Brilliant story. Incredible world-building and strong voice. Chelsea Abdullah is definitely one to watch in this space and I can't wait to see what she releases next!

An exciting and enchanting world to visit, with engaging characters to lead you through the story. I did find the pace lagged a bit for me in places but the ending more than redeemed itself - excited for the sequel!

Unfortunately this one just wasn’t for me. The storyline didn’t grip me and the characters felt flat enough that I didn’t care what happened to them. It’s a shame as I received a special edition copy as part of a monthly book box. DNF at 150 pages.

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for the digital ARC, it has not affected my honest review.

Unfortunately this book fell flat for me and didn't live up to what I was expecting. Although the premise is excellent, and the world is interesting, I had little emotional connection with the characters. This was a DNF at 55%.

4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for the e-arc for an honest opinion.

Please take in mind it’s my opinion, and everyone is allowed to have one.

This was better than I expected, I liked this book. I kept pushing this off because it seemed like a big book but honestly it wasn’t that at all, it was an very easy and fast read. The story and plot were so good, some things were predictable but that didn’t stop me from liking it.

I loved the characters, the chemistry between them all. Loved how also not only the humans had good and evil people but the jinn too. I liked learning about each of them and their powers.

I can’t wait for the next book, am curious to see what’s going to happen next!

The Stardust Thief is a delightful debut novel that weaves together storytelling a la 1001 Nights with an epic adventure. The worldbuilding here is stunning, building a rich Arab-inspired setting filled with jinn magic and supernatural monsters. With each new secret Louilie and her companions uncover, there's a tale to show its story. Personally, I loved Qadir, Loulie's steadfast companion and sometimes lizard. His relationship with Loulis was incredibly endearing but also Qadir on his own is just the best. Stardust Thief ends on worldbuilding cliffhanger and I can't wait for book two! Overall I rate this a 4.5/5.

Inspired by One Thousand and One Nights, The Stardust Thief glitters with magic and adventure. The ideal escape for fans of S.A. Chakraborty’s City of Brass and Sabaa Tahir’s An Ember in the Ashes.

Loulie is a merchant of illegal magic with a Jinn bodyguard by her side named Qadir. Prince Mazen is a story-obsessed Prince kept like a prisoner in the Sultan’s palace for his own protection. Aisha is a hunter working for Prince Mazen’s older brother tracking down rogue Jinn.

This unlikely band of tenuous allies are sent on a quest by the Sultan, seeking a legendary magical lamp of immense power believed to linger in the depths of a sunken mythical Jinn city. They must traverse the harsh and unforgiving desert, avoiding all manor of assassination attempts, vengeful Jinn spirits, and other deadly obstacles along the way.

Abdullah does a spectacular job at building a vibrant world rich in history and magic. It’s a beautifully written story, interwoven with fables from the world’s mythology.

I loved getting to know the three main characters (and Qadir!) Abdullah expertly crafts as they try to survive the imminent danger of the present, and the haunting trauma of their pasts.

Full of twists and betrayals, The Stardust Thief is a fun and fast paced romp through an Arabian inspired world that gripped me with intrigue from the first page and didn’t let up until the epic conclusion. A fabulous fantasy read that’s perfect for summer.

I cannot believe this is Chelsea Abdullah’s debut novel! She has created an amazing world with amazing characters and a great story…. Can I say it’s amazing again? 😅 Looking forward to see where Chelsea takes this in her next book ☺️

The blurb of The Stardust Thief caught my eye immediately. I was looking for more adventurous fantasy, preferably in a desert setting and promptly Orbit dropped the announcement for this one in my inbox. I waited for the arcs to become available and signed up as soon I saw they were.

It’s an Arab story written by an Arab woman, inspired by tales like One Thousand and One Nights, Ali Baba and The Forty Thieves, and Aladdin. These and other stories are a large part of the overall story but not the centre. The author has neatly woven the stories, the ideas, the vibes of these older stories into her own world. A world filled with danger and wonder. There’s a veil of mystery hanging over the whole story and sometimes you glimpse of what’s behind it but it never reveals everything. Not even until the last sentence do you know all.

Our main characters, Loulie, Qadir, Aisha, and Mazen, are an interesting cast thrown together. All have their secrets and uncovering the truth proves lethal. And those aren’t the only secrets. Throughout their journey, they meet others with precious secrets. It’s a world where stories seem more truthful than the things someone says. Who can you trust? The dynamics between these characters change a lot over the course of the book which I really enjoyed. Nothing is static, everything moves, like sand dunes.

I give The Stardust Thief five stars. It’s a wonderous epic fantasy adventure across the deserts. I loved the touches of the stories woven that I remember reading when I was a kid. It definitely added another layer to the whole book. I highly recommend it to any adventure fantasy fan.

The Stardust Thief is such a brilliant introduction to an exciting new series and I'm in awe of it. For the first book in the series this is much too fast paced and action packed, which made it stand out a lot to me. There is so much happening right from the start of the story, with the author using situations to introduce us to the characters and tell us more about them instead of any sort of info dump about the world building which I greatly appreciated.

With an ensemble cast, there was a varied number of characters all of whom were very well rounded and interesting in their own way, but I think my favourite was Loulie. She's a great character and I'm very attached to her, which is understandable since she's the protagonist. Her relationships with all other characters are so interesting and well meshed out. It added a lot to the story to see these interactions, especially those with Qadir. There was so much trust and affection between them but there were also so many secrets and the author did a brilliant job in carving their relationship.

This book left a huge impression on me and I cannot wait for the sequel!

Loulie finds and sells illegal magic, but when she unwittingly draws the attention of the sultan, she and her jinn bodyguard find themselves blackmailed into tracking down an ancient lamp.

While I enjoyed the concept of this book and the world it took place in had me very intrigued, ultimately, it didn't read like a final draft to me. I thought once I settled into the story it would flow easier, but if anything, its problems became more apparent and took me out of the story more and more. It just didn't flow, it felt very jumpy and haphazard in its structure.
Although I did find the world being created very interesting and the stakes felt high, as someone who doesn't 'see' when they read, I found there to be a disconnect particularly during any action sequences. I didn't feel immersed as the narrrative jumped around.
The characters' thought processes and motivations were repeatedly over explained and spelled out for us. There was very little subtlety in the build up or the characterisation of any of the characters. The story also didn't necessitate a multiple POV, it just served to spoon-feed us their histories and how they contribute to their current motivations. I don't think there was enough trust put in the reader to read between the lines and draw their own conclusions.
Because of all this I struggled to connect with a lot of the characters and thus, although I knew the stakes were high, I wasn't as invested as I should be.

A really cool concept that unfortunately left a lot to be desired.

Thank you NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group UK for my e-arc of this title, received in exchange for an honest review.

What an incredible story!

I loved every second of this book. I was completely drawn in from the beginning. I loved the stories within stories, the twists and turns, the found family.

I’ve only just finished book one and I’m dying to read book two!

Browsing bookish social media and the email newsletters from The Bookseller, there are occasions where I'll read a news snippet about a book that has been snapped up by a publisher. These stories are often accompanied by a brief summary about the book and, if they sound good, I'll pop them on my list of books to look out for. The Stardust Thief was one of these books. Months later, I was delighted to get my hands on a copy.

I loved this book and reading it has been a great experience. It took me bloody ages to read it, because I was savouring it; I loved spending time in this world and with these characters created by Chelsea Abdullah.

The Stardust Thief is the first part of a trilogy, The Sandsea Trilogy, and is inspired by "A Thousand and One Nights". I absolutely loved the world that has been built by Abdullah using this inspiration. Everyone knows the story of Aladdin, and may remember the Forty Thieves. Familiar snippets of these, and perhaps other tales from ATAON, are weaved into the story, it told in a different way to what we've heard before.

I'm looking forward to seeing more of the characters in the next instalment. I feel like we got to know Loulie and Mazen best but I feel like there's much more to discover about Aisha, and I'm looking forward to seeing more about how she deals with what happens to her in this instalment. Qadir clearly had his secrets, and whilst some of them were revealed in this book, I can't wait to see what else there is to learn both about him, and the jinn world on the whole. I was intrigued by Omar, but also Hakim. We didn't see much of him, but I wonder if he, and his maps, will be back.

The Stardust Thief was one of my most anticipated fantasy debuts in 2022, and I am very sad it didn't personally work for me. There's a fascinating skeleton to play with, in terms of the Arabian Nights inspiration and the concept of stories within the story, and I had hoped for something rich and luxurious that really did those themes justice.

Where this book fell down for me, however, is that I'm not sure it really knew what it wanted to be. There's simply not enough complexity in the character relationships or the plot to live up to other adult epic fantasies, as every character seemed to be little more than an archetype. (Though I did want to know more about Qadii, the lizard shifting jinn). But at the same time, the prose was merely functional, rather than ornate, which meant it also lacked the fairytale vibe that could have also suited an Arabian Nights style story, and where a weaker plot would not have been as much of an issue.

I do think this is a good book for readers looking to make the transition from YA to adult fantasy, who will benefit from a story that's slightly longer and slower-paced than YA but still easy to follow, but unfortunately, with so much adult epic fantasy out there to read, I found myself looking for something else.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for providing me with a free e-arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

What a wonderful debut - Chelsea has done a fantastic job at retelling 1001 nights, and has created such an immersive world with characters that feel so real! The plot was so gripping, I couldn't put the book down, and I cant wait for book 2!

5/5!

This was kind of underwhelming honestly. Didn't love it as much as I wanted to. Nice idea and lore but boring plot and execution.

The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah
Published by Orbit, June 2022
ISBN: 978-0356517438
480 pages
Review by Mark Yon
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.

With no choice but to obey or be executed, Loulie journeys with the sultan's oldest son to find the artefact. 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.
This is the latest in a trend which sees a partial return (has it ever gone away?) to Arabian Nights type stories. I’m also thinking Bradley Beaulieu’s Twelve Kings (which I loved), S. A. Chakraborty’s Daevabad series, Tasha Suri’s Books of Ambha trilogy… not to mention the classics. It is a world of hot climes, desert sand, searing winds, manipulative sultans and villainous princes, not to mention a healthy dollop of magic and jinns.
This one hits the ground running. It’s, in essence, a quest story, with magician-thief Loulie and her jinn companion Qadir being forced into a seemingly impossible search for an ancient magical artefact. At the same time, there’s political shenanigans and power struggles, not to mention the return of a repressed magical group to keep our main characters busy.
This sort of story wins or loses on the strengths of its characters and here Chelsea’s do not disappoint. Loulie is by turns likeable, annoying, naïve and endearing, and this is emphasised by the friendly, bickering buddy-relationship she has with the ever-loyal Qadir. In addition, and as a counterpoint, we have the conflicted Prince Mazen, who has been sent with Loulie and Qadir to find the ancient relic, and Aisha, the young assassin-thief dedicated to protecting Mazen on his arduous assignment. The villains are appropriately villainous, and the different means of magic are imaginative, although not too dominant that their use devalues everything else. The romance therein is not wincingly gauche, nor too much for readers wanting adventure.
And then to all this we have ancient palaces, decrepit yet colourful markets, sandstorms, oppressive heat and vast deserts which creates an endearing setting. For those wanting a story that hearkens back to tales of Aladdin and Sinbad, this one dips deep into that rich seam of storytelling narrative of times long ago. This is deliberate – and emphasised by the point that we have tales within the storyline - that storyteller Mazen tells to good effect.
The story itself is fairly straightforward. Its young protagonists will be appreciated by those looking for a YA type tale, and the plot can be followed without too much twisting and turning. With a focus on the characters, the worldbuilding is not especially detailed beyond the main protagonists, but there’s enough there to give the reader the impression that they’re in an Arabian Nights kind of story. The bigger picture, of the relationship between humans, gods and jinns, is an interesting one, and a major plot spoiler (so I won’t mention it too much here.)
At times the author’s enthusiasm slightly derails the progress – reading that characters say things like “No sh*t” dented my sense of disbelief a little – but generally this is a book that overall makes the reader want it to succeed.
Whilst in the end the conclusion is not anything revolutionary - and a huge cliffhanger ready for the next book - the journey we take to get there is a lot of fun. This page-turner demanded I kept reading as much as I could until it was done.

I fell in love with the gorgeous cover and then I fell in love with Loulie and Qadir, the fascinating Middle East inspired world building, and the gripping plot.
It's a book that kept me reading and I didn't want to end as I was thoroughly enjoying it.
I can't wait to read the next book.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I absolutely loved the Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah and although it is marketed as an adult fantasy, I believe that it could work well as a KS4/5 (15-18) book club pick. Not only does it retell the Arabian Nights in a fresh new way, the writing is accessible and the pace is fast enough to keep pupils engaged the whole way through, so I definitely think that I will pick it as our first pick in September. We have just finished the Grishaverse and it will be nice for them to switch from a Russian inspired universe to an Arabian one. My pupils love a strong female character and Loulie is particularly enjoyable to read, I am sure they will come to root for her on her quest for the lamp. The cowardly prince and his fear of ghouls also offers comic relief and is relatable as a character too. Overall, I would definitely recommend this book.

I simply adored The Stardust Thief. The world was so interesting and the characters so colourful that I couldn't put it down. I always enjoy exploring worlds that aren't really written about much and loved what Chelsea Abdullah did. I can't for the next book.