I was so happy to be back with our friends! This series is so good and I was highly anticipating this book! It didn’t disappoint and took us all over the Sandsea and then some. The ending made me scream! I need book three! This book does suffer slightly from second book syndrome where the author has to fill some plot gaps, move some characters, etc but it was still a joy to be in their story.

Thank you Netgalley for an early copy to review of The Ashfire King!

The Ashfire King by Chelsea Abdullah is an absolute masterpiece of fantasy that immerses readers in a breathtaking world rich with depth and detail. From the very first page, Abdullah weaves an intricate tapestry of magic, creating an environment so immersive that it feels like stepping into a dream.

The Ashfire King is an absolute triumph for fans of world-building and magic. It’s a book that invites readers to lose themselves in a fantastical world, with captivating magical elements. Abdullah’s talent for creating a living, breathing world is on full display, making this a must-read for anyone who loves immersive fantasy.

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year, and it did not disappoint! Look, I threw my Kindle when I finished the eARC. How am I supposed to wait for the third book?? With that ending???
Anyways, this book far exceeds the first, and the first one was also a 5 star read for me. There is so much found family, I love these characters so much. I have loved watching them grow and come into their own, like my own children. I love how Chelsea Abdullah weaves a narrative to feel so whimsical, like a fairytale in a story. Absolutely solidified her as an auto-buy author!

Neither here nor there, but long ago...
Loulie and Mazen begin their journey in the mysterious land of the jinn. With the fate of their friends, and their kingdom, unknown, the pair must find their way back to the surface. However, if they thought the politics above the Sandsea were complicated then they are in for the shock of their lives. As they struggle to determine friend versus foe, they must also navigate magic they truly don't understand.

Oh. My. God. Abdullah, I could truly just give you the most love-filled forehead kiss the world has ever seen. I struggled through over two years of lack-of-sequel depression to be absolutely blessed with the novel of my dreams. I genuinely cannot foresee being more excited for a book release than this one.. except, perhaps the next book of this trilogy. (I'm fairly certain I teared up when I got the confirmation that I was receiving an ARC, although I did black out a bit.) I am fully prepared for the wait of the finale this time, however.
The amount of new lore was the perfect amount, as was the introduction of new characters. At no point did I feel like I was overwhelmed with information or that I needed a character cheet-sheet to keep track of who was who. And the plot twists! God, I loved them! I will say, for some reason it was difficult for me to dive in. I didn't devour this book as quickly as I did the first, but I think in a way it helped me to really absorb all the information.
Loulie is a goddess, and if this was around when I was a pre-teen I'm sure Aisha would have been my Katniss Everdeen. I cannot get over the character development in this one! You'd expect Mazen to lose his softness, and while he does deal with some hardships, he's still got his goofy smile. And Qadir.. what can I say about him other than how he's just.. ideal?!
I could just gush forever about how much I love this series, and this book, but I condensed it as much as I could make myself. I don't think I'll ever get over how much I enjoyed reading this, and how lucky I feel to have gotten a copy early!
A HUGE thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books for an eARC! Projected publishing date: April 15th, 2025

I fell in love with this series while reading The Stardust Thief, and The ashfire King exceeded my expectations for the sequel! Chelsea Abdullah’s worldbuilding is so rich and vibrant that you are transported into her creations. The characters are whole people who you cannot help but care deeply for. Each POV carries its own weight, so no one feels more important or thoughtful than another. Pure magic!

I had a tough time ratings and reviewing this book for possibly stupid reasons. The Ashfire King is the very very long awaited sequel to The Stardust Thief. There was a huge gap between the first and second book, but it wasn't terribly hard to get caught back up. The Ashfire King is a mostly good book with some small flaws that prevented it from being a 5 star read.

Much like the first book, Ashfire focuses on action and adventure- taking the scope of a 1970s-80s fantasy while injecting it into complex and relatable characters. We have 3 major POVs- Loulie, Aisha, and Mazen.

Most of the book takes place in the world of the djinn, where our heroes find themselves trapped and unable to get back to the world that Omar is now ravaging at the surface. In a world abandoned by the Ashfire King, revealed as Loulie's faithful bodyguard Qadir, the world of Djinn is in a state of chaos as different faction leaders are in a constant state of war and unrest.

Meanwhile. Aisha chases Omar to extract her revenge on him.

The thing I love most about this series is the scope, character can travel across worlds, through wholly new cultures, and the universe truly feels baked and lived in. Chelsea Abdullah is a master at non overwhelming world building- she doesn't need to explain what every plant or food item is because her dreamy fairy tale universe operates very well exactly how it is- yet you still feel like you learn a lot about it and how it operates.

This is most certainly a middle book. with the primary focus not really being on our main villain- this is basically a very, very long side quest and COULD have been removed completely. Regardless, what I liked about it is that it still felt like there were critical stakes, and I don't mind if a story isn't relevant as much to the main plot if its still feels fundamentally interesting. One of the strengths of The Sandsea Trilogy is having this odd "Saturday morning cartoon" for grown ups feeling- I would comp it to a series like Trigun in this regard. So was most of this book strictly necessary? No, but it was still meaningful and fun.

Loulie was amazing as always, and Aisha easily had the story's best chapters and strongest character development. Focusing for a moment on Aisha's plotline, we REALLY get to know her in this book, and if you are partial to morally grey characters, I find her to be an absolute treat in this book- especially because she is our only eyes into a secondary plot.

Regardless, characters are where I struggled with this installment. Qadir, arguably the most popular character of the series, is missing for most of the book. No POV, not a lot of checking in. I thought his absence was handled well, but pulling your best character out of the action for that long certainly doesn't add to the book's positive traits.

Mazen was my second issue. I mentioned in the first book I didn'r feel his POV added much, and my opinion has not changed. Mazen doesn't really have anything to learn- he feels like Abdullah's pet character who is always morally sound, makes good choices, and his failures are cleaned up well. Hes boring, basically. His only character growth between two books is focused on learning to like- value himself more as a prince, and even that is not touched on much. Mazen is a character who the plot often happens to, not a character who drives it. When the coolest thing about him in 2 books is that in book 2 he gets a dope pet bird, thats an issue for me. I found his chapters boring yet again.

Additionally, Chelsea Abdullah's ultimate choice for who to put into a romantic relationship was...awful. I knew there would be romance in this book due to an AMA answer she has provided last year, and was hoping the slow burn would result in something cool. The character chosen for the romance (you can probably guess based on whats negative about this review) was awful, and any scenes meant to be romantic felt hollow and completely void of chemistry. Thank god its not a huge focus of the book, because it would be enough to turn me off the series.

Despite these flaws, I did really enjoy my time reading the Ashfire King. Sandsea series is basically popcorn plus- its all of the fun of reading genres that are meant to turn your brain off, but with the added benefit of really cool cultural elements, interesting characters, and excellent storytelling. This series is begging for an animated adaptation!

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

This was a really enjoyable sequel to The Stardust Thief. We are still following the same POV characters as in the first book (Loulie, Mazen, & Aisha) as they navigate their new circumstances. Loulie and Mazen arrive in the sunken jinn kingdom to find a very different political and physical climate than they expected. As Loulie and Mazen navigate the new challenges they face, they discover more about the history of the jinn and human kingdoms. As Aisha is reunited with Omar, she faces an internal reckoning about how her feelings towards him have changed and discovers more secrets about him and his 40 thieves.

I really enjoyed the new settings we explored in this book and the further development of our main characters. I particularly liked the character growth that Aisha has gone through since the first book and how she is realizing that not everything is as black and white as she had thought that continued into the second book. And while The Stardust Thief contained familiar nods to 1001 Nights, The Ashfire King branches out into less familiar territory and more into a world of Abdullah's own creation. I couldn't help comparing both The Stardust Thief and The Ashfire King to SA Chakraborty's Daevabad Trilogy, partly because of some similar plot beats and environments, but this series is definitely intended for more of a YA audience compared to the Daevabad Trilogy. I think that if you like one, you will like the other, but if you are like me and have aged out of the YA age bracket, then be prepared for fewer political intricacies in Abdullah's series.

The main issue I had with The Ashfire King was something of a pacing or tension issue. Some of the events began to feel repetitive (characters travel to do a thing, get more information, and then have to travel to go do something else), making the level of tension stay fairly consistent throughout the whole book instead of having periods of higher and lower tension. There were moments where that did happen, but for the most part the tension stayed the same throughout the book. I do think that mainly stems from this being a YA novel, and the portion that felt repetitive was somewhere between the 60-75% mark. Once I passed the 75% mark we started getting the culmination of all the previous events our characters had been through, all the way to the end of the book. Additionally, all of the events made sense for the story and nothing felt superfluous or out of place.

I would probably rate this more like 3.75, but rounded up for the review.

This is the second book in "The Sandsea Trilogy" and follows the adventures of legendary merchant Loulie al-Nazari and banished prince Mazen bin Malik after they flee from Omar, Mazen's maniacal brother, only to find themselves trapped in the Jinn world. The Jinn world is quickly crumbling and Loulie is needed to save it and return it to the surface world. The book is non-stop adventures with all sorts of challenges along the way. traps, daring escapes, ghouls, bad jinn, good jinn, difficulties choosing whose side to be on and when and beautiful magical worldbuilding abound.
This is a delightful read and I look forward to the next book in the series. It would be enjoyed by readers of S.A. Chakraborty (Daevabad Trilogy), and Andrea Stewart (Bone Shard Daughter).

This was all of my favorite things about a sequel!!! We explored an entirely new part of the world, met new and crazy characters, and fell more in love with the characters we knew from book 1! This book did an excellent job of raising the stakes, and I absolutely cannot wait for the last book!!🧞‍♂️⚔️

Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC!

I love reading books set in Arabian settings and I really liked the first book in this series. The world building was wonderful!

The Ashfire King is the sequel to The Stardust Thief, a book I really enjoyed and while I eagerly anticipated The Ashfire King I have to unfortunately DNF this boook at 50%.
Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit books for the opportunity to read and review this book but this one is a book that I am disappointed to report that I did not enjoy.
The first time I started this book I soft DNF at 35%. The second time I am DNF at 50%. Unfortunately this book is bringing me joy to read and has gotten to the point that I don’t want to read anymore of it. I understand that this is the second book in a planned trilogy but the separation of the main characters is making this feel like the most filler book of filler books.

Thank you Netgalley for an early copy review of The Ashfire King!

The book picks up immediately after the events in The Stardust Thief.

We are following divided parties:

Loulie & Mazen are navigating the underground Jinn realm. They are trying to get back to their home - while also discovering more history and secrets of the Jinn realm. They meet a variety of new and untrustworthy characters who get them wrapped up in their own politics.

Aisha and Hakim meet up and eventually travel together to return to the palace to get their revenge on Omar. Along the way, Aisha continues to struggle with sharing herself with an Ifrit. They also discover new Jinn magic and develop a friendly relationship.

Chelsea Abdullah dives deeper into rich world building with beautiful descriptions of the land in this installment.

I enjoyed the story and I will be excited to read the next book!

It's been almost three years since I read The Stardust Thief, which I really enjoyed. Although I did not remember a couple of the side characters mentioned by name, I was able to understand the plot and character motives without any difficulty. I loved this just as much as the first, with amazing world building, engaging plot, well-developed characters, etc. My only disappoint is that Qadir was not really part of the story despite what the title suggests, although it has me looking forward to the last book even more.

4 stars - would recommend

<strong>ARC/5 Stars</strong>
I’m assuming because of the publication date involving a number of delays, book 2 starts off with an outstanding synopsis of what the main points and plots were in book 1. This allows the reader to be brought back to where book 1 ended, and could even serve as a standing point for someone just now jumping into the series, if they so chose to skip book 1.

Although, I myself would not recommend this. Abdullah writes with such clarity and passion, bringing the worlds, and the characters to full blown life within the pages of the written word. The reader would be denying theirselves a story told with rich, evocative details, well worth the effort to read.

No matter what others opinions were expressed, book 2 was well worth the wait.
As we’re pulled back into the world of Loulie, Mazen, Qadir, Aisha, and a whole slew of additional characters, some new, some old, the main plot line is off and running from page 1.

There’s also a lot of Arabic double entendres, whether on purpose or not, and I’m so glad I had the opportunity to read this ARC on my Kindle. Thank goodness for the dictionary, Wikipedia, and the translator program-although at times it didn’t always get it correct, I came away with the overall meaning and context it was used in.

The story is picked up where book 1 left off, and what a ride the reader is in for. Nonstop action, with a lot of intrigue, betrayal, and magical based fantasy to stoke the fires! (Joke intended!)

There’s two colossal revelations that are launched, which will have your mouth on the floor, deeply engrossed as you continue to flip pages to see what happens next! Animation and serious upheaval X’s 10!!

I see this one shooting to the top of the charts immediately upon release. Don’t miss out on what’s sure to be a top read for 2025! Preorder your copy today!

Just as book 1 was 5 stars for me, twice, this lands as a 5 star as well. Here’s hoping book 3 is released sooner rather than later!

An enormous thank you to NetGalley and the publisher Orbit Books, for presenting me with the opportunity to pre-read this, and allowing me to freely express my opinion on this book.

I received an ARC from netgalley/the publisher in an exchange for an honest review.

This was a solid follow up to the first book! We pick up right after the ending of the first installment. I loved our three main POV characters, and I thought they developed and progressed nicely over the course of the novel. I do think the middle dragged a bit, but the ending was great, fast-paced, and ended on a nerve-inducing cliffhanger.

Loved the continuation of this story. It flipped the scene to a world of Djinn's and Irifit's and the crew needs to figure out how to resolve things. Definitely a great series to read.

**My thanks to Orbit Books for providing me with an advanced review copy via NetGalley**

4 stars

I loved the first book in Chelsea Abdullah’s Sandsea Trilogy, and I think The Ashfire King is a worthy follow up. My reading was probably a little hurt by the fact that I read the first book nearly three years ago, and so I took a little while to feel comfortable slipping back into this world, even though (and perhaps slightly because of) half the book now takes place in a new realm, the sunken jinn cities that were long ago magically sealed off from the human-controlled territories above.

The party (of our PoV characters) is split, Mazen and Loulie submerged in the djinn cities beneath the Sandsea and Aisha still up above, which makes for an expansive story with many political and personal threads connecting the two worlds. All three of our PoV characters undergo significant changes in how they view and approach the world and how they think of themselves, which is really satisfying both within this second novel and looking at the series overall. That character growth is probably the strongest part of the book.

The magic of the world remains exciting and wonderful. However, I find myself missing Qadir, Loulie’s jinn bodyguard and one of my favorite side characters from the first book, who despite playing an enormous thematic role in this title is largely absent from the on-page narrative.

The scope of the world could get a little overwhelming. I sometimes didn’t fully understand conflicts between characters or factions or why certain groups or characters reacted as they did, and while I felt like most of my confusion was resolved by the end of the book, that sense of confusion didn’t all feel intentional. Additionally, the antagonist of the story (Omar) has grown from an interesting and powerful opponent in Book 1 to a bit of a cartoon villain now in Book 2, and I hope he returns to something more interesting in Book 3.

That said, I’m really nitpicking the book because I loved The Stardust Thief so much, and did genuinely enjoy my time in The Ashfire King watching the characters grow and change in so many ways, and immersing myself in the fabulous and magical world Abdullah has created. I will definitely be reading Book 3 whenever it comes out.

*Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC

"The Ashfire King" is a worthy installment to the Sandsea trilogy, with as much adventure as its predecessor, more expansive worldbuilding and exploring, as well as great characters - both old and new.

The novel is tense, leaving the reader afraid of the inevitable catchup by and confrontation with the antagonists, but the constant scattering and games of cat-and-mouse can be a little tiring after several loops. We learn more about the Sandsea, however, and the worldbuilding and magics are quite a delight. My favorite thing about the novel, though, is the characters' growth and development, and the many humane moments throughout the book, which truly demonstrate the heart at the core of the story.

I look forward to the last book, and it's going to be a difficult wait.

This book includes a recap of book one! I had never seen that before, and I truly appreciated it. If hour-long TV shows can have a weekly recap, why can't books?

We pick up with Loulie, Mazen, and Aisha where we left them at the end of book one. All three are in new places and in imminent danger. As each learns about where they are and who is around them, they realize that things are not what they seem and no one can be trusted. Loulie is coming to grips with her separation from Qadir. Mazen is grappling with the fact that his brother, disguised as him, killed their father. Aisha is alone in the desert with her jinn counterpart. Each has to traverse a dangerous world where Omar, the current sultan, wants them dead, and the jinn also wants them dead.

Each moment is jam-packed with emotion and danger. What a great book two. I cannot wait for book three!