Djinn are a lot like the rest of us,” Fatma said. She plucked a book out of the air that came flying, without stopping her stride. “They just want to know the odd things they’re interested in are appreciated.
I finished reading P. Djèlí Clark’s A Master Of Djinn last night. I came across it after scanning the 2021 Nebula Awards. It’s not my usual type of novel - for the most part I look for hard sci-fi space operas with big spaceships and galactic scale events.
I should point out, too, that A Master Of Djinn had big shoes to fill. It won the award, but one of the other nominations was Arkady Martine’s A Desolation called Peace which is now one of my favourite books and an absolutely fascinating universe.
Imagine my surprise then when I was maybe 30 pages in and immediately hooked and amazed at the world that Clark created. The story line itself is not particularly complex: we follow an investigator who is trying to solve a murder.
But the setting!
The story develops in Cairo in the early 20th century. Around 40 years prior to the events described in the book, a magician called al-Jahiz broke the barrier between this and the magical world. Although initially the world was taken by surprise, the almost half decade since al-Jahiz has made the existence of the djinn fairly routine. They now live, work, and love in the same places as humans do.
With charming descriptions of this magic-influenced world, Clark paints a city that is moving from traditional Egyptian norms and customs to one with “modern” technology: airships and wagons that are the product of traditional building practices and djinn magic, communication systems that are both quaint and wonderful, agencies that seem both mundane and magical.
The events of the book occur in 1912, a few weeks before a major peace summit that will be held in Cairo. By this time, Egypt has become a world power due to its access to magic and djinn, but tensions and wars are still rising as various European countries grapple for power over their colonies (and envy the magic that has allowed Egypt to develop).
We follow Fatma el-Sha’arawi, one of the few women who work in the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments, and Supernatural Entities. She is tasked with investigating the murder of a secret brotherhood dedicated to a al-Jahiz, who is said to have mysteriously returned. Agent Fatma joins forces with her lover, Siti, and her partner, Agent Haida, as they move through a fast-paced and action filled mystery in search for answers.
One of the places where the book really shines is in the dialogue. Agent Fatma is wonderfully sarcastic, Agent Haida counteracts as an incredibly intelligent investigator, while the rest of the characters all provide some balance to the story. Much of what people say allows you to be further immersed in the world Clark created: from casual references to magic, to world issues, to the transitioning of traditional Egyptian norms regarding women, to the existence of English and other European leaders in a Cairo that is no longer a subjugated colony.
A Master of Djinn really hits the nail with a historical fantasy novel. Reading it really feels like there isn’t anything superfluous being included in the book. We are presented with a story full of depth that hits every note - even for people like me, who are not in the habit of reading fantasy.