boring characters in a shiny world

P. Djèlí Clark’s new novel, The Dead Cat Tail Assassins, begins with an interesting dilemma. Eveen the Eviscerator, an undead assassin working for the titular guild, is given a divine mission to kill a younger version of herself. Is the assassin cold-hearted enough to destroy her only chance to remember her past? And what consequences will she face if she refuses to do so? This simple premise takes readers through the colorful port town of Tal Abisi as Eveen races against time to find the answers she seeks and escape the legbreakers of her guild.

If you’re in the mood for a high fantasy beach read, this might be for you. Clark’s story wastes no time – each chapter moves the plot forward, introduces new threats, and ends with well-planned cliffhangers. Tal Abisi is also an endlessly creative setting for an adventure. Clark seamlessly blends inspiration from Swahili city-states, Renaissance Venice, and Angkor Wat to create a bustling, vibrant landscape. The reader can smell lurking danger on every page. The Clockwork King’s Festival is a particularly strong element, giving the city further energy and adding a ticking clock to the story – when the festival is over, Eveen is done for. Her key role in the book’s conclusion satisfactorily rounds out the world-building.

But aside from the adventure, there isn’t much to keep readers engaged. The most obvious problem is the childish prose – like when Eveen calls a group of hedge wizards “neckbeards” or when the Goddess of Knives drops the term “mansplaining” at the end of the book. Such dialogue robs Clark’s world of its creativity and destroys immersion. This cheesiness could possibly Forgivable in a children’s novel, but the constant swear words suggest an older target audience.

Style isn’t the only problem—the writing is painfully transparent, with characters always saying exactly what they’re thinking. Eveen, tormented by her amnesia and the existential horrors of undeath, offers an obvious opportunity for emotional depth. A few scenes between Eveen and her younger self hint at this source, but never go deeper than her existence. Other characters fare no better. Eveen’s caretaker, Fennis, is defined almost entirely by his stocky frame and exotic appetites. This quirk-based approach to characterization, mixed with the sloppy prose, leaves readers with a third-rate, R-rated novel from Rick Riordan.

Elsewhere, Clark has proven himself to be a talented storyteller. In his previous short story, “The Angel of Khan el-Khalili,” he imagines a Cairo full of genies selling pastries, “armored eunuchs,” and alchemy. A girl’s journey to ask a mechanical angel for a miracle becomes a heartbreaking exploration of sin, forgiveness, industrialization, and class conflict. Here, the story’s emotional core and its fantastical world are intertwined. By contrast, “The Dead Cat Tail Assassins,” with its glossy setting and lackluster characters, resembles a beer-and-pretzels game of D&D. Eveen and the cast come across as high school students languidly role-playing as assassins. Nothing really comes to life.

Daily Arts writer Awmeo Azad can be reached at [email protected].

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