A Dead Djinn in Cairo

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.