A Master of Djinn

 

A Master of Djinn by P. Djeli Clark (2021 Orbit softcover 392pp)

 

 

Its not often you get to see an author’s imagined world under construction but with “A Master of Djinn” you can do just that. After reading a review of the book in the venerable Locus magazine a couple of months back I was able to track down and read the shorter fiction set in the same world which Clark had written over the past few years before committing to a full-length novel. Those works are “A Dead Djinn in Cairo” (2016), “The Angel of Khan el-Khalili” (2017) and “The Haunting of Tram Car 015" (2019). All are easily available online and although not essential before reading the novel they do include important developments, concepts and events frequently referred to in the longer work. I recommend all of them, “A Dead Djinn..” introduces the main character and follows her in an adventure which more or less acts like a dry run for the later book. “The Angel...” is a much shorter snippet which acts as an introduction to the mendacious ways of the beings that call themselves Angels. “The Haunting..” is a more knockabout, light-hearted caper which introduces more characters and settings that will be used later but at the same time lets us witness the pressure for social change in Clark’s fantastical world.

P. Dejeli Clark is a pseudonym for a serious historian who has decided to dabble in the world of fiction. He uses his knowledge of historical politics and social movements to create an alternate world where all sorts of things have become possible.

Put simply “A Master of Djinn” is a police procedural that follows the investigations of Fatma el-Sha’arawi, an agent of the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments & Supernatural Entities in an alternate 1912 Cairo. 40 years earlier a mysterious mystic called al-Jahiz had caused magic and supernatural creatures to come back into the world. The powerful Djinn had allied themselves with the Egyptians and had brought about a magical-industrial revolution. Mechanical computers and robotics designed by the Djinn allowed the country to kick out its European oppressors and become a super-power in its own right.

Fatma is a rare female agent of the ministry and also draws attention to herself by being foreign educated and dressing in western clothing. Against her will she is assigned a partner, another recently-graduated agent, Hadia Abdel Hafez.

The members of a secret society have been murdered by magical means and the pair begin investigating the crime. Soon it becomes clear that something bigger is going on. A caped and masked figure claiming to be al-Jahiz himself is stirring up class divisions in Cairo and seems to have unlimited powers.

In between the twists and turns of the central mystery, the author really spares nothing in describing the world he has created. Everything from the short stories is expanded and examined. The Djinn and other supernatural beings are described in detail and given important roles. The city of Cairo is brought to life as we move from wealthy suburbs to the squalor of the poorer sections of town.

The are several major set-pieces as Fatma and her allies confront the supposed al-Jahiz. Things move back and forth as the investigation continues. Surprising revelations about friends and acquaintances come thick and fast. The reader is given several clues about who is really behind the mask of the antagonist, I guessed it a couple of chapters before the big reveal. In the end the identity is not as important as the how (a clue is in the title) and why. I felt the big finale was perhaps a bit too ‘action movie’ and a bit cheesy.

There is perhaps too much crammed into the novel, its fun visiting the world and seeing its wonders but it seems like the author wanted to show us everything and make the stakes as high as possible. More stories about simple day-to-say investigations by the ministry and its agents would be most welcome if the series is to continue, not everything has to involve the potential end of the world.

Ancestral Night

Ancestral Night by Elizabeth Bear (2019 Gollancz softcover 504pp)

 

First published in 2018, Ancestral Night starts out like most other recent wide-screen space operas. We meet a small plucky rag-tag crew of space salvagers as they follow a lead to a potentially lucrative job. Unlike many other similar tales this book has only one viewpoint character, Haimey Dz, an engineer on the salvage tug spacecraft. Connla, a hotshot pilot rounds out the human crew which also includes Singer an AI computer and 2 space-adapted pet cats. Haimey herself has been adapted to life in space, with her feet replaced by “aft hands” and her brain sporting assorted electronic implants. After uncovering evidence of recent violence, the crew explores an unfamiliar alien ship and discover some of its secrets. In the process Haimey triggers a booby-trap which pierces her spacesuit and an injects some sort of pathogen into her body. Slowly she develops new abilities and heightened senses. Space pirates in the form of “Freeporters” soon arrive and the crew make a hasty escape to a deep-space space station to report their find. Haimey realises the commander of the station is corrupt and in league with the pirates. She makes friends with the local law-enforcement official (a giant alien praying-mantis) before they all head back to the core systems of the Synarche, the multi-species galactic federation that humanity has recently become part of. The Synarche takes peace and justice seriously and is not past altering the minds and memories of its citizens to keep them in order. Once in the core the crew retrieve another alien ship, then certain spoilery events occur around half-way through and change the entire tone and set-up of the novel. Suddenly we’re in a survival story as Haimey must learn to stay alive on the alien ship which has suddenly headed off on an unknown course with only her and her pirate nemesis Zanya Farweather on board. The pair eventually join forces but continue to distrust each other. Farweather causes Haimey to re-evaluate her past and the very reality of her memories. It becomes clear that Haimey has been a pawn in a much larger scheme. Then about 150 pages later we change gears back to the space opera format. Old friends return and there’s an action-packed climax involving your typical ancient giant alien artifact.

I enjoyed this book and there was a great sense of world-building by the author – she drops plenty of hints of other alien cultures, technology and social systems. Haimey’s internal monologues and self-reflection perhaps do become a little too wordy and frequent in the second half of the book. There are a lot of good points to be made about the nature of freedom under different political and ideological systems and how that impacts the individual but I’m not sure we needed to dip into that thinking quite so often.

A good, mainly undemanding read for any sci-fi fan. Bear has recently produced another novel (“Machine”) set in the same universe and I look forward continuing to explore the Synarche and its enemies.

 

Project Hail Mary

 

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (2021 Del Rey softcover 479pp)

 

 

Andy Weir found fame, fortune and critical acclaim when a book he initially self-published, “The Martian”, was picked up by a major publisher and became a runaway best-seller. Soon it was made in a movie by no less than Ridley Scott. “The Martian” was something special and I counted myself as a fan. His second novel “Artemis” failed to take off quite the same way and found less favour with the critics. To me it seemed like a good setting (a future moon settlement) in search of a decent plot (he decided on a heist/caper storyline). In recent months Weir has been doing the rounds of podcasts, radio shows and magazines touting his new book “Project Hail Mary”. It has been acclaimed as a return to form for the writer and has had some glowing reviews. It is better than “Artemis” but that’s about it, for me I felt a sense of disappointment when I recently finished the book.

Told entirely in first person, the book starts strongly. The protagonist wakes up with no knowledge of who he is or where he is. With a slow process of deduction and his knowledge of science he determines he’s on a spacecraft approaching another solar system. The reader discovers things along with him and this works well. Less welcome are the exposition-heavy flash-backs which start to flesh out Rylan Grace’s (for that’s who he discovers he is) back story and how he ended up on the mission. We learn all life on earth is under threat due to the arrival of the “Astrophage”, microscopic creatures whose life cycle will dim the sun to dangerously low levels within a few years. Other neighbouring stars are suffering the same fate except for one, Tau Ceti and this is where Rylan has been sent to find answers. The “Astrophage” also very conveniently provides interstellar propulsion and near unlimited power. After arrival in the new system, Grace, makes contact with a member of another alien race and ends up working with them to solve the mystery. Of course, along the way very many things go wrong and need a not insubstantial amount of science and engineering to put right. Weir is at his best doing that stuff and, on the whole, its successful as part of the story.

Unfortunately, I found the writing style to be weirdly flat and middle-of-the-road. Its almost if the editor reined Weir in whenever he tried to really geek out or follow his ideas to their logical conclusions. I was waiting for some really big ideas to take fruit and concepts to be fully explored. But no such luck. It all stays at a fairly mundane and predictable level. It’s written at a level that perhaps a 10-year-old could enjoy without being challenged. Somehow contact with an alien intelligence gets boring and predictable. He did surprise me with where the book ended instead of what I was half expecting so that’s one thing. The flashbacks don’t provide much value after the initial few – they are full of cardboard cut-out cliched characters doing cliched things and basically intrude on the present-day action.

So, in the end I felt a bit let down by the book. It could have been so much more. Its basically entertaining fluff with a few novel ideas that might make you think.