Having read the novellas set in this wonderful world (I would definitely recommend people read these before they pick this one up) I was really looking forward to diving back into another adventure with Fatma. The beginning of the novel was a little slow, giving people a chance to get used to the world and the character dynamics, and then the plot really kicks up a gear in the second half. I love the characters here, both those familiar from the novellas and new additions (LOVED AHMAD!) and the world is truly fabulous. I did find some of the plot elements a little bit predictable, but overall, this was a very enjoyable book and I hope we get more books in this world in future.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I was expecting a delight going into this novel and Clark's first full-length foray into the "Dead Djinn" universe does not disappoint. Set in an alternate steampunk-y Cairo where djinn and other magic was unleashed in the human world a few decades ago (turning the tide of colonialism and catapulting Egypt into a powerful independent nation in the process), we follow Special Investigator Fatma of The Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities as she and her new partner - and some returning friends and Fatma's awesome, mysteriously powerful girlfriend Siti - try to unravel the mysterious murder of a group of British cultists, and the rise of an individual claiming to be Al-Jahiz, the sorcerer who unleashed magic in the first place.Regular genre readers will know Fatma from the Tor.com story "A Dead Djinn in Cairo", and A Master of Djinn is very much a direct sequel to that story, to the point where several character beats and items will feel very two-dimensional to readers who haven't experienced that story (it's short and free, and I don't understand why Tor didn't include it in at least the US edition of the book!) Taken as a sequel rather than a series starter in its own right, A Master of Djinn blends its police procedural elements, its magical worldbuilding, and its character work in very satisfying ways, deepening the relationship between Fatma and Siti, giving Fatma a new foil in Hadia, her butt-kicking hijabi partner who gets to call her out on a whole lot of internalised sexist "I work alone" nonsense, and really exploring how the shadow of Western imperialism still looms over this version of Egypt even as the balance of power has shifted away from Europe. Figuring out the mystery a couple of chapters before Fatma was satisfying, but didn't dampen the fun of the climactic chapters. Excellent stuff.

3.5

Thank you to Netgalley and Orbit for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was incredibly excited to be back in the world of one of my favourite novellas and with Fatma el-Sha’arawi. I love this immersive steampunk alternative Cairo, the complex and sometimes sassy Djinn, the themes explored and how well multiple aspects of this book blend together. I also thought the wonderful supporting cast with diverse ethics, customs and beliefs were fantastic, especially Siti and Ahmad who were electric and intriguing every time they were on the page. Fatma and Siti’s romantic relationship was engaging and I enjoyed the dynamic between them.

Fatma is a complex and compelling character whose flaws make her feel fleshed out, and I enjoyed the evolution of the work relationship between Fatma and her new partner Hadia, and how her own experiences unconsciously influenced the way she acted towards Hadia. However, admittedly, I did take a while to get into the story. I didn’t warm to Fatma as I thought I would. I couldn’t always grasp Fatma’s characterisation. Her competency and agency occasionally felt hindered to extend the plot or introduce conflict, so she’d stumbled upon things to solve the crime.

There were also things that I think required a little more explanation for the plot to have more cohesion. Sometimes, certain aspects of the story moved a little too fast that it didn’t allow certain information space to breathe.

Overall, A Master of Djinn was a fun, enjoyable, action-packed murder mystery.

Masterfully written, wildly inventive, P. Djèlí Clark is truly a breath of fresh air in the genre. I've been a big fan of his this past year and quickly devoured all of his shorter works and was thrilled that he was writing a longer piece of fiction in the world he'd already expertly established. This did not disappoint!

We’re back in Cairo!

I do wish I had the audiobook for this, as the narrator for A Dead Djinn in Cairo was awesome, and contributed massively to my enjoyment of the story. This is the first full-length novel set in this world, and while I think it works as a standalone, you’ll get a lot more from the story if you read at least A Dead Djinn, and for the full experience also The Haunting of Tram Car 013. You can find my thoughts on both here!

As before, I highly enjoyed following Fatma and Siti on their investigations around the city, this time joined by a new partner for Fatma. The mystery itself was good, though more predictable than the last one, and some of the conclusion hinged on some really silly moments. I liked seeing more of the sects of the old gods of Egypt – I’m very intrigued what they could mean in this world with magic, and I hope they play an even bigger part in the future! We get to meet some more of the world – we’ve got some international tension going on, and it will be interesting to see going forward how this alternate history with magic will impact big world events like World War I. Some of the lore was familiar, having recently read something that builds on the same real-world mythology, but there were new elements mixed in. I thought it was a bit of a shame that the ultimate ‘danger’ in this book was so similar to A Dead Djinn, though if you read this as a standalone you won’t realize that and will likely find it less repetitive.

I can’t wait to see where this story goes next!

3.5 stars

I don’t really know how to start this review, because it is a bit complicated. On one hand, I enjoyed this book, there are a lot of good things going for it, but on the other hand, I was expecting more and there are some things that could have been done better.

One of the best things about the book is world-building. It is rich, it is imaginative, and exploring it is always a pleasure. And it is so vivid and alive! The characters eat and drink often and this book made me hungry a lot even if, more often than not, I didn’t understand what they were eating! So this is something, right? And the steam-punk parts are interesting, the author did a good job mixing these elements with magical creatures like djinns and angels.
And the book is also well-paced, and the story flew by smooth enough.

But talking about the story we have some hiccups or some not-so-amazing things. The plot is mainly a detective story with some other aspects through in there. We have some social issues thrown in the mix, for example, but they are not so well developed as I was hoping. They are as much developed as in the short stories I have read by this author and the problem is that if in the short story was a good development, because of the short length of it, in this full-length novel it could have taken up more space. And it didn’t. This was a bit of a shame because we have a lot going on: the demands for equality between genders, for example, or the different ethnicities and their impact on society, and the peace treaty between a lot of Nations (to be honest, the peace treaty was somehow thrown in there without real importance for the story. There is a reason but it is a feebly one, and the book could have done without, but it offers us a glimpse outside of Egypt borders, and I enjoyed it). But even if we have some important themes they are just thrown in there and it is not given them a lot of importance.
And we have the detective story per se. But again, it wasn’t really so well developed. For once, I guessed who the culprit was way way before the detectives because it was really just there. Usually, I am not one to know who the culprit is in advance, because I let myself be distracted by all the shiny things in the book (and we have a lot of interesting and hence distracting things in there) and I don’t really think a lot about the clues, and then there is the fact that I don’t really trust the author. I know this sounds silly, but more often than not when I am reading a thriller (or a mystery) and the author shows us a chapter by the killer’s POV that reveals to us who the killer is I usually doubt it because I kept asking myself “and what if this is just a way to mislead us?” and so I go back and forth believing and disbelieving it. I know that maybe there is no hope for me but it is so.
Hence, it is highly unusual for me to guess right, but sometimes it happens all the same and I am quite happy about it because it feels good to be right! But sometimes, and this is the case, I guess right because you simply cannot guess wrong. And this is not so good. Especially more so because you are just there waiting for the detectives to finally catch up because things are getting boring. Sometimes it is just like they don’t want to see what is there in their face. And, last but not least, a great part of the story strongly resembles the plot of A Dead Djinn in Cairo.

So yeah, I enjoyed the reading, and as a whole I enjoyed Fatma, (even if I hoped for something more about her, in the short story about her she is more alive and more complex, here she seems a bit plain) and I really enjoyed her growing relationship with Hadia. I really hope to see her around because she has a lot of potentials. And it was good to see the policemen around, too. And it was an enjoyable book. But I was expecting more, and the plot is not the strongest suit in there.

Unfortunately I read about 20% of the book before I had to put it down as it just wasn’t holding my interest. I do hope to pick it back up one day as I enjoyed the fantastical elements of the djinn and the murder mystery bit wasn’t something I had seen before really in this type of book. I did also like the f/f rep from the main character and the writing style.

It’s definitely not a no, just a not right now for me so I’ll rate it in the middle and hope to revise at a later date.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange of a review. All opinions my own.

I am so impulsive that I requested this book without checking that it was the THIRD one in the series. However, although I am aware that I have missed a lot of details and vital information (again, my bad) with a little bit of research of my part, mostly for mythology and culture that I am not familiar with, the book was absolutely manageable. I do not recommend doing what I did but, since the book contains a conclusive story, I did not feel lost with the plot at any moment.

I found absolutely fascinating this alternate version of steampunk Egypt filled with an abundance of supernatural creatures mostly due to its freshness and the author’s inspiration and background. For example, in this case, the alternate version countries like Egypt and India, are no longer colonial and this is not only on an anecdotal level but has a huge plot importance. The author threads very interesting topics this way with an outstanding result.

This is, in a way, a murder mystery who dunnit starting point kind of book but, as we continue reading, it will develop into so much more. From my point of view, it was quite easy to guess who the responsible was but, the different plots and subplots had me so committed, that I wanted to see how everything developed. It wasn’t so much about the destination, but how did they make it there, if that makes sense. It pains me not to ba able to fully describe the complexity of this novel, but at the same time, I would not want to spoil it for any of you because the layers of mystery that surround this adventure are a true thrill to unfold.

The main character, Fatma (she/her) works as an agent for the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities and if you already think she is as cool as she sounds, wait until you get to know her a bit more. Although Egypt is quite advanced in allowing women to work, they are still a minority and this leads to Fatma getting, against her ideas and preferences, a new partner: Hadia (she/her). At first I did not quite feel a good dynamic and partner chemistry between them both but as the plot developed and they interacted more with secondary characters (that are also really good) my opinion changed drastically. I think they make such a good team. Their interactions are so good and how they end up supporting each other is an absolute delight to read.

The pace was a bit slow at the beginning for me. This is entirely my fault, as I decided to slow down to truly be able to understand and submerge myself in the world building of this universe. I think it totally paid off as it started to pick up and then I ended up wanting to keep reading until I found the answers to my questions. It is one of those cases where the more you read, the more questions you have and towards the end everything starts falling with satisfaction into place giving you a good resolve, but also, small clues and hints for possible future adventures.

In a way I regret not having read the two first instalments because I know the experience would have been much better in order to pick up references. However, what I am going to do now is go back and read the first two because I definitely want to read more about this book, this world and about their characters.

This book was just so much fun to read- I had such a wonderful time reading this. Such a brilliant and well imagined world. I can’t wait for the next book!

A fun mystery set in a steampunk Cairo. I loved the world and the characters and the whodunnit supernatural aspect. You'll get lost in the expertly crafted world. I will definitely be checking out more of P. Djeli Clark's work now.

A Master of Djinn by P. Djèli Clark is set in an alternative, steampunk version of Cairo in 1912, where djinn and other magical creatures live alongside humanity. The Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities is tasked with investigating any crimes which have magical involvement — and that is where we begin: at a dinner party which ends in a magical, murderous massacre. To be honest, I really struggled with this opening, and almost put the book down. However, soon after this we meet the protagonist, Fatma el-Sha'arawi, who is something of a badass agent from the Ministry, and she is assigned with the murder investigation. Liaising with the local police is a different line to walk, however, and add in a new, overly-enthusiastic partner (Hadia) who is great with a knife, and those are just the start of Fatma’s troubles.

There are twists and turns aplenty, including the return of a supposedly-dead, mystical figure who had ripped a hole in reality and thus ushered in magical beings such as djinn and orcs some forty years prior. There are thieves, sword fights, magical battles, and politics — both within the Ministry and outside of it — all of which Fatma has to balance. And then there is Siti, Fatma’s girlfriend, who is hiding a secret of her own. To be honest, I loved Siti out of all the characters and I hope we see more of her in more stories set in this universe (I believe there are two novellas — A Dead Djinn in Cairo, and The Haunting of Tram Car 015 — which can be read out of sequence, and which I will be exploring as soon as I can). Siti is such a badass, though, and I really loved her spiritual connection to her Goddess. Ahmad, also, was an intriguing spiritual character and I would have loved to see more through his eyes. This was such a great and nuanced addition to the worldbuilding — the various religions within Cairo all existing alongside each other, whether it be the worship of the older Kemetic Gods (such as Sobek and Sekhmet), the Muslim way of life, or Christianity, with the various priests, priestesses, and holy people offering both help and hindrance to Fatma’s investigations.

I loved the world building. This alternative Cairo is fully realised, and I felt that I was there alongside Fatma, Siti, and Hadia as they worked to uncover the truth behind the mystery and the murders. The characterisation was also on-point, and I would love to dive back into this world and discover more about each of the main characters. The plot twisted and turned, and, although I did work out the identity of the perpetrator quite early on, it was such a fast-paced and easy, enjoyable read that I had to know what happened next. The “found family” trope is handled with care here, and honestly is so affirming and realistic that it warmed my heart. I loved the bookshop scenes in particular, and the magic was woven with such deftness throughout that it was so easy to believe in that this Cairo, this world, is real. I particularly loved the twists and consequences that came from wielding more significant magics, alongside the various different species of djinn and other creatures that come into contact with Fatma.

This novel had so much to say under the surface, though — there are themes of imperialism (particularly British), colonialism, white supremacy, racism, LGBTQIA+, gender, xenophobia, class, equality — but I didn’t feel that any of this was thrust in my face and rather just gave me bigger perspectives to consider outside of the book.

Even though I started this novel in a very disconnected way — I didn’t resonate with the opening scenes or characters — I ended up loving this book and feel that it’s one of the best fantasy novels of the year. Highly, highly recommended!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher, Orbit/Little, Brown Book Group UK, through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher, Orbit, for providing me with an e-arc of this book. My opinions are my own.

Some time ago I read one of the author's short stories set in the same world as this full length novel. I loved that one, so I was very excited to be able to read this one! A story set in a steampunk version of Cairo, with Djinn inhabiting our world? And a badass female agent? Count me in!

The main character in this book is Fatma. She's an agent for the ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities. She is one of kind and one of the best in her line of work. When an English expat is murdered brutally along with his associates in their secret brotherhood, she is sent to the crime scene. It seems Al-Jahiz has returned - the man who originally changed everything and magically allowed Djinn to enter this world. But this murderer has to be an imposter... Or is he?

This book has a bit of everything. It reads like a murder mystery but grows into something of a much grander scale. There are Djinn, there are steampunk vehicles, there is magic. The main character is a gay woman in a world dominated by men. And yet all of these things mix together perfectly and result in an original fantasy story!

Why only 3.5 stars, then? Well, personally I missed a bit of character development. I didn't truly connect to the characters, even though I liked Fatma. I would have loved to know more about Hadia!
This story is plot driven and that makes for some grand adventures. Something I enjoyed a lot! Though it did sometimes feel like multiple short stories following up after each other instead. When they find a clue, they follow up on it in a short adventure. Then get a new clue, and a new short adventure follows.

It was a great adventure though, in a very original setting! If you like reading adventure stories with fantasy elements and a good old murder mystery thrown in, you should definitely give this one a shot!

If you love brilliant, modern and innovative fantasy then A Master of Djinn from P Djéli Clark should absolutely be on your reading list this Autumn.
Set in a strange, yet familiar steam-punkish Cairo bursting with old world charm, flavours of the Arabian Nights and wrapped in modern sensibilities, the book is a full throttle cornucopia of genres from fantasy, to murder mystery to magical riotous action all of which the author blends fantastically into a book you won’t want to put down.
I also loved that this book not only gave us an exceptional lesbian POC hero in Fatma el-Sha'arawi, agent of the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities, but it also gave us a wonderfully rich multi-cultural cast, each with their own beliefs and customs that played perfectly into this rich story. And I haven’t even mentioned the Djinn in this book and the many guises they come in – these are not your genie from Aladdin, they is different, complex, flawed by their encounter with the human world and wonderful.
Bursting with middle eastern magic and wonder. A must read Five out of five

A Master of Djinn is and enthralling whodunnit type tale. A murder mystery with a female detective and lovely LGBTQ+ rep.

The constant twists and turns keep you guessing throughout and every time you think you’ve figured it out, BAM! Nope.

I enjoyed seeing Fatma’s character progression from lone wolf to grudging partners to friends/found family.

I enjoyed the dynamic between Fatma, SitI and Hadia who ended up being a little dream team.

The setting was immersive, the magic system was beautifully written though I would’ve liked more info on Ahmad’s transformation. I enjoyed every moment, every plot twist and every page

I read the short stories set in the same world by this author and really enjoyed them so I knew I wanted to read the full length book as well.. and it definitely didn't disappoint.

This book is a mix of sci-fi, historical fiction and mystery thriller and I flew through it.

Awesome characters, very engaging plot and stupendous writing made this book very entertaining. And even though, I had figured out the mystery about who was behind all the chaos- I had such a fun time reading it as the characters figured stuff out for themselves.

I definitely want to read more from this world and author.

Have to mark this one as DNF. I have tried and tried with it because it I received it from Netgalley but I'm just not enjoying it at all. I don't know which element of the story is not right for me, it is certainly not the character because I loved her in Death of a Djinn but there is something about the story here that is just not drawing me in. Looking at the other reviews I am certainly in the absolute lowest percentile when it comes to people who have picked it up so if magic, alternate history, steam punk are your interests you'll probably like this.

Oohh I'm in love with how well mythology and history are weaved together in this universe. Siti is a star and was the stand out character for me.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this early free copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is a bit of a difficult book for me to try and review. It’s the third book in a series, that supposedly can be read without having read the previous two novellas. I don’t quite agree with this. I hadn’t read the previous instalments in the serious and I do feel like if affected my enjoyment of this book, which is totally on me. However I don’t think it should be said or suggested that it can be read as a standalone, there are quite a few references to the case solved by our main character Fatma dotted throughout the novel. This did make me interested in reading the previous books. I feel like I didn’t really get to enjoy the complexities of the main characters relationship with her love interest.

I did really love the setting and the mystery was intriguing enough to keep me reading and eventually finish this book. I’m hoping that once I’ve read the previous books I’ll have a new appreciation for this book in particular. I still recommend it, and think it’s still a very enjoyable book!

I loved A Dead Djinn in Cairo and The Haunting of Tram Car 15 when I read them last year. I favor Dead Djinn slightly more because it also follows Fatma el-Sha’arawi. She and the setting are my favorite bits about this series so excuse a little ramble.

The setting is steampunk Cairo in the early 20th Century, with Djinn, clockwork angels and a lot of other supernatural creatures. With technology and support from the Djinn, Egypt has pushed off the British colonial forces and is now a global power. I like how in the novel we got to learn a little bit more about how different countries are adapting to having magical creatures in our world, more of an International context and bigger picture, it made the world all the more real.

It was very easy for me to picture everything very, all the clockwork, the Djinn, the lovingly descripted outfits and foods. I loved that there are different kinds of Djinn, like Marid who have water powers and Ifrit who have fire powers, and a few others. There’s also a bit of ancient Egyptian mythology coming up, I’m a huge fan of that and hoping it’ll be even more present in further books.

Fatma is a modern unconventional woman, she’s had a lot to prove to get to where she is in the organisation, and that shows when she’s partnered up with another younger woman. The contrast and similarities between the two are great. Starting with dress, Fatma’s always in men’s suits, so stylish, and Hadia is also stylish, but wearing more traditional clothing and a hijab. And I loved how Hadia’s not put down for the way she dresses and the fact that she’s far more religious than Fatma (who’s also religious in some ways, sometimes). I thought it was such a good way to have different women in a job, without competing and putting one down to elevate the other. Their professional relationship evolved so well through the story, it was a joy to read.

I know I started by saying how much I love Fatma, but really I cannot choose between her and Hadia. They’re both amazing. I think this is one of Clark’s strengths, cause I the same feeling from Ring Shout. And their dynamic, so good. And some extremely satisfying moments. Dammit this is making me want to reread already. But yeah, Hadia is clever, quick, aware and confident in her skills, honest.

If you came here expecting a cohesive train of thought, sorry to let you down.

I loved the action in the book, the way magic and sword fighting/hand to hand fighting merged. It was a lot of fun. Which kinda saved it because the actual main mystery was probably the weakest part for me. I felt like the hints were dropped a little too heavily. Though it didn’t decrease my enjoyement, because part of hints were stuff that would only come together for the reader, what tipped me off wasn’t something I could realistically expected Fatma to catch. And honestly I would happily read just about anything with these characters in this world, so I wasn’t fussed.

Yeah, so overall loved, lots of fun, lived up to the promise of the previous books and I can’t wait for more.

I’ll start saying that I loved this book and the world that the author has created; a world with magic in Cairo… a little bit of Aladdin with a dangerous prophecy, super addictive!
I’ll advise that this is the third story of the series “Dead Djinn Universe” but you can read it as standalone, but I think that this is one of those books that is impossible to not fall in love with the characters and the magic that the story emits, it’s addictive and you’ll need to know how everything started.
I loved being transported to Cairo, it’s a city that I haven’t had the chance to visit but for me it has a special enchantment that P. Djèlí Clark, the author, has reflected perfectly on the story. The possibility of having your own Djinn is real in the book, but they are not so funny and happy like Aladdin, but much more darker and with a killer instinct!
I liked how Fatma el-Sha’arawi is ready to fight any type of danger, she never know what type of danger she is confronting, but is ready to fight with all of her power. She will have to pair up with a rookie partner in this case; and let’s be honest, she will struggle to work with someone else, but on the other side, her girlfriend Siti will have links to the case making the situation more complicated than she expects.
This is an adventure mystery, maybe you’ll guess the killer, but I don’t think that’s the most important part of the story but all the little details that makes it different and so magic!
If you are looking for a new world to disconnect and a dangerous killer to catch, this is your book, believe me!
Are you ready for “A Master of Djinn”?