Review – The Haunting of Tram Car 015 (Fatma el-Sha’arawi, Book 2) by P. Djeli Clark (4.5/5 stars)
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Steampunk
Length: 146 pages
Publisher: Tor.com
Release Date: February 19, 2019
ISBN-13: 978-1250294807
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd book in the Fatma el-Sha’arawi series
Source: Borrowed from Library
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
“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.”
Series Info/Source: This is the 2nd novella in the Fatma el-Sha’arawi series. I borrowed this from the library.
Story (5/5): Agent Hamed (from the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments, and Supernatural Entities) is called on to check out the supposed haunting of a tram car, along with his young new partner from the Ministry, Agent Onsi. They initially think it is a typical story of a djinn gone bad haunting the workings of the tram, however things end up taking a turn for the weird.
Characters (4/5): I didn’t like Agents Hamed and Onsi as much as Fatma and her partner. Agent Hamed comes off as a seasoned and somewhat tired agent, he generally handles more pedantic Ministry cases. I didn’t dislike him, he just wasn’t as engaging and fun as Farma. Agent Onsi was more interesting, he’s new to the Ministry but was a fountain of knowledge and I really enjoyed him. Fatma does make an appearance towards the end of the book, which I enjoyed.
Setting (5/5): I again loved the world and setting here. The world-building is amazing and I enjoy the exotic mythology and location. Such a complex world is built in such a small page space, I love it. I never had trouble picturing the settings and was constantly surprised but what lurked around each corner of this story.
Writing Style (4/5): This was a fast and fun paced read that I enjoyed. I do feel that this was not quite as good as “A Dead Djinn Cairo”. The scope of the story was a lot smaller, the world less exciting, and characters not nearly as impressive. However, I enjoyed the mystery here and some of the more obscure folklore. I liked the setting and the characters weren’t bad. It was an entertaining read in a world that I love.
My Summary (4.5/5): Overall while this wasn’t as impressive as “A Dead Djinn Cairo” I still really enjoyed it. This is an amazing world and the story is fast-paced with an entertaining mystery and some fascinating obscure folklore. I love the steampunk and alternate history aspects of the story as well. I hope future novellas feature Agent Fatma again and would love to see some full length novels set in this world!!
