Reviews
Locus Award Winner!
A 2022 RUSA Reading List Fantasy Winner
A 2021 NEIBA Book Award Finalist
World Fantasy Award Nominee
Salt Lake County Library System Reader’s Choice Award Nominee
A Best of 2021 Pick in SFF for Kobo
Included in NPR’s Favorite Sci-Fi And Fantasy Books Of The Past Decade (2011-2021)
“Clark reconfigures history with a keen, critical eye toward gender, class, and imperialism. An epic tale of magic and mystery, this is sure to wow.” – Publishers Weekly, starred review
“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. Give this to alternate history enthusiasts and mystery readers who enjoy a dose of the magical.” – Booklist, starred review
“What a wonderful world P. Djélì Clarke has created here — an Arab world never colonized, where magic-powered trams glide through a cosmopolitan Cairo and where djinns make mischief among humans.” – NPR
“With its richly imagined world and characters and its high-stakes and thrilling plot, this novel would make such a fantastic show in the vein of The Nevers and Carnival Row, but better.” – Buzzfeed
“A clever, wickedly fun steampunk mystery with an excellent balance of humor and heart. I loved it.” – S. A. Chakraborty, internationally-bestselling author of The City of Brass
“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.” – Hugo Award winner Alix E. Harrow, author of Starling House
“A delightful whodunnit full of sly commentary and a wonderfully lived-in steampunk Cairo. The perfect read when I needed a break from this world to enjoy one wholly made from Clark’s enviable imagination.” – Hugo and Nebula Award-winning Rebecca Roanhorse, author of Trail of Lightning and Star Wars: Resistance Reborn
“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.” – Mary Robinette Kowal, Hugo and Nebula award-winning author of The Calculating Stars
“Fascinating! I love the intricate alt-history world of A Master of Djinn, with its hints at the changed destinies of nations and ordinary people alike after the cataclysmic return of magic to the world. Clark gives us 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.” – Django Wexler, author of The Thousand Names
“Alternate historic Cairo comes to vivid life in Clark’s first novel. His cosmopolitan city includes not only humans from all around the world, but supernatural creatures aplenty. When their interests and agendas collide, the result is the kind of book you don’t want to put down.” – World Fantasy and Hugo Award finalist Marie Brennan