Science Fiction & Fantasy Award Winning Book Group discussion

Welcome to our discussion of A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark. (Probably should have picked The Memoirs of Elizabeth Frankenstein in honor of Halloween!)

Why are we reading it? A Master of Djinn received the Nebula Award in 2021, as well as the Locus Award 2022 and several others. It was a Hugo nominee in 2022, but lost out to A Desolation Called Peace, by Arkady Martine.

I’ve had this in my TBR list since it came out. An alternate history steampunk paranormal version of 1912 Egypt featuring a Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities and a strong female agent - count me intrigued. (Talk about alt-history!) There are a few prequels including A Dead Djinn in Cairo,
The Angel of Khan el-Khalili, andThe Haunting of Tram Car 015. I would suggest at least reading A Dead Djinn in Cairo - as it introduces Special Investigator Fatma el-Sha’arawi - the agent featured in A Master of Djinn.

Please join our discussion, and as always, beware of spoilers.

If it's got ancient Egyptian dieties then I am going to enjoy it!

Reread A Dead Djinn in Cairo and The Haunting of Tram Car 015 yesterday. I really enjoy the world building and the characters in this series of books. I'm hoping to pick up A Master of Djinn sometime this week. I'm in the middle of switching out some bookshelves for a kallax shelf and a lot of my books are in stacks on a table so I have to find it first.

I'm about a third of the way through. I haven't read the short story prequels and so far I think I'm doing ok without. There's only been a few moments of heavy reference to previous stories. so far it's a fun little urban fantasy.

I've finished and then went back and re-read A Dead Djinn in Cairo. I think I liked it better the second time.

I liked the characters - there are so many different beings and humans and they are interesting and colorful. Agent Fatma is strong and curious. Her dress just makes her more interesting.

The mystery aspect was more fun to me - who done it but with magic. BwaHaHa.

I've finished the book. I went back and read A Dead Djinn in Cairo just because.

I really liked all of the characters, especially Fatma. She is smart and strong and capable in a man's world. I thought the steampunk elements got lost in the magic and magical beings and fantastic settings. I felt it was as much mystery as anything - which was good. It was fun - very involved.

Finished my reread and I enjoyed it just as much as I did the first time. My only small complaint is that it feels just a touch too long. But I'm used to mysteries that barely hit 300 pgs so maybe it's just me.
The worldbuilding is really good and you could have a lot of fun stories in this setting. Hopefully we'll see more.

If you like this book/series you might like to try The Black God's Drums by the same author. I really liked that one also.

I quite enjoyed this story - although I think it was a little baggy and dragged in places.

But most of all I felt like it really would've been much better as a Netflix series rather than a book. Things that would've been much better visually: whenever Fatma's suits were described; cool steampunk things like the ministry's clock brain; all the chase scenes and fight sequences; the final battle. All these things would've been great on a screen.

When Fatma and Hadia go to the library to read more on al-Jahiz and learnt mostly from talking to the librarian it felt like such a Buffy moment! People info-dumping via dialogue in a beautiful library is for TV - in books you can put that information in a paragraph!

Anyway, it was still a fun adventure. At what point did you guess the identity of the man in the gold mask? (view spoiler)[I am ashamed to say it took me ages. I didn't get it until just before Fatma sees the hair as gold! Although, I am atrocious at guessing the perpetrator in most mystery novels (hide spoiler)].

At what point did you guess the identity of the man in the gold mask?

If I were standing in a room looking at the suspects, a la "The Thin Man", I would have looked at but passed right over the person. I didn't suspect until late.

Deb wrote: "If I were standing in a room looking at the suspects, a la "The Thin Man", I would have looked at but passed right over the person."

Haha, that's fair! (view spoiler)[ I did metagame a little, part of the logic for my guess was that it was such a 'girl power' novel that Abigail suddenly became a much more likely suspect than her stupid brother. (hide spoiler)]

I first read it when it came out so I don't remember exactly. I'm prettty sure I guessed before the reveal but not by much. It was late in the game.

This brings up an interesting question though. Do you consciously try to figure out a mystery and does it bother you if you figure it out to soon? I consistently see reviews where people downgrade a novel because they figure out the mystery too quickly.

I enjoy reading mysteries and I enjoy them because of the mystery. I rarely if ever try to figure it out beforehand, I just enjoy being in the story. Sometimes I figure it out beforehand and sometimes I don't. But if the story is enjoyable I really don't care if I figured out the mystery by page 10. Obviously from what I've seen it's much different for other people. Hahaha.

I think it doesn't matter either way if the book is good - if you guess it right then the the story will still carry you - if not then you get to enjoy the mystery. There is a certain sort of pleasure in knowning you've figured it out - but also a different kind of pleasure in being surprised.

It's only bad if you get the mystery before the author thinks you will. If the narrative is still dropping hints or the characters are being pointlessly stupid then it's a little embarrassing. But I'm actually not that good at figuring it out so that hardly ever happens for me!

It never bothers me if I figure out the mystery ahead of time - it happens so rarely. LOL.

I know this was last months book.
In catch up mode.
Just starting now.

Half way through all in one Sunday afternoon on the back porch.
It’s a wonder what a second cup of tea will do.
Yes think Master of Djinn is fantastic.
Love the way Clark leaves you hanging at the end of each chapter, keeps the pages turning.
Great choice.

Yes, it's a great weekend on the back porch read. I'm glad you enjoyed it!

YES finished by Tuesday. Took until today to write a review. What such good fun A Master of Djinn was to read!

Review at
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Awaiting my copy of The Diamond Age to turn up. Off to my mum's place for Xmas so should pack in a lot of reading over the next month or so.

I also listened to an audio book of Dead Djinn in Cairo, prequel to Master of Djinn. Lots of fun.

Review at
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...