#A Dead Djinn In Cairo

[have-you-read-this-short-fiction]

#short stories #short story #a dead djinn in cairo #phenderson djèlí clark #p. djèlí clark #p djèlí clark #dexter gabriel #21st century literature #american literature #african american literature #black literature #english language literature #have you read this short fiction? #book polls #completed polls

[souldagger]

so like. does siti count as a catgirl, or

#sorry i was struck with how stupid this drawing is halfway through. so you will have to simply imagine the second panel. fkjngk #a master of djinn #a dead djinn in cairo #dead djinn universe #fatma el-sha'arawi #my art #finally out a months long artblock and catching up on some ideas lets see how long it'll last <3

[rhetoricandlogic]

REVIEW: A Dead Djinn in Cairo by P. Djèlí Clark

Egypt, 1912. In Cairo, the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities investigate disturbances between the mortal and the (possibly) divine.

What starts off as an odd suicide case for Special Investigator Fatma el-Sha’arawi leads her through the city’s underbelly as she encounters rampaging ghouls, saucy assassins, clockwork angels, and a plot that could unravel time itself.

I’ve had this short story for a while but something triggered Amazon to proffer it to me based on something else I was looking at and I thought, “Aha, I never read that after I bought it.” So now I have.

Steampunk generally isn’t my thing but tell me it’s 1912 Cairo Steampunk and I’m much more eager to read it. Special Investigator Fatma el-Sha’arawi has been called out to the scene of a murder. At least it appears to be a murder until she points out that, based on the similarity of the handwriting to his identity card, the dead djinn must have been the one to cast the exsanguination spell that killed him. Wait … he committed suicide? 

Following up on a clue at the scene, she plus a local constable, discover an “angel” – or so they call themselves – who pleasantly tells them where they might find the other angel who dropped the clue. They find him alright, along with a pack of ghuls – dead bodies brought back to “life” who feed on the living.    

At this point in the book, after a strong start, things get a bit “paint by numbers.” Fatma has some encounters with people who basically solve the mystery for her and all she – and a “woman?” who channels Sekhmet (think ancient Egyptian warrior lioness goddess) have to save the day in a way that even I figured out before they did it. 

I enjoyed meeting Fatma who is a tough woman to do her job in an era and place that still expects women to be veiled and stay at home. The setting, especially the inclusion of so many disparate elements of Middle Eastern culture and religions, was fantastic. If this had been longer and allowed for more development of the characters and let Fatma solve things on her own, I would have loved it. As it is, I’m looking forward to trying the next novella in the series.

#P. Djèlí Clark #A Dead Djinn in Cairo #mahreviews #long post

[libraryspecter]

an absolute yes; give me mooorre. fatma - i know she looks good in a suit.

ig post date: december 20, 2020

#a dead djinn in cairo #p. djeli clark #library books #reads

[augustinajosefina]

A request

Please suggest books to me! Preferably in the glove kink/lesbian space atrocities, urban fantasy or dark academia genres but I'll happily try any SF/fantasy at least once.

So far I've read and loved:

Before 2023

The Imperial Radch (Ancillary Justice/Sword/Mercy) - Ann Leckie

Jean le Flambeur (The Quantum Thief/The Fractal Prince/The Causal Angel) - Hannu Rajaniemi

The Windup Girl/The Water Knife - Paolo Bagicalupi

Memory of Water/The City of Woven Streets - Emmi Itäranta

2023

The Locked Tomb (Gideon/Harrow/Nona the Ninth) - Tamsyn Muir

The Masquerade (Traitor/Monster/Tyrant Baru Cormorant) - Seth Dickinson

Teixcalaan series (A Memory Called Empire/A Desolation Called Peace) - Arkady Martine

Machineries of Empire (Ninefox Gambit/Raven Stratagem/Revenant Gun/Hexarchate Stories) - Yoon Ha Lee

The Murderbot Diaries (All Systems Red to System Collapse) - Martha Wells

The Broken Earth (The Fifth Season/The Obelisk Gate/The Stone Sky) - N. K. Jemisin

Klara And The Sun - Kazuo Ishiguro

Xuya universe (The Citadel of Weeping Pearls/The Tea Master and the Detective/Seven of Infinities plus short stories) - Aliette de Bodard

This is How You Lose the Time War - Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

The Goblin Emperor/The Witness for the Dead/Grief of Stones - Katherine Addison

Some Desperate Glory - Emily Tesh

2024

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue - V. E. Schwab

The Craft Sequence (Three Parts Dead/Two Serpents Rise/Full Fathom Five/Last First Snow/Four Roads Cross/Ruin of Angels) - Max Gladstone

Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution - R. F. Kuang

The Luminous Dead - Caitlin Starling

Last Exit - Max Gladstone

Dead Country - Max Gladstone

Read and liked:

The Moonday Letters - Emmi Itäranta

Great Cities (The City We Became/The World We Make) - N. K. Jemisin

Piranesi - Susanna Clarke

Autonomous - Annalee Newitz

Dead Djinn universe (A Master of Djinn/The Haunting of Tram Car 015/A Dead Djinn in Cairo/The Angel of Khan el-Khalili) - P. Djèlí Clark

Even Though I Knew the End - C. L. Polk

Station Eternity - Mur Lafferty

The Mythic Dream - Dominik Parisien & Navah Wolfe

Shades of Magic (A Darker Shade of Magic/A Gathering of Shadows/A Conjuring of Light/Fragile Threads of Power) - V. E. Schwab

The Stars Are Legion - Kameron Hurley

Ninth House/Hell Bent - Leigh Bardugo

Machine - Elizabeth Bear

Was uncertain about:

Light From Uncommon Stars - Ryka Aoki

The Kaiju Preservation Society - John Scalzi

Paladin's Grace - T. Kingfisher

The House in the Cerulean Sea - TJ Klune

In the Vanishers Palace - Aliette de Bodard

And read and disliked:

To Be Taught, if Fortunate - Becky Chambers

A Psalm for the Wild-Built - Becky Chambers

The Priory of the Orange Tree - Samantha Shannon

The Calculating Stars - Mary Robinette Kowal

The Space Between Worlds - Micaiah Johnson

How High We Go in the Dark - Sequoia Nagamatsu

Shadow and Bone - Leigh Bardugo

(My pride insists I add that I have, in fact, read other books as well. Just to be clear.)

#books #lesbian space atrocities #imperial radch #ann leckie #locked tomb series #the masquerade #baru cormorant #seth dickinson #teixcalaan series #arkady martine #machineries of empire #yoon ha lee #the murderbot diaries #martha wells #broken earth trilogy #nk jemisin #tamsyn muir #this is how you lose the time war #the goblin emperor #katherine addison #aliette de bodard #annalee newitz #paolo bagicalupi #some desperate glory #emily tesh #hannu rajaniemi #a master of djinn #p djeli clark #max gladstone #craft sequence

[nellasbookplanet]

Book recs: great, unique and creative worldbuilding in fantasy books

A note: this is very much a subjective list. I typically do not care much for historical medieval-esque settings (though seeing as I'm a big critical role fan, obviously there are exceptions), but rather prefer settings that mix up historical and modern, fantastical and scientific, and make up entirely new things and societal structures not based on our world.

Other book rec posts:

Really cool sci-fi worldbuilding

Mermaid books

Dark sapphic romances

Vampire books

Without further ado, let’s go!

The Unspoken name by A.K. Larkwood

Honestly there's so much going on in this one worldbuilding-wise that it's kind of hard to explain. Portals, flying ships, orcs, elves, creepy snake gods, cults, immortal evil mages who traumatize teens as their hobby. It's also very queer!

A Master of Djinn by P. Djèli Clark

Set in an alternate 1910's steampunk Cairo, where djinn and other creatures (among other things, creepy steampunk angels) live alongside humans. We get to follow an investigator as she races to catch a criminal using a powerful object to control djinn and stir unrest. Fantastically creative and fresh, and also features a buddy cop dynamic between two female leads as well as a sapphic romance.

Sunshine by Robin McKinley

Urban fantasy on a level of its own, where dangerous magic exists alongside humans. It keeps you guessing and much is left unexplained; if you want clear answers and explanations to everything you might be disappointed, but if you want a world that feels mysterious and dangerous and lived in you'll probably like it. It follows a baker who, after getting kidnapped by vampires, gets embroiled in a dangerous struggle.

Radiant (Towers Trilogy) by Karina Sumner-Smith

A strange mix of fantasy, sci-fi and post apocalyptic, Radiant follows a girl without magic in a world where magic is currency. Those with much of it live in magically floating towers, while everyone else scrambles to survive in the ruins of an old city left devastated from an unknown cataclysm. The setting is creepy and mysterious and leaves me itching as I want to dig for more. Also there are ghosts.

Three Parts Dead (Craft Sequence) by Max Gladstone

This is one of those books where you just kind of have to let go and go along as it throws you all over the place. I started reading it expecting an urban fantasy, but it is much more and wholly unique. It features a world where gods and magic are deeply enmeshed with society at large, and a base of much of its technology and progress. It doesn't quite feel historical, but also not modern, but rather like you took a fantastical world and let it develop naturally into its own contemporary era.

Strange the Dreamer (Strange the Dreamer duology) by Laini Taylor

One of my favorite things is when the mysteries of the world and how it works become part of the plot, with characters trying to figure out their own world. Strange the Dreamer is beautiful and complex and will hurt your heart. Personally I didn't care much for the central romance, but the wonderful characters, themes, mysteries and world make up for it.

The Dawnhounds by Sascha Stronach

Like Three Parts Dead, The Dawnhounds is a book where you just kind of have to let the story and the world wash over you. It skirts the line of scifi and fantasy, with a futuristic world of environmentally friendly mushroom houses and deadly fungi bio weapons next to literally god-given superpowers and near-immortality. It's really cool and unlike anything else I've ever read. Bonus: it’s also sapphic!

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (Inheritance Trilogy) by N.K. Jemisin

Another example of a world that feels wholly like its own organically developed thing, with societal structures developed around the magical aspects and a presence of gods and demi-gods, many of whom walk the streets and will smite you if you piss them off.

Dead Witch Walking (The Hollows series) by Kim Harrison

Okay, here we have an actual urban fantasy. While I got a bit worn out by the many, many love interests throughout the series, the worldbuilding is simply phenomenal and relies heavily on a well-developed alternate history. Basically, magical beings such as vampires, werewolves, elves, fairies, witches, etc, used to exist secretly alongside us, but when humanity delved into genetic research instead of the space race during the cold war, an engineered virus ended up wiping a good chunk of us out and the magical beings stepped in to stop us from going extinct. Now in the modern day, we co-exist but tensions remain. Our main character is a witch who, alongside her roommates (a vampire and a fairy) solve mysteries and crime and end up unveiling secrets about their world centuries in the making.

Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger

Another urban fantasy, this one aimed at young adults and featuring indigenous mythology alongside creatures such as vampires and ghosts. We follow a young apache girl with the ability to raise ghosts as she works to solve the murder of her cousin.

Red Sister (Book of the Ancestor trilogy) by Mark Lawrence

Honestly, most of what I've read by Mark Lawrence so far could be featured on this list (special shoutout to his Broken Empire trilogy!). We follow a young girl training to become an assassin in a slowly dying world, where ice is overtaking the land and only a small band along its middle is habitable, kept alive by a mirror in the sky sharpening the dying sun's light. Question is, how long will this machine last, and what even is it? Very dark but very good.

The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth trilogy) by N.K. Jemisin

Listen, N.K. Jemisin gets to have two books on this list, okay, she is very good at what she does. In a world regularly torn apart by natural disasters, a big one finally strikes and society as we know it falls, leaving people floundering to survive in a post apocalyptic world, its secrets and past to be slowly revealed. We get to follow a mother as she races through this world to find and save her missing daughter.

The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez

AKA the book the killed me. Two boys travel throughout their land with the body of a god as her horrible, horrible children try to hunt them down. It's hard to explain more than that, but trust me when I say the narrative voice and literary techniques are incredibly unique in how they blend past and present, reality and story, lead and bystander. Truly an experience. Bonus: gay romance!

Wild Seed by Octavia Butler

Master of slightly fucked up romance, Octavia Butler knocks it out of the park in this story featuring two immortals struggling throughout the centuries. What do you do when there is only one other person remotely like you, and you simultaneously can't stand them and can't live without them? Apparently, you turn yourself into a dolphin for a while.

Birth of the Fire Bringer by Meredith Ann Pierce

Cards on the table, it has been a great many years since I actually read this, and just as many years spent meaning to read the sequels (I have a lot of stuff on my tbr okay, don’t judge me), but I do remember it making a great impact on me back in the day. Our main character is a unicorn! Fighting wyverns and gryphons! How cool is that!

Bonus AKA I haven’t read these yet but they seem really cool

The Surviving Sky by Kritika H. Rao

From Goodreads: This Hindu philosophy-inspired debut science fantasy follows a husband and wife racing to save their living city—and their troubled marriage—high above a jungle world besieged by cataclysmic storms.

High above a jungle-planet float the last refuges of humanity—plant-made civilizations held together by tradition, technology, and arcane science. In these living cities, architects are revered above anyone else. If not for their ability to psychically manipulate the architecture, the cities would plunge into the devastating earthrage storms below.

Clean Sweep by Ilona Andrews

Urban fantasy but the vampires are aliens? Sign me the fuck up

The Gaslight Dogs by Karin Lowachee

From Goodreads: At the edge of the known world, an ancient nomadic tribe faces a new enemy-an Empire fueled by technology and war.

#thanks tumblr for fucking me over and posting the draft before i was done #anyway its finished now sorry for the confusion #nella talks books #long post #book recs

[bookcub]

Hii, I'm currently making my way through a pretty heavy 13 book fantasy series rn and in the lookout for some novellas to break it up. I was wondering if you had any recommendations?

Oh yeah, sure no problem!!

A Spindle Splintered by Alix E Harrow is like is the mutiverse of Sleeping Beauty and very fun and friendship focused! Pretty fast paced as well

P. Djeli Clark has three novellas that are set in 1912 Cairo. I only read his full length novel, but everyone else claims the novellas are even better. There's an investigator of magic and she solves and prevents crime! First one is A Dead Djinn in Cairo

I'm not super into scifi, but if you want very soft scifi with low stress, Becky Chambers is known for her work. A Psalm for the Wild-Built is a human and robot discussing philosophy for most of it.

Of course, any of the Wayward Children series by Seanan McGuire is a series of related books about children who travel to magic lands and then travel back to their first homes. These have a loose order to them but many can be read as standalones. Every Heart a Doorway is the first one.

I haven't read Binti by Nnedi Okorafor in forever but I remember really enjoying it! It's a hard scifi tale set in space!

Even Though I Knew the End by CL Polk is a noir esque fantasy novella that's very mysterious and has an interesting tone.

Hope this is a good list to start! I find graphic novels also helpful breaks if you need any of recs for those, let me know!

#my book recs #alexfireon

[kay-claire]

I finished A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark today and absolutely loved it.

Synopsis:

Cairo, 1912: Though Fatma el-Sha’arawi is the youngest woman working for the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities, she’s certainly not a rookie, especially after preventing the destruction of the universe last summer. So when someone murders a secret brotherhood dedicated to one of the most famous men in history, al-Jahiz, Agent Fatma is called onto the case. Al-Jahiz transformed the world 50 years ago when he opened up the veil between the magical and mundane realms, before vanishing into the unknown. This murderer claims to be al-Jahiz, returned to condemn the modern age for its social oppressions. His dangerous magical abilities instigate unrest in the streets of Cairo that threaten to spill over onto the global stage. Alongside her Ministry colleagues and her clever girlfriend Siti, Agent Fatma must unravel the mystery behind this imposter to restore peace to the city -or face the possibility he could be exactly who he seems…

My Review

I highly recommend reading A Dead Djinn in Cairo, the 0.1 novella in this series, before starting this book! I skipped all the other novellas (though I'll probably get around to them when I can because I do love this universe), and didn't feel like it made a difference, but A Dead Djinn in Cairo is where Fatma and Siti meet, and the case they work on in that book is referenced multiple times in this book and has a huge impact on the overall plot - I would have been SO annoyed and confused by all those references if I hadn't read that book first. That out of the way, I LOVE this book. The setting - alternate universe 1920s Egypt with some steampunk vibes to it - is SO cool, the main characters are fantastic, and the plot and mystery are really fun. I wouldn't try and sell this as a romance (the main couple are already together at the beginning of the book and the story doesn't revolve around them too much), but Fatma is a butch lesbian with hot femme fatal girlfriend Siti, and Fatma's friendship with Hadia, her new partner in the department, is a delight. I also think it had some fantastic things to say about colonialism, racism, colourism, slavery and xenophobia - often with a fantastic dry humour to it. If you're a fan of A Marvellous Light's trilogy by Freya Marske I would highly recommend this to you.

#a master of djinn #p. djèlí clark #book recs #book recommendation #bipoc authors #queer books #lgbt books #sapphic books #booklr #reading #book review

[haveyoureadthisqueerbook]

Hello! First of all: love this blog! Second: I read a lot of queer books and as it turns out a lot of them weren’t already on your spreadsheet so uh. Sorry in advance for what I’m about to do to your inbox/queue 😅

Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo

Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli

The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders

The Time Slip Girl by Elizabeth Andre

Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield

Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree

The Queen of Cups by Ren Basel

Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust

Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron

This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron

This Wicked Fate by Kalynn Bayron

Werecockroach by Polenth Blake

In the Vanishers’ Palace by Aliette de Bodard

Wain: LGBT Reimaginings of Scottish Folktales by Helene Boppert and Rachel Plummer

In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan

Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown

Tremontaine: The Complete Season One by Patty Bryant, Malinda Lo, Racheline Maltese, Joel Derfner, Ellen Kushner, Paul Witcover, and Alaya Dawn Johnson

This Other World by AC Buchanan

In Memoriam by Nathan Burgoine

The Dark Beneath the Ice by Amelinda Bérubé

Felix Ever After by Karen Callender

Last Bus to Everland by Sophie Cameron

Out of the Blue by Sophie Cameron

Once & Future by AR Capetta and Cory McCarthy

The Brilliant Death by AR Capetta

XX by Angela Chadwick

A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers

The Vela by Becky Chambers, Rivers Solomon, Yoon Ha Lee, and SL Huang

Black Water Sister by Zen Cho

The True Queen by Zen Cho

The Terracotta Bride by Zen Cho

The Water that Falls on You From Nowhere by John Chu

The Shape of My Name by Nino Cipri

A Dead Djinn in Cairo by P. Djèlí Clark

Girlhood by Cat Clarke

Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Córdova

Dreadnought by April Daniels

Sovereign by April Daniels

Thornfruit by Felicia Davin

Nightvine by Felicia Davin

Shadebloom by Felicia Davin

Her Majesty’s Royal Coven by Juno Dawson

Stay Another Day by Juno Dawson

Otherbound by Corinne Duyvis

Pet by Akwaeke Emezi

Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi

The Drowning Eyes by Emily Foster

Bingo Love by Tee Franklin

Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey

Knit One, Girl Two by Shira Glassman

The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez

We Go Around in the Night and Are Consumed by Fire by Jules Grant

Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant

The One Hundred Nights of Hero by Isabel Greenberg

Keeper of the Dawn by Dianna Gunn

The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall

The Outside by Ada Hoffman

The Fallen by Ada Hoffman

The Infinite by Ada Hoffman

Mindtouch by MCA Hogarth

Sing the Four Quarters by Tanya Huff

The Apocalypse of Elena Mendoza by Shaun David Hutchinson

The City of Woven Streets by Emmi Itäranta

Godkiller by Hannah Kaner

Let’s Talk About Love by Claire Kann

The Beast of Callaire by Saruuh Kelsey

The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion by Margaret Killjoy

An Excess Male by Maggie Shen King

Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe

Crimson by Niviaq Korneliussen

Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff

Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner

The Faerie Godmother’s Apprentice Wore Green by Nicky Kyle

Avi Cantor Has Six Months to Live by Sacha Lamb

When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb

Goldie Vance Vol. 1 by Hope Larson

Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl by Andrea Lawlor

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie

Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie

Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie

The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie

Not Your Sidekick by CB Lee

Not Your Villain by CB Lee

Not Your Backup by CB Lee

The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee

The Fever King by Victoria Lee

The Fox’s Tower and Other Tales by Yoon Ha Lee

Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee

Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger

Adaptation by Malinda Lo

Inheritance by Malinda Lo

Natural Selection by Malinda Lo

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

The Hand, the Eye, and the Heart by Zoë Marriott

Luna: New Moon by Ian McDonald

Luna: Wolf Moon by Ian McDonald

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire

Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire

Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire

Come Tumbling Down by Seanan McGuire

Forbid the Sea by Seanan McGuire

In Sea-Salt Tears by Seanan McGuire

The Unbinding of Mary Reade by Miriam McNamara

An Accident of Stars by Foz Meadows

A Tyranny of Queens by Foz Meadows

All Out: The No-Longer Secret Stories of Queer Teens Throughout the Ages ed. Saundra Mitchell

Thistlefoot by GennaRose Nethercott

Princess Princess Ever After by K. O’Neill

The Tea Dragon Society by K. O’Neill

The Tea Dragon Festival by K. O’Neill

The Tea Dragon Tapestry by K. O’Neill

Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta

Heartstopper by Alice Oseman

Loveless by Alice Oseman

Radio Silence by Alice Oseman

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters

Stormsong by CL Polk

Soulstar by CL Polk

She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

The Tiger’s Daughter by K Arsenault Rivera

The Phoenix Empress by K Arsenault Rivera

The Warrior Moon by K Arsenault Rivera

A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland

Birthday by Meredith Russo

If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo

The Midnight Lie by Marie Rutkoski

A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon

Dying for a Living by Kory M. Shrum

Two Dark Moons by Avi Silver

History is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera

More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera

The Abyss Surrounds Us by Emily Skrutskie

The Edge of the Abyss by Emily Skrutskie

An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon

The Summer of Jordi Perez (and the Best Burger in Los Angeles) by Amy Spalding

The Traitor’s Tunnel by CM Spivey

Nimona by ND Stevenson

Chameleon Moon by RoAnna Sylver

Small Changes Over Long Periods of Time by KM Szpara

As I Descended by Robin Talley

Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley

Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh

Drowned Country by Emily Tesh

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

No Gods, No Monsters by Cadwell Turnbull

Crier’s War by Nina Varela

Iron Heart by Nina Varela

The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo

When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo

Into the Riverlands by Nghi Vo

On a Sunbeam by Tillie Walden

Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

System Collapse by Martha Wells

A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe by Alex White

The Black Tides of Heaven by Neon Yang

The Red Threads of Fortune by Neon Yang

The Descent of Monsters by Neon Yang

The Ascent to Godhood by Neon Yang

Waiting on a Bright Moon by Neon Yang

Taproot by Keezy Young

Phew! Finally got all of these queued! Thank you so much for the list, and for arranging them so neatly, which definitely made it easier to transfer over to a spreadsheet!

#Anonymous #submissions

[souldagger]

Hey, I really like all the books you've recomended so far (got me into the murderbot series thanks for that one <3) was wondering if you had any recs for steampunk? Was trying some scifi sub-genres lately and this one really interest me

it's definitely a genre i need to dive deeper into bc i haven't read that much either, but! two i absolutely adore:

the leviathan trilogy by scott westerfeld - YA alternate history ww1 where the central powers use steampunk machinery and the allies use bioengineered beasts, following an austro-hungarian princeling and a scottish girl who enlists pretending to be a boy. i loved this series as a kid and i just reread it recently and it STILL kicks ass. also, some absolutely gorgeous illustrations!

the dead djinn series by p. djeli clark - lesbian magic detective solving murders in steampunk 1910s egypt! literally one of my all time fav series in recent years 🥰 u can start with the (free) short story a dead djinn in cairo - and if you like it, there's the companion novella "the haunting of tram car 015" (same world, diff charas) or you can skip directly to the short story's more direct sequel, the novel "a master of djinn"!

#steampunk comes in scifi and fantasy flavours and with these 2 series u can try both 😌 #OH ALSO both of Ted Chiang's short story collections - Exhalation and Stories of Your Life - include some fantastic steampunk stories #i could name individual stories but honestly i adore his writing so much i'd just recommend getting either collection in its entirety. #or both. they're worth it

[samduqs]

A Dead Djinn in Cairo, The Angel of Khan el-Khalili, The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djèlí Clark (novellas)

A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark 💫

Héroes Mitológicos by M. R. Padilla

Lord of Swans by Amberlyn Holland

King of Beasts by Amberlyn Holland

The Forgotten Room by Licoln Child

Full Wolf Moon by Lincoln Child

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood

The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne 💫

#booklr #academia #book recommendations #literature #studyblr #a master of djinn #lord of swans #king of beasts #amberlyn holland #lincoln child #jeremy logan #the marlow murder club #the guest list #the shadow of the gods #john gwynne #bloodsworn saga #bookworm #chaotic academia #march reads #goodreads #march wrap up

[bonebrujeria]

Hello, I saw in a comment section you were offering to make a rec list of queer adult fantasy. Any chance you happen to have that list handy? If not no worries, and thank you for your time

YOU GOT IT

Contemporary Adult Queer Fantasy

Kalyna the Soothsayer by Elijah Kinch Spector Monster of Elendhaven by Jennifer Geisbrecht (we do not talk about this book enough it's so good!! Read if you love Hannibal or Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell) Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon The Unbroken by CL Clark (ft. Sexy butch protagonist) The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri Master of Djinn by P Djeli Clark (+ his Djinn in Cairo novella series) Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh (read if you love Hozier) The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie The Unspoken Name by A.K. Larkwood The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab Dead Collections by Isaac Fellman (ft. Trans vampire protagonist) The City of Dusk by Tara Sim Burning Roses by S.L. Huang The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern Wild and Wicked Things by Francesca May Her Body & Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado Wrath Goddess Sing by Maya Deane (ft trans Achilles!) The Bruising of Qilwa by Naseem Jamnia (ft. Aroace protagonist) Spear by Nicola Griffith (Authuriana) Witchmark by C.L. Polk, or anything by C.L. Polk The Ruthless Lady's Guide to Wizardry by C.M. Waggoner Fireheart Tiger by Aliette de Bodard (or anything by Aliette de Bodard) Sarahland by Sam Cohen House in the Cerulean Sea and Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune Lady Hotspur by Tessa Gratton Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey Unconquerable Sun by Kate Elliot (Alexander the Great retelling) The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart Hollow Empire by Sam Hawke K.A. Doore's Chronicles of Ghadid series The Deep by Rivers Solomon Jenn Lyons' A Chorus of Dragons series Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse The Founders Trilogy by Robert Jackson Bennett The Tiger's Daughter by K. Arsenault Rivera The Devourers by Indra Das (Indian shapeshifters!) The Once and Future Witches by Alix E Harrow The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo (queer Gatsby retelling)

Adult Queer Fantasy that I know specifically feature on-page boning: Siren Queen by Nghi Vo (please read anything & everything by Nghi Vo) A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland She Who Became the Sun by Shelly Parker-Chan The Mercenary Librarians series by Kit Rocha (dystopian) KJ Charles' Magpie Lord series

Not fantasy but you should still read them: Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin (horror, trans cast, firmly anti-TERF) Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki (science-fantasy, objectively a perfect novel) Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo (horror, gay yearning) The Seep by Chana Porter Genesis of Misery by Neon Yang (sci-fi Joan of Arc) Everything by Becky Chambers Everything by Rivers Solomon Arkady Martine's A Memory Called Empire

ALSO: author K.A. Doore keeps a running list of queer adult SFF published every year. I highly recommend going through those archives, which you can find here: https://kadoore.com/2022/05/23/2022-queer-adult-science-fiction-fantasy-books/

Tl;dr: SFF is extremely gay, almost everyone writing contemporary SFF is queer in some way, we are truly blessed and I don't want to hear anyone complaining about not being able to find stuff ever again, I love you all.

[mosswolf]

reading summary - feb

championship, sex wizards 3, alethea faust

this is the last of the series currently out and possibly my fave of the lot, there was fun gender stuff! keeping an eye out for the next one

valerin the fair, martis the brazen & seure the tempered, rien grey

these are the 3 novellas currently in the out of true series and oh my god!!! loved these. valerin is about a forest butch, and seure is about an autistic scholar, but martis the brazen was my favourite. a traumatised, self hating dragon knight with deeply complicated parental relationships...

dark ecology: for the logic of future coexistence, timothy morton

i Dont think i understood this one. ive never read anything by timothy morton before and it was all so theoretical i was like ??? maybe someone with a more philosophical background would have got more out of it than me

spear, nicola griffith

sometimes i read novellas and it feels like just being told the story instead of getting to read the story. but sometimes i read novellas and just WISH they'd been whole novels because of how good they are and MAN this was one it was so packed it didnt feel like it was straining against its wordcount but id love to see just. More please!!

nettle & bone, t. kingfisher

picked this at random as it was available on my library app, and ended up reading like 7 t. kingfisher books in quick succession. im not really a fairytale person but this was fun!

the left hand of darkness, ursula k. le guin

this has been on my tbr for so long and i rlly enjoyed it. especially after sitting and thinking about it for a while haha

paladin's grace, paladin's strength, paladin's hope, t. kingfisher

these are so comfortably predictable and yet still always have fun and interesting twists on common tropes. paladins faith isnt available in audiobook yet on my apps D: gutted

a dead djinn in cairo, p djèli clark

the 1920s cosmic horror murder mystery Egyptian setting combo was really fun, and the audiobook narrator is really good

fireheart tiger, aliette de bodard

it took a while for this one to grab me, i dont know if that was me or the book tbh but at about the half way point it felt like it coalesced nicely and i did end up enjoying it a bunch!

#rowanposting #i also read a book abt nuclear energy but that was for uni so im not counting it AJFKDH #reading summaries #it took me so long to actually finish this but it's still not the end of march so im not TECHNICALLY behind!!! #long post

[karatam]

Read recently (August-September 2022)

The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang. A war orphan from a tiny village tests well enough in the national exams to be invited to the most important training facility in the empire, and discovers that the gods aren't really dead. An interesting first book in a trilogy, set in an alternate early 20th century China. Lots of tigger warnings for the violence/depravity of war (message me if you'd like to know more details). I have the sequel on hold at the library, though I'm not 100% sure I'll be reading it to be honest. I started off quite liking the characters, but by the end I was a bit 'meh'.

The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri. Oh I loved this. Set in a fantasy world based on India, a disgraced princess is jailed by her emperor brother at a cursed former temple, left to wither away. A servant girl (with magic) who survived the massacre at that same temple years ago is drafted into the princess' service. Together they'll bring down a empire. Finished it in two days, immediately bought the sequel. Love me some morally grey lesbians. Gay and great.

The Oleander Sword by Tasha Suri. This one hurt so good. Picks up a few months after the end of The Jasmine Throne, with our morally-grey lesbians still in power and still in love and still unable to be together due to politics and also magic. Malini is on her path to depose her brother and become empress, Priya is struggling to understand what her magic can really do and what it will cost. The old gods are coming back and they want their pound of flesh. Eagerly anticipating the final installment.

Red Sister by Mark Lawrence. I tore through this book in literally 24 hours because I just couldn't stop reading it. I then immediately went out and bought the next two in the trilogy bc my library didn't carry them. Holy shit this was awesome. A peasant girl is taken from the gallows to study as a novice in a convent that trains warriors, assassins, and witches (she's fairly young in this first novel, so not a lot of romance, but it's very obvious that a bunch of these nuns are gay as hell, including the main character). I'll just leave the first sentence of the book here: "It is important, when killing a nun, to ensure that you bring an army of sufficient size."

Grey Sister by Mark Lawrence. I started reading this literally 5 minutes after finishing the first one. Just found family feelings all over the place. A girl who thinks she's a monster and all the people who love her. Also lots of political intrigue and violence and dashing rescues and scheming and also gay nuns. Fantastic.

Bound by Mark Lawrence. This is a little short story set between books 2 and 3 and mainly consists of poor Nona's head exploding bc the two people she has crushes on go on an undercover mission together. Unexpectedly sweet for this series.

Holy Sister by Mark Lawrence. Reader, I cried. Takes the political intrigue of the first two books and dials it up a few notches. I love all these women so much, and the family they've forged together. Split between two timelines, one set directly after the end of the previous book with Nona and company scrambling to escape, the other set a few years later where war is looming and the moon is falling. Loved it.

A Master of Djinn by P. Djèli Clark. This book was so much fun to read. The world-building, the characters, the mytery, the romance, all so great. Set in an alternate Egypt 1912, a world where 40 years ago the barrier between worlds was broken and now djinn and other beings walk in our world. There's a gruesome murder and Agent Fatma is assigned to the case, where she'll have to deal with a new (unwanted) partner, an old romance, and a lot of secrecy. (Be sure to read the short story "A Dead Djinn in Cairo" first if you can. It's included in some copies of the book and gives some context, since it came first). Definitely hoping the author writes a sequel.

The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon. I picked this up because I loved Priory, but I didn't love this. I didn't really like any characters, the magic system was overly confusing and seemed inconsistent, and the romance felt.... icky to me. There are glimpses of what would make Shannon a better writer later, but this was slow and weirdly textbook-y at times when describing things. Won't be continuing the series.

The Dawnhounds by Sascha Stronach. This was super interesting. Set in a sort of post apocalyptic future where most of the old gods have died, a disgraced cop is murdered but doesn't die and instead wakes up with some unusual new powers. Queer and weird and touching and hopeful and inventive, I'm hoping for a sequel. (and if you're worried about the mc being a cop, the book does meditate on how policing is so often just about perpetuating injustice on those without power)

#jess reads stuff #jessreads

[explosionshark]

Hi! Can I get some book recommendations? You seem like a good person to ask! I’ve got a hellish road trip this week and would love a good story to keep me company! Recently I’ve been reading books in the gothic, paranormal, fantasy, fairy tale, horror genres but any rec is fine! I’ve got Mexican Gothic and Thistlefoot but I’d like to throw a couple more into the mix cause sometimes I have trouble focusing. Thanks!! :)

Mexican Gothic is a great one! Thistlefoot is on my list to get to at some point, but I haven't read it yet. One book I think pairs REALLY well with Mexican Gothic is Dead Blondes and Bad Mothers by Jude Ellison Doyle (a trans masc NB author). The chapter on gothic literature in particular gave me a really cool lens to pick Mexican Gothic apart with. I listened to it on audio and liked that version a lot - really smart feminist analysis of horror! Highly recommended.

Other than that, here's a few other things you might like

The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells might be a good choice! They're mostly novellas so they're pretty short, the action gets going right away, and they have a really fun narrative voice. The story follows a SecUnit (a security robot) that's hacked its own programming to achieve full sentience as it tries to protect a group of researchers. The Murderbot series has a bit of everything: personhood discussions, hyper-capitalist hellscape vs utopian egalitarian society, found family, a queernorm world, cool robot fights. I think you'd like it!

For a fantasy rec I think you might be interested in P Djeli Clark's A Dead Djinn universe books. The series begins with A Dead Djinn in Cairo which you can read for free online. There's a tie-in novella called The Haunting of Tram Car 015 and a novel that directly follows A Dead Djinn in Cairo called A Master of Djinn. It's an alt-history urban fantasy series set in Egypt, following a butch lesbian detective in what's essentially the paranormal division of the police force. It's really cool! Djinn! Ghouls! Demons! Smartly dressed lesbians! Narratives about colonialism!

As for horror - my only five star horror read so far this year was How To Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix. Hendrix, if you're not familiar, tends to write these gnarly, gross, horror novels with a lot of heart and humor. And yet! They're still scary! This one's about an estranged brother and sister who have to come together to sell their parents house after they die unexpectedly. Of course, from the title, it's not as simple as it sounds. This is Grady Hendrix' best work so far, I really loved it.

Good luck with your road trip! Happy reading!

#replies #audelia-bly #explosionreads #book recs

[c-is-for-circinate]

Okay! I did it! I renewed my library card after a pandemic-and-then-some's worth of years, and I read now.

Which I think means keeping a record or something, probably. If only to keep track of things I do and don't like, for future reference!

Books I've tried to read in the past two weeks, in roughly chronological order:

Gideon the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir -- never have so many people whose taste I respect disagreed so forcefully on a work of fiction. Plus I had a free epub of it on my harddrive from a Tor thing ages ago, so it seemed like a good place to start. I found it genuinely enjoyable! Gideon was a fun headspace to follow along, and while I absolutely did not go in expecting 'Agatha Christie locked mansion murder mystery, with lots of bones', I was down for it when it happened. A solid choice.

Tooth and Claw, Jo Walton -- DID NOT FINISH. Another random free Tor download. Got about a chapter in and then decided that there was too much cannibalism going on in the weird Regency-esque dragon religion for me, thank you no.

The Way of Kings, Brandon Sanderson -- DID NOT FINISH. I was sad to not like this one! Tumblr keeps raving about Brandon Sanderson! But man, once you've hit the fifth chapter in a row (sorry, third chapter, there were two prologues first) with a brand new narrator, and one of the previous narrators is dead and you're pretty sure you'll never see two of the other POVs ever again, and you've had three timeskips and you're a hundred pages in and maybe the story is finally actually starting, and there have been a whole two female characters so far (well, one female character and one 'sprites aren't supposed to have gender but this one has boobs so I'll give her female pronouns') and we're supposed to like this one because she's Inappropriately Witty in a way her brothers like but her nursemaids scoff at, which mostly seems to consist of arch remarks about how men don't want to date her...big nope!

A Dead Djinn in Cairo, P. Djeli Clark -- A fun (queer) detective novella, prequel to one of this year's Nebula novels. The worldbuilding was very cool -- 1912 Cairo in an alternate history where magic has recently entered the world, very very grounded in its place and period while doing interesting things with magic and djinn. The mystery felt pretty bare-bones and formulaic in itself, but it was a short novella, without a lot of space for twists. An easy read, and you've got to love a dapper lady detective in a suit.

Harrow the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir -- I am now officially Up To Date with my various tumblr friends who raved about these books. I enjoyed it! I enjoyed it slightly less than Gideon, I think -- I liked a lower percentage of the characters, and the ones I liked were present a much lower percentage of the time, plus Harrow is just so miserable for so much of the book that it's less fun -- but 'enjoy' is slightly different than 'appreciate', and I did very much appreciate it. Not going to go rabid over the series any time soon, but I'll probably check Nona and Alecto out when they happen.

The Wolf of Oren-Yaro, K.S. Villoso -- DID NOT FINISH. Oof, another one I wanted to like, a random browsing pick when I went to grab a hold from the library. The protagonist of this book feels incredibly realistic and relatable as a woman who got married young to a man her family chose, who fucked off and left her with the kid and the family business after an argument, and then showed back up after five years with divorce papers because he wants his 50% of the communal property she's been taking care of the whole time. Which is cool! Unfortunately, said 'communal property' is an entire kingdom, and the protagonist makes zero sense as a queen. She's BAD at her job, in a way that could be interesting to explore as part of her youth/shitty support network, but it really feels like the author does not get just HOW BAD she is at her job. Or what basic logistic decisions could have been made to imply that the progatonist or literally a single member of her staff were even marginally competent. This could be a great setup for a novel about a merchant or a homesteading farmer or a clan leader, but it flopped hard for me.

A Master of Djinn, P. Djeli Clark -- Sequel to the aforementioned novella, and Nebula award winner! This one was, like its prequel, fun, and the imagery and really excellent worldbuilding is 100% its best part. It's very much a detective novel, with certain conceits. None of its characters are particularly layered, everybody is improbably good at sword-fighting, and there was definitely a point at which I was tallying up just how many different incredibly dapper, well-tailored suits in dazzlingly fashionable colors our heroine had worn so far, apparently bought on her civil servant's salary. But at a certain point, you just open yourself up to the joy of an extremely dapper lady detective with a sword cane and a bowler hat and an Extremely Hot Girlfriend who is sometimes a thief. There's an underground jazz club which functions as a speakeasy for no apparent reason but features a brass band direct from New Orleans. At one point Kaiser Wilhelm II shows up. There may or may not be a mecha. Again, the mystery itself is nothing to write home about (a lot more intricate and interesting in the middle than the prequel but still somewhat predictable in bits, and the bad guy at the end was pretty obvious), but the book is fun. Shouldn't dapper lesbian lady detectives get to have that?

In Other Lands, Sara Rees Brennan -- I enjoyed this way more than I expected! I read The Demon's Lexicon years ago, and was DEEPLY unimpressed (I mostly remember it as a mediocre British Supernatural AU made more boring by the process of filing the serial numbers off), but it looks like Brennan and I have both grown as people, because I liked this a lot. It sidesteps the low-hanging fruit of 'why do fantasy lands always need kids to save them? isn't that kind of fucked up?' and goes right for the throat of 'what the fuck kind of sociopolitical system is implied by this child soldier bullshit in the first place, and why is it so easy to be okay with it?'. I found the whole elven reversal of gender tropes grating sexism somewhat wearing, but I liked Elliot as a protagonist a lot. Here's a kid who knows down to his bones that he's bad at people, that he's abrasive and mean and judgemental and impatient, who still values people on just the most fundamental level. Kid's got a -2 to charisma and is still the party face because he's the only person in the entire system who wants to talk first and stab never. I appreciate that, and I appreciate him.

The Unspoken Name, A.K. Larkwood -- An interesting book! I read the whole thing and liked most of the beginning third and most of the end third a great deal, and the middle third well enough with a smidgen of 'I'm a little too ace for this, the Love Interest showed up and it's boring now'. It's a story about...isolation? Abuse, but not the kind that recognizes itself as abuse. In some ways the story feels very scattered, thematically -- a lot of theme going on but I'm not sure how much some of it actually resolves -- but I did really like it. Most of the relatively few relationships in this book, be it friendship or co-worker-ship or acquaintanceship or even just the relationship of a person to a place, are brief and thin, negative or unhealthily one-sided, or just absent, which isn't exactly my taste but does make Csorwe and Shuthmili's mutual understanding the sweeter for it. Fans of Gideon the Ninth would probably like this, although it felt a little less original than I think it might've had I not read that first, and the interplay of traditional fantasy language and extremely casual modern talk felt a lot more uneven. All in all, I think it's a rec if you're into vague unsettled feelings about gods and stories that are more about learning to stand up and leave your abuser than about said abuser ever getting any sort of comeuppance in return. Plus, stubborn lesbian orc girl with a big sword, always a plus.

I have a pile of recs from my last post! I will continue to collect recs! Toss 'em my way, I'm beginning to remember that, oh right, last time I regularly read books I read them voraciously. This is FUN.