A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark (The Dead Djinn Universe #1)

Cairo, 1912: Though Fatma el-Sha’arawi is the youngest woman working for the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities, she’s certainly not a rookie, especially after preventing the destruction of the universe last summer.

So when someone murders a secret brotherhood dedicated to one of the most famous men in history, al-Jahiz, Agent Fatma is called onto the case. Al-Jahiz transformed the world forty years ago when he opened up the veil between the magical and mundane realms, before vanishing into the unknown. This murderer claims to be al-Jahiz, returned to condemn the modern age for its social oppressions. His dangerous magical abilities instigate unrest in the streets of Cairo that threaten to spill over onto the global stage.

Alongside her Ministry colleagues and a familiar person from her past, Agent Fatma must unravel the mystery behind this imposter to restore peace to the city—or face the possibility he could be exactly who he seems…

TITLE: A Master of Djinn
AUTHOR: P. Djèlí Clark
PUBLISHER: Tordotcom
YEAR: 2021
LENGTH: 464 pages
AGE: Adult
GENRE: Fantasy, Historical, Mystery
RECOMMENDED: TBD

Partial Queer Rep Summary: Lesbian/Sapphic Main Character(s).

*I received a free review copy as part of voting for the 2022 Hugo Awards.. 

I haven’t read any of the other books in this world and that makes it very hard to get into. The pacing is uneven, and it wasn’t until I looked up other reviews that I found out this isn’t the introduction to Fatma (the main character), as that happened elsewhere in some other story. 

I’m not interested enough to go back and read the other stories before trying to finish this one, it’s just not working for me and I’m not intrigued enough to put in the extra effort.

Partial CW for sexual content (brief), sexism (brief), racism, violence, fire/fire injury, murder, death.

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