The Stardust Thief
Publication Date: May 17, 2022
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.
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.
My Review
The Stardust Thief is a mix of all the good vibes from the best desert fantasy stories, like The City of Brass, The Wrath and The Dawn, or Rebel of the Sands, combined with its own fun spin on the Aladdin and the lamp storyline we all know and love.
The Stardust Thief tells the story of three young misfits and one jinn going on the adventure of a lifetime. Well... kind of. The jinn has probably been through similar adventures before, but it's the adventure of a lifetime for the others. The primary point of view of the story is Loulie. She's the secretive merchant with a mysterious jinn companion, Qadir. She's also an illustrious relic seller with a talent that catches the sultan's eye. The other main character is Prince Mazen. I adored him. He's such a cinnamon roll. He's the youngest son of the sultan, and he's an awkward bean who gets into all kinds of trouble. Aisha is the final point of view. She's the deadly warrior type. At first, I wasn't sure what her POV was supposed to contribute to the plot, but things went all cray-cray for her and I was hooked. It's probably one of the few plotlines that I didn't see coming.
Yes, that's right, while I did really enjoy this book for the characters, I do have to admit that the plot was a tad predictable in terms of the overarching story. Mazen is just too naive. For a storyteller, he truly hasn't read enough tales about betrayal. Despite knowing these major plot points, I did not know how exactly our group of characters would get to their destination—the hidden jinn lamp. These were the surprise events in between the bigger, more obvious reveals that kept the story enjoyable. I will say though, that the action scenes could get a little confusing at times. I'm definitely going to have to do a re-read before book two releases, just to figure out what actually happened in those fast-paced scenes, especially the scenes in the middle of the book. I felt like I was missing something during those parts. But overall, this is the story of the journey to find the lamp, and The Stardust Thief delivered on that.
As for the world-building of the book, it was a fairly easy read to understand all of the places, people, and magics. It does feel like a crossover book, since the characters are young (early 20s) and the world isn't terribly complex. I could see both teens and adults loving this book. I'm also very interested to see how the author steps up the jinn element in the series' sequels, as we seemed to barely touch on the entire history and dynamics of their kind in book one. There's a lot of room to expand the world.
All in all, The Stardust Thief is a good time, despite my nit-picking. It has good world-building and good characters. So what it lacks in surprise plot arcs or descriptive action scenes, it makes up for with its charming protagonists and the exciting potential that's set up for future installments.
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