The Golem and the Jinni

This series has many interesting ideas, told in a forward and enjoyable style. The main characters are well developed, some of them likeable, but not really relatable. But I guess it's the main crux of the books: how human can you be if you're a construct of earth made by a human being to serve another human being? How likeable and relatable do you need to be if you're a djinn, imprisonned by a human sorcerer for centuries, and not being able to be truly free and go back to your people? The golem and the djinn are different in every point. One comes from a Jewish Shtetl in Poland, the other comes from the desert of Syria. One wants to be free but can't, the other is free but doesn't want that burden. One is made of fire, the other of earth. One can't comprehend what drives humans, the other cannot tune out of their thoughts. And yet, they both arrive in New York City at the same time in 1900, both are taken in by one of "their people" who recognizes how different and inhuman they are, and they end up meeting with each other. Then they both have to face their own past and origins. It was a good book, but the mythologizing of New York City as a logical conclusion for all humanity—you cannot be someone if you don't emigrate to New York—left me nonplussed.

The more he rode the trolleys and trains of New York, the more they seemed to form a giant, malevolent bellows, inhaling defenceless passengers from platforms and street corners and blowing them out again elsewhere.

There were aspects of the story I really, really enjoyed, and others I didn't care for. The good outweighed the bad and the star rating sits at a four.

The Good
Unique characters placed in a familiar setting. The Golem and the Jinni are two very unique, and vastly different characters. Experiencing an 1899 New York City was a fun element and could feel their wonder and awe at a city like that. Learning about these two characters while exploring the city and understanding who they were was a big reason why I enjoyed this book.

While I preferred the Golem chapters more the reasons why I found the Jinni ones less entertaining (disgruntled, moody, etc.) were justified and a part of who he was. Intentional or not, the Golem was the highlight of the book for me.

You expected their stories to cross over but the underlying thread between them was a nice touch. It brought the Jewish and Syrian parts of NYC together nicely and in a hurry.

The Bad
As the story started I was afraid that both characters would have a romantic interest, and it leaned heavily in that direction. This may be a big critique for something that didn't materialize, but with this story being a trilogy and romantic interests still being a possibility I may not read the remaining stories in the series.

What made this book fun was learning who these characters were and their unique perspectives on life and understanding what made them unique. With the main conflict resolved I feel that this story could have been a solid single book and expanding on it may repeat similar themes from this book.

If the future stories focus on other Golem's and Jinni's (not Chava and Ahmad in particular) then I may be more inclined to read, but at the very least I'll wait for the series to complete and make my decision then.

This was an entertaining read and found it as a nice break from what I have typically read.

This was an incredible read. I'm still absorbing it. I know that I'll be thinking about it for a good, long time.

It's set in New York at the turn of the previous century. A Polish business man decides that he wants a new life, as well as a wife. The new life is easy - he decides to go to America. The wife is not so simple, as he is an unpleasant and unprepossessing man, without much money. As luck would have it, he knows a man who knows how to make him a wife. And so the Golem is born.

In case you don't know what a Golem is - it's a creature of Jewish folklore, a being made of clay, that is utterly obedient to its master's will. Golems traditionally look about as human as a flowerpot, and are huge, strong beings suitable to hard labour. This Golem is something different. She's as strong as any Golem, but she's much better made -- she looks like an unusually tall, handsome woman. Her husband-to-be requests (rather rashly) that she be intelligent, curious, and sexually modest.

She comes to life on the ship en route to America, just in time to see her husband/master die.

So there we have a Golem, a woman alone on her way to America. She's as innocent of experience as a baby, but she's stronger than a grown man. She's supposed to serve her master's will - but she has no master. Instead, it's as though everyone is her master. She can sense the desires of everyone around her, and is instilled with a drive to fulfil their wishes.

So do I have to spell it out - how incredibly evocative this story is? How many themes it touches on?

Elsewhere in New York, a tinsmith works on a copper jar. A very old copper jar full of dents. As he touches his flame to the jar, there's a blinding flash and a naked man with an iron shackle on his arm, appears out of nowhere. This is the Djinni. A being of fire, who in his natural state can take any shape, go anywhere he likes. But this Djinni has been trapped into human form by a wizard many centuries ago. At least, so the Djinni guesses, because he's lost a part of his memory, and doesn't know how he became trapped.

The story follows the lives of the Golem and the Djinni as they try to survive in the human city of New York. Neither of them can sleep, and some of the most evocative scenes describe their night time exploration of New York and how they, inevitably, meet one another.

At which point things get really complicated.

This is a sensitive, thoughtful book. It never takes the easy way out. I think readers who enjoy historical fiction will find it fascinating too. It's a powerful depiction of a New York from the immigrant's point of view.