Book Review: The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djeli Clark

The Haunting of Tram Car 015
by P. Djeli Clark (Clark)

P. Djeli Clark’s 2021 novel, A Master of Djinn was one of the finalists for the Hugo Award this year. I picked up a copy of that full-length novel, and even though it didn’t ultimately win the Hugo, I still look forward to reading that story. But in the meantime, I discovered that there were two novellas that established the background for the novel, which were each acclaimed in the years they came out. A Dead Djinn in Cairo (2016) and The Haunting of Tram Car 015 (2019) both introduce readers to this fabulous alternate history version of Cairo, Egypt, in which the existence and normalization of Djinn and other supernatural/magical forces allow the native Egyptians to throw off British imperialistic rule in the late 1800s and help establish Cairo as one of the most cosmopolitan and progressive cities in the world.

 

In The Haunting of Tram Car 015, the action takes place in Cairo, 1912, and features two agents of The Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities, Hamed Naser (the older, more serious, senior officer) and Onsi Youssef (the young, enthusiastic, but still inexperienced officer), called in to solve the problem of an elevated tram car that appears to be possessed by a malevolent entity. Misunderstandings and a lack of cultural reference points for the agents lead to major complications — all while the city of Cairo is roiling with activists both for and against a referendum giving women the right to vote for the first time.

The world-building is absolutely tremendous, and the characters are engaging and compelling — I loved the geeky agent Onsi, and his tendency to try to provide too much information at all times. This short (140 page) story really whetted my appetite for more stories in this setting, so I know really look forward to reading Master of Djinn. This is a terrific example of how the field of science fiction publishing is truly broadening to provide a more multi-cultural point of view.

 

I loved The Haunting of Tram Car 015, especially the Steampunk feeling of the setting and time period!

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try A Dead Djinn in Cairo and A Master of Djinn , also by P. Djeli Clark.)

 

( official The Haunting of Tram Car 015 page on the official P. Djeli Clark web site )

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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The Steampunk Adventurer's Guide: Contraptions, Creations and Curiosities Anyone Can Make

The Steampunk Adventurer's Guide: Contraptions, Creations and Curiosities Anyone Can Make
by Thomas Willeford [646.48 Wil]

I've been on a Steampunk binge for the past couple of years -- reading a lot of Steampunk fiction, and looking at the increasing collection of Steampunk related non-fiction books the libraries have been picking up -- dedicated to costuming, jewelry making and decorating. The Steampunk Adventurer's Guide is a marvelous addition to the libraries' Steampunk collection. Classified as an "adult" item, this is actually aimed at responsible teens and even pre-teens. Each chapter of this nifty volume features a short continuation of an ongoing Steampunk adventure story, focusing on the escapes of a couple of brilliant but reckless kids, lavishly illustrated by Phil Foglio, whose work in Dragon magazine many years ago was among my favorite fantasy art. In recent years, he has written and illustrated the adventures of Girl Genius -- a series of Steampunk graphic novels. Alternating with the storyline in this volume are sections in which author Thomas Willeford provides detailed step-by-step instructions for how to create pieces of Steampunk costumes, from things as simple as airship goggles, to as complex as glider wings, a rocket pack, or a rivet gun. The illustrations that accompany each craft project as simple and straight-forward, and Willeford adopts a very easy-to-follow conversational tone in his instructions. Anyone with an interest in Steampunk trappings and a modicum of craft skills will find this book an excellent introduction to how to create accessories for simple Steampunk costumes. I particularly like Willeford's "invention" of Fleather -- a flexible craft fabric made of soft craft foam and double-sided duct tape, which very closely resembles leather if not examined too closely. [Check out my Steampunk booktalk booklist for some great reads to put you in the mood to create your own costume!] -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library [ see Scott's Reviewer Profile and his other reviews ]

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try any of the libraries' many other Steampunk craft books, almost all of which are aimed at a far more adult audience.]

[ Publisher's official Steampunk Adventurer's Guide web page ] | [ official Thomas Willeford (author/crafter) web site ] | [ official Phil Foglio (illustrator) web site ]

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Booktalk Booklist - Thrilling Airship Adventures!

Did you miss Scott's booktalk -- Thrilling Airship Adventures: The World of Steampunk -- back in December 2012, at both the Bethany BooksTalk group and the Gere BooksTalk group?

Do you love the retro futurism of TV shows like The Wild Wild West or The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. or The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne -- set in the past but using seemingly "futuristic" technologies and inventions? Do you like stories of Mad Scientists out to conquer Victorian England with their steam-powered robots? Do you like adventure, intrigue and romance featuring beautiful female airship pilots and cunning con-artists? Does the concept of late-1800s alternate history tales captivate you? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may be interested in some of the dozens of Steampunk-related materials Scott included in his talk!

This extensive booklist is available as a pdf at the following link:

Thrilling Airship Adventures

Romulus Buckle and the City of the Founders

Romulus Buckle and the City of the Founders
by Richard Preston [On Order]

Romulus Buckle and the City of the Founders is a great classic steampunk tale. The high flying crew of the Pneumatic Zeppelin are on a mission to the mysterious lost city of the Founders. Their goal, to save their clan chief and adoptive father at all costs. Set in California, an alien invasion occurred years before and decimated the world we know now and the people have had no choice but to revert to steam and hydrogen. This lands squarely in the steampunk genre. You have the ever present zeppelins, steam powered machines, and the all encompassing outfits. The surprising thing is that though the themes have become very used the story is also so highly original that I never felt like I "had read that before." This book does take a good while to get into however and I was tempted to put it down in the first fourth. After the halfway point however the plot picks up speed and I found myself absorbed in the adventure. Whether you are a fan of steampunk or have yet to enjoy one before, this is a wonderful example or starting place. [If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Cherie Priest's The Clockwork Century Series.] -- recommended by Wyatt P. - Gere Branch Library

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!

Girl Genius: Omnibus One: Agatha Awakens

Girl Genius: Omnibus One: Agatha Awakens
by Phil and Kaja Foglio [741.5 Fog]

For anyone interested in trying out the world of Steampunk literature, this graphic-novel format story is a perfect place to start. Creators Phil and Kaja Foglio refer to it more as a "gaslamp fantasy", but this amusing and exciting adventure story has a lot of the elements that go into typical steampunk stories as well -- plucky and adventurous heroes (in this case a heroine, who is only just coming to realize that she's "special"), anacrhonistic technologies, including airships and steam-powered robots, and an oppressive government to fight back against. Phil Foglio has been doing comical fantasy art for decades -- I loved his "Phil and Dixie" comic strip in Dragon magazine for many years, and his were the illustrations I liked best for the Robert Asprin "Myth" fantasy novels. With Girl Genius, he's given free reign to let is humor go loose, and a whole world to invest with interesting stories. If you enjoy this first hardback graphic novel compilation, you should be aware that the Girl Genius storyline is much longer than just this volume -- it has continued with a long-running plot online at Girl Genius Online Comics -- you can read the whole thing for free there! -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library

See more books like this in Scott's Thrilling Airship Adventures Steampunk booktalk booklist

[ official Girl Genius Online Comics web site ]

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!

The Bookman

The Bookman
by Lavie Tidhar

Lavie Tidhar's The Bookman, first in a trilogy from this author, falls squarely in the hot current fiction category of Steampunk -- a fusion of science fiction, fantasy, adventure and romance. In The Bookman, the hero is a young poet named Orphan, living in an alternative Victorian-era England that's dystopian in nature...with alien lizards sitting on the throne. A rebellious terrorist, the Bookman, is striking fear into the populace with boobytrapped books, hoping to disrupt a major project to launch a satellite into space. Orphan, with friends and allies he meets along the way, is sucked into a wild and bizarre adventure, involving self-aware automatons, pirates at sea, a drunken Jules Verne and a secret Caribbean island where the descendants of the British Royal family are being kept prisoner. The pacing of the story is fast and exciting. The crazy technological devices at play are inventive. And the supporting cast is engaging and colorful. The only drawback is that Orphan himself is rather bland as a hero. Fortunately, the subsequent volumes in this series, though set in the same world and same time period, feature different casts of characters. [If you enjoy this, you may also wish to check out the Thrilling Airship Adventures: The World of Steampunk booklist from my Nov/Dec 2012 booktalk at Bethany and Gere branches.] -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library [Subscribe to Scott's monthly booklist newsletter It's All Geek to Me! - on the Books, Movies & More newsletter sign-up page].

[Also available in combined anthology with the other two books in the trilogy.]

[ official Lavie Tidhar blog ] | [ Publisher's official The Bookman web page ]

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The Steampunk Bible

The Steampunk Bible: An Illustrated Guide to the World of Imaginary Airships, Corsets and Goggles, Mad Scientists and Strange Literature
by Jeff Vandermeer and S.J. Chambers [809.387 Van]

In his opening chapter to The Steampunk Bible, editor Jeff Vandermeer recalls the definition of Steampunk that he came up with a few years ago as the genre was first gaining in popularity:

STEAMPUNK = Mad Scientist Inventor [invention (steam x airship or metal man / baroque stylings) x (pseudo) Victorian setting] + progressive or reactionary politics x adventure plot.

Steampunk as a term has only existed since the late 1980s, but Steampunk as a form of written or visual entertainment has existed in a variety of forms for decades. Imagine the 1960s television series The Wild Wild West, with secret service agents James West and Artemus Gorden going after mad scientists trying to take over the late 1800s America with steam-powered robots. Or picture feature films such as The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, set in Victorian times, but involving famous historical and/or literary figures using technologies that are decades ahead of their time. Steampunk is also something of a social movement -- involving people who don't read the books or watch the movies that have been heavily influenced by Steampunk trends. There is an extensive subculture of fans who like to dress up in Steampunk finery and roleplay as if they were living in a world patterned after the visual stylings of Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, with retro-futuristic submersibles, electric rayguns, plucky female airship pilots, crazed mad scientists and high adventure in the late 1800s. The Steampunk Bible does a terrific job of providing readers with a detailed background on Steampunk's origins, and what the current movers and shakers in the world of steampunk are up to. Crammed with gorgeous color illustrations, this lovely book will engage your imagination for hours, as you contemplate how you can add bits of clockwork gears or ornate keys to your wardrobe for a touch of "out of time" -- or you can look back at the many elements of literary history which featured elements that were precursors to today's steampunk -- the "steam man of the prairie" featured in early American dime novels, for instance. The Steampunk Bible was a 2012 Hugo Award nominee in the non-fiction category -- and well-deserved its nomination. If you're familiar with the Steampunk genre, you'll definitely enjoy this one. If you're unfamiliar with Steampunk, I recommend this book as an exemplary introduction to an increasingly popular subculture in today's world. [If you enjoy this, you may also wish to check out the Thrilling Airship Adventures: The World of Steampunk booklist from my Nov/Dec 2012 booktalk at Bethany and Gere branches. Another very similar book that came out a year after the Steampunk Bible was entitled Steampunk: An Illustrated History of Fantastical Fiction, Fanciful Film and Other Victorian Visions -- I also recommend this one!] -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library [Subscribe to Scott's monthly booklist newsletter It's All Geek to Me! - on the Books, Movies & More newsletter sign-up page].

[Also available in downloadable audio, book-on-cd, downloadable E-book and Large Print formats.]

[ official Steampunk Bible web site and blog ]

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!