January 29, 2018

The City of Brass (S.A. Chakraborty, 2017)

(526 pages)

Book club selection (via NOC; session held 28 January 2018).

Book one of what's intended to be a trilogy.

Not necessarily my favorite style of book, but this had a lot going for it, and the author is skillful. 

I like that it was set in the Mideast (however defined); built around terms like "djinn" (described as something (or someone!) that an observant/sensitive human might occasionally see out of the corner of his/her eye - nice!); this takes the reader somewhere. 

Very good at drawing characters - avoided the all-good or all-evil trap; most were nicely nuanced.

Not a political novel, at least as far as I can tell - but a pretty sophisticated recounting of the kinds of pressures politicians face (and/or create/encourage!)

Nahri is the lead character - likable. 

Lots of magic - but presented in an interesting way - characters have to learn how to use it; some limits on duration/power; not just an elixir.


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