The sequel to SHABANU and HAVELI is THE HOUSE OF DJINN, which will be released in the spring of 2008.
For a long time I didn't know whether there would be a sequel. I've always had the idea for THE HOUSE OF DJINN, but it's difficult to write sequels. It isn't easy for a story to sustain the kind of tension and interest that will extend through two or three or more books. The third novel has many of the same characters who first appeared in SHABANU and HAVELI. Readers hoping to find out "what happens" to Shabanu and Mumtaz and Omar might be disappointed in the ending. I like to think of a book as kind of a window. A book should help us to "see into" a story that is going on before we open the book and continues after the cover is closed. This kind of story more closely resembles real life than the kind of story that has all of the details tied up neatly at the end.