Series: Fatma el-Sha’arawi #0.5
Release Date: May 18th 2016
Publisher: Tor Books
Pages: 43
Find it on: Goodreads. Tor Books.
Source: I read this online on the Tor Books website
Rating: 4/5 stars
Synopsis
Egypt, 1912. In an alternate Cairo infused with the otherworldly, the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities investigate disturbances between the mortal and the (possibly) divine. What starts off as an odd suicide case for Special Investigator Fatma el-Sha’arawi leads her through the city’s underbelly as she encounters rampaging ghouls, saucy assassins, clockwork angels, and plot that could unravel time itself.
Review
The Fatma el-Sha’arawi is a series I have seen doing the rounds online recently, so when I heard that the best place to start is with the short novelette A Dead Djinn in Cairo, I decided to give it a go. This story might only be forty three pages, but it absolutely packs a punch. Set in Cairo in the 1900s, the story follows Special Investigator Fatma el-Sha’arawi as she works to uncover the truth behind an odd suicide case. As she digs deeper into the supernatural underworld of the city, she finds a much more sinister plot going on.
I honestly loved this. Fatma was a fantastic main character and even though this is short I completely fell in love with her. There’s quite a bit of character development in that short space of time and I can’t wait to see what Clark does with a full length novel. The world in this is fascinating and there is still a substantial bit of world building in this novelette. As expected the story is a quick one, but it comes to a very satisfying conclusion.
A Dead Djinn in Cairo is a fascinating tale and full of beautiful writing. It absolutely left me wanting more and I can say without a doubt this will not be my last book from P. Djèlí Clark.
The Midnight Library is the latest release from How to Stop Time author Matt Haig. This story has a really fascinating premise: Nora Seed is a young woman who is unhappy in her life. When she decides she can’t bear it anymore she finds herself in the midnight library, a place where Nora can revisit her past and do things differently, changing the things that she regrets. The goal is to find a life she will be happy to live, but will she manage it before the time runs out?
The Twisted Tree is the first instalment in a creepy horror mystery series from Rachel Burge. The story follows Martha, a young girl who has the ability to sense things about someone by reading their clothes. Determined to understand her abilities she runs away to visit her grandmother in Norway. When she arrives she discovers her grandmother has passed away and a strange boy is squatting in her house. As the snow leaves them cut off from the outside world, Martha has no choice but to let the boy stay, but as the snows get heavier they get the sense they aren’t the only ones there.
What Beauty There Is is a stunningly beautiful story that follows Jack Morton who will do anything to look after his brother Matty. With their mother gone and their father in Prison, Jack will do whatever he can to stop Matty being taken into foster care. Jack has only one choice: find the drug money that put his father in Jail. But Jack isn’t the only one looking for the money.
The Unbroken is the first book in an all new fantasy series. This is a dark and brutal story that follows Touraine, who was stolen from her home as a child and raised to be a soldier for the empire. Now she is returning to her homeland to help put a stop to the rebellion. As Touraine fights alongside her battalion she begins to question where her loyalties really lie – to the empire who trained her or the homeland she barely remembers? Luca is a princess doing everything she can to quash the rebellion, but she needs help to stop it while she attempts to remove her uncle from the throne. Touraine and Luca form an alliance, but will it be enough?
The Fall of Koli is the third and final book in M R Carey’s Rampart Trilogy. This stunning conclusion follows on from the events in The Trials of Koli and we see Koli and his friends continue on their quest
The Shadow in the Glass is the beautifully told story of Ella, once a ward of the house and now forced to be one of the maids. Ella dreamed of a life travelling the world and wearing beautiful gowns, but with trouble brewing in the household that dream seems to get further and further away. When she stumbles upon a book in the library and a fairy godmother appears, she is offered seven wishes in exchange for her soul. But is Ella willing to pay such a high price?
Horrorstör is a book that caught my eye online and as soon as I read the synopsis I knew I had to order a copy. A haunted house story set in an Ikea type store? Where do I sign up? I expected this to be a fun, entertaining read but what I didn’t expect was for it to be genuinely quite creepy and spine tingling. Horrorstör is a gripping and compelling read, and one I absolutely did not want to look away from.
Across the Green Grass Fields is the sixth instalment in Seanan McGuire’s Wayward Children series. Each instalment follows a child who has gone to a magical land (think Narnia). When the children return to the real world they end up at Eleanor West’s School for Wayward Children, a place for them to live while they try to find their doors. In this instalment we follow Regan as she enters the hooflands and must venture on a quest to save the herd that takes her in.
Bobby March Will Live Forever is the third instalment in Alan Parks’ Harry McCoy series. This time we’re following Harry as the drug trade is taking over Glasgow. When twelve year old Alice Kelly goes missing and rock star Bobby March over doses in a hotel room, the press churns up a storm. There’s pressure on the force to get results, but will Harry have be able to uncover the truth in time?
The Bibliophile Chronicles 