There is something about the myth around genies that has always caught my imagination. The magic, the wish, the rules.
When I find it in something I’m reading, or watching, it’s always a nice thrill, but it’s also not something that I’ve come across all that often. Partly, I think, because it’s not as mainstream as werewolves and vampires. It’s a side plot or gimmick, not a main story concept.
Here are the top three that come to mind.
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- Rachel Caine’s Weather warden series heavily featured Djinn. This is a series I binge read, and one I very much want to go back and get lost in again. More so after learning that Rachel has passed on. Every time I think of Djinn this is the first thing that comes to mind.
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- I Dream of Jeannie might have been before my time (I checked and could not believe that it was actually before I was born, 1965-1969), but it was one of those classics that was always on replay somewhere.
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- And, of course, we can’t forget about Aladdin and his lamp either, in any of its versions. This also appeals to the musical lover in me; can’t beat a bit of song and dance.
Each of these stories have their own set rules and stereotypes for Genie’s. Aladdin’s Genie, is blue. I dream of a Jeannie nods her head and blinking to grant her wishes. I wanted to play on those in A Genie’s Day Off. There is a string of dialogue that I wrote that was some of the most fun I had writing the Ernie series, and it that leans into this directly.
Writing a story with a Genie in it was one of my early ideas, and I have no doubt other versions of it will appear over time. The version I used in Wishing for Truths, and A Genie’s day off, was one that fit into Ernie’s world very nicely.
Now that John has found his home in that world, I suspect there are other stories he is going to want to tell.
What are some of your favourite stories with Genies? and their stereotypes?