The Kingdom of Copper

The Kindgom of Copper

By S.A. Chakraborty

Nahri’s life changed forever the moment she accidentally summoned Dara, a formidable, mysterious djinn, during one of her schemes. Whisked from her home in Cairo, she was thrust into the dazzling royal court of Daevabad—and quickly discovered she would need all her grifter instincts to survive there.

Now, with Daevabad entrenched in the dark aftermath of a devastating battle, Nahri must forge a new path for herself. But even as she embraces her heritage and the power it holds, she knows she’s been trapped in a gilded cage, watched by a king who rules from the throne that once belonged to her family—and one misstep will doom her tribe...

Meanwhile, Ali has been exiled for daring to defy his father. Hunted by assassins, adrift on the unforgiving copper sands of his ancestral land, he is forced to rely on the frightening abilities the marid—the unpredictable water spirits—have gifted him. But in doing so, he threatens to unearth a terrible secret his family has long kept buried.

And as a new century approaches and the djinn gather within Daevabad's towering brass walls for celebrations, a threat brews unseen in the desolate north. It’s a force that would bring a storm of fire straight to the city’s gates . . . and one that seeks the aid of a warrior trapped between worlds, torn between a violent duty he can never escape and a peace he fears he will never deserve.

There should be a quiz every time I read a book like this: What crucial information have I forgotten from the previous book in the series to the next? In this case, it would be: most the the climax, and DEFINITELY THE PART WHERE SHE GOT MARRIED.  Haha, what? I read that and I almost spit-taked (spittook?), I was like, arrrruuu??? And then we just skipped merrily five years into the future anyway, so I got over it.  As you do.  I mean, I had a lot of time to get over it, because this book was also six hundred pages.  Not that I don't love a chunky nugget, but for real, a lot of that could have been cut out, because we did not get to the juicy action part for like, hundreds of pages.

All of my poor memorization of previous novels aside, I did end up getting into Kingdom of Copper.  I did struggle at the beginning obviously, trying to figure out who was who all over again, and how we left things (re-reading books is for the WEAK and also I'm lazy) but also, a lot of it is kinda needlessly confusing.  For example, djinn and daeva are used interchangeably sometimes, but also it is made clear that they are not the same thing - but then what they are is not explained? I feel legitimately like really dumb about some of this.  In the end-notes, they're going on about tribes, and like, the Geziri are all a tribe, but the Nahid are...not?  And the Daeva are Nahid supporters, but also Daeva is another word for djinn, except that like, the Geziri don't consider themselves Daeva?  I sound like I'm having a goddamn stroke.

Anyway, I never really understood that part in the first book, The City of Brass, either, so I guess it's okay if I still don't quite get it here.  Like The Wicked King, I definitely felt like this book improved upon the first.  Although it was incredibly slow to start (I was not joking about cutting a few hundred pages) when it did pick up, it was very exciting, and fun to see it all coming together.  I have no idea why we skipped five years in the first chapter, that was silly.  It makes the timing of everything somewhat handwavy - like, Nahri discovers an old hospital at the same time five years later that Ali comes back and Manizheh is ready to make her move?  Girl, if you say so. 

I did appreciate that Nahri was separated from both Ali and Darayavahoush for most of the story - honestly, I never felt like her attachment to Dara was fairly earned.  He just picked her up and whisked her off in City of Brass, and while, yes, she may have felt she was otherwise surrounded by a sea of enemies in Daevabad, it never felt right that a streetwise con artist wouldn't be more suspicious of him.  I hope that they don't end up together (dare to dream!). And Ali has a big old pole up his butt, no offense. I did enjoy seeing someone who was passionate about helping people and outspoken just constantly  fucking up because no one else wants to help people, read the room, Ali.

There is a lot of thought given to historical inequities.  One of the major themes throughout was the suppression of the Shafit, which are the half-blooded djinni who get, like, collected? And have to stay in Daevabad because they can't be trusted outside in the world even though other djinn can go anywhere they want? I mean, you don't get half human Shafit babies without djinn gone wild, is what I'm saying.  The horse has done left that barn, no point in locking the doors now.

Also, there's some weird thing going on with the Daeva that I never really figured out.  Like, no one likes them, but also the Wazir is Daeva?  I don't know if a more comprehensive knowledge of Middle Eastern and Southern Asian politics and history would have helped me here.  Like our current world, the reason why things are the way they are isn't always logical or linear, but the difference is that the real world doesn't give a shit if you believe in it or not, it's here, and it's not going anywhere.  A fantasy book needs more internal logic than that, otherwise you have trouble keeping your readers' heads in the game.

Don't get me wrong, I really did like it, on its own, and as a sequel to City of Brass.  The setting is (pardon the pun) magical, and the characters, plotting, scenery and magical abilities are both unique and engrossing.  [Too many plots though! In addition the ones corked up by our focus group, there's also at least one fake Shafit uprising and one real one.  It's a little much.] I will eagerly await the third.  And just in case I need a refresher at that point: Muntadhir sacrificed himself for Ali and Nahri, and was poisoned, but then came back to life when magic disappeared, Nahri gave the city's ring to Ali, but they somehow got pulled from the lake to the Nile, and wound up by Cairo.  Phew!

26: A Book That's Published In 2019