Tag Archives: Ifrit

Should ‘A Master of Djinn’ win a Hugo?

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So, we’re back with another edition of ‘Should [insert title] win a Hugo?‘ and while I understand that Hugo voting already took place on August 11th, I didn’t want to let my tardiness prevent me from posting about this awesome book.

(Honestly I will probably continue to post reviews of Hugo nominated works in this format up until and even after the winners are announced. I just like the ring of the title lol)

And the answer, for me, is ABSOLUTELY!

There is so much to consider within these 392 pages that it’s really hard to figure out where to even begin with my review, but I think it might be safe to begin with what the general public might enjoy, before diving into my particular brand of Ancient Egypt – centric nonsense.

A review over on Josh Garik16’s SciFi/Fantasy Reviews and Other Thoughts, points out just how ‘fun’ A Master of Djinn is to read. I couldn’t agree more. Agents Fatma and Hadia have excellent back-and-forth, while her and Siti exhibit the type of witty romance we all wish we might fall into someday. Then there’s Fatma’s rapport with Aasim from the police, and of course agents Ahmed and Onsi . . . her short shrift for self important djinn . . . Really just Fatma DOING ANYTHING is a joy to behold.

Perhaps the next feature of this book which deserves attention, is its deft handling of Theme (with a capital T lol). Of course, modern day Cairo is an intricate mix of different peoples, religions, beliefs and customs. Clark’s ‘Steampunk Cairo‘ does not shy away from this complexity in A Master of Djinn but rather embraces it, using it as a platform to examine issues of race, and prejudice. Ultimately, Clark’s version of Cairo is not a utopia in which all of these issues are washed away, but a city very much still grappling with them. Though nothing can be solved in a single adventure, I left the story feeling hopeful at the very least.

Finally, perhaps the most awe inspiring part of A Master of Djinn is the worldbuilding. All of the mystical and mundane beings we met in A Dead Djinn in Cairo (as well as a major plot point which I won’t spoil) return, and are even more mysterious, magical, and amazing. Readers will recognize one particular market from The Angel of Khan El-Kahlili, and I’ve already mentioned two returning characters from The Haunting of Tram Car 015, but the world of this novel is sooo much bigger than these little winks to previous installments. A Master of Djinn truly earns the ‘epic’ part of epic fantasy, with international intrigue, kings, courts, imperialism, and more magic than I could describe in a single post (all the while hitting all the beats of a thrilling mystery too).

But because I’m me, I was enraptured by the nods to Cairo (and Egypt’s) more ancient past. One of the first places we see is the Temple of Hathor, dedicated to the “Lady of Stars”. Here Clark clearly did his research, providing the more common depiction of Hathor with statuary involving calf’s horns, and representative of motherhood etc. But I also felt his incorporation of the duality between Hathor and Sekhmet (something it seems Disney’s Moon Knight is doing also) clever as well.

In general, we see more Ancient Egyptian gods and goddesses than we have yet seen in any previous installment. We actually meet Sobek, and cults to Anubis, Nephthys, and Set are implied if not shown. I can’t remember if any others are mentioned, but what I enjoyed the most about their inclusion, was that Clark was not afraid to take liberties with the myths, and really made them fit the story he was trying to tell (for instance Set and Sobek are roommates because housing in Cairo is expensive (wow does that speak to me)). And when agent Fatma points out inaccuracies in how the myths play out, well:

“Ahmad’s generous nostrils flared as he gritted his sharp teeth.
‘Why is everyone so slavish to texts written thousands of years ago?’ he snapped. ‘Gods can change. Grow apart. Try new things. Besides, Set was a jerk. He never knew how to treat her properly. How to worship her.’

Clark, P. Djeli; A Master of Djinn pg. 63-64 (2021)

I guess the author knew there’d be people in the audience pushing up their spectacles and raising a finger to say “Excuse me . . .” Why not head us off at the pass. It got me laughing at least.

One last interesting incorporation of Ancient Egyptian mythology was essentially the incorporation of human avatars for the Ancient Gods (Ahmad being the most prominent), and the in-world belief that the God’s tombs existed in the world somewhere and presumably could be found, and that the gods could ‘awaken’.

So far as I know, Ancient Egyptians only ever built tombs for human beings. Human beings which they believed would more or less take the form of Gods in the afterlife (or during your regular life if you were the Pharaoh).

I only think these things are interesting because they were also espoused in Disney’s recent superhero series Moon Knight. It is interesting to me that this would appear in two pieces of media around relatively the same time, considering I don’t think any scholars are espousing this view. It would be interesting to try and hunt down where these ideas are coming from, but I’m sure I have zero idea how to even begin that search.

Focus Dude . . . Award?

Anyway, yes, if we’re going off of what I’ve read so far, I absolutely want A Master of Djinn to win best novel. I enjoyed Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary but I don’t think it stood out to me as a Hugo contender the way this book did.

Anyway, that’s all I have for now. Have you read this one? What did you think? Let me know in the comments!!

See you next time!

How did I miss this? A Dead Djinn in Cairo (Review)

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I don’t think it’s too hard to guess why this one piqued my interest, it does after all, take place in Egypt, and I’m obsessed. I’ve always heard great things about this author, and (semi) recently I enjoyed P. Djeli Clark’s Ring Shout, so this was pretty much a no brainer.

Of course, the next question of “why now?” should also make a good bit of sense considering a novel set in this universe (known fittingly as the A Dead Djinn Universe), A Master of Djinn, is a finalist for the Hugo Award. I figured I should probably read up on the previous installments so I won’t miss any context when reading the novel.

Why I hadn’t jumped into this world before however, is a question I am completely baffled at, as it proved to be completely the thing I like and am always trying to search out and find new instances of. That it’s been out since 2016(!!) and I hadn’t read it and blogged about it is more than a little frustrating, but here we are. Doing it now.

I’m actually wondering if I did pick this up earlier, but bounced off of it because the setting wasn’t ‘ancient’ enough, meaning it wasn’t Assassin’s Creed Origins (although wikipedia tells me that game didn’t exist yet). When this came out, I probably wasn’t really into anything that felt like ‘steampunk’ either, though I hope I have since rid myself of such snobbery. Anyway, I probably read a few pages, saw no references to Ancient Egyptian Gods, and having no background in Islamic Mythology, did not care much about Djinn or Marid, and went on to something else.

Long story short, I should have read a few more pages. I should have read THE WHOLE THING!!

A Dead Djinn in Cairo DOES eventually reveal some cults to Ancient Egyptian gods, the goddess Hathor being of particular note, as I don’t feel like she’s often showcased in fiction (episodes of Disney’s Moon Knight aside). And thanks to my adventures in Daevabad, I do have a bit more context when it comes to Islamic Djinn, Ifrit, and Marid. Also, there are Angels.

All of the elements I’ve mentioned above are mixed together in a veritable soup of religions and alternate history which Clark never allows to become overwhelming. A lot of the Arabic words (like janbiya) and customs were new to me, but it was wonderful to read a story set so firmly within this point of view. The story never seems to fall prey to the type of exoticism we’ve seen in the past (the story even nods to this with the main character’s English suits which she wears because it’s exotic).

Finally, the main character, Fatma, is fun and provocative (within the context of the story). Clark weaves a tight, fast-paced, tale which never allows us to simply marinate in this crazy magical steampunk alternate Cairo, as much as we might like to. There’s murders to solve, and patriarchies to shoot holes in.

So . . . Read?

Yup! I really enjoyed this one, and am greatly looking forward to the next installments: The Angel of Khan el-Khalili, The Haunting of Tram 015, and then A master of Djinn when I get there. Probably the parts that resonated with me the most, were the complexity of world building and grounding of the reader in that POV. I also enjoy a good mystery as much as anyone, especially when it involves magic, the supernatural, and mechanical beings. What’s not to love?

Well that’s the end of the review. Has anyone read this story yet? What did y’all think? What are you most excited about for the next installment. More Djinn? Marid? These mysterious Angels?

Please let me know in the comments. See you next time!

Kingdom of Copper: DaevaBrilliant!

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Wow. My titles for these reviews keep getting worse, but these books keep getting better. (If you don’t believe me just read my review of City of Brass. I said it was (Daeva)Badass)

But I really meant it. That book was amazing and this one is too! Everything that I loved about City of Brass remained in Kingdom of Copper, but Chakraborty seemed to find a way to eek out just a little more of each element. A little more hatred toward old enemies, a little more welcome from old friends, a little more discovery, and a lot more wonder.

As a sequel should, this book seemed to reveal new territories (sometimes literally) and new characters were introduced, along with new schemes and new mystery. So . . . Just another day in Daevabad I guess then.

Which is exactly what I hoped it would be.

I especially enjoyed Nahri’s development as she fought to gain a foothold (and let’s face it, freedom) in her new life as both a Nahid and wife to Muntadhir, but she never gave up on her passion for healing. When she decides to build the hospital, it really felt like the most Nahri thing ever. That she has to overcome so much to make it happen seems like the most (corrupt) Deavabad thing ever . . . And that Ali pretty much almost ruins everything seems like the most Alizayd thing ever.

But despite all of the (after reading the first book) familiar, there is quite a lot in Kingdom of Copper that is new. For instance, characters that were merely side characters in the first book begin to take on a life of their own. It is not that these characters were not well rounded in City of Brass, they were, but for some reason they just seemed more important in this sequel. Particularly interesting to me were Jamshid, Manizheh, Muntadhir, Zaynab, and Hatset which all became more developed characters in this sequel. I hope we’ll get to see more of them in The Empire of Gold, but I also hope that we’ll have a range of new characters to contend with, and I’m definitely excited to see what the finale brings to bear.

Speaking of the finale, it’s my sincerest hope that in The Empire of Gold we will finally figure out what is going on with the Marid. I googled around a bit, and it seems that much like in Daevabad, there is not much *ahem* floating around on the internet about the Marid. The Marid Wikipedia page tells us they’re a kind of Shaitan (any Wheel of Time fans are just gonna have to ignore that for now as I am not nearly caught up on my WoT or Islamic folklore to parse this out and say anything intelligent about it).

Wikipedia also says that it’s derived from the word for “rebel” and that it is used interchangeably with the word ifrit in One Thousand and One Nights (which it is seeming like I really need to read).

In Chakraborty’s Daevabad, Ifrit and Marid seem to be VERY different (and I think opposed? It’s kinda hard to tell which side the Ifrit are on), which would be an interesting twist if somehow the two were related. But I cannot possibly see how they would be.

Anyway, these are things I’m speculating on as I read, but I haven’t actually tried to do any research into anything yet, as I’m afraid of spoiling things . . . Maybe after I’m done with this series, I’ll fall down and Islamic mythology hole . . . We’ll see.

Anywho, Kingdom of Copper was great! If you haven’t started reading the Daevabad trilogy, I highly recommend it. It’s been nominated for a best series Hugo, and based on what I’ve read so far, I’m really hoping it wins.

We’ll see you soon with a review of Empire of God!

Leave me any thoughts in the comments, but hopefully no spoilers! See you next time!