Inspired by stories from One Thousand and One Nights, The Stardust Thief weaves 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.
Release date: May 17th(US)/May 19th (UK), 2022
Thank you Orbit Books and Angela Man for an Advanced Reader’s Copy.
I don’t regret a second of my time spent in this book. The Stardust Thief is a get-dressed-up-with-your-hot-friends type of book. If you go casual, you go home. If you love that scene at the end of an Interview with Vampire, then sit in your tight pants. You’re going to want to read this.
You know when you finish a really good book, you exhale all the overwhelming amount of ‘who gave the author permission to be this talented?’ Chelsea Abdullah is so talented that I felt like I had been physically thrown from the book when I came to that very last word. I have sand stuck in my nails, and my lungs are full of stardust.
Without a glance, I felt immediately drawn into the lyrical writing, atmosphere, and intricate storytelling. Everything felt so easy. As someone particularly sensitive to bad pacing, I didn’t notice a single bump. I appreciate a book that maintains my interest the entire way, allowing me to sink into the words and storyline with ease. I felt mesmerized by the words and how the author fit it all together.
In the fashion of A Thousand and One Nights, Abdullah takes that lyrical storytelling to spin a new tale for fantasy readers. If you give me a world with nonbinary jinn and casual bisexuality then my claws are coming out because I am feasting!
Imagine following a world where those legends, tales, and stories are told in the old, traditional ways of reciting stories for the people; in front of a fire, a lamp, or sitting down for all to listen. Stories pass from generation to generation in this world. But instead of a chronicler or telling a legend of the past, the characters weave their stories as part of the present. They are active in remembering the stories shared by their parents or loved ones.
I’ll admit to being a card-carrying member of the DNF club. Fairly frequently, I come across dull, underdeveloped, flat characters. Happy for the fans, but those 400+ pages just aren’t worth the time. No, I will be spending my time with books like The Stardust Thief. Abdullah writes characters I like to read. The ones you can touch. So real you can feel their breath.
These characters look with such longing you’ll turn into a puddle, waiting for them to dig their dirty boots into you because you’ll accept any scrap of attention. Qadir, a stern Jinn bodyguard of the rage-hearted Loulie, the Midnight Merchant, became one of my favorites in this book. The ancient being, who lost everything, taking in the traumatized child gets me every time. He’s her friend, roommate, relic-selling colleague, but he’s also a father figure to her. It’s the loving father figures that dig themselves deeper into me than most.
I just love how Abdullah bonds and develops the characters, even those that hate each other. Mazen endeared me with his addiction to stories. Dumb stuck at anything that sparkles, this soft boy. He loves a good story, an adventure, the beauty of a mysterious girl, so much that he sneaks from the palace to the Night Market with its gifts, scents, and foreign tales. I love this dynamic between a golden retriever character archetype and an annoyed duty-bound swordswoman. Aisha, a fantastic morally grey character, begins to slowly soften to the people around her. I love a heartless swordswoman with only knives for comfort.
Unlike stereotypical villains, Abdullah shows more talent by depicting the intimacy and nuance of the villains of the story. I don’t want to be shown a box and have some author telling me ‘what a horrible person.’ I want to see their actions with the roots of their rage. Those little objects Omar finds so precious provide curiosity to his past as I witness the story unfold.
It isn’t unnoticeable to me that the way Abdullah uses language is deeply personal. Yes, in the author’s lyrical writing. But the characters are also marked by their cultures, the stories they tell each other, and the language they speak. Those intimate moments where Abdullah uses Arabic say a lot. I understand that these small moments aren’t for me, but I love that they exist. As a reader, I love to witness the story. I don’t need to be in it to pick up on its importance.
I love that something is said about how we view soldiers and royalty in fantasy. That yes, soldiers are not to be glorified. That there is complicity in those, princes and soldiers, in powerful positions. The immortal garden, and all its stunning white roses, isn’t what you think.
Lies reveal themselves. Legends walk in the present. And the stories become a reality. Chelsea Abdullah transforms glittering stardust into nightmares and—like all truly, depraved authors—carves that knife deep into the canvas with gusto.
