Wow. My titles for these reviews keep getting worse, but these books keep getting better. (If you don’t believe me just read my review of City of Brass. I said it was (Daeva)Badass)
But I really meant it. That book was amazing and this one is too! Everything that I loved about City of Brass remained in Kingdom of Copper, but Chakraborty seemed to find a way to eek out just a little more of each element. A little more hatred toward old enemies, a little more welcome from old friends, a little more discovery, and a lot more wonder.
As a sequel should, this book seemed to reveal new territories (sometimes literally) and new characters were introduced, along with new schemes and new mystery. So . . . Just another day in Daevabad I guess then.
Which is exactly what I hoped it would be.
I especially enjoyed Nahri’s development as she fought to gain a foothold (and let’s face it, freedom) in her new life as both a Nahid and wife to Muntadhir, but she never gave up on her passion for healing. When she decides to build the hospital, it really felt like the most Nahri thing ever. That she has to overcome so much to make it happen seems like the most (corrupt) Deavabad thing ever . . . And that Ali pretty much almost ruins everything seems like the most Alizayd thing ever.
But despite all of the (after reading the first book) familiar, there is quite a lot in Kingdom of Copper that is new. For instance, characters that were merely side characters in the first book begin to take on a life of their own. It is not that these characters were not well rounded in City of Brass, they were, but for some reason they just seemed more important in this sequel. Particularly interesting to me were Jamshid, Manizheh, Muntadhir, Zaynab, and Hatset which all became more developed characters in this sequel. I hope we’ll get to see more of them in The Empire of Gold, but I also hope that we’ll have a range of new characters to contend with, and I’m definitely excited to see what the finale brings to bear.
Speaking of the finale, it’s my sincerest hope that in The Empire of Gold we will finally figure out what is going on with the Marid. I googled around a bit, and it seems that much like in Daevabad, there is not much *ahem* floating around on the internet about the Marid. The Marid Wikipedia page tells us they’re a kind of Shaitan (any Wheel of Time fans are just gonna have to ignore that for now as I am not nearly caught up on my WoT or Islamic folklore to parse this out and say anything intelligent about it).
Wikipedia also says that it’s derived from the word for “rebel” and that it is used interchangeably with the word ifrit in One Thousand and One Nights (which it is seeming like I really need to read).
In Chakraborty’s Daevabad, Ifrit and Marid seem to be VERY different (and I think opposed? It’s kinda hard to tell which side the Ifrit are on), which would be an interesting twist if somehow the two were related. But I cannot possibly see how they would be.
Anyway, these are things I’m speculating on as I read, but I haven’t actually tried to do any research into anything yet, as I’m afraid of spoiling things . . . Maybe after I’m done with this series, I’ll fall down and Islamic mythology hole . . . We’ll see.
Anywho, Kingdom of Copper was great! If you haven’t started reading the Daevabad trilogy, I highly recommend it. It’s been nominated for a best series Hugo, and based on what I’ve read so far, I’m really hoping it wins.
We’ll see you soon with a review of Empire of God!
Leave me any thoughts in the comments, but hopefully no spoilers! See you next time!
alligators and aneurysms! 