A Master of Djinn

We find ourselves in a completely immersive steampunk Cairo at the turn of the century. Ever since al-Jahiz opened a hole between worlds, djinn now co-exist with people. Intricately realized, magic and technology mingle as the wider world rumbles to World War I.

The book opens with The Brotherhood of Al-Jahiz, consisting mostly of blue-blooded Englishmen, brutally burned, their clothes mostly untouched as if they had all spontaneously combusted. It seems to herald the return of the famed Al-Jahiz, and Agent Fatma el-Sha'awari from the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments, and Supernatural Entities is on the case. She is a sartorial dandy in colourful bespoke suits of forest green and magenta stripes perhaps paired with a fuchsia tie, bowler hat, and the always present cane. The perfect protagonist that guides us through the bustling city with its abundant share of interesting figures.

Author P. Djèlí Clark is revelling in this world, already having written several novellas based here, and he writes with sure-footed confidence even as he introduces us to the Clock of Worlds, possessed librarians, indifferent angels, magic texts, ifrits, ghuls, old gods and more. It's a whodunnit with earth shattering consequences. Even for someone who doesn't always enjoy fantasy, I found myself completely hooked.

Exceptional world building, but just like the first short story, the mystery is very very weak. The book practically tells us who AW is. I figured out who AW was, a loong while ago. But when the big bad reveal came, Fatma dragged on the reveal on and on and on. And the fact that Fatma never even considered that AW might be a woman, was insulting to the character, and the feminist values the book focuses on.

Except the reveal, the villainous sermon AW gives at the end, and the new nine big bads, a lovely book. Loved the world building, and couldn't wait to explore more of this universe.

where do i even begin... a world so rich and colorful, so fantastically epic in scale that gets larger and larger. the characters, namely fatma, siti, hadia, and abigail, were such well-developed, fleshed-out people whom i could read 1000 more novels about. such profound, social themes tackled so masterfully and just so gosh darn funny. i need to devour more of this world!

i'd adored p djeli clark's novellas in this series but master of djinn has cemented him as an ultimate favorite author.