The Djinn Falls in Love and Other Stories

by Mahvesh Murad (Editor), K. J. Parker, Kuzhali Manickavel, Jared Shurin (Editor), Maria Dahvana Headley

Overview

A fascinating collection of new and classic tales of the fearsome Djinn, from bestselling, award-winning and breakthrough international writers.

Imagine a world filled with fierce, fiery beings, hiding in our shadows, in our dreams, under our skins. Eavesdropping and exploring; savaging our bodies, saving our souls. They are monsters, saviours, victims, childhood friends. Some have called them genies: these are the Djinn.

And they are everywhere. On street corners, behind the wheel of a taxi, in the chorus, between the pages of books. Every language has a word for them. Every culture knows their traditions. Every religion, every history has them hiding in their dark places.

There is no part of the world that does not know them.

They are the Djinn. They are among us.

With stories from: Nnedi Okorafor, Neil Gaiman, Amal El-Mohtar, Catherine King, Claire North, E.J. Swift, Hermes (trans. Robin Moger), Jamal Mahjoub, James Smythe, J.Y. Yang, Kamila Shamsie, Kirsty Logan, K.J. Parker, Kuzhali Manickavel, Maria Dahvana Headley, Monica Byrne, Saad Hossein, Sami Shah, Sophia Al-Maria and Usman Malik.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781781084175
Publisher:	Solaris
Publication date:	03/14/2017
Pages:	356
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Jared Shurin has edited over a dozen anthologies on topics ranging from mummies to Dickens. He’s been a finalist for the Shirley Jackson and Hugo Awards, and twice won the British Fantasy Award for Non-Fiction. He’s also the editor of Pornokitsch, the award-winning pop culture site which is (sadly) not nearly as naughty as it sounds.

Mahvesh Murad is a critic, editor and rogue voice for hire from Karachi, Pakistan. She is the editor of the Apex Book of World SF 4, the co-editor of Speculative Fiction 2016 and host & producer of the weekly Tor.com interview podcast Midnight in Karachi. She regularly writes for Tor.com, Pornokitsch.com and Pakistan's largest English daily Dawn's literary supplement Books & Authors.

Editorial Reviews

These…are not Disneyfied tales of wish-granting tricksters, but stories of people burning like djinn and djinn as fiery people. The collection ranges widely in style and perspective…Nearly all of the stories are haunting, reflective and firelight-beautiful…Exquisite and audacious, and highly recommended.

The New York Times Book Review - N. K. Jemisin

03/27/2017
Editors Shurin and Murad collect 22 stories about the shadowy, fiery beings called the djinn in this unusual anthology. One of the best is the seriously creepy “Reap” by Sami Shah, about a group in the New Mexico desert that operates a drone in Pakistan, through which they witness the transformation of a young girl into something utterly terrifying. “How We Remember You” by Kuzhali Manickavel is an achingly lovely story about a group of friends, a djinn they once knew, and the fluid nature of memory. In Helene Wecker’s “Majnun,” Zahid, a djinn now living as a human, is called to exorcise from a young man the beautiful, ancient djinn whom he once loved, testing the bonds of desire. Maria Dahvana Headley’s stunning “Black Powder” features a djinn-haunted black powder rifle now possessed by a 16-year-old outcast called the Kid, who is on a mission of vengeance at the local high school. This one has a fantastic twist, both heartbreaking and hopeful. Readers looking for stories set in a variety of locales (even outer space) and arrayed over various cultures and religions will find much to like. Nicely rounding things out are a standalone extract from Neil Gaiman’s American Gods and the titular poem by Egyptian poet Hermes. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

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