Tags
5 stars, audiobook, Book Review, Cairo, Egypt, fantasy, historical, P. Djèlí Clark, series
Review of A Master of Djinn
The alternate historical steampunk setting is 1912 Cairo. Amazingly, colorfully depicted, Cairo is on a city of the cutting edge of modern magical technology. When there is a murder that reeks of the supernatural, agent Agent Fatma el-Sha’arawi of the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments, and Supernatural Entities is called in. Her investigation takes her all over Cairo encountering all manner of adversaries, friends, djinn and other magical beings.
I absolutely loved this high-stakes non-stop action adventure. Fatma is a dapper character with her suits, hats and canes. She is a competent agent, yet not all-seeing, making mistakes, learning and eventually conquering with the help of two other capable and delightful female protagonists: her rookie partner Hadia and her girlfriend Siti.
The mystery is full of twists and seems to grow bigger with each page. The dialog is clever and full of humor. I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Suehyla El-Attar. The production was so good, the narrator’s light dialect sounded smooth to my middle America ears, while projecting a sense of place and culture.
As soon as I finished this book, I hunted down and devoured the rest of the Dead Djinn Universe series. A Master of Djinn is wonderful imaginative stuff!
About A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark
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 girlfriend Siti, Agent Fatma must unravel the mystery behind this imposter to restore peace to the city -or face the possibility he could be exactly who he seems…
Links
Add A Master of Djinn to your Goodreads shelf:
I found two of these books in my local library’s digital collection. If you can’t find them in your library, find the Dead Djinn Universe series books by clicking on the titles here:
Two are available on Tor.com (read for free!): A Dead Djinn in Cairo and The Angel of Khan el-Khalili
Purchase The Haunting of Tram Car 015 or A Master of Djinn on Amazon.