In France, Clark's two novellas are published in the same book. First of all, I want to congratulate Mathilde Montier, the translator, who did a fantastic job, especially on the first one, transposing the characters' unique way of speaking and Clark's lush prose.
The first story, The Black God's Drums, takes us to a New Orleans buffetted by storms, in which a young orphan witnesses a conversation that leads her to all sorts of trouble, including the threat of a black god's anger. In A Dead Djinn in Cairo, a lady detective encounters an unusual corpse and mystical symbols hiding a complex and metaphysical conspiration.
Both stories unfold very detailed worlds rich in imagery, in an alternate history that deals the cards of humanity in a new and fascinating way. Both are set around the turn of the century and feature female characters with strong voices. THe first one, in New Orleans, took me a little while to get used to the intricate world-building. The second one swept me off my feet instantly and I would gladly have read a lot more (which I should be able to do in The Haunting of Tram Car 015 and A Master of Djinn one day).