This is the steampunk I want.
Turn-of-the-2othC Egypt, where a re-invention of djinn has kickstarted Egypt into a major power, and let Egypt kick the British Empire out.
My crush from #1, the short story A Dead Djinn in Cairo, has a novel to herself here. Fatma continues to wear her sharp English suits (one day she'll sit down in one of her frequented bars and open up on the irony), investigate sorcery, steam and clockworks apocalypse, and pursue a relationship with Siti, the woman she met in the short story... home to meet the family in this one. No spoilers.
With gorgeously imagined steampunk djinn and angels, and the city of Cairo as a main character. I hope this series continues.

I loved this book! I'm familiar with the two stories that preceded this, but it works well even if you aren't familiar with them. An Alternate Cairo in the early 1900s sets the stage for a better then average mystery with lots of twists and turns. Some you'll see coming, some you won't. I would love any opportunity to spend more time in this world, as it's unique and well thought out.

If anyone wants to talk to P. Djèlí Clark about the movie rights for a Fatma/Hadia series of buddy comedies, I’m here for it.

Clark’s steampunk/historical fantasy/historical mystery mashup series continues to impress me, and the third book in the series is perhaps the best one yet. This one takes some time to get going and is a much lengthier offering than Tramcar 015, though I wouldn’t call it overlong.

Fatma continues to be a favorite of mine among literary characters, and the addition of Hadia to the story was fantastic. Clark really impresses with his development of side characters as well, each one nuanced and interesting.

Which brings me to my big, OMG moment for this book: Sobek! I was SO excited to see the crocodile god and his history incorporated into this story. Sobek is a rare sighting in modern literature, and the role he plays in this one does not disappoint.

Clark is a must-read for me from now on. His unique setting and narrative, humor, and character developments are truly exceptional.

I wasn’t as drawn into this book as I was with Haunting. While the supernatural was intriguing, I just couldn’t get into the characters very much,

Highly recommended for anyone who has liked the novellas / short stories in this magical Cairo universe, probably should be read after the “Haunting” novella and the “Dead Djinn in Cairo” short story. It’s clear that P Djeli Clark is a historian from the way he manages the geopolitical and cultural implications of his magical worlds and the postcolonial opportunities that are opened up by the access to supernatural beings. It felt a little bit like the novel faltered at some points where a novella wouldn’t, but it also allowed for more subtlety. Also, it’s nice to see queer representation of sorts, maybe especially in a world which isn’t primarily “about” that.

This book is very different from my typical reads.

I really enjoyed the strong female characters. The mystery is solid and steady, and the world building is well done. The book did keep me guessing for the most part with some unexpected twists. It's a nice blend of magic and mystery. Apparently there is a short story related to this, but I didn't read that. It might be beneficial to do that.

A Master of Djinn, by P. Djeli Clark. A good story but I did have to keep coming back to it, as I really didnt feel pulled in. I think it will do well and others will enjoy it as much as I did.

P. Djeli Clark's entertaining fantasy series continues with a full-length novel, and it's a delight. Agent Fatma returns, along with an engaging cast, and the plot blends high-powered magical conflict with detective work, as well as some thoughtful examination of power, gender, colonialism, and the assumptions humans make. Vividly written, with sharp and clever dialogue, it takes the reader to an alternate early-20th-century Cairo where Egypt has become a great power through its access to magic and the game of nations plays out in new and interesting ways.

The story references events from A Dead Djinn in Cairo, enough that reading that novella first might be helpful to the reader. But that's more of a bonus than a drawback, because Dead Djinn is also marvelous.

A review of A Master of Djinn (2021), by P. Djèlí Clark:

Dear Hollywood,
Please throw your grandad's boring-ass comic books in the trash, quit with the endless retreads, and make big summer movies out of stories like this explosive mystery in alternate-history/steampunk-y/djinn-laden early 20C Cairo.
Regards, A non-fan.

RIYL: Stross's Laundry Files, but you wish that there were fewer wise-cracking white dudes and that most of the ~mystic woo~ was (were?) Egyptian-flavored.

Set in an alternate historical Cairo where djinn live among us, Master of Djinn takes the detective formula and breathes new life into it. The story weaves Egyptian mythology wonderfully with the various types of djinn creating an irresistible magical world. I was reminded of my fascination with Egypt and its history.

Like most good detective stories, the book starts with a mysterious murder. The pacing is perfect, blending action with procedure. To make things more interesting, the main detective is a woman. This adds an illuminating perspective to the setting. The pacing holds steady throughout until the climax. Just when I thought I had figured things out, the story took a welcome twist.

If you have already been introduced to the world of djinn from other recent fantasy series, you will feel at home here. I felt as if the world of Daevabad was transported into the future. The mystery kept me engaged until the big reveal. The final confrontation was incredibly well done and suitably epic. If you have any interest in djinn or magic this is a must read. Though early, I expect this will be on my top list for the year.

While Master of Djinn doesn't come out until May, Clark has a few short novellas you can read to hold you over until then. I plan to read them shortly.

4.5 stars
I want to thank Netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I think this is a new favorite series for me.
After reading A Dead Djinn in Cairo and The Haunting of Tram Car 015 I had but one complaint; they weren't long enough. Well, this book is delivered everything I needed.
Fatma el-Sha’arawi is a special investigator with the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities in 1912 steampunk Cairo.
Djinn and angels (maybe?) have been living among humans for about 40 years.
Murder and shenanigans ensue.

I loved the whodunnit vibes and clever commentary. The characters are wonderfully diverse.
I'm just in love with this version of Cairo.
The amount of research that went into this book shows in little tidbits like Arabic sayings and idioms, which are a special treat for someone who speaks Arabic, as well as some real life interesting historical events woven into the history of this alternate world.

Highly recommended.

4.75 stars

P Djeli Clarke is fast becoming one of my auto-buy authors, his writing is the perfect blend of not too flowery and not too simple but still manages to perfectly capture and immerse you in the atmosphere he is trying to create. I adore the world he has created in this series, a steampunk version on 1910s Cairo, filled with all the magic and wonder of djinn and other mythological creatures. I have a great love for the Daevabad series by SA Chakraborty and seeing some of the same mythology and figures also used in this book made me feel so nostalgic.

In the novel we are once again following Fatma, as she investigates the mysterious murders of a secret brotherhood dedicated to the legendary historical figure al-jazid. Soon the murderer is claiming to be the second coming of al-jazid and mysterious things are happening to the djinn of Cairo and it is up to Fatma to figure it out. The book is a fantastic ride, full of mystery adventure and good old fashioned crime solving and detective work. The twists and turns were such a delight to follow, I was so invested in finding out what was going on and always kept engaged in the story. I thought the pacing was excellent, and sometimes scenes that were seemingly irrelevant had a lot of importance later on and I always love it when books do this!!

At the start of the book Fatma gets a new assistant, called Hadia, whom at first she is very reluctant to have as she is adamant she only works alone but watching them grow as partners and colleagues was such a pleasure to watch. I adored their grumpy mentor/wide eyed apprentice dynamic and also how Hadia wasn’t afraid to call out Fatma on her bullshit. We see a lot of Fatma’s semi-girlfriend Siti, whom I absolutely adore!!! Siti has a lot of secrets and never likes to stay in one place for too long, she is charming and flirty, and the perfect balance for Fatma’s more sober and stoic side. Watching their relationship grow and develop throughout the book and learn to trust and grow from each other, as well as work together to solve the mystery of what is going on was such a delight. Fatma, Siti and Hadia are such a power trio and I hope we get more books of their adventures!

P Djeli Clarke also touches on some really important themes of colonialism, racial inequality and colorism, as well as looking at what difficulties women can face even in a “post-feminist” society. Fatma and Hadia are the only women in a primarily male dominated magical investigations agency and there is a lot of discussion around access for women, I liked how Hadia called Fatma out on when she was judging Hadia at first, when in fact it is important for women to be supporting women. Fatma is also such a feminist icon, I love how she doesn’t conform to traditional gender roles of the time and is quite assertive and self-assured of her abilities.

Overall this book has a perfect blend of mystery, charm, humour, romance and magic. Something about reading it felt so nostalgic and I loved being swept away into this alternate magical Cairo, truly a novel to devour and let it whisk you away for an escape from reality.

I received the ARC of this book from NetGalley and Tor/Forge books for an honest review.
The story starts with the murder of the Brotherhood dedicated to the great Al-Jahiz, a man who changed the world when he bore a hole to the Kaf and brought magic and djinn to the world. Agent Fatma el-Sha’arawi is tasked with investigating this murder and despite her protests, she is given a partner to work with. A man who claims to be the great mystic Al-Jahiz claims responsibility for the murders. As this supposed Al-Jahiz performs things that appear impossible it begs the question is it really the great mystic back from where he disappeared to or an imposter. Agent Fatma and her new partner Agent Hadia must find out the true identity of this person and stop him from destroying Cairo and the world. Fatma finds herself fighting Djinn and ghuls while trying to solve the case and bring back order to Cairo and just does all this while wearing amazing suits and bowler hats.
This was such fun book and it is the best book out of this series, it has everything, bad tempered Djinns, arrogant djinns, ghuls, people who believe they are the old Egyptian Gods and a queer relationship. You can’t help but fall in love with all the main characters because they are written so well, I loved how Fatma and Hadia grew to trust each other. I hope we get more stories from this series.

Another book to benefit from a short story / novella before it to do some world building, A Master Of Djinn takes the characters and setting of P. Djèlí Clark's magical early 20th C Cairo and spins it out into novel length. And it does a lovely job of maintaining the pace of a procedural pulpy bit of crime fiction in a world of Djinn and Ifrit. This had already been shown in the two previous tales, and the extra length here doesn't really go into much more in depth world building or anything more profound than slightly bigger baddies. But it does give room for plot twists, and a few more set pieces as the ridiculously stylish Agent Fatma el-Sha'arawi gets to swan around this Cairo as her own much better dressed version of Columbo.

The desire to hew so closely to genre norms end up being a strength and a weakness. So when the normally solo investigator Fatma gets saddled with a rookie partner you know she will do everything to push her away until she realises the error of her ways and realises what a useful asset she will be. Fatma will be forever half a step behind the reader despite being the smartest person in the book, and whilst unflappable and amazingly cool will still be upended by the revelations of the tale. This are story archetypes for a reason, though the more comfy I am with this setting the more I wanted it to push in a few more interesting directions with the plot, the mystery is pretty obvious once the suspects are lined up (some of the questions about magical machine sentience in "The Haunting Of Tram Car 015" for example could have been interesting). On the other hand the world needs a dashingly cool queer female Cairene heroine who is never less than impeccably dressed in her never ending wardrobe of multicoloured English suits.

This a a rollickingly fun read, with a few nice things to say about the state of the world in the early 20th cenutry from an Arab point of view. Its interesting to see if the series continues if an analog to World War 1 comes up or not, there is a peace conference here to avoid it, and some suggestion that other countries are experimenting with their own magic (the plot hole I always thought lay in Jonathon Strange and Mr Norrell was the effect of other magicks). And while perhaps it has shifted in my mind from being surprisingly clever world building into the niche of serial fiction with a hugely appealing lead character, that is still a box I like to revisit in these days when comfort is harder to get.

P. Djeli Clark’s first full-length novel is a supernatural mystery set in a magical steampunk Cairo: and honestly, it’s just as good as the premise makes it sound.

We follow the continued adventures of Agent Fatma el-Sha’arawi, who works for Cairo’s Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantment, and Supernatural Entities; after being called in to the scene of an inexplicable murder, she quickly discovers there are large, mysterious supernatural threats at work - which is saying something when your average day at the office includes rogue angels, bargains with djinn, and feral undead creatures. On top of all that, she’s got a new partner at the Ministry - and a rekindled romance - to handle.

Readers may recognize Fatma, and several other major characters, from Djèlí Clark’s short story A Dead Djinn in Cairo. (While the novel gives enough context that readers don’t necessarily need to have read that story to understand this one, I’d recommend it; it’s a quick, free read on Tor’s website.)

The plot is captivating, and watching it unfold was an experience in the best kind of suspense. The worldbuilding is sprawling and glorious; it was already a strength of the preceding short story and novella set in this world, but the additional length of the novel gives it room to properly shine without overtaking the characters or story: The characters are well-developed, human and compelling. (I had a personal soft spot for Hadia!) Action sequences were fast-paced and engaging, and not difficult to follow. And Djèlí Clark does a masterful job of weaving in a variety of wider themes and conflicts along with the supernatural: racism, religion, feminism, imperialism, class conflict; consent, personhood, justice. The result is a world which feels profoundly relevant and recognizable, despite its magic, and diverse, deeply realized characters.

All in all: gripping, fun, and thought-provoking. Wholeheartedly recommended, and I hope that this is the first of many novel-length adventures in this setting.

Many thanks to Tor and NetGalley, who provided me an advance copy of this in exchange for an honest review!

In this novel of wonders and fables, P. Djeli Clark returns to the world of his novella The Haunting of Tram Car 015, an alternate Cairo where humans and djinn live together, where magic is real, and where the old Egyptian gods are still very present. A Master of Djinn includes ornate and sophisticated world-building, interesting and layered characters who evolve and grow, and an excellent plot that involves issues of colonialism, class, power, and sorcery. It's a masterclass in building characters, from investigator Fatma who learns a lot about her own desires to her new work partner Hadia, whose wide-eyed eagerness becomes fierce competence to Fatma's lover Siti, who is forced into a difficult kind of coming out. The city itself is a character, and a beautifully shifting one, full of surprises good and bad. At the heart of the book is the threat and abuse of colonial powers, in this case, Britain, which having been forced out of most of Egypt prior to the novel, still has citizens in Cairo who are passionate about subjecting the Arab world to white supremacy. It's a timely book and a joy to read.

A strong adventure story with a postcolonial sensibility; the stupid/nasty English people approach the status of caricatures, but unfortunately are probably pretty accurate.

I've read a previous story with the same main character, and enjoyed it, so I requested this one from Netgalley - thanks to the publisher for granting my request. The pre-publication ARC I had included some mangled idioms and vocab glitches, something that will hopefully be polished up before publication. The author also has a bad habit of "said bookisms"; people don't just say things, they "speak" them or "relate" them or "voice" them.

There were one or two setting details I didn't quite believe, like most Western countries rejecting the use of magic despite the power it offered. I also didn't believe that the protagonist could afford so many high-end suits on her salary as a government employee. Also, the agents seemed slow on the uptake, only figuring key plot points out long after they'd become obvious to me. But the action was good, the main character's determination, competence, and dedication to doing the right thing made her appealing to me, and the setting was well evoked.

I do hope that the published version includes (perhaps in X-Ray or in back matter) some assistance with Egyptian vocabulary, since there were quite a few words that neither my Kindle dictionary nor Wikipedia could explain to me. I was often left assuming from context "this is some sort of garment" or "this is some sort of food" without any really concrete or specific image.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley via Tor/Forge books in exchange for an honest review.

Djinn - Check
Magic - Check
Strong Female Characters - Check Check Check

I loved this book, it was like someone mixed an Agatha Christie novel with City of Brass by S. A. Chakraborty.

The story starts with the murder of a mysterious brotherhood who were dedicated to al-Jahiz, the man who brought magic back into the world. We are then introduced to our main hero and her glorious suits, Fatma. Fatma is one of the only female agents for this alternative 1912 Egypt's Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments, and Supernatural Entities and she is tasked with discovering just what happened to this brotherhood. She soon discovers there are claims that al-Jahiz is back and walking the streets of Cairo. Fatma is in a race against time, as a peace summit is meant to take place in Cairo in the weeks after the mysterious murders and the disruption of the murders plus the return of al-Jahiz could be what tips the world into war. In order to solve the murders she must team up with her new young partner with equally stylish hijabs.

The strong female characters in this book combined with the author's slow burn mystery and world building make this book a 5 star book for me. Clark does a wonderful job keeping you guessing while also fleshing out the many twists and turns of the world he has built. I loved that this story wasn't just a story of magic and mystery, but of the very real effects of colonialism on communities of color. I would have liked more explanation of how humans interact or wield magic. There were some mentions of this peppered throughout the book that I thought could have been expanded on. The same with the idolaters, I hope that future novels will cover these aspects and I can't wait to see what this author does.

"A Master of Djinn" sets itself apart from the bevy of monster-hunting books out there by its setting. It is set in 1912 Egypt, but a slightly twisted universe of Egypt containing robots and genies (djinn) and other fantastical creatures. It's a world backwards in time, yet also forwards. And which touches a different world entirely. It opens with a shocking gory scene beginning a murder mystery investigated by Fatma from the department that investigates spirits and ghouls and such things. Very clever and inventive.

I really dug this new tale from the world of Agent Fatma in alternate 1912 Cairo. Clark really is an excellent world-builder, and both familiar and new characters are so well-developed. My fave of these is obviously Fatma’s new partner, Hadia, who plays with and subverts those classic new partner tropes. Add in a thorough mythology and, I guess, magic system, with some late colonial geopolitics, and a crime/mystery to be solved, and you’ve got a winner.

This ARC was provided via NetGalley, and I appreciate the opportunity to experience this book early.