Featuring: Robert Bickers, C. L. Clark, P. Djèlí Clark, Michael Connelly, Ben Counter, Aliette de Bodard, Sebastian Fitzek, Harald Gilbers, David Guymer, Guy Haley, Michael Holley, Joe Ide, Femi Kayode, Gary Kloster, Robert Littell, Arkady Martine, Barack Obama, Aimee Ogden, A. E. Osworth, K. J. Parker, Keith Rosson, Andrew Kelly Stewart, Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Danie Ware
A dark fantasy historical novella that gives a supernatural twist to the Ku Klux Klan’s reign of terror
IN AMERICA, DEMONS WEAR WHITE HOODS.
In 1915, The Birth of a Nation cast a spell across America, swelling the Klan’s ranks and drinking deep from the darkest thoughts of white folk. All across the nation they ride, spreading fear and violence among the vulnerable. They plan to bring Hell to Earth. But even Ku Kluxes can die.
Standing in their way is Maryse Boudreaux and her fellow resistance fighters, a foul-mouthed sharpshooter and a Harlem Hellfighter. Armed with blade, bullet, and bomb, they hunt their hunters and send the Klan’s demons straight to Hell. But something awful’s brewing in Macon, and the war on Hell is about to heat up.
Can Maryse stop the Klan before it ends the world?
The KKK are monsters. But what if, in addition to the human kind of monsters, they were also actual otherworldly demons? P. Djèlí Clark examines just such a situation, in this engaging and twisted novella. I really enjoyed this. Continue reading
Featuring: A. Deborah Baker, William Boyle, Trudi Canavan, Jim Carrey, P. Djèlí Clark, Susan Eisenhower, T.C. Farren, Thomas Frank, Sarah Gailey, Daniel Hornsby, S. L. Huang, Phil Klay, Derek Künsken, Jenn Lyons, John P. Murphy, Robert Pobi, Alastair Reynolds, Jane Routley, John Sandford, Sara Sligar, Wright Thompson, Rufi Thorpe, Sarah Tolmie, Dana Vachon, Vanessa Veselka, Erin K. Wagner, Jess Walter, C L Werner, Rachel Winters, Julian E. Zelizer
A second story in Clark’s fascinating historical fantasy Cairo
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.
I’m a newcomer to P. Djèlí Clark’s work, and I must say he is fast becoming one of my favourite new authors. The Haunting of Tram Car 015 is a novella set in the same world as the author’s A Dead Djinn in Cairo short story. Both are mysteries, with protagonists tasked with investigating supernatural goings-on in an alternate-history Cairo — one in which djinn, gods and spirits (among others) exist and changed the course of history. I really enjoyed this, and think a lot of others will too. Continue reading
Let’s start with an introduction: Who is P. Djèlí Clark?
I’m a writer of speculative fiction by night and a mild-mannered assistant professor of history by dayd. Neither of those personas fights crime.
Your latest novella, The Haunting of Tram Car 015, will be published by Tor.com early next year. It looks really interesting: How would you introduce it to a potential reader? Is it part of a series?
The Haunting of Tram Car 015 takes place in the same world as a 2016 novelette published on Tor.com titled, A Dead Djinn in Cairo. Set in an alternate 1912 Egypt of steampunk, djinn, magic and clockwork angels, that initial story follows the exploits of Special Investigator Fatma el-Sha’arawi of the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities — tasked with policing the boundaries of the supernatural and the mundane. The Haunting of Tram Car 015 opens up this world further through two new characters — Agents Hamed Nasr and Onsi Youseff — as they attempt to deal with a case of magic and transportation gone awry. Hilarity and hijinks ensue. Continue reading
Featuring: Ben Aaronovitch, Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Robert Jackson Bennett, Jonathan Carr, Ryan Chapman, James Charlesworth, P. Djèlí Clark, Michael Connelly, Lucy Foley, Gareth Hanrahan, Darius Hinks (x3), Glen Hirshberg, John Hornor Jacobs, Stephen King, Jenn Lyons, Patrick McGilligan, Seanan McGuire, Scotto Moore, Haruki Murakami, Sylvain Neuvel, James Patterson, Busy Philipps, James Rollins, Craig Russell, John Scalzi, Barry Strauss, Charles Stross, Michael J. Sullivan, Tracy Townsend, Paul Tremblay, Edward Wilson-Lee
I first heard of P. Djèlí Clark when Tor.com published his novella The Black God’s Drum, which sounds like a fascinating fantasy set in an alt-history New Orleans (I haven’t managed to read it, yet, but it’s rapidly climbing my TBR pile). Recently, Tor.com announced The Haunting of Tram Car 015, a follow-up of sorts to his short story A Dead Djinn in Cairo (which I got recently). Due to be published on February 19th, 2019, I’m really looking forward to this. Here’s the synopsis:
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.
The Haunting of Tram Car 015 will be released on February 19th, 2019, in North America and in the UK.
Featuring: Tim Baker, David Baldacci, J.D. Barker, Steve Brusatte, Shaun Bythell, Michael Carroll, Steve Cavanagh, P. Djèlí Clark, John Cleese, Gardner Dozois, Dominic Dulley, Sarah Gailey, Guy Haley, Robert Hilburn, S.L. Huang, Dave Hutchinson, Steven Hyden, Dave Itzkoff, D.B. John, Stephen King, Derek Lambert, Yoon Ha Lee, William Martin, Michael Moreci, Hannu Rajaniemi, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Martha Wells, Drew Williams
The cover for P. Djèlí Clark‘s The Black God’s Drums started doing the rounds online a little while ago. (I’ve also seen that reviewers are starting to receive ARCs, so reviews should start appearing soon, too.) Due to be published by Tor.com in August 2018. I haven’t read any of Clark’s previous work, but I have high hopes for this, given how interesting it sounds:
In an alternate New Orleans caught in the tangle of the American Civil War, the wall-scaling girl named Creeper yearns to escape the streets for the air – in particular, by earning a spot on-board the airship Midnight Robber. Creeper plans to earn Captain Ann-Marie’s trust with information she discovers about a Haitian scientist and a mysterious weapon he calls The Black God’s Drums.
But Creeper also has a secret herself: Oya, the African orisha of the wind and storms, speaks inside her head, and may have her own ulterior motivations.
Soon, Creeper, Oya, and the crew of the Midnight Robber are pulled into a perilous mission aimed to stop the Black God’s Drums from being unleashed and wiping out the entirety of New Orleans.
The novella “brings an alternate New Orleans of orisha, airships, and adventure to life”, and has been described by Scott Westerfeld as “A sinewy mosaic of Haitian sky pirates, wily street urchins, and orisha magic. Beguiling and bombastic!” That’s a pretty great endorsement. Looking forward to giving it a try. The Black God’s Drums will be published on August 21st, by Tor.com in North America and in the UK.
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