Reviews with content warning for Sexism - A Master of Djinn

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A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark

40 reviews

bisexualwentworth's review against another edition

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Loved the worldbuilding and the characters and the themes. The pacing was a bit off at times and the mystery plot was a bit obvious, probably as a symptom of the author moving from novellas to novels with this book. I liked all of the choices. I just think the execution could be polished a bit more in future books (which I definitely plan to read).

The narration for the audiobook was kind of odd. If they were going to do accents for the entire book, surely it would have made more sense to find a narrator with an actual Egyptian accent?

If you enjoyed the Kane Chronicles or the Bartimaeus Trilogy as a child and want something that draws from the same mythologies but has a better understanding of imperialism and other issues, A Master of Djinn is definitely a great choice for that.

And it's sapphic!

One other thing: I was under the impression that Islam and magic don't mix and that it's bad to mix the two in fantasy writing, but I haven't seen anyone say anything about that aspect of the book, so it's possible that I was misinformed.

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booksthatburn's review against another edition

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astropova's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious 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

4.75

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aardwyrm's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

A mystery is a balancing act, and overall this one does a good job of leaving clues the audience can follow and making sure it all pays off. Also djinn are cool as shit.

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uranaishi's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful inspiring mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

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yavin_iv's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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whataboutzana's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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mar's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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

5.0

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

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ceallaighsbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

“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

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dedonohoe's review against another edition

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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.

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