A Master of Djinn

"This follows on from the short story A Dead Djinn in Cairo . We’re in 1912 Cairo. All the global politics of the real world is underway there, but inconveniently, djinn are real and rampaging around the city. Phatma is part of the government ministry responsible for keeping them under control. She’s sassy, she’s excellent at her job, she gets herself in trouble. It’s a great ride. Djèlí Clark is a historian as well as a writer, and this shows. In an interview for Five Books , he said he wanted to use the full richness of Cairo as a crossroads, as an ancient city, and as a modern seat of great events – ‘I think so many times when people do Egypt’, he told me, ‘they go immediately back to ancient Egypt’. There’s some fun had with the ancient Egyptian gods, but it’s a treat to read a novel taking a broader scope, and using the rich mixing of cultures that Cairo represents. A really enjoyable read."