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The City of Brass

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The City of Brass

By: S. A. Chakraborty
Narrated by: Soneela Nankani
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About this listen

Discover this spellbinding debut from Sunday Times bestseller S.A. Chakraborty.

‘An extravagant feast of a book – spicy and bloody, dizzyingly magical, and still, somehow, utterly believable’ Laini Taylor, Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling author

Among the bustling markets of eighteenth century Cairo, the city’s outcasts eke out a living swindling rich Ottoman nobles and foreign invaders alike.

But alongside this new world the old stories linger. Tales of djinn and spirits. Of cities hidden among the swirling sands of the desert, full of enchantment, desire and riches. Where magic pours down every street, hanging in the air like dust.

Many wish their lives could be filled with such wonder, but not Nahri. She knows the trades she uses to get by are just tricks and sleights of hand: there’s nothing magical about them. She only wishes to one day leave Cairo, but as the saying goes…

Be careful what you wish for.

©2017 Shannon Chakraborty (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers Action & Adventure Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction Historical Horror South Asian Creators Scary Magic Ottoman Empire Imperialism Middle East

Critic Reviews

" The City of Brass is the best adult fantasy I've read since The Name of the Wind. It's stunning and complex and consuming and fantastic. You must read it." (Sabaa Tahir, New York Times best-selling author of An Ember in the Ashes)
"An extravagant feast of a book - spicy and bloody, dizzyingly magical, and still, somehow, utterly believable." (Laini Taylor, Sunday Times and New York Times best-selling author)
"A richly imagined, stunningly immersive book that takes you into a world. You will race to the end of this bold and brilliant debut." (Ausma Zehanat Khan, award-winning author of the The Bloodprint)
All stars
Most relevant
Had to stop as couldn’t stand the orator. Tried too much to sound as though all characters were speaking through gritted teeth.

Great Premise, couldn’t listen

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Love the story but found the heavy American accent and wrong pronunciation of words distracting. A great story like this needs to sound more global rather than American-centric.

Great story horrid narration

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I liked it but found it hard to follow as an audio book because there were so many new words to me. Felt like the plot was similar to other books I've read, but the middle eastern/egyptian location was a welcome difference. Anyway, good just probably better read than listened to if you are a bit uncultured like me.

Goodo

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I really enjoyed the book and I thought the narration was good I shall listen to the rest of the series.

before I bought the book I looked at some of the reviews. I agree with those who say that the number of strange terms used are confusing but I got the gist of it with time. I think this is a problem with audio books as it's much easier to remember a name seeing it in written form.

other reviewers complained of the narrator and especially that she has an American accent. I am English in origin and have no problem at all I thought the narration was very good.

excellent

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What made the experience of listening to The City of Brass the most enjoyable?

I liked the characters. They are good, bad and a mix of both, but I could get behind them and feel for them. I liked not knowing what was going to happen next and the romance of the setting, bit different from what I would usually read and loved it!

Any additional comments?

Can't wait to listen to more.

Loved It!

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