A Dead Djinn in Cairo

A Dead Djinn in Cairo is the third story by P. Djèlí Clark that I have had the pleasure to read and review. In all three stories, Clark demonstrates a keen ability to tease out small details to the reader and build an evocative and confident story.

He manages to do all this within the confines of a short story. I think he is one of the best fantasy short story writers working today.

A Dead Djinn in Cairo is the tale of investigator Fatma el-Sha'arawi in 1912 steampunk Cairo. A confident, articulate, and intelligent detective tasked with the case of a dead djinn.

Why is the djinn dead?
What are the repercussions to the magical community?
What is Fatma's part in all this?

All questions that get answered within a wildly atmospheric and richly detailed steampunk setting. There are flying machines, and streetcars, beautifully tailored suits, and a kickass female Nubian magic wielder named Siti.

A Dead Djinn in Cairo is an exciting addition to Clark's catalog of already outstanding short stories and is definitely worth the read.

An extremely satisfying prequel to [b:The Haunting of Tram Car 015 36546128 The Haunting of Tram Car 015 (Fatma el-Sha'arawi, #2) P. Djèlí Clark https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1537226167l/36546128.SY75.jpg 58277622]. Clark continues to shine in his ability to build a rich and interesting setting. In this case, I found the steampunk angels that were controversially “angels” versus angels and were being of pure ethereal light encased in a steampunk chassis fascinating. I think the continued richness of magical, metropolitan Cairo that Clark develops is perhaps one of the strongest de facto arguments in favor of the importance of diverse authors in speculative fiction. Clark just really brings a unique voice to the field. I found Fatma a much richer character than those in Tram Car – I loved her opinionated stance, the idea of her exotifying Western culture and of course the gender nonconformity. The downsides here were similar to Tram Car: Clark doesn't seem to really know how to conclude a story and instead just abruptly ties all the loose ends in a bow and declares the story over. I found it just as jarring in this novelette as I did in Tram Car – these are rich, complex settings with so much nuance in the set up and then almost anticlimactically neatly wrapped up. I am interested in finding out if this will persist to the upcoming full-length novel in this setting. But, nonetheless, Clark is now on my must-read list.

This is a short story by P. Djeli Clark, clocking in at forty six pages, and I have to say that they are forty six pages of pure gold.??

I don't know how P. Djeli Clark does it, he must be a magician becasue he sets up this little self contained story with such craftsmanship.?? When I read this was absolutely engrossed with this take on an alternative world in which Cairo is inhabited by Djinn, Clockwork Angels and murderous ghouls, all painted on a steampunk backdrop.

In such a short space of time, he introduces his snarky, bowler hat wearing female protagonist, Fatma el Sha'arawi at the scene of a death in which a Djinn has died in what appear to be suspicious circunstances. Fatma is an investigator in the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Emtities, who besides wearing a bolwer hat, carrying a specially made cane, likes to look ‘exotic' by wearing an english style suit. As soon as Fatma quips at the salacious police chief Aasim in the first scene I knew I was going to like her. However, P. Djeli Clark just populates his little world with brilliantly realised characters.

Immediatley you are thrust into a world which is vibrant and colourful, and that is surprisingly expansive. Cairo is brilliantly realised with trams, motorised cariages and strange flying machines. Clark builds the world so vividly that never once are you lost as you move through the city with Fatma.

The pace of the story is like a runaway motorised carriage and it takes you along at such a speed you are shortly out of breath. Honestly, from begining to end not one word is wasted. And before you know it, you are at the climactic end, holding your breath until events play out.??

I will most definitelybe seeking out the next instalments of these stories, with the Novella ‘The Haunting of Tram Car 015 and Clark's debut novel, The Master of Djinn. Which is to be relaesed in May 2021. I'm not sure if they have Fatma el Sha'arawi in, but I hope so!

4.5*. This story was such a breath of fresh air. A steampunk fantasy AU of 1912 Cairo, Egypt, where our protagonist is a female investigator (something of a rarity in the story, apparently), where two out of the three significant characters in the story are Muslim and actually talk like Muslims, while investigating the death of a djinn. There's also a cult of people who worship the ancient Egyptian gods too, and I get a whiff of a non-heterosexual relationship possibly coming up in future instalments. Amazing.

This short story (I wouldn't even call it a novella) packed a lot of world building details and I see it as a primer for the subsequent stories in the series. The actual plot is pretty straightforward, which is fine because the intention here is clearly to immerse the reader in this incredibly rich world and lore of this universe that the author is building.

The story is available for free on Tor's website and if you're a fan of fantasy and historical fiction, there's really no reason why you shouldn't give it a go. Highly recommended!