Name: The Haunting of Tram Car 015
ISBN: 9781250294807

P. Djèlí Clark

In an alternate Cairo, humans live and work alongside otherworldly beings; the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities handles the issues that can arise between the magical and the mundane. Senior Agent Hamed Nasr shows his new partner Agent Onsi Youssef the ropes of investigation when they are called to subdue a dangerous, possessed tram car. What starts off as a simple matter of exorcism, however, becomes more complicated as the origins of the demon inside are revealed.

The Haunting of Tram Car 015

Maria

stumbled upon this by accident while scrolling through scribd and it really took me took me by surprise with its rich worldbuilding and engaging story! while i do wish we’d gotten more of this world and its characters, it also just feels perfect in the form of a 130 page novella.

Nessa Luna

I think I liked this one a bit more than the previous story in this series but I did really enjoy both of them a lot! I just love the way this steampunk-y version of Cairo is described and I love reading about djinn and other creatures that live in this city. I'm certainly even more excited to pick up the first full-length novel in this series, and I think I might do so very soon!

Gillian Rose

This was fun! I was already familiar with the universe, but I felt like this was more fast-paced. Maybe because it was a novella. But really, full of interesting characters and lore. Definitely need to read the others.

Another great story set in the Dead Djinn universe, this time from the POV of two of Fatma’s coworkers. I loved how it dealt with another culture’s monsters and myth - it made the world feel even more real and lived in, plus it was interesting to learn about Armenian folklore. A compelling novella that is hard to put down once you begin!

Katie Allard

Kyle S

A fun short read taking place in an alternate timeline where magic in the form of djinn returns to the world to the point of the mundane. The story itself follows two agents who are tasked with dealing with strange magical phenomenon and dealing with the situation as if it were just a part of the daily grind (Because in this world it is). I love it when stories treat magical and weird things as the mundane and this story does just that. If you're looking for a short fun read for a flight I'd recommend picking this up.

Fraser Simons

Dripping with atmosphere. A compelling premise that just gets more interesting as the haunting is unravelled. There’s really cool setting elements and worldbuilding and it’s just _fun_ to read. It’s got great flow and is quite short, but just long enough to feel complex and not perfunctory, which is too often what mysteries end up feeling like with novellas. Great characters, inclusive, respectful (as far as I can tell) of a foreign culture. It’s written playfully and cinematically, and sure, it’s not intricate, but I do think it’s unique and does things with reader assumptions very well.

I will read the novel that came out last month that is a sequel to this for sure.

P. Djèlí Clark returns to the historical fantasy universe of "A Dead Djinn in Cairo", with the otherworldly adventure novella The Haunting of Tram Car 015. Finalist for the 2020 Hugo Award Finalist for the 2020 Nebula Award Finalist for the 2020 Locus Award Cairo, 1912: The case started as a simple one for the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities — handling a possessed tram car. Soon, however, Agent Hamed Nasr and his new partner Agent Onsi Youssef are exposed to a new side of Cairo stirring with suffragettes, secret societies, and sentient automatons in a race against time to protect the city from an encroaching danger that crosses the line between the magical and the mundane. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Sarah Escorsa

My new girlfriend Fatma el-Sha’arawi is not in this instalment, which sucks greatly, BUT: Spooky Boys! Suffragettes! Hahaha stuff! Hathor fangirls and Hatshepsut addicts! Candy smugglers! Super Extra Yummy, Diverse as Fish Characters (SEYDaFC™)! Funky hijabs! Sequential hermaphroditism! Liberated boilerplate eunuchs! Djinns! Djinns! Djinns! Chicken sacrifices! I need to dance and stuff!



Oh, and also: (view spoiler)[
  

  

  
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· Book 0.5: A Dead Djinn in Cairo ★★★★★
· Book 0.6: The Angel of Khan el-Khalili ★★★★
· Book 1: A Master of Djinn  • to be read

Elizabeth Hisserich

I didn’t enjoy this one as much as A Dead Djinn in Cairo because I wasn’t as invested in this main character, but the world building is excellent and I’m interested to see what the full length novel that comes next in the series has in store. 

Sheila

5 stars. This novella was SO FUN! I'm super late on reading these, but I'm very into the story now and just picked up the hardcover of A Master of Djinn so you know I'm reading that next. Excellent characters and a brilliant characterization of alt-Cairo that felt so real yet so fantastical.

Cerys

This was another good novella from P. Djeli Clark. However, I often have some issues with short stories because I feel like I wanted more from them. And I wanted so much more from this, I liked the characters and I liked the concept but I kinda wanted this to be a fully-fledged book. However, these are short stories to place you into P Djeli's universe that he has created so there is a chance that the short stories he has created may appear in the full novel. If so I may update this review.


второй рассказ из этой серии. по-прежнему очень нравится worldbuilding - каир начала 20-го века, в котором живут джинны, процветает стимпанк и успешно суффражистское движение. отдельный лайк за то, что на карте фэнтези появляются монстры из армении и упоминаются прочие места, о которых, возможно, некоторые читатели слышат впервые
немного не хватает той же магии в плане персонажей и сюжета, но опять же - надеюсь, в трилогии это пофиксится

Sahi K

Author P. Djeli Clark came onto my radar when I heard some great things about his new novella Ring Shout which releases in October of this year and then when I saw that this novella was nominated for the Nebula award, I knew I had to read this one. I also managed to read the short story A Dead Djinn in Cairo a few days ago and completely fell in love with the setting which is the same in this novella as well. And I’m so happy I got to be back in this wonderful setting mystical Egypt again.

The haunting and the mystery of the supernatural being is still not what impressed me the most here. It’s the world which continues to mesmerize me and I was even more impressed this time to see how culturally diverse it is and the technological and magical marvels of this booming metropolis. And added to this beautiful setting is the backdrop of the suffragette movement in Egypt and even though it’s shown with more rose tinted glasses than what happened in our real world, I just loved watching a more hopeful and progressive world in this story. 

While the previous short story was a murder mystery, this time its a haunting and we are following a different Agent from the Ministry, Hamed and new partner Onsi. Their characters are quite tropey, with one being the slightly experienced grumpy mentor and the other being an overexcited and talkative mentee, but it was a complete delight following them. We also meet other mysterious women who help them in their endeavor to find the supernatural being haunting the Tram car and I was quite enamored by them all and wanted to know more about them. And it made me so so happy to see mention of Fatma as the most famous investigator in the Ministry and now I hope she will be joined by both Hamed and Onsi in the full length novel releasing next year. 

In the end, this is one author I’m so happy to have accidentally discovered and now I can’t wait to read any remaining backlist of his and all his future works because I’m thoroughly enjoying his world building as well as characters. If you enjoy beautifully written diverse urban fantasy settings and fun mysteries with supernatural entities, then I highly recommend this novella. Also read the short story that I mentioned above and I promise you will fall in love with this magical steampunk Egypt just like I did. Even the audiobooks are narrated excellently, so you could opt for them if it’s your preferred format. Now I’m just upset that the wait for the novel is too long but I’m left with no choice but to be patient.

Rina

I enjoyed the action, setting, and characters in this book, as I did with book 1. However, I did expect to be more acquainted with Fatma here but her page time was short. I appreciated how there was a little more insight into the world and society the book is set in yet I still wanted to know more. I found it lacking in buildup, and it also didn't keep me engrossed throughout, unfortunately, some descriptions made my mind wander. I think this is a unique, magical, and fun read nevertheless.

Ira Cummings

Interesting world. Characters were a bit flat, and it ended just as things were getting going. Combined with some difficult to interpret Arabic terminology, it seemed like a story and works that I wanted to experience but couldn’t get close enough. 

Cheryl Hedlund

Ok, the second story in the Cairo series. I love this alternative history world with a steampunk-but-magic flavor. This is a very cosmopolitan and multicultural urban setting. P. Djeli Clark does wonders within a limited page count. Such vivid atmosphere and characters with engaging personalities and surprisingly sharp personal fashion styles. Another paranormal problem to solve, but different detectives this time. I was worried I would be disappointed not to see Fatma. Fortunately, I also enjoyed the new detectives. Fatma does make a quick cameo. Having a larger established cast gives me hope that this may be a long running series. We also meet a couple of side characters that I hope to see again. The magical being haunting Tram 015 was so creepy and mysterious. It was a challenging and dangerous case for the detectives.

Malin Alexander

All the novellas I've read by Clark share something in common so far: amazingly well-rounded and beautifully written characters, that are realistically flawed, but that you can't help but root for and cheer on as they evolve and complete an arc in such a short amount of pages. Cannot wait to finally read the full novel of A Master of Djinn now that I've completed the novellas that precede it!

Ben Nathan

Excellent story and world building. I definitely want so much more of this world and these characters. If I don't get more, I will feel cheated and angry. (This is not a demand just how I show my high levels of enjoyment)

Vida Koster

Fun as always! I wish I could see this Egypt. P Djèlí Clark is quickly becoming an author I'll read anything from, as long as his name is on it.

Matthew Xu

Pretty fun, quick read that absolutely shines in its treatment of world-building and underlying social themes. The basic story and characters both felt a little contrived and flat to me, but the window into this world was so interesting that I didn't really mind.

I loved the mix of magic and technology that P. Djèlí Clark introduces in this alternate Egypt - we get just enough information about the Djinn and their impacts to maintain a sense of mysticism and mystery, but the pulpy detective framing keeps the plot grounded and clipping along. Clark also manages to create a really cool sense of "world-in-motion" that many other authors struggle with; there's a clear sense that new magic has seeped in to the culture and setting of Cairo, but also that the full social and politicals implications of these changes are just starting to percolate. This sort of balance really helps build trust that the author has a strong mental model of their world, while also maintaining a sense of curiosity that extends beyond the basic "cool. how does that work?", which a lot of other worldbuilding relies on to be interesting. While the references to these world components come quickly and often go unexplained, I did like that the most important descriptions are communicated in a way that doesn't feel blantantly expository. 

On top of this base of world-building, I was really pleasantly surprised by the broader themes of gender equality and suffrage that really serve as the core story beats. If the detective story frame is the mechanic through which "things happen" in the novella, then the women's suffrage arc is the beating heart of *both* foreground and background action. As mentioned above, it's cool to see a society in the midst of massive change, and the fact that the ald/phantom ties in to this broader theme felt like really tight writing to me.

Where this novella fell a little flat for me, then, was the basic character work and plotting. Hamed and Onsi are written decently, but I never got a compelling sense of motivation behind their actions. I definitely see where Clark is riffing on typical detective tropes, and I certainly *liked* both characters at a surface level, but I can't honestly say that the actual mystery or their path towards solving it was particularly interesting. It's kind of funny that the two other prominent female characters (Nadiya, the sheikha and Abla, the extremely intelligent / competent waitress) both felt significantly more nuanced and fleshed out than our main point-of-view. Abla in particular confused me, as she's very likeable, but also single-handedly moves the plot along in a way that typically portends that's she's a god, a secret villain, or some other authorial deus ex machina. The fact that she turns out to be just a regular (but clearly smart) girl was unexpected and probably deflected my sense of realism with the plot itself. I know the novella format is inherently challenging, but I also felt like the series of challenge -> solution -> conclusion came together in a relatively quick and unconvincing way. All in all, it really felt like the background action was much more engaging than the foreground.

All that said, I'd absolutely read a follow-up book in this world - and I still think the detective / investigation format lends itself well to this sort of backdrop! And while I'm glad it's available to read, this felt like more of an internal exercise that an author writes to flesh out their world, than a truly standalone story or character piece.