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Boy, do I have mixed feelings on this one. P. Djeli Clark's A Master of Djinn is a whirlwind of things I find fresh in fiction: an alternate history timeline challenging 19th century British Imperialism in Egypt; badass female Muslim protagonists (one is even a lesbian and that's not like, the entire point of her character!); a sprinkling of fantasy, steampunk, and heavy influences of Lovecraft when it comes to the inclusion of magic; some crazy plot twists and fantastic action scenes.

And I did love the world-building. For the first half of the book, I was just breathing it in. It is clear Clark has built this world from the ground up, and he's done it with love. He's thought through how history would have gone differently if the British did not gain control of the Egyptian government in the late 1800s. He also clearly has a love for folklore of the region, both Islamic and pre-Islamic, and I loved seeing all of that included respectfully, as a deliberate counter to centuries of Orientalist thought. It was nice to see Egyptian characters being in charge of their own stories, including practicing Muslims, and not have them cast as suspicious or inherently bad for something like wearing hijab. Even the magic stuff is pretty cool. I love the idea of magic powering clockwork, of djinn joining society and living beside mortals... I especially loved the idea that all this magic caused a resurgence in belief in ancient Egyptian religion, a growing trend that might challenge the current Islamic hegemony... it's all really, really neat.

Unfortunately, good world-building does not a good novel make. While I was entranced by the setting, I often felt like the characters and the plot were getting short shrift in this expansive, super engaging world. The protagonist is Agent Fatma, a woman working for what appears to be the 1910s version of the X-Files run by the Egyptian government. She's tasked with handling all manner of magical misuse and crimes committed by magic users and djinn. Despite being in her early 20s and one of the only women in "the Ministry," she is the unit's star agent. She's also big into bucking trends, as she prefers to wear Western men's suits and wears her hair super short. While I enjoyed the look and feel of Fatma (if you told me she was a comic book or video game character based on this description, I'd believe you), as the story goes along I found it difficult to believe she's the best the Ministry has to offer. So much of the plot is either stuff being told to her, which she accepts without question, or puzzling for pages and pages over things that seemed obvious from the start. This made for a lot of frustrated skimming, as the book began to feel quite bloated. For example, when the novel is titled A Master of Djinn, I think the revelation that the villain can control djinn should maybe come a little sooner than two-thirds of the way through (when it was presented as a big twist). I was also very surprised Fatma never considered (view spoiler)[the "al-Jahiz" figure to be anything but an imposter, even when there was some decent evident he could be legit. After all, he disappeared without a trace amid magic and sorcery – who's to say he couldn't come back in the same manner? And like, what would it mean if he was, considering he's been inciting the downtrodden to question their lot in life? Just because Egypt was not colonized by Britain does not make it free of problems – but Fatma doesn't think of this even once. Her pigheadedness made me suspect she had consulted with the author and that was why she never had any doubts this al-Jahiz was a fake. (hide spoiler)]

The other characters are numerous but not all that well developed. Many fall into law enforcement stereotypes you might find on any modern American police procedural. The main exception was Hadia, Fatma's new partner, though she so often got backgrounded to Fatma and pushed out of scenes even when she was present it started to annoy me. I liked her a lot and wanted to see more of her. I also never understood why Fatma didn't like her and didn't want a partner – she seemed super competent when introduced and was one of the only other women in the Ministry, when Fatma was constantly thinking about the flighty and ineffectual men she worked with. Shouldn't she be welcoming such a team-up? Siti was "eh," – she seemed all right as Fatma's love interest but the constant inclusion of her where she didn't belong, plus her increasingly unbelievable powers, began to wear on me. I would have much rather had Hadia involved in those scenes. Maybe even some romantic chemistry between partners? But the narrative never goes there, and never seems to want to give Hadia her due in general.

The longer the book goes on, the more it begins to read like a mediocre episode of CSI: Cairo. And then the end becomes a full-blown Marvel movie, complete with overpowered fighting and quippy banter while characters are going through things that should be deeply traumatic. Also, I guessed the culprit from the beginning. (view spoiler)[What a ridiculous oversight for both Fatma and Hadia to miss that "AW" could be Abigail Worthington as well as Alexander Worthington. That twist was something out of baby's first crime fiction and I was rolling my eyes at how dumb the author had to make his star characters to get away with it. (hide spoiler)] I also didn't much care for the frequent references to previous installments. I went in thinking this was the first of the series considering it's called Dead Djinn Universe #1 on Goodreads, but that is definitely a misnomer. There are two other short pieces of fiction set in this universe and the author wants to remind you of them a lot... to the point where I do think I missed some substantial understanding of this plot having not read them first. Finally, I'm all for a little tongue-in-cheek fourth wall breakage once in awhile – I was laughing out loud during the section where Abigail shoved an Orientalist text in Fatma's face and she was politely trying not to tell Abigail how full of shit it all was... but after awhile some of these inclusions felt more like Clark wanted to remind modern day readers just how woke this text is, despite being set in 1912. I get it, you don't need to interrupt a villainous monologue to remind the reader women will be called "crazy" when a man would be called "visionary." (Which honestly, just sort of breaks the world immersion of this version of Cairo, as Fatma has been running around town dressed as a man with nary an eyebrow raise!)

All in all, I thought this premise deserved better. It was entertaining in spots but disappointing in others. I think the author needed some more drafts to hone the execution and make some of the themes more nuanced. (view spoiler)[I don't even want to get into the implications of how Fatma and Hadia are supposed to be defying sexist stereotypes and then neither of them suspect Abigail until seconds before the big reveal that she is the imposter al-Jahiz. I expected more from these supposedly brilliant women. Also – how about the connotations about Abigail acting as some sort of white savior to the people of Cairo while posing as al-Jahiz? That went unacknowledged too, as far as I could tell. (hide spoiler)] I would read more by Clark, because I think he's a strong writer and there's a lot of good stuff in here, but this novel needed longer to germinate.

Marvelous review Heather! And,on a side note, I hope all is well with your Dad.

I have this on my TBR, and this review has put me on the fence about it. I have so many fantasy books on my shelf, that I know will be 4 stars, maybe 5. 3 for me is just "meh, I liked it enough to finish it". And, I do trust your view point. I won't be rushing to read this one.

Joanne wrote: "Marvelous review Heather! And,on a side note, I hope all is well with your Dad.

I have this on my TBR, and this review has put me on the fence about it. I have so many fantasy books on my shelf, t..."

Thanks Joanne! Yeah, I wouldn't say chuck it out the window, but it was kinda disappointing. I've been reading other reviews and the consensus seems to be that Clark works better in shorter form (he's written a lot of short stories and novellas and this seems to be his first novel?). However, as this was the first thing I read by him, it was sort of a rocky debut.

And thank you for the well wishes. Dad is still in the ICU. It's a long story about what happened, but the doctors are hopeful... it's just going to take time, it seems.

I haven't read this yet...it is gently maturing in the TBR Towers...but I have read 2 of the 3 precursor short stories/novellas set in this world and which introduced Fatma. The Haunting of Tram Car 015 in particular was wonderful and fresh and engaging, making me want to read more. A Dead Djinn in Cairo was a bit abrupt in the plotting but it was also a short story. Both left me yearning for a longer deeper experience in this world.

Clark has written a whole other series, I recall. He's not a new writer but it could be this is a break into a new style or direction and thus more experimental.

Wonderful thoughtful review, Heather.

Theresa wrote: "I haven't read this yet...it is gently maturing in the TBR Towers...but I have read 2 of the 3 precursor short stories/novellas set in this world and which introduced Fatma. [book:The Haunting of T..."

I am interested in reading the precursor stories to see if it will help me understand the plot of this one better. I got the sense there were so many throwbacks to them that I was missing something big not having read them. For example, there is something called the Clock of Worlds that seems super important but I don't believe A Master of Djinn ever explains what exactly that is.

I was kinda surprised to learn he is not a new writer, as this book feels a lot like a first attempt at plotting a novel. Though that might be explained if he's only done shorter fiction until now. It felt a little rushed to publication... I really think if it had been revised a few more times it could have been something spectacular.

Read A Dead Djinn in Cairo before The Haunting of Tram Car 015. I read them in reverse but that was because I did not know about A Dead Djinn in Cairo.

The 3rd precursor short story took me a while to track down, and when I finally did, in a collection of SciFi Steampunk type stories, I was busy so still have not read it - oh, title is The Angel of Khan el-Khalili.

I just took a quick look. Yes, he has written a lot of short stories, and a book or two just under 200 pages. This could be either his first real effort at a longer book, or the result of putting several shorter pieces together into a long book, something encouraged by editor/publisher as his fan base has grown, this last being exactly how 2 prize winning novellas came to published with an additional novella as Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey back in the late 1960s. It shows too.

BTW check out TOR's website for the shorts...they have been available as a free download in past.