Aeril, Matron of Assassins, the Silent Blade, the Lady of Knives, Snatcher of Souls–and, sometimes, the Crafter of Delectable Culinary Delights–entered the world. The goddess stood taller than all about her. No, not just tall. She was more, as if this reality could not contain her grandeur. Her very presence made the vast chamber seem small. She wore a gown threaded from shadow and stitched with pearls that twinkled like stars. It draped her shoulders to hug a slender torso, blending with the skin of her bare arms that reflected night, as she gripped her hounds by chain leashes linked to spiked black-iron collars. Only her face was different: the upper half a bloodred that flowed from chiselled cheekbones to scalp–where braided rows of hair fell back in thick corded ropes that looked spun from gold.
page 185, The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djèlí Clark
Table of Contents
Preamble
Three years ago, I read A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark for my reading challenge that year. It immediately became one of my all time favourite fantasy stories, and I have a physical copy of the book sitting on my bookshelf in addition to the ebook copy I bought at the time. I loved the world and writing style of that book and I wanted to read more from the author.
So when I heard that P. Djèlí Clark had written and published a novella in 2024, I immediately put it on my TBR to read at some point this year. The library hold for this book arrived last week.
Let’s get into it.
The Book
The story of The Dead Cat Tail Assassins is set in the ancient city of Tal Abisi and follows Eveen the Eviscerator, one of the titular assassins. The assassins are bound by three unbreakable vows – the contract must be just, the assassin must only kill the contracted, and once a job is accepted, the assassin must carry it out. The vows are sworn to Aeril, the Matron of Assassins, a goddess.
I liked Eveen as a character, especially her dry and acerbic wit. There are a few side characters in the book and I don’t have anything to say about them because the book does not give them enough character development for that. Since this is a novella, there isn’t a lot of time and space for such character development so the book keeps its focus on Eveen.
The fantasy world in this novella gets an economical amount of worldbuilding. We get just enough of the myth and traditions of the city of Tal Abisi to get the vibe of the place and the book rightfully doesn’t waste time on overly descriptive scenes and tends to focus on describing action rather than the environment it took place in. I think there is potential in this world for more novellas or novels.
Theme wise, I saw only one theme being explored in any depth and that was regret and reflecting on the choices one made in the past. It was…fine. The theme makes sense in the context of the plot and I thought that the particular way the plot was used to explore the theme was rather novel and intriguing.
Conclusions
I enjoyed my time with The Dead Cat Tail Assassins. Like with the previous novella I read, this was a short and sweet read and I finished it in one sitting. The main character is fun, the fantasy has just enough worldbuilding to keep things interesting and to top it off, it is a book that is genuinely funny, especially with how the ending plays out.
I am looking forward to whatever P. Djèlí Clark writes in the future and I am hoping it is another novel like A Master of Djinn.
That’s all from me, see y’all in the next one.
If you enjoyed reading this post, please support my work directly through Stripe or via Patreon. Additionally, please share it on your socials and/or with a friend that would appreciate it.