Neither here nor there, but long ago…” is how the stories inside Chelsea Abdullah’s The Stardust Thief begin. Like the stories inside the story, The Stardust Thief has a magical quality all its own. It feels both ancient and timeless while appealing to today’s readers. This is a perfect palate cleanser after reading the many European inspired fantasies. Abdullah’s Middle Eastern-ish setting felt fresh and rich. Her characters shine the brightest, and when you get to the last page, you’ll want to stay with Loulie, Mazen, Aisha, and Qadir a little bit longer. You may even chose to go back to the first page and begin the journey all over again.
Disclaimer: The publisher provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Any and all opinions that follow are mine alone.
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TL;DR
Chelsea Abdullah’s The Stardust Thief opens the Sandsea Trilogy with a bang. This character-rich fantasy belongs on every SFF fans shelf. Fans of Brandon Sanderson and Catherynne M. Valente will love this book. Highly recommended.
From the Publisher
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 by Chelsea Abdullah
The Stardust Thief takes place in a world where magical beings, jinn, exist alongside humans, who have no magic. Humans can use jinn artifacts, though, and jinn blood has restorative properties. It can heal humans or heal the land. When the silver blood touches sand, lush, green landscaping emerges. Whether oasis or jungle, jinn blood transforms the desert. As such, humans hunt jinn for their treasure and their blood. The Sultan was once the preeminent jinn hunter, and his goal is to eradicate all jinn. To further his goal, he seeks an ancient relic, a lamp, which contains a powerful jinn. The Sultan sends a party to a mythical city in the dangerous sandsea where they hope to find the relic. The Stardust Thief follows the party from the Sultan’s palace to the deserts of his kingdom, and the party is filled with fantastic characters.
The story opens with Loulie rescuing Mazen from a jinn obsessed with revenge. This gets her noticed by the Sultan, who forces her on the quest. Omar, the Sultan’s oldest son, is supposed to go on the quest; instead, with the help of magical trinket, he switches places with Mazen. However, Omar will have a trusted subordinate on the quest. Aisha is there to protect Mazen and help him with the ruse. Once they leave the city, the group gets separated in a sand storm. Aisha is lured into some ruins by a powerful jinn. Mazen and Loulie go in to rescue her. The trip is off to an eventful start already.
Loulie al-Nazari, the Midnight Merchant, is forced to join the quest against her will. Loulie is aided by magical items that contain jinn magic, and she has a deeper secret. Her bodyguard, Qadir, is a jinn. Mazen bin Malik is the sultan’s youngest son. Mazen’s older brother, Omar, blackmails him to take his place on Loulie’s quest. Unlike his older brother, Mazen has been stuck in the sultan’s palace for most of his life. At his bravest, he sneaks out to hear stories in the souk, but Mazen is no adventurer. In fact, he’s never been in the desert before. How will he adjust to a journey through the desert? Aisha bint Louas is one of Omar’s Forty Thieves. In other words, she’s a jinn hunter. Her, Omar, and the other thieves conduct the sultan’s war against the jinn while stealing their magical items for royal use. Aisha hates the jinn for murdering her family when she was young, and she seeks revenge wherever she can find it. Omar sends her on the journey to watch over Mazen and make sure his brother maintains their ruse. If she finds any magical items along the way, so much the better, but her primary mission is to escort Mazen.
Along the way, the party will encounter jinn, jinn kings, ancient ruins, old friends, and their true selves. Abdullah has written an adventure novel that perfectly balances action with character development. Hanging over the journey is the danger of the sandsea itself, and why did Omar insist Mazen go on the quest for the powerful relic? By the end of the book, so many buried secrets will surface. You’ll be ready for book two before you finish the last page.
Characters
There’s a lot to love in this book, but for me the characters stood out the most. The novel takes place in three points of view: Loulie, Mazen, and Aisha. While they all journeyed on the same adventure, their internal journeys were much more different.
Loulie had a good life as the Midnight Merchant. She ventured out into the wild desert searching for jinn relics with the help of her jinn bodyguard. Her tragic past hovered over her, and she hadn’t really dealt with it. In addition, she had no personal connections with anyone but Qadir. Her journey is one where she confronts her past and the secrets in her current life. Her internal journey is one of facing the unanswered questions in her life.
Aisha is a wounded person. Her war against the jinn is personal; she’s striking out at those who harmed her. She pledges her loyalty to the man who helps her fight her war. Though she’s one of Omar’s thieves, she remains apart. Omar is the one she seems to like, but their relationship seems superficial. As long as she can kill jinn, she’s happy. She doesn’t question anything in her life. But babysitting Mazen is not what she expected. She has to take care of someone else even if she doesn’t care for him. It causes her to open up.
Mazen starts the book out with few skills. He can sneak out of the palace to hear stories. Listening to stories reminds him of his deceased mother, who was a skilled storyteller. Once they leave the city, Mazen learns he doesn’t know much. His journey is much more like a RPG characters. He clearly ‘levels up’ as he acquires skills during the adventure. In lesser hands, Mazen’s journey would have felt simplistic. However, Abdullah also weaves in an emotional journey in which he becomes more of himself. Mazen confronts who he is and what it means to be different from his father and brothers.
It would be hard for me to say which character was my favorite. While each had similar paths on the physical adventure, their internal journeys varied distinctly. I think Aisha’s was both most surprising while being inevitable, which I love. Book 2 can’t get here soon enough.
What's the Opposite of Grimdark?
The Stardust Thief was a palate cleanser for more than just diverging from the typical fantasy setting. It felt hopeful. I want to write that this book was light fantasy as in the opposite of dark fantasy, but the word light implies that it wasn’t serious or had low stakes. That’s not correct. Abdullah packs a punch. There’s loss, death, danger, betrayal, lies, destruction, and the undead. No, it was light as in the opposite of dark. The characters joke, and it’s not gallows humor. There’s love, supportive characters, and friendship. The characters live full lives and look forward to the future. With all the horror that I’ve been reading, hope for the future wasn’t part of the plots. Primarily, the hope was that the characters survive, and that’s fine for horror. But The Stardust Thief had highs that were hopeful and lows that were devastating for both me and the characters. It was good to read a story where the characters success was more than just simply surviving. Here, the hope was that the characters would thrive, and Abdullah pulls off a good balance of hope and fear.
Conclusion
Chelsea Abdullah’s The Stardust Thief is excellent fantasy. Imaginative world building mixes with wonderful characters. The Stardust Thief was a story I didn’t want to put down. It was compelling and driven by characters that I cared about. In a strong year for fantasy, The Stardust Thief might have stolen the spot for best release of the year. Highly recommended.
The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah is available from Orbit Books on May 17th, 2022.
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