English language

Published Sept. 28, 2022 by Orbit.

ISBN:
9780316368766

View on OpenLibrary

4 stars (1 review)

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 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.

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, …

6 editions

Review of 'The Stardust Thief' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

This was good! A very accessible, fast paced, intriguing fantasy retelling of the Forty Thieves. I particularly loved the world building. Abhullah did a fantastic job of creating a rich and lively setting that felt genuine and interesting. I didn't like the character work so much, most characters were extremely one-dimensional, and while they each had an appropriate character arc that influenced their actions, none of them really had an arc that impacted who they were. Granted, it's the first book in a series, so I imagine we'll see more of that in subsequent installations. But overall this was very charming. I do think it may not end up being terribly memorable as time goes on, but I'm definitely interested enough to pick up the next one that's supposed to release this year.