A Master of Djinn
On sale
19th August 2021
Price: £9.99
Nebula Award for Best Novel, 2022
Genre
WINNER OF THE NEBULA AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL
WINNER OF THE LOCUS AWARD FOR BEST FIRST NOVEL
‘Clever, wickedly fun . . . with an excellent balance of humour and heart. I loved it’ S. A. Chakraborty, author of The City of Brass
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 fifty 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 . . .
P. Djèlí Clark is the winner of the Nebula, Locus, and Alex Awards and has been shortlisted for the Hugo Award.
WINNER OF THE LOCUS AWARD FOR BEST FIRST NOVEL
‘Clever, wickedly fun . . . with an excellent balance of humour and heart. I loved it’ S. A. Chakraborty, author of The City of Brass
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 fifty 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 . . .
P. Djèlí Clark is the winner of the Nebula, Locus, and Alex Awards and has been shortlisted for the Hugo Award.
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Reviews
With this fantastic feat of postcolonial imagination, Clark reconfigures history with a keen, critical eye toward gender, class and imperialism. Meanwhile, the colourful prose and thorough worldbuilding allow readers to truly enter this imagined world. An epic tale of magic and mystery, this is sure to wow
A Master of Djinn is everything you might expect from Clark: cinematic action, a radical reimagining of real history, and magic on every page. I loved it
An engaging mystery with a wonderful mix of the fantastic and the mundane, chain-smoking crocodile gods, stuffy marid librarians, and a brilliant heroine with a dashing bowler
Clever, wickedly fun . . . with an excellent balance of humour and heart. I loved it
A tremendously fun book. Between the engaging writing and the intriguing plot, it was basically impossible to put down
Refreshingly different; a well-plotted mystery filled with engaging characters, presented with a lightly humorous touch
A Master of Djinn has all the tricky twists I want in a police procedural and all the djinns, magic and wonder I want from fantasy
A tonic of fast moving urban fantasy
A magical voice with a brilliantly unique setting, it will keep you completely enthralled
Clark deftly explores colonialism and the history of Cairo with an immersive setting that acts as another character in this delightful combination of mystery, fantasy and romance