Adult Fantasy Book Review: The Stardust Thief (The Sandsea Trilogy #1) by Chelsea Abdullah

Posted May 26, 2022 by jrsbookr in Fantasy / 0 Comments

Adult Fantasy Book Review: The Stardust Thief (The Sandsea Trilogy #1) by Chelsea Abdullah

by Chelsea Abdullah
Adult Fantasy Book Review: The Stardust Thief (The Sandsea Trilogy #1) by Chelsea AbdullahThe Stardust Thief Series: The Sandsea Trilogy #1
Published by Orbit on May 26, 2022
Source: Audible
Genres: Fiction / Fantasy / Epic
Pages: 480
Find the Author: Website, Blog, Twitter, Goodreads, Amazon, Instagram
Format: Audiobook
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

Inspired by stories from One Thousand and One Nights, this book weaves together the gripping tale of a legendary smuggler, a cowardly prince, and a dangerous quest across the desert to find a legendary, magical lamp.

Neither here nor there, but long ago . . .

Loulie al-Nazari is the Midnight Merchant: a criminal who, with the help of her jinn bodyguard, hunts and sells illegal magic. When she saves the life of a cowardly prince, she draws the attention of his powerful father, the sultan, who blackmails her into finding an ancient lamp that has the power to revive the barren land--at the cost of sacrificing all jinn.

With no choice but to obey or be executed, Loulie journeys with the sultan's oldest son to find the artifact. Aided by her bodyguard, who has secrets of his own, they must survive ghoul attacks, outwit a vengeful jinn queen, and confront a malicious killer from Loulie's past. And, in a world where story is reality and illusion is truth, Loulie will discover that everything--her enemy, her magic, even her own past--is not what it seems, and she must decide who she will become in this new reality.

Review:

The Stardust Thief is one of my most anticipated reads of 2022; it is an inspiring tale of adventure with a mix of stories from Arabian nights. If you are looking for a book with sweeping, epic action scenes and incredible magic, you will love The Stardust Thief. The Stardust Thief is your story if you love storytelling within a story, monsters that can befriend or foe, and Arab folklore. For a debut, Adult fantasy story, I mainly saw the lack of deep character development. Still, again this is a trilogy, so we are setting the stage, so I hope to get deeper into these characters as the story progresses to books two and three.
I chose to pre-order the audiobook as they did a marvelous job with different narrators for our trio of characters, but I will need to get a print copy and re-read it before book two comes out. I think you get something different from the second read of a book or even the third read before you move on to the newest one.
If you like The Daevabad Trilogy, I think you will adore The Stardust Thief! Both series have the same gorgeous desert settings, magical djinn, and characters you will come to love…or hate—an intense debut novel to add to anyone’s collection of fantasy tales.

About Chelsea Abdullah

Chelsea Abdullah is an American-Kuwaiti writer born and raised in Kuwait, where she grew up listening to stories about mysterious desert creatures and wily (only sometimes likable) heroes.

Consumed by wanderlust, she has put down roots in various states. After earning her MA in English at Duquesne University, she moved to New York, where she currently lives. When not immersed in her own fictional worlds, she spends her free time playing video games, doodling characters, and hoarding books she doesn’t have the shelf space for.