A Master of Djinn

Clark drops a few key details from angelic lore here. The number of wings an angel has denotes its rank, also called its choir, with the highest choir, the seraphim, possessing six wings and the cherubim one rank below possessing four. The nine forms that they require Fatma to fill out likely references the holy number of angels—since the trinity is divine in Christianity, then three times three is thought to be holy as well, and angelic lore describes nine choirs—different forms—of angels.

However, this chapter provides many details, most of which cast suspicion on the angels. The presence of an angel identical to the one Fatma previously defeated bears little impact on the immediate plot save to put the agent on edge, setting up the distrust Clark wants to impose on the reader. Upon entering their headquarters, Fatma immediately takes note of a clockwork device, something which—save for the watch she carries herself—has commonly represented a collapse or a weakness within the story. By claiming the device keeps the world moving, Azmuri has potentially revealed another apocalypse waiting to happen, either at the failure or the intention of the angels, although Fatma cannot know this for certain because of the ambiguous statements from the djinn.

The angels also withhold their true names, identifying themselves by their profession or function instead. By linking this chapter with the djinn from chapter two, Clark reminds readers of the significance of a person giving others their name; the angel’s blanket refusal to even speak theirs hints at a level of power over the other sentient races that surpasses the superiority of any other character or race in the novel. Although Clark seems to be signaling a sequel, at the time of this writing A Master of Djinn remains the only full-length novel in the Dead Djinn series, and the nature of the angels’ secrecy cannot be interpreted beyond the bounds of the book. Since racial superiority is a recurring theme, they likely possess a sense of dominance over the other races. They have elevated themselves to the status of angel, belonging in actuality to some unnamed race of beings. This draws a connection between them and the English colonial powers even while suggesting their dominance over the Europeans.

Likely, this suggests that racial supremacy is relative. Even while the English believe themselves to be better than others, beings exist who subjugate them and manipulate them to further their own ends.

This chapter builds on themes explored earlier in the book. Most notably, the marid djinn casts more doubt on the angels’ involvement. Though the al-Jahiz impostor has acted as antagonist for the majority of the book, her status as the primary conflict appears to slip. While previously appearing as more than a match for Fatma, she will, throughout the remainder of the novel, slip more and more into erratic behavior, until she unleashes the 11th-hour villain in the Nine Lords. The djinn discusses all of this—the impostor’s weakened position, the cause of her erratic behavior, and the Nine Lords—suggesting a connection between them. Most notably, common to fantasy, the ring of Sulayman is nearly sentient, independently willed, and acts as a corrupting influence on its bearer. The effects of this corruption begin to surface shortly after this chapter, culminating in Abigail’s complete loss of control over the Nine Lords.

Furthermore, Fatma’s watch plays a small but significant role in confounding, then swaying the djinn. This again reveals a weakness, as the enraged creature’s plans fade quickly at the sound of the alarm, which itself rings to reveal the periodic weakness in the angels’ spell.

In her meeting with Layla, head of the Forty Leopards, Clark brings together themes of illusion and social justice. Despite their reputation as a gang of thieves, their intentions lie solely in the benefit of children—a class of people hard-coded into fiction and society as representing virtue and purity. She raises the issue of police trauma, horrors that the lower-class children will remember as they age, likely perpetuating the current distrust of authority. This serves as a reminder that in the slums, the impostor was a failed solution to a problem, not the problem itself, further cementing the villain’s loss of status in the novel and raising social problems to the forefront, pointing out that the true issues at stake may not be ones that law enforcement can deal with.

In his first appearance, Siwa served as a stand-in for formerly enslaved people struggling with social issues. Here, his basket of tongues stands out as the most grotesque and powerful image in the book. Though he cannot speak about the seal, finding a voice is so vital to him that he does it one word at a time, at great pain to himself. A strong component of social justice involves giving disadvantaged populations a voice, as there are many ways to silence their interests, be it through political means, such as voter suppression and gerrymandering political districts; news media, which can opt to produce, censor, or ignore issues depending on their own business interests; or something such as suppressing education, the way antebellum enslavers outlawed Black literacy, or how disadvantaged school districts are given tightly restricted funding to much the same effect. The fact that Siwa collects his spent tongues with no practical purpose for doing so strongly suggests the symbolism in the great pains taken to speak out in his own interests, and the difficulty in doing so.

The connection of voice with literacy is strengthened by the breakthrough in communication. As interpretive literature is apparently a loophole in the silencing spell, it works to eventually break through to Fatma that the impostor is Abigail, not Alexander. Interpretation is a notoriously unreliable method for clear communication, and so having a shared cultural background between the two characters is essential for Siwa to express his message, calling to mind the extreme efforts that the white elite of the United States took to stamp out Black culture, Indigenous American culture, and any foreign perspective they found threatening.

Regardless, Fatma doesn’t immediately understand the message, as the detective genre demands the villain’s unmasking at a later story beat—for pure detective fiction, this usually occurs at the denouement at the end of the book, but since this genre blends with fantasy, this will happen shortly to leave room for the final conflict.