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sophia_sol) wrote2021-10-18 07:09 pm
sophia_sol) wrote2021-10-18 07:09 pm
A Master of Djinn, by P Djèlí Clark
This book is set in the same world as some of Clark's past works - a novella and a short story. I absolutely adored the novella (The Haunting of Tram Car 013), and the short story left me cold (A Dead Djinn in Cairo). A Master of Djinn is the further adventures of the hero of the short story, so I was a bit apprehensive going in that it might be more similar to that short story than to the novella. Unfortunately I was right!
That's not to say that there's nothing to like about the book. I enjoyed seeing more of the world Clark has created, and a dapper lesbian main character IS an inherent pleasure.
But unlike Tram Car, the stories focused on Fatma seem to be of the major, potentially-world ending variety with lots of excitement and murder and intrigue and heroics. Which is all well and good but not inherently as interesting to me personally, and I just don't feel like the character of Fatma is herself well enough fleshed out for me to enjoy the book just for the pleasure of hanging out with her.
Also......the book lauds Fatma as being amazing and wonderful and capable and admired, but she was SOOOOO slow to figure out that there was anything suspicious about Abigail, when it was super obvious that there was something to be suspicious about! Also the way she confidently went in to try to sway the crowd's opinion against the imposter and fails utterly because it turns out she just didn't even think about what kinds of responses the imposter might make that she would need to be prepared to argue against?
If the book were deliberately portraying her as someone who is very good at some things but not at other things, that would be totally fine and good, but instead it seems to me that the reader is expected to take it at face value how great she is at her job without any complications to that understanding, despite what we see her fail at. Which is really irritating.
So. Overall, I didn't love this book, which I am sad about. Hopefully whatever Clark writes next will be a return to the things I do love about his writing!
That's not to say that there's nothing to like about the book. I enjoyed seeing more of the world Clark has created, and a dapper lesbian main character IS an inherent pleasure.
But unlike Tram Car, the stories focused on Fatma seem to be of the major, potentially-world ending variety with lots of excitement and murder and intrigue and heroics. Which is all well and good but not inherently as interesting to me personally, and I just don't feel like the character of Fatma is herself well enough fleshed out for me to enjoy the book just for the pleasure of hanging out with her.
Also......the book lauds Fatma as being amazing and wonderful and capable and admired, but she was SOOOOO slow to figure out that there was anything suspicious about Abigail, when it was super obvious that there was something to be suspicious about! Also the way she confidently went in to try to sway the crowd's opinion against the imposter and fails utterly because it turns out she just didn't even think about what kinds of responses the imposter might make that she would need to be prepared to argue against?
If the book were deliberately portraying her as someone who is very good at some things but not at other things, that would be totally fine and good, but instead it seems to me that the reader is expected to take it at face value how great she is at her job without any complications to that understanding, despite what we see her fail at. Which is really irritating.
So. Overall, I didn't love this book, which I am sad about. Hopefully whatever Clark writes next will be a return to the things I do love about his writing!