I was recently introduced to the Daevabad Trilogy by S.A. Chakraborty. I finished the first book, The City of Brass last week. It is a thick book; not what I call a quick or light read.

This debut novel by Chakraborty’s was first published in 2017. Harper Voyager published all three books with the final one released June of this year. The penultimate title in this series, The Kingdom of Copper is next on my list. But first, let me talk about my reading experience with The City of Brass.

I did purchase the book and start a free trial of audible to prepare myself for this long read. Normally, I wouldn’t even pick up a book longer than 400 pages. With that being said, I read the first three chapters and was hooked. I was captivated by the main character Nahri. She has a street-smart sassy attitude that I relate to.

Then there is Prince Ali, the second son of King Ghassan. Ali is a bit ambivalent about his royalty status and family ties which makes his arc interesting.

The two come together when Nahri, a petty thief has to flee Cairo and is taken to this land where, a friend along the way, thinks she may have familial connections to the royal family.

The story gets slow towards the middle which often is the problem with thicker books. I would have omitted one or maybe two hundred pages of this story to make it a fast-paced read. Still the author is a good writer with great ideas, worldbuilding, and character arcs.

Overall, I would recommend this book with a warning; prepare to be bored in the middle. Also, if you can, you definitely want to have the audiobook. By the way, it is read by Soneela Nankani who does a great job of acting out the different characters—male and female with enthusiasm.

This story does read like a movie at times. It can be enthralling, and action packed. Other times it turns into an academic read in the sense that it requires too much of your time and can’t end soon enough. Once you get pass that hump, you will be back to loving this story and looking forward to the next one in this trilogy which is what I plan on reading next.

In my opinion it’s worth buying and reading but don’t go into it with high expectations of it being a fast read.