paperback, 416 pages
Published July 19, 2022 by Tordotcom.
I really like the steampunk, Egyptian magic vibe that the world is set in, but I just couldn’t get invested. I got a full 25% way through the book and still don’t care about the story or the characters.
This was quite an enjoyable book and a fascinating world to explore. It has been a long time since I read any steampunk and this falls very much in that category. The Egyptian setting was excellent and makes me want to read even more in this universe. There are allusions to other adventures between Fatma and Siti so there is more out there to explore.
For a full review, check out my blog: strakul.blogspot.com/2022/06/book-review-master-of-djinn-by-djeli.html
As much as I wanted to, I didn't find this book very compelling. I certainly like the notion of a fantasy-ish story that takes place somewhere other than London or NYC, but that wasn't really enough for me. The plot gets bogged down in endless explanations -- basically with every introduction of a new tool, location, creature, character, etc, instead of showing us the thing, the author just tells about the thing. The dialogue drags and is repetitive. The concept of the plot has a lot of potential, but in execution it is extremely predictable, especially for a book that purports to be a mystery. The book is vaguely anti-colonial, and the gender politics are certainly interesting, but at the same time it's really falls into traditional genre tropes and in a lot of ways it buys into the accepted structure of western/colonial politics. I almost put it down several …
As much as I wanted to, I didn't find this book very compelling. I certainly like the notion of a fantasy-ish story that takes place somewhere other than London or NYC, but that wasn't really enough for me. The plot gets bogged down in endless explanations -- basically with every introduction of a new tool, location, creature, character, etc, instead of showing us the thing, the author just tells about the thing. The dialogue drags and is repetitive. The concept of the plot has a lot of potential, but in execution it is extremely predictable, especially for a book that purports to be a mystery. The book is vaguely anti-colonial, and the gender politics are certainly interesting, but at the same time it's really falls into traditional genre tropes and in a lot of ways it buys into the accepted structure of western/colonial politics. I almost put it down several times.
Sapphic Dandy MC, sword fights, anticolonialism, and a willingness to take on the most troubling aspects of the steampunk genre head on with humor and artistic flair. Loved it.
