A Master of Djinn

Magnificent blend of steampunk skiffy, Middle Eastern mythology and folklore, and alternate history.Set in turn of the 20th Century Egypt, we are taken to a world in which djinn, rukh and other mythical creatures live side by each with humanity.In this world's Cairo, we meet Fatma el-Sha’arawi the first and youngest woman to become an operative for the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities.In the short story A Dead Djinn in Cairo (included at the end of the book - and the very first Agent Fatma adventure - read it first) she and her civilian friend, Siti, save the universe in a lovely tale that generated the positive response that got author P. Djèlí Clark to develop his unique world further.In A Master of Djinn, an imposter claiming to be Al-Jahiz (the sorcerer whose researches led to the the event that brought the djinn and other supernatural entities into the world).Unlike the pacifist original, this would-be Al-Jahiz is set to destroy Egyptian civilization - beginning with the disruption of a peace accord that could actually bring about world peace.Agent Fatma, who prefers to work alone, is saddled with an eager top-of-her-class rookie, Agent Hadia Abdel Hafez.Now she has to work out a unique murder (wherein the victims were burned to death without the flame harming anything else in the room - not even their clothes and accessories).Meanwhile, one of her best sources of information seems to be transforming into something else.And her friend Siti is revealed to be something more than a friend (which is not the only revelation on her part).Plus, there's that imposter...Clark's 1912 steampunk Cairo is a genuinely unique creation, and his characters are fresh and as intriguing as the mysteries they have to unravel.A Master of Djinn is an excellent work and well worth your time.Highly recommended.

Set in an alternate version of Cairo , the story follows the adventures of main lead Fatma who is a special agent in the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural entities.--> The fully fleshed out characters and the incredibly unique world-building was simply too good.--> The pacing however was extremely slow. No doubt , the author should be lauded for the descriptive writing which was so beautiful and vivid that I was able to visualise literally everything that was written in the page.Unfortunately, these descriptions slowed down the pacing. I had to skim through a lot to get to the part where the plot seemed moving.--> If this one above mentioned flaw doesn’t bother you, then you must check this book out . The diverse characters, unique world and an extremely strong lead is worth it.

I was really excited to read this one and at the beginning, it got better and better. The author does great world building, with a rich and deeply saturated background of characters, stories and the whole book universe. I was thrilled to learn there is really great and diverse representation of gay characters, people of different religions, ethnicities etc. The story itself is not bad - it took a while to take off at some places and in the end, one thing came after the other very quickly and the relevations were not as exciting as I hoped for.Two things I found unfortunate: First of all, as someone not so versed in the cultural context the book is set in, I lost a lot of richness by not knowing some special words that were used. e.g. religious wording, words from another language, traditional clothing and accessories that were described but that did not mean anything at all to me. The author would do well to describe those - at best with a short sentence directly in the book, or at least with a glossary.Second of all, and this I cannot pin down, but it did really annoy me - i found it hard/slow to read. Its not like the sentences are overly complicated, but their constellation is at times

Meu marido gostou muito da história.

This book? Utterly fantastic!Fatma el-Sha’award is the youngest woman working for the Cairo division of Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities but she already has quite a reputation after saving the world from the machinations of angels and djinn. She gets assigned a partner, Hadia, and is quickly pulled into the thick of a mass murder committed by someone claiming to be al-Jahiz returned from Kaf. Solving the murder isn’t easy when al-Jahiz is stirring up the communities and there’s also political things at stake with a Royal symposium for peace taking place.I adore everything by P Djélì Clark, and A Master of Djinn takes his writing to a whole new level of excellence! I was struggling a little in the beginning staying focused but once things started to happen in earnest, I couldn’t put the book down. I figured out the mystery a little before Fatma does, but the execution of reveal and everything that happens after was so spectacular and not at all what I expected! I love the mythology and magic of the world and the ways history is blended into the story. This is a world I cannot wait for more stories to take place in, especially starring Fatma; she is such an incredible and nuanced main character. Plus her flair and sense of fashion is so fun. I also really appreciate her relationship with Siti. The two of them are just so wonderful and I love the space for softness they allow one another as two women in a patriarchal society.This is such a wonderful book that continues the world building and magic of the series with great skill. I loved it so much, and can’t wait for others to love it and scream with me!