Praise for The Djinn Falls in Love and Other Stories
“These then are not Disneyfied tales of wish-granting tricksters, but stories of people burning like djinn, and djinn as fiery people. Nearly all of the stories are haunting, reflective and firelight-beautiful...Exquisite and audacious, and highly recommended.”
N. K. Jemisin, The New York Times
“The authors weave the magical beings into their own cultures, some taking heavy hints from The Arabian Nights, others using djinn as an abstract, heavy longing to belong or as a haunting presence on Mars. The djinn is used to explore topics such as women’s sexuality and the disconnect between modern warfare and human lives... Together, these fantasy stories offer a rich and illuminating cultural experience.”
Everdeen Mason, The Washington Post
“Their love for this work shines through in the care with which they’ve selected and arranged the stories... It is—here’s that word again—gorgeous. This thematic coherence adds an extra element to the anthology as a whole: the individual stories, and their relation to each other, have something to say.”
Liz Bourke, Tor.com
“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.”
Publishers Weekly
“This collection will help readers see beyond the characters and plots to the cultures and people behind them. It will allow readers to think about things that may be uncomfortable or sensitive due to political rhetoric. And lastly it will let readers enter a world that they have no idea about. Even for those audiences who are already aware of jinn stories, this collection offers a previously unheard of range to capture the imagination.”
The New York Journal of Books
“The entirety of The Djinn Falls in Love is an expression of its title: it is not about djinn so much as it is about love, about the longing inherent in falling-for, in reaching out to connect with another person, to grant a wish or have a wish granted, and to face the consequences of either. In selecting thematically cohesive stories on these subjects, Murad and Shurin have done the field a service: the djinn are present and with us in speculative fiction, and we merely need to express longing.”
Strange Horizons
“This is a showcase of authorial skill—delicious prose and well-crafted narratives bending themselves around their chosen theme. Particular favourites for me include a number of authors new to me—one of my many reasons for loving anthologies. I shall certainly be watching out for these names in future.”
Speculative Herald