It misses the 1001 Nights feel I loved of the first book. Also I found the strongest part of this series is the relationship between Loulie and Qadir which wasn't as present in this one. I also thought this was duology, but it's actually a trilogy. I really loved Mazen in the first book but in this he was more what everyone assumed of him in the first.

Thank you to Orbit and Netgalley for the eARC.

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year, as I gave The Stardust Thief, five stars and I couldn’t wait to follow these characters into their next adventure. Sadly, this was a disappointment for me.

We pick up immediately where we left off with our characters falling into another world, essentially, the biggest issue I had with this book was the lack of pov from Qadir, who is one of the best characters in the series. Instead we follow Loulie, Mazen and Aisha, all still great characters but Qadir was the much needed comic relief within this story at times.

What follows instead is a plot that feels like a side-quest, and no growth from our characters which makes the book feel like it’s moving too fast at times, but also stagnant.

Our characters are involved in the middle of a conflict between the jinn. Throughout this novel, we see them flip sides so often that by the end I didn’t know which side we landed on, nor did I really care. Ultimately, it seems it didn’t matter because there weren’t benefits or consequences either way, the conflict between opposing forces added to add conflict to the story. Throughout this, our characters are uncovering magic and relics but it all felt too convenient for the story. It didn’t carry the same magic that it did within the first story.

Additionally, our characters didn’t grow or change any within this story. Mazen especially became insufferable because neither character was in any position to change anything, thus taking away the autonomy and personality of the characters within this story.

At times I still did enjoy this story, much of what I enjoyed was built upon from the previous book, so I have hopes for the final book but this book sadly didn’t carry the same magic of the first.

The Ashfire King is the second installment in the Sandsea Trilogy, and it takes the story in a compelling new direction. Now newly separated, all the main characters we grew attached to in the first book are scattered across different paths, each facing unique and often harrowing challenges. While it was bittersweet to see them divided, their eventual reunion felt all the more rewarding because of it.

One of the highlights of this sequel is its expanded world-building. The introduction of the Jinn world was both fascinating and immersive, adding layers of depth and intrigue to the series’ lore.

That said, I did feel the book could have been trimmed down in places. The pacing occasionally dragged, making certain sections feel longer than necessary. However, these moments didn’t overshadow the overall enjoyment. I loved following the characters’ individual journeys and meeting a host of memorable new faces, including a magical bird made of fire.

Overall, The Ashfire King delivers an exciting continuation of the saga, deepening the story while introducing fresh elements that keep the series engaging.

I adored the first book in this series and was extremely excited to finally pick up book 2. Unfortunately, I found this one much slower to get into—although it really picked up for me around the 65-70% mark! I think it suffers from a touch of middle book syndrome: the early plot definitely felt like a lot of set up so that we could get to what I imagine the main conflict of the final book will be (we're also doing a sloooooooooow romantic burn here, y'all. Some people will adore that, so not inherently a negative. Just a note).

However, once the action really started rolling in the second half, I found myself sucked back into the world and the characters much easier and I started to really enjoy the book. I dropped to 4 stars because I think the pacing could have been tightened up in a few areas to help with that slowness, but overall, I think this was a strong installment. I'm definitely looking forward to book 3!

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the publisher, Orbit Books | Orbit, for this eARC to review.

5/5 stars

LORDDDYYYY I love Chelsea Abdullah SO MUCH. She does such an incredible job of making her stories so vivid without it feeling weighed down by descriptors or it feeling like we're only being "told" and not "shown", and she makes her characters feel so real that it's impossible not to get attached to each and every one of them. Also, the audiobook narrators are IMMACULATE and truly bring the story to life. I also love how Chelsea is able to weave humor into the story to provide levity and relief between the *incredibly stressful* moments throughout the story. Catch me frothing at the mouth for book 3.

✨BOOK REVIEW✨

The Ashfire King - Chelsea Abdullah

The Ashfire King is the second book in the Sandsea Trilogy by Chelsea Abdullah. The book starts immediately following the insane plot twist that ended the first book. The first book starts slow and steady but ramps up in the end and continues at a quick pace going into book 2. We continue to follow Loulie and company on their journey across the Sandsea on their quest to see an end to jinn and human conflict. I don’t want to spoil anything from earlier in the series but suffice to say, The Ashfire King ends almost as chaotically as the first leaving readers (and myself) eagerly awaiting the conclusion to this story.

I read The Stardust Thief years ago but didn’t remember enough to confidently jump back into this series so I re-read it before beginning The Ashfire King. I appreciated this series so much more on my second read and I am so glad I decided to continue on. This series reminds me a lot of the Daevabad trilogy and I have already urged friends of mine to give the Sandsea trilogy a chance based on their love of that trilogy. The cast of characters is truly unique, and while there is a romantic subplot it does not dominate the story line, in this series the adventure is the star of the show. I love the middle eastern inspired jinn magic system. I especially loved how complex the jinn’s magic and constraints can be and how in the end, everything the jinn and humans have been taught about each other is far more nuanced than either side can believe.

The Ashfire King, and The Stardust Thief (Book 1) are available, in several formats. Thank you to Orbit Books and NetGalley for my copy; all opinions are my own.

Oh the world-building was so expansive with this second installment. I loved learning more about the world of the Jinn while going along with Loulie and Mazen’s adventures. I liked being able to get to know Aisha better. Over all, such an immersive reading experience

I loved Chelsea Abdullah‘s debut novel, The Stardust Thief, the first in her Sandsea Trilogy. That one ended on quite the cliffhanger! This year book two came out: The Ashfire King. Here, Loulie and Mazen are navigating the realm of djinn underground, with a mission of breaking several bindings before the whole world crumbles. Meanwhile, Aisha is coming to terms with her new existence and shifting loyalties. How can they all save not one world, but two, with so much magic working against them?

What I Liked:
- Djinn perspectives vs. human perspectives on past events and current goals. They don’t agree on who was good or bad, and those feelings of othering and mistrust persist.
- Each of the main characters’ evolving sense of self. They each grow quite a bit as the novel progresses. Aisha, in particular, has a lot to come to terms with.
- Interspersed short stories woven throughout the novel. This especially makes use of Mazen’s storytelling skills! It also adds to the overall world-building beautifully.
- Magic, power, and… birds!

What Didn’t Work for Me:
- This book is pretty long, and some parts could have been condensed. It also has the same issue that most middle books of trilogies have: feeling largely like a connection between the more impactful beginning and end.

Final Thoughts
If you enjoyed The Stardust Thief, you’ll love stepping into that magical world again in The Ashfire King. The magic systems are expanded upon and the characters all grow a lot as they face new challenges and discoveries. This is a book that you can take your time falling into. It ends on some more cliffhangers, and I can’t wait to see how the Sandsea Trilogy concludes.

I received an eARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit for the opportunity.

This is book two in The Sandsea Trilogy by Chelsea Abdullah. Once someone told me that if I liked THE BEAR AND THE NIGHTINGALE, that I'd like this book/series. Once I started reading, I was very confused at the correlation between the two. Now, if someone had said if I'd liked THE ADVENTURES OF AMINA AL-SIRAFI, it would have made more sense to me.

THE ASHFIRE KING picks up immediately where THE STARDUST THIEF ends and I greatly appreciated that. There wasn't a lot of call back to the previous book, but I was okay with that since I'd just finished the other one. I wasn't entirely sure who the Stardust Thief actually was at the end of the first book, and I had my suspicions of who the Ashfire King was when starting this one. Both are made clear as the story goes on. I did feel like THE ASHFIRE KING was a bit slower to start, but reading two different timelines that are co-occurring, helped me get through that slower paced part of the book. I greatly appreciated the continuation of the 3 POVs of Aisha, Mazen, and Loulie. They each have their distinct voice, and I don't think the story would be as good as it is if it was a single or third person POV.

This book-this series really-is full of adventure, of finding out secrets, learning to trust and opening your heart, magic, adventure, and lore. I am hoping that book three has a little bit more romance that this book hinted at more heavily. It does happen to end on a cliffhanger, but that just left me with so many questions that I can't wait to find out.

4.5 ⭐️ rounded up

This was such a fun sequel. With where book 1 left off I was ready to learn so much more about the lore of this world and this book DELIVERED on that front. The new locations and mysteries I was just eating up. If you are more of a character driven reader I could see this not necessarily being your jam because from start to finish it was one adventurous time with little time to reflect in the crazy things happening. But if you’re like me and wanted to learn so much more about the lore…this is going to be your JAM.

I immersion read this and the cast of the audiobook, yes I said cast because each main POV gets their own narrator, adds so much to the reading experience. This book has such an emphasis on oral story-telling in the world building that this amazing audio performance really just breathes such extra detail wonder into. I would highly recommend.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me a review copy via NetGalley.

The plot picks up right where the stardust thief ends, so watch a video or do a reread of the first book if you’ve read it. Since I forgot most of what happened it took me a minute to get into but as the story went on I understood what was happening and really enjoyed it.

Writing and world building was paced really well. If you like action, magic and storytelling read this series.

I really enjoyed this book, it was a great sequel! I love this Middle Eastern inspired fantasy with it's lush and fascinating world building and unique magic! The characters are well written and I enjoyed the hints of romance in this one! After the ending, though, I can't wait for the next book!

The best middle book in a series I have ever read. The action in this one topped the first book. Read this a few months ago and I am still shocked at the ending.

As Loulie al-Nazari and Mazen bin Malik are fleeing Omar, they find themselves in the jinn realm. And to their shock, they find that the cities are sinking into the Sandsea. The magic that keeps the cities afloat is failing as the Queen tries to find a solution. When brought before her, she initially thinks they are a part of the rebellion that has been brewing. They find themselves right into the middle as Loulie can use the magic of the former king. And Loulie will have to decide the best way forward for her legacy.

The long awaited sequel to The Stardust Thief, I couldn't wait to dive into this book. Unfortunately for me it came to me at a bad time and it took me so long to get through this. So I ended up with quite a disjointed reading. But I did like the book. The first half was a bit slow as it built up the politics, rebellion, and the realm itself as Loulie was trying to find out why she has access to Qadir’s powers. But once the story got going it was action packed. Both in the jinn realm and the desert with Aisha. I love the budding relationship between Loulie and Mazen and can't wait to see more in the next book. I would also like to thank the author for the recap and wish more authors did that in series. Looking forward to the next book.

Rating 4 stars
*I received a review copy from NetGalley for my voluntary and honest review

Like the first work, there were many stories included as interludes throughout the primary plot. There were also a lot of flashbacks incorporated. And the characters get pulled in different directions, creating multiple plotlines that eventually do converge. All of this led to the work feeling less engaging than the first, without enough time to really get immersed in one plot before we jumped to the next or into a flashback and really highlighted some plot holes and weaknesses.

I thought it was a bit odd that Qadir was sidelined for the whole book despite the setup from the previous work and some of the reveals in this one. And I realized that Loulie and Mazen are kind of bland as characters. In a middle book like this, I expect character growth and evolution and a strong set up to keep you invested for book three. But instead, characters just kind of knew how to do things suddenly in this book that were out of character (since when would Mazen the pacifist be good at fighting?).

This book was fine and sets up for what sounds to be a promising and entertaining close to the trilogy. I almost feel as if this should have been turned into a duology rather than a trilogy, but we’ll see how the next book goes. My thanks to NetGalley and Orbit Books for allowing me to read this work. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

A wonderful follow-up to The Stardust Thief. I wish it were a duology, because that would mean I wouldn't have to wait for the third.

The character arcs for each of the main characters were both somewhat surprising after the first book and exactly right for their trajectory. I can't wait for how things fall in the third.

The merchant and the prince fell through the sand sea as a last resort for protection. Instead of protection, they find themselves in a lost jinn city, drafted on yet another quest for another royal court against their wishes. Loulie and Mazen must fight against these jinn factions in order to save themselves and attempt to return to the surface.

I was disappointed to find that this one fell a little flat for me. There was not much action going on and felt like another repeat of the plot of the first novel in the series. I appreciated the extra background information provided in this installment but over felt like it suffered from the second book syndrome - meant to bridge the first and third.

It is really hard to be better than a fantastic book one, the Ashfire King felt like a solid middle book in a trilogy.
One of the things that I found incredibly unique about the book and absolutely loved as someone who reads a lot of books and has trouble keeping the plots straight was the entire book one recap that happened at the start of the story. It felt natural to the story in the way that it felt like the characters of the book were recapping everything that had happened to them. I wish more fantasy authors would do this!
I love the world building throughout this series, pulling from mythology and folklore and turning into new stories and plots. The subplot romance of Loulie and Mazen, will they, won't they!
This book felt like a lot of filler information, which at times was not as interesting to get through as book one, book one was an introduction to a bright new world and book two felt like the textbook background information book. It was weird reading Qadir's pov and characters interacting with him as he was just a shell of his book one self.
I will definitely be reading book three.

Such a long awaited sequel for me! So glad to finally be back in it. Really appreciated the recap at the beginning because it had been a while and I really didn't want to have to re-read the first book. I was obsessed with the first one when it came out, sadly I think I lost some of that passion for this story in the years since, and I didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted to. I think it was a great second book, I just don't know that my heart is in it anymore to continue with this series after this. I'm devastated that I seem to have fallen out of love with it because I have such fond memories of my experience reading the first one. I still definitely recommend for anyone who loved the first one and wants to continue.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

After sinking beneath the Sandsea, Loulie and Mazen find that the world below was not left as pristine as they had been led to believe. As they attempt to find a way back to the surface, Aisha battles with the consequences of her survival from Omar.

I FLEW through the first 85% and then I panicked because I was so scared of how it would end…so I put it off for TWO MONTHS before finally ripping off the band aid. If that isn’t a well-written story with characters you genuinely worry for, I don’t know what is. Ugh, this series has my heart!