The Haunting of Tram Car 015 (Dead Djinn Universe, #0.3) in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

Aug 14, 2020 Nadine in NY Jones rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy-and-sci-fi, alternate-planes-and-histories, era-early-1900s, paranormal, egypt, steam-punk

I loved A Dead Djinn in Cairo, so I was really excited to get back to that steampunk world - and this book did not disappoint! Fatma - whom I loved in “Dead Djinn” - is not a main character here, but I enjoyed Agent Hamed & his young trainee Agent Onsi almost as much.

Once again, we are plunged into an alternate, steampunk-esque 1912 in Egypt, after a hole has been punched through dimensions, and djinn and other supernatural creatures are now commonplace.

Hamed is a bit of a stuffed shirt, but he ...more

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Nov 23, 2019 Jennifer rated it it was amazing

Shelves: sf, from-library, fiction, djinn, novella

I picked this up not realizing it was in the same setting as A Dead Djinn in Cairo, which I have not read yet, though I've had an eye out for it at the library and every bookstore forever. It didn't seem necessary to read them in order, but now I am even more interested in reading that one.

Like in The Black God's Drums, this is an intriguing mix of steampunk science fiction alternate-history with religious/mythological fantasy. This one has more of a private detective story feel -- the story's p ...more

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Jan 20, 2023 Sarah rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction, american-fiction, black-history-and-culture, egypt, top-priorities, fantasy, sci-fi, speculative-alt-history, steampunk

I absolutely adore this series, Dead Djinn Universe. It's steampunk set in Cairo, and P Djeli Clark appears to have an intimate relationship with the city, though I cannot find anything indicating that he's lived there. But reading through this novella, as well as its predecessors, is like waking up there, and the journey is delightful. This novella follows Inspectors Hamed and Onsi (one Sunni Muslim and on Coptic Christian, a nice touch) as they attempt to identify and rid a tram of a spirit of ...more

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Nov 03, 2020 Isabel rated it really liked it

This is a super-fun "read in one sitting" book in the same Cairo steampunk alternate universe as A Dead Djinn in Cairo (which you can read for free here-- while it's not totally essential for this book, I recommend starting there). The world-building is great, and while I liked the characters a little less than the ones in A Dead Djinn and Black God's Drums, they are entertaining enough. I'm glad I got sucked into this author's weird worlds—this is a lot of fun. ...more

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Jul 02, 2021 fenchurch rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, steampunk, novella

4 stars — Another great short story set in the Dead Djinn universe. My only complaint is that I wanted to see more of Fatma from the first short! This is a steampunk, fantasy-detective story set in early 20th century Cairo where Egypt is a global power. Again Clark is able to showcase an alternate history world without the world building slowing down the story, a too common mistake that I encounter.

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