Book Review: A Dead Djinn in Cairo
BOOK REVIEW: A DEAD DJINN IN CAIRO BY P. DJÈLÍ CLARK
Special Investigator Fatma el-Sha’arawi is brought in to investigate an odd suicide case involving a djinn, but her world is turned upside down in a race against the end of time with ghouls, clockwork angels, and Lovecraftian-like creatures.
What I liked:
– The alternate history of Cairo. I’ve always been a fan of Egypt, so this exotic steampunk take with supernatural entities just made it all the more awesome.
– The supernatural entities. I loved the non-classic concept of the angels and djinn.
– The length. This is a novelette, meaning it’s between 7,500–19,000 words. As a super slow reader with not a lot of time, this means I can enjoy a shorter story and have a sense of accomplishment that I’ve finished it quicker than regular novels. Hooray!
What I didn’t like:
– The pacing. I mean, there’s only so much you can do with a novelette, but I feel like the end action was rushed and then… that’s the end of the novelette.
Overall:
– While I didn’t enjoy it as much as The Black God’s Drums, it was still a good read! Clark remains one of my auto-buy authors. I can’t wait to delve more into this Dead Djinn Universe with the two other stories I bought: the novella The Haunting of Tram Car 015, and the novel A Master of Djinn.
Let me know if you’ve read any of the stories from the Dead Djinn Universe or if you’d like to!
Raine