HT reviewer Syed Saad Ahmed picks his favourite read of 2024

A steampunk novel that reimagines Cairo and its history and straddles the genres of murder mystery, science fiction, and romance

How would you imagine Cairo in 1912? If someone had asked me this before I read P Djèlí Clark’s A Master of Djinn, I would have perhaps been able to only spout a couple of stereotypes. But Clark reimagines the city and its history so compellingly in his steampunk novel, it feels criminal to confine one’s conceptions to cliches.

Alchemy and enchantment: “The book is riotously fun, akin to a Bollywood masala movie, albeit with more depth. “ (Orbit)

The story’s protagonist is Fatma el-Sha’arawi, the youngest woman officer in Egypt’s Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments, and Supernatural Entities. After “preventing the destruction of the universe last summer” in another work by Clarke, she is investigating the grisly murder of a cult dedicated to a mysterious man called al-Jahiz and led by an Englishman who went native.

A couple of decades before, al-Jahiz had opened a portal to the supernatural, leading to a flood of angels, djinns, and ghouls, among other creatures, living largely in harmony with humans. Egypt capitalised on their magic to get rid of colonial powers and become an economic and technological behemoth brokering world peace.

However, all could be in peril. A person claiming to be al-Jahiz weaponises the country’s social divisions to foment discontent against the government and upend a global conference in Cairo. The novel follows Fatma and Hadia, the partner assigned to her by the ministry, as they try to foil the impostor’s scheming and uncover the identity of the murderer.

Reviewer Syed Saad Ahmed (Courtesy the subject)

The book is riotously fun, akin to a Bollywood masala movie, albeit with more depth. The author effortlessly straddles across genres — murder mystery, science fiction, and romance — to create a delicious melange. It is one of the few novels I have read where the queer characters’ sexuality is not a source of conflict or sorrow; it is just another trait, like their skin colour or religiosity.

The book has its faults too. The whodunnit aspect is weak — even I, who am generally bad at guessing murderers, saw it coming. The antagonist, keen on ruling the world, is almost comical. But these deficiencies do not take away from the novel’s brilliance.

By the end, enveloped in a warm glow, I was in awe of the universe the author had created. It might have magic and progress, but is no utopia. A world rife with social tensions, racism, and dictatorial impulses, it is also one where love and connection triumph. In a year of horrifying genocides and an apocalyptic climate, Clark’s novel created the possibility of another past — and by extension, another present and future.

Syed Saad Ahmed is a writer and communications professional.