This Arabian Nights-esque fantasy, adventure story was a tad slow in the beginning and a bit complicated in parts but was more than worth the reading. The story follows Nahri, a con artist from Cairo, who through a series of misadventures comes to realize she's the last living member of a powerful Djinn family, the Nahid. Her ancestors were as famed for their healing abilities as they were feared for their powerful magic and this makes her a target and a prize to numerous creatures and factions she knows nothing about. The main plot concerns Nahri and her summoned bodyguard Dara fleeing Cairo and the dangerous forces pursuing them, seeking safety in the eponymous city of brass, a legendary capital populated and ruled by magical Djinn. This book is beautifully written and is set in a fully fleshed out and awe-inspiring fantasy world, the characters are immediately likable and interesting and they and the plot are capable of truly shocking the reader in a way that is as refreshing as it is surprising. I'm thrilled that the City of Brass is part of a planned trilogy, because like a story from Scheherazade this tale ends in several astonishing and titillating cliff hangers.

P.S.
You're required to read the epilogue, you just have to.