Book Description
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….
See description and other reviews on GoodReads.
An Editor’s Book Review
Character Development
Agent Fatma is a well-written character that readers can identify with. Thankfully, she has flaws too.
One thing I appreciated about the book is that there are three female characters with unique characteristics and flaws. They are easy to distinguish, rather than conforming to stereotypes. The characters surprised me, which was refreshing.
Pacing
Despite the time taken to develop steampunk Cairo as the backdrop, the book moves at a brisk pace. There is plenty of action throughout, like minor skirmishes before the big battle. Readers are pulled in by a mystery that is set up fairly early in the book.
Writing Style
One of the strengths of the writing style was the world-building. The backdrop of this book was easy to visualize, but the descriptions were not lengthy. The world feels very immersive.
One weakness of this approach, however, is losing readers who appreciate a bit more information. For example, I liked how there were Arabic words artfully sprinkled throughout the text, but sometimes I wished there were more explanation of what they meant. I couldn’t always infer the exact meaning.
Recommendations
If you liked this book, you may like A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine, which also features strong lesbian female characters and has a focus on world-building.