A Master of Djinn

, #1

by

Hardcover, 400 pages

English language

Published May 10, 2021 by Tor.

ISBN:
978-1-250-26768-9
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4 stars (5 reviews)

Nebula, Locus, and Alex Award-winner P. Djèlí Clark returns to his popular alternate Cairo universe for his fantasy novel debut, A Master of Djinn

Cairo, 1912: Though Fatma el-Sha’arawi is the youngest woman working for the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities, she’s certainly not a rookie, especially after preventing the destruction of the universe last summer.

So when someone murders a secret brotherhood dedicated to one of the most famous men in history, al-Jahiz, Agent Fatma is called onto the case. Al-Jahiz transformed the world 50 years ago when he opened up the veil between the magical and mundane realms, before vanishing into the unknown. This murderer claims to be al-Jahiz, returned to condemn the modern age for its social oppressions. His dangerous magical abilities instigate unrest in the streets of Cairo that threaten to spill over onto the global stage.

Alongside her Ministry colleagues and her clever …

5 editions

reviewed A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark (Dead Djinn Universe, #1)

Gumshoes in steampunk Egypt

4 stars

Agent Fatma is called to investigate the deaths of all members of a secret society, and assigned a new young partner, the latest woman in an organization that is overwhelmingly male. So a bit of old-cop, new-cop, plays out throughout the story, where Fatma learns to trust her partner.

There’s plenty of sluething and subterfuge at play in this book, with a fantasy, sci-fi, and whodunit mashup. Clark keeps the pages turning, with occasional head-scratchers. For instance, why does Fatma routinely make mistakes in how she conducts her work with Djinn, when that’s her job?

However, the general grist of the story is strong, the characters are engaging, and the surprises are truly surprising. I recommend it.

reviewed A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark (Dead Djinn Universe, #1)

An Arabian steampunk fantasy mystery

4 stars

This was quite an enjoyable book and a fascinating world to explore. It has been a long time since I read any steampunk and this falls very much in that category. The Egyptian setting was excellent and makes me want to read even more in this universe. There are allusions to other adventures between Fatma and Siti so there is more out there to explore.

For a full review, check out my blog: strakul.blogspot.com/2022/06/book-review-master-of-djinn-by-djeli.html

reviewed A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark (Dead Djinn Universe, #1)

It's fine

2 stars

As much as I wanted to, I didn't find this book very compelling. I certainly like the notion of a fantasy-ish story that takes place somewhere other than London or NYC, but that wasn't really enough for me. The plot gets bogged down in endless explanations -- basically with every introduction of a new tool, location, creature, character, etc, instead of showing us the thing, the author just tells about the thing. The dialogue drags and is repetitive. The concept of the plot has a lot of potential, but in execution it is extremely predictable, especially for a book that purports to be a mystery. The book is vaguely anti-colonial, and the gender politics are certainly interesting, but at the same time it's really falls into traditional genre tropes and in a lot of ways it buys into the accepted structure of western/colonial politics. I almost put it down several …