I am really starting to like Clark’s writing, at least with each installment of the Dead Djinn Universe that I read. My issue with the first one I read was that it was a tad short and felt it could’ve been further developed; this is exactly what I get in The Haunting of Tram Car 015. We follow two agents this time, Hamed and Onsi, as they work to investigate a rather mundane task (for them): a spirit haunting a tram car. Now, as a person who loves public transit, I found this particularly exciting—I mean, aerial tram cars! How steampunky and cool is that?

With the longer length, Clark also managed to give us more exposition on the characters and the world. As usual, the world is expertly crafted and feels very lived in. Both Hamed and Onsi’s personalities were clear and strong; I especially enjoyed Onsi and his ramblings on philosophy or history. The writing hints at these subtle themes, for example artificial intelligence and the rights of machines, which could be very promising in a full-length work. Clark also deftly ties together vastly different elements of the story—if he mentions something, even offhand, it’s likely that it will be important to the resolution.

Without trying too hard, I didn’t anticipate the ending and was pleased by how the agents solve the mystery of the haunting. Letting Clark’s prose usher you along the narrative is the best way to go with his stories. The worldbuilding of the supernatural and fantasy elements worked really well again, and the characters were interesting and well-written. And I really wouldn’t mind if Clark wrote a whole digression on philosophy or history… in any case, I’m looking forward to reading Clark’s full length work, A Master of Djinn, which only came out a few months ago. It follows Fatma from a previous installment and looks quite promising.