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A review by madimattei
A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark
5.0
Djèlí Clark's Egypt is a fantastic world to explore in this story about automatons, spirits, and magic. The characters are just as fleshed out as the setting, including magical detectives, priests of ancient sleeping gods, and djinn that are clearly based on classic tales but given a unique polish.
The story is a little formulaic and follows a more traditional layout of "bad guy sows chaos that the heroes have to stop before the world unravels", but Djèlí Clark writes so masterfully that I didn't care. I figured out the big mystery a few chapters in, but was still eager to keep seeing what was going to happen. The trio of Fatma, Siti, and Hadia were so wonderfully rounded in character and fascinating, but the author applies the same brush to the Englishmen looking down their noses, the police supporting the Ministry's efforts, the speakeasy patrons, and even the council of angels we see in snippets and for only a few pages.
This is a world I can't wait to come back to and I hope that Djèlí Clark has planned at least a few more books for this series.
The story is a little formulaic and follows a more traditional layout of "bad guy sows chaos that the heroes have to stop before the world unravels", but Djèlí Clark writes so masterfully that I didn't care. I figured out the big mystery a few chapters in, but was still eager to keep seeing what was going to happen. The trio of Fatma, Siti, and Hadia were so wonderfully rounded in character and fascinating, but the author applies the same brush to the Englishmen looking down their noses, the police supporting the Ministry's efforts, the speakeasy patrons, and even the council of angels we see in snippets and for only a few pages.
This is a world I can't wait to come back to and I hope that Djèlí Clark has planned at least a few more books for this series.