Meticulous detail brings this alternate Cairo alive, with genres of fantasy, magic and mystery combining with postcolonial history in a compelling narrative. With a quirky yet critical eye towards gender, class and race, the sharply-drawn characters reconfigure history in a fantastical feat of imagination. Sarcasm and wit shroud the prejudicial themes in a novel that is a lot of fun.
'That’s right! We freed you! Saeed and me! You owe us now! Three wishes!'
The Marid stared at the two, then uttered one word that rumbled and echoed: 'Free.' He formed the word again between lips surrounded by a curling white beard. 'Free. Free. Free.' Then he laughed, a low bellowing that set Fatma’s teeth on edge. 'It has been ages since I have needed to utter this mortal tongue. But I remember what "Free" means. To be unbound. To be not fastened or confined.' His face contorted into something terrible. 'But I was not bound, or fastened, or confined. No one imprisoned me. I slumbered, at my own choosing. And you woke me, unbidden, unasked, undesired - so that I would grant you wishes. Very well. I will grant you only one wish. You must choose. Choose how you will die.'
