Literature / Dead Djinn Universe

The quasi-official name for the literary setting created by P. Djèlí Clark taking its name from the first published work in the series; the Dead Djinn Universe is an Alternate History Myth Punk version of 1912 Egypt where supernatural beings walk the streets, Steampunk-flavored Magitek abounds, and a cadre of government appointed Occult Detectives are kept on their toes unraveling malicious plots and busting malevolent spooks.

There was once a time that mythical creatures were just that—mythical. And then forty years ago the wandering mystic known as al-Jahiz bore a hole through reality to the other-realm of Djinn and those apocryphal creatures poured into the world of mankind. At the center of this influx of magic was Egypt, which embraced the powers of the Djinn to throw off British colonial rule and come into its own power on the world stage.

Now the year is 1912. On the busy streets of Cairo the supernatural is now commonplace, with clockwork "Angels" plying their mysterious trades, undead Ghuls terrorizing the slums, and Djinn practicing magic out in the open. The chaos of this situation is just barely kept in check by the nascent Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities, a taskforce that handles crime and law enforcement as it pertains to Egypt's otherworldly citizens.

Works in the series, in order of publication:

• A Dead Djinn in Cairo (2016) A short story introducing Agent Fatma el-Sha'arawi, an investigator for the Egyptian Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities, as she investigates the suspicious death of a powerful djinn.
• The Angel of Khan el-Khalili (2017) A short story originally written for the Clockwork Cairo: Steampunk Tales of Egypt anthology, in which a young garment worker hoping to bargain with a supernatural being pays a visit to Cairo's notorious Khan el Khalili bazaar.
• The Haunting of Tram Car 015 (2019) A novella following Ministry Agents Hamed Nasr and Onsi Youssef, who have been assigned to exorcise a malignant specter from Cairo's transit system.
• A Master of Djinn (2021) A full-length novel turning the focus back on Agent Fatma and her new partner Hadia Abdel Hafez. Members of a secret brotherhood dedicated to al-Jahiz (the sorcerer who released magic into the world decades ago) have been found murdered, and a figure claiming to be the returned al-Jahiz is stirring up trouble in the streets of Cairo as a monumental peace summit looms.

A Dead Djinn in Cairo and The Angel of Khan el-Khalili are both available online in their entirety (see works pages for links to the publisher's website), while previews of The Haunting of Tram Car 015 and A Master of Djinn can similarly be read online.

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Tropes Present Throughout the Series:

• All Myths Are True: Forty years before A Dead Djinn in Cairo opens, a wandering mystic named al-Jahiz opened a gateway to the realm of Djinn and other mythical creatures. Ever since that day spirits and magical beings previously relegated to the realm of myth have begun to appear in the human world and lived openly amongst mortals. "Angels," Djinn, and other supernatural entities are part of every day life in Cairo and beyond. The Goblin Court has officially partnered with the German Kaiser, while the French are "making overtures" to the Fae. Even the old gods of Egypt may be making a resurgence, with mystic cults of "idolaters" popping up throughout the kingdom and their faithful embracing the powers of those gods.
  How else to remember al-Jahiz, the famed Soudanese mystic and inventor? Some named him as one and the same with the medieval thinker of Basra, reborn or traveled through time. Sufis claimed he was a herald of the Mahdi; Coptics a harbinger of the apocalypse. Whether genius, saint, or madman, no one could deny that he had shaken the world.
  It was al-Jahiz who, through mysticism and machines, bore a hole to the Kaf, the other-realm of the djinn. His purpose for doing so—curiosity, mischief, or malice—remained unknown. He later disappeared, taking his incredible machines with him. Some said even now he traveled the many worlds, sowing chaos wherever he went.
  That had been a little more than forty years past. Fatma was born into the world al-Jahiz left behind: a world transformed by magic and the supernatural. The djinn, especially, took to the age, their penchant for building yielding more wonders than could be counted. Egypt now sat as one of the great powers, and Cairo was its beating heart.
• Alternate History: In the Dead Djinn universe, a wandering mystic by the name of al-Jahiz "bored a hole" into the world of Djinn, allowing a tidal wave of magical creatures and paranormal powers to pour through. Egypt — the epicenter of the sudden influx of magic — was able to resist British colonial rule in the late 1800's and establish an independent state far earlier than in real life (where the independent Kingdom of Egypt was established in 1922, but continued to exist under a state of British occupation until 1956). Djinn, "Angels", and various other mythical creatures are now part of everyday life throughout the Kingdom of Egypt and beyond. Institutions like Oxford and Harvard have even set up departments dedicated to the study of the paranormal. Embracing the Magitek/ Steampunk creations of the Djinn has made Egypt a leading cultural and economic power, with Cairo being compared to London and Paris in terms of influence and importance on the world stage.
• Badass in a Nice Suit: Agent Fatma flouts the ministry uniform policy, choosing instead to wear immaculately tailored pantsuits in the English style. She accessorizes those suits with Sword Cane that sees frequent use. Fatma knows that she stands out as one of the few female ministry employees, and she figures she might as well "put on a show" if people are staring.
• Continuity Nod:
  • In The Haunting of Tram Car 015, Hamed and Onsi refer to the events of A Dead Djinn in Cairo — they don't have all the details (since the ordeal with the "Clock of the Worlds" was understandably hushed up), but the case did make headlines.
  • Agent Fatma and Siti both make appearances in The Haunting of Tram Car 015 — Siti working at a restaurant where Hamed and Onsi take a break, and Fatma at the end of the story to catch up with Hamed.
  • Agents Hamed and Onsi make an appearance in A Master of Djinn at the Ministry headquarters and later fighting alongside Fatma and Hadia as they try to fend off a swarm of attacking Ghuls.
  • Siti leads Fatma through Khan el-Khalili in A Master of Djinn and mentions that an angel who grants miracles is rumored to have set up shop in the bazaar.
  • An onager-headed Djinn who works as a confectioner, mentioned briefly in The Angel of Khan el-Khalili, gets a speaking role in A Master of Djinn as one of the Djinn who takes a stand against the Ifrit Lords. She would much rather live peacefully and make candy for the human children who visit her shop than rule the world under the iron fist of the Ifrit.
• Eager Rookie:
  • Onsi Youssef, Agent Hamed Nasr's new partner as of The Haunting of Tram Car 015. Onsi is a Book Smart, fresh-faced graduate of the training academy excited to put his years of study to use.
  • Hadia Abdel Hafez, Fatma el-Sha'arawi's new partner as of A Master of Djinn. Fatma initially tries to keep her away from dangerous assignments, but quickly finds that Hadia is more than capable of holding her own.
• Government Agency of Fiction: Egypt's Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities.
• The Magic Comes Back: Magic and magical creatures came back into the world in the late 1800s when a mysterious man called Al-Jahiz apparently opened a gateway to another dimension that made them flood back in.
• Magitek: The advanced technology that makes Cairo a prosperous metropolis is Steampunk on the surface, but run by magical circuitry programmed into it by the Djinns who created the systems.
• Myth Punk:
  • Djinn, "Angels," and magically raised Ghuls are all common throughout Egypt.
  • As of A Master of Djinn, Goblin and Fae courts are present in Europe and appear to be actively working with the human governments.
  • Supernatural entities from further afield occasionally pop up in Egypt, like Central Asian al, or baby-eating spirit that appears in The Haunting of Tram Car 015.
• Not Using the "Z" Word: "Ghuls" are magically raised undead that attack and feast on the flesh of the living. They're a huge problem in the slums.
• Occult Detective: The job of a Special Investigator for The Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities sees Agents Fatma, Hamed, Onsi, and Hadia solving crimes that involve supernatural entities or magical elements. Their jobs involve plenty of research and investigation, as well as the legwork of tracking down suspects, interviewing witnesses, and occasionally averting the apocalypse.
• Oddball in the Series: The Angel of Khan el-Khalili sticks out for several stylistic reasons.
  • It's written in 2nd person.
  • The protagonist is a teenage garment worker rather than an adult working for the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments, and Supernatural Entities.
  • None of the major characters make an appearance in the other works (though a background character with two sentences of description in The Angel of Khan-el-Khalili gets a small speaking role in A Master of Djinn, as pointed out in Continuity Nod above).
• One-Steve Limit: Djinn don't share their true names with humans or mortal governments, instead going by the names of towns or natural landmarks. The titular dead Djinn Fatma investigates in A Dead Djinn in Cairo goes by "Sennar."
  “Soudanese?” she asked in surprise, looking up from the passport.
  “Seems so. We’ve cabled Khartoum. For all the good that’ll do. Probably a hundred djinn named Sennar.”
  Probably, Fatma agreed silently. Sennar was a town, a set of mountains, and, alternately, an old sultanate in South Soudan. Djinn never gave their true names, using places instead—towns, hills, mountains, rivers. It didn’t seem to matter how many of them shared it. Somehow, they managed to tell each other apart.
• Our Angels Are Different: The "Angels" are mysterious, otherworldly beings that claim to serve the Abrahamic god, though the various religious authorities of man have their doubts as to whether the self-proclaimed "Angels" are actually divine messengers. Their bodies are insubstantial, needing complex clockwork exoskeletons to house their forms.
  They had appeared after the djinn, suddenly and without warning. Considerable debate was expended on affirming their identity. The Coptic Church argued that they could not be angels, for all such divinities resided in heaven with God. The Ulama similarly asserted that true angels had no free will, and could not have simply come here of their own volition. Both issued cautious statements naming them, at the least, “otherworldly entities.” The self-proclaimed angels were silent on the matter—validating no particulars of either faith, and remaining enigmatic regarding their motives.
  Unlike djinn, their bodies were almost ephemeral, like light become flesh, and required frames to house them. This one towered at least twelve feet, his body a complex construction of iron, steel, and gears that mimicked muscles and bone. Four mechanical arms extended from his bronze armored shoulders, while brilliant platinum wings tinged in traces of crimson and gold lay flat upon his back.
• Our Genies Are Different: Djinn are powerful, nigh immortal beings capable of performing magic. They've chosen to live openly amongst mortals since their world was breeched by al-Jahiz. There are various types of Djinn, including:
  • the powerful Marids, many of whom have taken positions in human high society
    Of the classes of djinn, Marid were some of the most powerful and ancient—possessing preternatural strength and formidable magic. (A Master of Djinn)
  • volatile Ifrits, spirits of fire incarnate
  • guardian Qareen, who attach themselves to a specific person or familial line
  • elementally-aligned Jann, who can call on the powers of water or earth or air
  • animal-headed Sila
  • the "half-Djinn" Nasnas, who only have half a body
• Our Ghouls Are Creepier: Of the Not Using the "Z" Word variety — the "Ghuls" of Cairo are magically raised undead who attack and feast on the flesh of the living. They can be put down by a shot to the head, though limbs and pieces that are removed "turn to black ash."
  “Another damned ghul attack!” Aasim exclaimed. He sat opposite her, reading over several cables. “That’s odd. They didn’t kill anyone—they took them. Snatched them and ran right off.”
  Fatma looked up. That was odd. Ghuls fed on the living. Their victims were usually found half-devoured. They weren’t in the habit of stealing people.
• Paranormal Investigation: Agents of the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments, and Supernatural Entities investigate crimes committed by and/ or against the paranormal elements of modern Egyptian life.
• See-Thru Specs: Spectral Goggles, specialized eyewear that allow ministry agents to perceive the supernatural.
  He reached into his coat to pull out the small leather case where he kept his spectral goggles. The copper-plated instruments were standard Ministry issue. They fit like eyeglasses, though the pronounced round green lenses were far wider. Onsi had removed his spectacles to slip on his own pair. Eyesight mattered little when it came to the spectral world—which appeared the same to everyone in a haze of startlingly vivid, luminescent jade.
• Steampunk: Overlaps with Magitek — the "technology" that powers Cairo is largely based on functional magic, but it presents like a typical steampunk setting with airships and electric trams alongside gaslamps and clockwork automata.
  Fatma sat back in a red-cushioned seat as the automated wheeled carriage plowed along the narrow streets. Most of Cairo slept, except for the glow of a gaslight market or the pinprick lights of towering mooring masts where airships came and went by the hour. Her fingers played with her cane’s lion-headed pommel, watching aerial trams that moved high above the city, crackling electricity illuminating the night along their lines. Their carriage passed a lone man in a rickety donkey cart. He drove his beast at a slow trot, as if in defiance of the modernity that surrounded him.
• Sword Cane: Fatma carries an elegant cane to compliment her Badass in a Nice Suit aesthetic. The cane conceals a blade that she often finds herself relying on in combat.
• Wolverine Claws: Siti prefers to fight with a pair of clawed gloves.
• Zeppelins from Another World: Cairo's skyline includes "towering mooring masts where airships came and went by the hour." The airships are largely set dressing to play up the Steampunk tone of the work, though airship travel times play a small role in the mystery element of A Master of Djinn.

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