A Dead Djinn in Cairo: A Tor.Com Original (edizione 2016)

This was delightful and I'm so excited that there's another novella set in this same world.
I love Djeli's world building ( )

Series Info/Source: This is the first book in the Fatma el-Sha’arawi series. Right now there are two novellas in this series with a third planned to be published in 2021. I bought this as an ebook for my Kindle.

Story (5/5): This was an amazingly entertaining story. Fatma is a woman employed with the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities in Cairo. What starts off as an odd case of a Djinn committing suicide ends up as a potentially world-ending event. This story was so much fun, was fast-paced and packed in a great mystery, wonderful action, and a lot of steampunky goodness.

Characters (5/5): I loved the characters here. Fatma el-Sha’arawi with her perfectly tailored suits and oddly down to earth attitude was incredibly entertaining. I just wanted to keep reading more about her. I enjoyed her stodgy old partner as well and many of the other characters we came across. There are a ton of interesting characters in here from Fatma herself, to a fun assassin, ghouls, djinns, and bizarre clockwork angels.

Setting (5/5): The setting was spectacular. I love that this is set in Cairo in Victorian times; it’s very exotic (to parrot Fatma) and adventurous. The way Cairo was turned into an exotic steampunk world was incredibly well done. The world-building is amazing and I cannot say enough how entertaining, exciting, and just plain fun this setting was.

Writing Style (5/5): This is my favorite kind of novella, there is so much story, world, and character built into this slim novel. I never had any trouble picturing things, everything is very well described. The writing flowed beautifully, I loved the characters, and the mystery was fascinating. I am honestly in awe of how much entertaining story was packed in here. As soon as I finished it I was immediately sad that it was over and desperate to read more about this world and these characters. I seriously hope that this series continues to grow for many years!

My Summary (5/5): Overall I absolutely loved this. I am a huge steampunk fan and this is the best steampunk story I have read in some time. I love how well balanced everything is here; you have a great mystery, lots of action, intriguing characters, great dialogue, and a fascinating world. I am just in awe of how much was packed into this slim novel and at how thoroughly I enjoyed it. Highly recommended to those who enjoy exotic settings with an excellent mystery, quirky characters and a lot of action. ( )

A quick, fun, and surprisingly substantial novelette. It is amazing how well the characters are drawn, and how sharp the plotting, in such a short work. Excellent! ( )

Considering it was only 46 pages long, this novelette did a truly astounding job introducing a setting (fantasy Cairo c. 1920s), interesting characters, different types of mythical creatures and a compelling mystery that takes exactly as long to wrap up as feels appropriate. Really enjoyed this. ( )

Loved the characters, the steampunk / Near East setting, the supernatural and gumshoe genres together ... everything! ( )