This was a pretty great fantasy tale! It has all the elements I love about the fantasy genre – magical world building, flawed but interesting characters, and a pace that keeps you turning page after page. I particularly loved the world building. Chakraborty has created a rich, full, world set in middle eastern culture which is a refreshing change from a lot of medieval fantasy settings. You have clashing tribes, fascinating djinn magic, and a rather spectacular sounding city in Daevabad.

Of the three protagonists, I think Nahri was my favourite. As a con artist from the streets of Cairo thrust into a world where she is djinn royalty, she’s fantastically interesting to read. Alizayd, too, is a great character who constantly wrestles with the right thing to do and doesn’t always come up with the right answer. Dara I’m a little on the fence about. I was really enjoying him until closer to the end where he really started to lean in on the less wholesome parts of his personality, and I’m really interested to see where Chakraborty takes his character in the next week.

Overall a ⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating from me. On to Kingdom of Copper…