Reviews with content warning for Slavery - A Master of Djinn

“Usually the secrets we keep deep down, ain’t meant to hurt other people,” he said. “Not saying they won’t, but not through intentions. Those deep secrets, we hide away because we’re afraid what other people might think. How they might judge us, if they knew. And nobody’s judgment we scared of more than the one we give our hearts to.”

TITLE—A Master of Djinn

AUTHOR—P. Djèlí Clark

PUBLISHED—2021

GENRE—historical fantasy; steampunk

SETTING—alternate historical 1912 Cairo

MAIN THEMES/SUBJECTS—djinn magic & mythology, secret societies, ancient Egyptian mythology & religion, colonialism, white supremacy, racism, Islamic, Near East, and East African history, bibliophilia

WRITING STYLE—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️—Everything I ever wanted in an adult fantasy book.

CHARACTERS—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️—Siti is my new obsessionnnnn... 😍 But Ahmad also really grew on me lol

PLOT—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️—🤯

BONUS ELEMENT/S—This book is SO atmospheric—the scene setting is phenomenal! Usually I find myself scanning descriptions of landscapes and architecture etc but in this book I always made sure to linger over Clark’s descriptions because they were SO beautiful!! And there are so many amazing places the reader gets to visit in this book from palaces to libraries to markets to speakeasies to bookshops to cemeteries like it is ALL here. 🥰

PHILOSOPHY—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️—Literally perfect. Like SO so good. Especially with the nature of one of the types of illusion magic: “An illusion whose magic works by getting you to play a part in your own deception”, omg. Just brilliant.

“Justice comes for the wicked in time. The scales of Thoth demand it.”

Summary: Super sexy queerfemme Muslim Sherlock Holmes who dresses in dapper suits meets Indiana Jones in an early 20th c. steampunk Cairo with djinn magic and various supernatural and mythological creatures with fantastically intricate worldbuilding and SOLID philosophical underpinnings and is also hilarious but like EVEN BETTER THAN THAT. *NEED* I GO ON?

This book kind of blew my mind. I went in expecting this to be one of my top reads of the year but this might be one of my top reads of all TIME. It is everything I ever wanted in an adult fantasy novel. Chapter 21 especially. PERFECT fantasy mystery with great elements of history, academia, and bibliophilia. And the worldbuilding was incredible and solid, the philosophy was solid, and the characters were all fantastic. I can’t think of anyone I wouldn’t recommend this book to, seriously. It’s so so good.

“If you steal, steal a camel, she heard her mother whisper. And if you love, love the moon.”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

TW // violence, gore, colonialism, racism, misogyny, colorism, police violence

Further Reading—

everything by P. Djèlí Clark
Legendborn, by Tracy Deonn
N. K. Jemisin’s Dreamblood duology
The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova

Content Warnings

poffalina's review

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adventurous hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

I felt the start to the story took a little more effort to get hooked than other work I've read by this author, but I did get hooked and it was a wonderful journey. Giving the characters the space of a whole novel for development has really deepened their relationships, and the world they inhabit. I loved the mystery of the story, even though I made a guess pretty early on that turned out to be correct, because the way the story unfolds and how the characters interact was engaging on its own without the mystery needing to be unsolved.

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leahsbooks's review

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book. I am offering my honest opinion voluntarily.

I’ve read two of the three novellas leading up to this book to familiarize myself with this world. I was really looking forward to starting this book, but there were some things I absolutely loved and some things that I just … didn’t.

Let me be clear. World building is absolutely one of the great strengths of the author. I’ve read a couple of steampunk books, but this one blew them away. Early 20th century Egypt is already an interesting setting, but then add in the steampunk elements and the fantasy/djinn aspects and the incredibly detailed descriptions and it’s just far beyond anything I could have hoped for. I had no problem visualizing everything that was depicted throughout the book.

I had bonded to some of the characters in earlier novellas, like Hamed and Onsi, and only got to know Fatma a little bit. While she was the main character in this story, she had this major reputation as one of the best agents in her department. But to be honest, I just didn’t really understand why. There were so many things that she missed, overlooked, or tried to explain away, and at times, she was rash and judgmental. The bright spot in the cast of characters was definitely Hadia. While she was a little bit of a stickler for the rules, kind of like the female version of Onsi, I really liked her and the fresh point of view that she brought to the story. Plus, she’s pretty badass.

There was a whole lot going on in the story. It was fast-paced and there was a lot of action, but it also felt a little … messy to me. Even the genre felt hard to put my finger on. It was fantasy, but also steampunk/sci-fi/mystery/thriller and had elements of romance. While I did enjoy the main plot, there were a lot of side plots that arose. Some of them worked with the story, but others just felt like they drew attention away from the story, and didn’t really need to be added in there.

And finally, there are a ton of foreign words sprinkled throughout the story. Normally I don’t mind, especially when reading on my Kindle, since my Kindle will handily provide a definition or I can just figure it out through context. But I was sadly disappointed in this case. The vast majority of words in the story weren’t recognizable to my Kindle’s dictionary, and I couldn’t figure out what they meant through context. So my choices were to put the Kindle down at least once a page and look it up on my phone, which would take me out of the story completely, or to just power through and constantly wonder, “What, exactly, am I missing out on?” I generally picked the second choice.

Overall, this wasn’t my favorite story in the series. I honestly enjoyed the novellas a lot more. I actually hope to see more of Hamed and Hadia, since those two are my favorite characters so far.

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dedonohoe's review

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adventurous challenging dark funny lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

TL;DR: A Master of Djinn is a queer, magical steampunk fantasy anticolonial alternate history murder mystery detective novel. And it’s excellent. My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

A mysterious scientist-philosopher-magician of a bygone era opens the human realm to greater settlement by djinn and other “mythical” beings. Thanks to this historical development, Egypt has greatly benefited from advanced djinn magic and technology to become an early nineteenth century superpower.

One of the reasons I was excited to read this book is that the description (steampunk alternate history with anticolonial bent) reminded me of Nisi Shawl’s Everfair, which I read and enjoyed a couple years back. There were indeed thematic and steampunk genre similarities between the two, but these are ultimately very different kinds of stories. Mystery, detective, and fantasy tropes are far more prominent in A Master of Djinn. The main character, Fatma el-Sha’arawi, is an investigator with the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities. The supernatural bureaucracy elements of the story reminded me a bit of the Ministry of Magic in Harry Potter, as did the protagonist’s mission to stop a megalomaniac from harnessing potentially catastrophic magical powers.

There is so, so much to love in this book. The clues, twists, and turns of a good mystery. Strong, complex female heroes, sidekicks, and villains. A queer love story that navigates racial, religious, and other differences in identity and lived experience. Gender politics of turn of the century Cairo. Revenge fantasy scenes where white colonizers get what’s coming to them. Vivid and imaginative descriptions of setting and characters that make glorious use of color (e.g. Cairene woman protagonist is known for wearing androgynous and brightly color-coordinated European suits). Compelling historical allusions (e.g. Black New Orleans jazz musicians who fled Jim Crow America for Egypt give commentary on the racial politics of their adopted country of refuge).

As a big language nerd and someone who has traveled and lived in places with Turkic, Persian, and Arab cultural influences, I also LOVED the religious, cultural, and linguistic details that Clark weaves into his story. It’s quite apparent in his fiction that Clark is a historian by training.

I also want to address the question of whether A Master of Djinn is a standalone work. When I requested an ARC for A Master of Djinn, I hadn’t realized that P. Djèlí Clark had already written two novellas set in this fantasy world and featuring these characters. I was curious whether they were important to understanding and enjoying his debut novel, so I decided to buy and read them before jumping into A Master of Djinn. I can definitely report that it’s not necessary to read “A Dead Djinn in Cairo” or “The Haunting of Tram Car 015” in advance. The important information gets repeated in A Master of Djinn for the benefit of the uninitiated.

That said, if you want to get a taste of this world before committing to the full novel, “A Dead Djinn in Cairo” is very short (43 pages) and tells the story of a previous case Fatma has solved that is very relevant to the case she becomes embroiled in during the events of A Master of Djinn. “The Haunting of Tram Car 015” is longer (82 pages) and centers on side characters (Fatma only makes a brief cameo) and a case that is not central to A Master of Djinn. However, it is entertaining in its own right and provides background for some of the religious conflict present in this imagined Cairene society, as well as recent political movements for gender equality that are alluded to in A Master of Djinn.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for giving me advance access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Slavery, and Violence

TL;DR: A Master of Djinn is a queer, magical steampunk fantasy anticolonial alternate history murder mystery detective novel. And it’s excellent. My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars A mysterious scientist-philosopher-magician of a bygone era opens the human realm to greater settlement by djinn and other “mythical” beings. Thanks to this historical development, Egypt has greatly benefited from advanced djinn magic and technology to become an early nineteenth century superpower. One of the reasons I was excited to read this book is that the description (steampunk alternate history with anticolonial bent) reminded me of Nisi Shawl’s Everfair, which I read and enjoyed a couple years back. There were indeed thematic and steampunk genre similarities between the two, but these are ultimately very different kinds of stories. Mystery, detective, and fantasy tropes are far more prominent in A Master of Djinn. The main character, Fatma el-Sha’arawi, is an investigator with the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities. The supernatural bureaucracy elements of the story reminded me a bit of the Ministry of Magic in Harry Potter, as did the protagonist’s mission to stop a megalomaniac from harnessing potentially catastrophic magical powers. There is so, so much to love in this book. The clues, twists, and turns of a good mystery. Strong, complex female heroes, sidekicks, and villains. A queer love story that navigates racial, religious, and other differences in identity and lived experience. Gender politics of turn of the century Cairo. Revenge fantasy scenes where white colonizers get what’s coming to them. Vivid and imaginative descriptions of setting and characters that make glorious use of color (e.g. Cairene woman protagonist is known for wearing androgynous and brightly color-coordinated European suits). Compelling historical allusions (e.g. Black New Orleans jazz musicians who fled Jim Crow America for Egypt give commentary on the racial politics of their adopted country of refuge). As a big language nerd and someone who has traveled and lived in places with Turkic, Persian, and Arab cultural influences, I also LOVED the religious, cultural, and linguistic details that Clark weaves into his story. It’s quite apparent in his fiction that Clark is a historian by training. I also want to address the question of whether A Master of Djinn is a standalone work. When I requested an ARC for A Master of Djinn, I hadn’t realized that P. Djèlí Clark had already written two novellas set in this fantasy world and featuring these characters. I was curious whether they were important to understanding and enjoying his debut novel, so I decided to buy and read them before jumping into A Master of Djinn. I can definitely report that it’s not necessary to read “A Dead Djinn in Cairo” or “The Haunting of Tram Car 015” in advance. The important information gets repeated in A Master of Djinn for the benefit of the uninitiated. That said, if you want to get a taste of this world before committing to the full novel, “A Dead Djinn in Cairo” is very short (43 pages) and tells the story of a previous case Fatma has solved that is very relevant to the case she becomes embroiled in during the events of A Master of Djinn. “The Haunting of Tram Car 015” is longer (82 pages) and centers on side characters (Fatma only makes a brief cameo) and a case that is not central to A Master of Djinn. However, it is entertaining in its own right and provides background for some of the religious conflict present in this imagined Cairene society, as well as recent political movements for gender equality that are alluded to in A Master of Djinn. Many thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for giving me advance access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

noreadingdegree's review

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Disclaimer: I received this book from Netgalley. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)

i have read all of P. Djèlí Clark's work previous to this and was ecstatic when I saw that he was releasing his first full length novel in his alternate steampunk Cairo. I was a little apprehensive because Clark typically writes shorter fiction and I was unsure of how it would translate into a longer work. Overall, I think Clark did an outstanding job with A Master of Djinn. I find his storytelling so incredibly invigorating and refreshing. I just come to life when I read his words. The things that I think he did best in this novel were the characterizations of his female characters, exploration of queer relationships, and top notch worldbuilding. However, I felt that the mystery/detective plot line became convoluted especially towards the end of the book. This felt like it was originally another novella, but was bumped up to novel status. It felt like Clark had to fill in the gaps to boost it from 200ish pages to 400+ pages. Those parts didn't necessarily work well for me, but I still very much enjoyed the novel. Now I need a follow-up story furthering exploring Siti and Fatma's relationship!

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