Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC, but this was a DNF for me at around 35%.

While it was nice to see the main characters again, I felt like we weren't seeing much in terms of development for two out of the three main characters. I struggled to care about the challenges they were all facing in their new environments, and decided to put the book down in favor of some other anticipated reads. Will try to read again soon.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance reader's copy of the book. When I initially requested this book, I hadn't read the first one yet but then I did and I was swept into this beautiful world. The second book picks up right where the first ends and expands the world considerably. I greatly enjoyed learning more about the jinn and the marid and their world. It definitely does what a second book in a trilogy is supposed to and set up the last book. I honestly cannot wait for the last book to see how this all ends.

Thank you netgalley, Orbit, and the author for giving me an early copy of this book to read and review. All thoughts are my own.

I really enjoyed this book. I don’t think it was as telling as The Stardust Thief but I couldn’t put it down. I did get a bit more confused trying to keep up with everything because a lot was just going on. I do wish we had had more scenes with Qadir but that’s fine. The romance is super slow burning still and I’m hoping it picks up in the next installment.

I did see the ending coming and I am so excited for book three because honestly who knows what is going to happen next.

4 stars!

The Ashfire King started the best way a sequel possibly could: with a recap. Starting the book with a recap in the form of one of Mazen’s stories was brilliant, and so so helpful, and I wish more sequels would do this!

Overall, this was a good follow up to The Stardust Thief. The characters are just so endearing and interesting—although I do wish we’d seen more of Qadir! The world is so lush and so interesting, and in this book we get to explore the jinn world and all its magic.

I really can’t point to anything in the story that I didn’t like besides the pacing. It’s pretty consistently paced throughout, without there ever really being any strong peaks or climaxes. As much as I liked this, I struggled to get through it. Nevertheless, I would definitely still recommend this series!

the perfect amount of birds, stellar work

can than be my whole review?

jk, i love these charcters with my whole heart and ID LIKE FOR THEM TO BE HAPPY, can we make that happen for book three?? can we stop putting them thru so much PAIN??

this whole story was just so good, it stood on its own (no middle book syndrome here) and we got to see so much of the jinn world. i like how big developments were seen through to their conclusion in this book but we also got just enough to keep it open for the third.

the ending was just rude tho... hurtful.. cruel.. will never forgive abdullah for that

“Neither here nor there, but not so long ago…” I absolutely loved that this book not only started with a recap, but a recap that worked within the in universe storytelling structure. I do think that it would benefitted to have a glossary just for quick reference of terms as well, but maybe next time!

I think that this is an excellent sequel, and that those who liked The Stardust Thief are going to enjoy this as well. It expands on the world building in a huge way, and some of the characters get fleshed out quite a lot (hello, Mazen and Aisha). The pace is slow, but always engaging and purposeful, and I never found myself thinking that parts were filler.

I did like this slightly less than The Stardust Thief but only fractionally. I missed Qadir as he was one of my favourite characters of the first book, and while a lot of this book was directly about him his physical absense was felt - both by me and the characters. I also found myself struggling to get back in to the groove of the prose through the first 25% - it definitely wasn't bad, but I didn't get immersed as quickly as book one.

I also would have liked at least one more story. Good thing there is going to be a third book :)

3.75/5

After loving The Stardust Thief I had high hopes for this book and it absolutely lived up to my expectations! I loved getting to jump back into this magical world and all the characters. As with book one, you get the pov of Loulie, Mazen and Aisha. You get so much additional depth from this characters, especially with how they think and make decisions. I thought all of their characters were done so well and. I liked that we got to follow each of them on their separate adventures.
I really loved the connection between Loulie and Mazen in this book. In the first book Loulie was very closed off and distrustful but you see her start to open up and rely on Mazen and the way they kept coming to protect each other was *chefs kiss*.
The plot was also really well done and I loved how all the little pieces connected to each other and kept the characters trying to figure things out. All of the locations and side characters were so interesting and a lot of fun to read. I absolutely loved this book and am even more hyped for the final book!

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit for the ARC!!

Our main characters are separated as the story continues—Loulie and Mazen to the world of the jinn beneath the Sandsea and Aisha aboveground.

I liked the world building, magic systems, and character development—especially of Loulie and Aisha—in this one but wish we had gotten to spend more time with Qadir who is (understandably) absent for much of the second book.

My favorite new characters in this book were Azhar and Duha. They both made me smile in different ways.

I agree with other readers when they say that this is very much a middle book, which I did still enjoy, and look forward to seeing the epic conclusion in book 3.

I received an advance copy of the book from Orbit Books. All review opinions are my own.

I devoured book one in this series and was on the edge of my seat waiting for the sequel. It was well worth the wait! The Ashfire King was an exciting and well constructed next chapter in this trilogy. The story was so intricately built and the weaving storylines came together in such a nice way!

I loved seeing more of this world and loved jumping between the jinn and human realms. We meet so many fascinating new complex characters, while our other characters continue to shine, which adds rich layers to the overall story.

If you loved the first book, absolutely pick up the second book. I am now eagerly awaiting the third. I thought that this book was a solid representation of a key second book in a trilogy, the pacing was excellent and the overall story is amazing.

If you love fantasy this book is a must read! Thank you to the publisher for providing an advanced readers copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

My very first advanced reader copy and WOW. Just wow!!

I absolutely loved the first book, and coming into the second I had a lot of questions. This book was packed with lore, intricate plot lines and lots of action. There were a couple times I felt like we needed some text to break up how heavy certain passages were, but overall I really enjoyed it. The fact it’s mythology about MY culture? Oh I’m obsessed.

I didn’t think it was possible to love Loulie, Mazen and Qadir more but it 100% was. I grew so attached to Aisha and Rijah too and enjoyed seeing the relationships develop between everyone. I had been waiting for this book to come out for so long and I loved it.


Spoilers:
I’m a bit upset with how it ended only because I didn’t want a cliff hanger 😭 especially one involving Qadir after we JUST got him back. I felt like we deserved a bit more time/relief with him before we were thrown back into conflict. However, this sets it up perfectly for book three. I HATE OMAR with a burning passion, and I am so curious as to what happened with Duha because I really liked her. Outside of that, I’m happy that at least for right now, impending doom aside, everyone’s together. 🥹

SIDE NOTE: CANNOT BELIEVE WE ALMOST GOT A KISS?? IM ROOTING FOR YOU LOULIE AND MAZEN!! I understand her fear and need to distance herself completely, but… cmon girl. Kiss him. Maybe she will in the next one? 👀

I was quite obsessed with the first book in this epic fantasy series and so I was eager to finally continue. I enjoyed the magically take on the middle eastern setting established in the first book and enjoyed reading to the world. This second kivel continues with the same rich descriptive writing, filling out the surrounding world.

Once again, I found the characters well rounded and likeable so it was great to spend more time with them. There is some shimmering romance in this series which normally isn't my thing but I will fully admit that I got pulled into the tension between the characters.

If you enjoyed the first book you should definitely continue on. I slightly preferred the first book but I still enjoyed returning back to the world. If you are interested in this series, you will want to start back at the beginning with The Stardust Thief.

Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for providing a free e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I do not want to go too in-depth with this review as it is for the second book, but just know it is amazing and well worth the wait! I would definitely recommend doing a recap of the first book, seeing as it's been a few years since the first book's release. We get a slight recap in the book, but that is one thing I wish was brought out a little more, seeing as there has been such a gap between book releases.

The story is very action-packed, mainly taking place in the realm of the djinns where they are trying to escape to get back to the world that Omar is slowly destroying. They deal with the political strife in the djinn realm along the way. In the middle of the book, there was some filler information that could have been shortened, but I still enjoyed the ride.

The one major flaw I found in the book was the romance choice. It made sense but was not executed well and felt more awkward than anything. Overall, though, I have really enjoyed this series and can't wait for the final book! (Hopefully, it will not take as long this time).

The Ashfire King is the hottly anticipated sequel of The Sandsea Trilogy.

As soon as I received the arc, I was unavailable and my phone on DND!

The book kicks off with a recap of what happened in book 1, just to allow us to get right back into the rich atmosphere Chelsea Abdullah has created for us. We reconnect with our old friends, meet some new characters - all whilst exploring some personal insights and growth of our friends.

The story just gets better, page after page. Steeped in rich Arabic Folklore and Myths - the plot intricately weaves those into the plot.

I am trying to find the right words to tell you how amazing this sequel was, without spoiling anything. However, so many little pieces are going to come together in the most satisfying way, that me telling you tid bits may give it away.

This has been a truly satisfying, heart warming, heart pounding adventure and if you enjoy being on an emotional rollercoaster (the good kind) this book is for you!

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to embark on this adventure with our friends.

I will say the ending dragged a bit (the last 15-20% or so), but the rest of it was brilliantly paced. Betrayal, character development, new and interesting stakeholders, magic and stories and cities and some really epic fight scenes: all of this unrolled with a steady but unrelenting charge towards book 3. There was none of that “second book syndrome” here.

I think Loulie and Mazen shine brightest. We see them without the guiding hands of Qadir and Aisha, who both led and protected them in book one. Here we see these two making their own decisions and suffering their own consequences. But Aisha… she finally gets to be just the tiniest bit soft only to be absolutely pummeled. While her story is a little less drastic, seeing her open up was huge and a big step from book one.

I definitely have my eyes on Nabila and Duha for book 3 though. Can’t wait to see how this tangled web of a story unravels by the end.

Second books are hard, especially when they’re the second in a trilogy. However, with Chelsea’s writing, you’d never know it. With beautiful prose and multiple points of view, Abdullah gives us another taste of what it means to read books written by a master storyteller. I was hardly into the first few chapters when I realized just how “worth the wait” this story was going to be. Abdullah has you feeling as though you’re living her stories (and Mazen’s) alongside her characters.

As far as sequels go, this one delivers everything you could want and more. We have a deeper dive into the world we’ve come to love and miss since The Stardust Thief’s debut. We have more character exploration and development, and all the adventure you could hope for. It’s an easy five stars from me. This may even be one of the few occasions where I love the sequel even better than the first book in a series. My only hope is that Abdullah won’t leave us hanging on the edge of the cliff for long. But if she does, I have no doubts that the finale of this trilogy will be just as spectacular an adventure as its previous installments.

Oh, we're SO back.

The Ashfire King picks up almost right where The Stardust Thief left off, with a very helpful recap to kick off the book (please, authors and publishers, normalize this, I'm begging you). While it had been three years since I had read the first book, it didn't take me long at all to be swept back into this world.

You can tell that Chelsea Abdullah has put effort into the world and, more than that, that she really loves the world. It's so vast, so thought-out, and I love how these books span so much of it.

We once again get lots of folklore - which, be still, my heart. I loved the lore, and how much we learned in this book. I'm sure book three is going to absolutely fuck me upside the head and I am ready (???) for it.

However, as good as all of that is, the standout remains the characters. When you get multiple POV characters, they're often not all created equally, and - okay, Loulie and Aisha remain my favourite POVs, but they're all very, very strong. The characters are complex, they grow, they're engaging to read, and this applies to supporting characters as well.

A very strong second book in a very strong Arabic folklore-inspired epic fantasy trilogy. I don't know what the third book is called or when it will be released, but I do know that I would die for it.

Thank you to the publisher, Orbit, and to NetGalley for the ARC.

The Ashfire King is a book I have looked forward to since I read the absolute masterpiece that is The Stardust Thief. I am so thankful to have received an eARC of this story and had the best time being back with these characters. I continued to love the atmospheric and sensory writing, the sweeping adventure, and the magical experience of this world. I did miss Qadir and the storytelling in between each section of the book desperately. We only had a few in this one & didn’t get our lovable lizard Jinn back for much longer than I would’ve liked. I felt like the absence of these two things really caused a lag in the pacing for me. I felt myself wishing that it was moving faster and being slightly unimpressed by the plot at times. I saw a real strength during the ending with the whole ensemble- I felt like the characters were much more vivid when they were all together, I will absolutely continue this series and anything Abdullah writes, but find myself rating this one lower than the first.

The Ashfire King is just as lyrical and immersive as The Stardust Thief. We are given a story-like recap of the first book, and then immediately dropped back into the thick of things. Loulie and Mazen fallen into the world of the jinn and the sinking cities of the sandsea. Aisha above, learning how to live with the fact that she is now tied to a jinn and a relic that is keeping her alive. And Qadir is... not where anyone can easily reach him.

Again, this world gives us stories and truths and lies and secrets and worlds at war with themselves. We see how everyone seems to be grasping for power, and how so many are collateral damage along the way. Loulie and Mazen to what they can with the help of Rijah to make their way in a world with warring queens and ifrit, where they are merely human. Human with an uncanny ability to keep living and fighting and trying to make things right. Whatever right might look like.

As a second book in a trilogy, this one has a lot of heavy lifting to do, with an ending that makes you realize how much more our merchant, prince, and thief have to do. It manages to wrap us up in the continuing saga of the worlds below and above the sand, to learn more about how things came to be the way that they are, and how things still have so far to go. I also think Aisha has become one of my favorite characters.

Loulie, the Night Merchant, and Mazen are trapped in the jinn realm, which is currently crumbling thanks to a certain king. In order to get back home and to Qadir, they must save the jinn world. The world is on the cusp of collapse and Loulie and Mazen find conflict and shady people around every corner. They are faced with considering their own lives, as well as fix the mistakes of others. Meanwhile, Aisha is fighting her own fight as well. I gave this a 3 star rating. I adored the first book in the series. The world is so intricate and beautiful. There are jinn, magical relics, actual flying carpets. It is absolutely stunning. The world building is even better within this book, as we actually get to see the jinn world.

Chelsea Abdullah’s The Ashfire King continues the sprawling epic fantasy series, The Sandsea Trilogy, a tale of humans caught up in the turmoil of their warring ambitions, while using and getting used by the magical jinn. The second entry in the series, continues to raise the stakes laid out in The Stardust Thief, upping the ante on almost all counts, while also giving us satisfying and meaningful character development for each of the central characters.


There is always a need for more fantasy set in non medieval European settings. While there has been a surge of East-Asian (Chinese and Japanese) inspired fantasy settings, the Central Asian worlds usually get lesser attention. Fortunately, Chelsea Abdullah is here to pick up the slack with her epic fantasy series, The Sandsea Trilogy, with the first book, The Stardust Thief being a highlight of the year it released. After disappointing delays, it is finally time to dig into the sequel, The Ashfire King, which continues the tale of the Midnight Merchant Loulie Al-Nazari, a magical relic mercenary, as she is pulled deeper into the war between humanity and the jinn (the magical species embodying various elemental powers, popular in Middle-Eastern folklore).

The Ashfire King follows two major story arcs, in two distinct realms. Loulie/Layla and Mazen bin Malik, youngest of the three human princes, accused of murdering his father, the Sultan, find themselves in the jinn realm, a world full of magical locales and characters, buried beneath the treacherous Sandsea. Torn away from her bodyguard, the witty and nifty Qadir, who turns out to be the King of the Jinn, the titular Ashfire King, Loulie and Mazen are pulled into the political crisis in the jinn world. The jinn realm is under threat of collapsing into the human realm, bringing upon the war between the jinn and humanity. Warring factions to stop or hasten this war form the central motif of The Ashfire King.

On the human side, the thief-assassin Aisha bint Louas is on the run, after she betrays Omar bin Malik (the oldest prince, murderer of the Sultan, and the primary antagonist), escaping with Hakim (the middle brother, and mapmaker). She battles with her internal change of allegiance, while being possessed by the Resurrectionist, the ifrit of necromancy.

The Ashfire King is an action-packed ride, with characters pushing forward from one plot checkpoint and battle setpiece to another, with plenty of adventure, betrayal, and mystery to keep the reader entertained. Abdullah does a wonderful job of creating the jinn world, with magical locations full of intrigue with aspects that show her attention to worldbuilding detail.

The character arcs also move in rewarding ways with growth in many of the characters. The cowardly prince Mazen, has moments of bravery born of his increasing confidence and trust in his bond with Loulie. He has a more central role with agency this time around, making pivotal choices that shape the outcome of the story, with some snazzy shadow and fire-magicks. On the contrary, both Hakim and Omar have much lesser roles to play in the sequel. While Hakim does get some page-time, his growth pales next to the page-chewing dynamic between Aisha and the Resurrectionist. Omar is also relegated to minor status in terms of actual screen time. It is always interesting to read POV chapters from the antagonist to flesh out their motivations and internal strife. Having to view Omar from the outside, added distance between him and the reader, diluting his appeal.

However, Abdullah leaves us with no doubt that her female characters (jinn or human) are the stars of the show. In many ways, The Ashfire King is carried on Aisha’s character. Her development from ruthless thief and jinn-bounty hunter to mercenary with her own motivations as she wrestles with her own internal war of control with the necromancer within her was among my most liked parts of the book. Her buddying dynamic with Hakim (and Mazen) with her very naturally evolving softness for humans was a pleasure to read and did not feel contrived. In contrast, Loulie continued to be as badass as she was in The Stardust Thief. While her “totally gonna happen sooner or later” romance with Mazen progressed, there was not much else to say about her character arc. She was a badass, she is a badass, and she will be a badass in the next book!

The cast of side characters also shone through in The Ashfire King. Abdullah created a dense cast of characters, each with their own motives, personalities, and relationship dynamics with the protagonists. Whether it is the haughty-but-nefarious Jinn Queen, or the rebellious-but-selfserving Nabila, the gregarious and charming Duha, her snakey brother Ziyad, and so many others, the author spared to expense fleshing out the characters adding layers to her world. Even Mazen’s firebird Azhar is charming enough to be his own character!

The inclusion of the storytelling aspect within these books hearkens back to classic middle-eastern folklore like The Arabian Nights. Stories with jinn and humans with hidden morals have been a mainstay of middle-eastern culture, and Abdullah brings that influence into her world with Mazen, the storyteller regaling the characters with various in-universe folkore often with in-universe characters like Qadir, and Nabila, adding yet another fantastic layer of depth.

My one gripe, and this took some nitpicking, was that the majority of the story, before the climactic setpiece is laid out, felt like a very obvious mirror image, with Loulie/Mazen and Aisha/Hakim, treading similar plot beats, albeit in their own settings. With their dynamics also coalescing into similar emotional ends, much of the story felt too parallel and same-y. This however, is a minor complaint in a largely enjoyable book.

With meaningful character growth, and addition of amazing new characters and elements, The Ashfire King successfully upped the ante, and set up the board for the final showdown, while also telling an explosive self-contained story. Laced in a warm nostalgic vibe of the middle-eastern tales we grew up with as children, The Sandsea Trilogy continues to be an underrated hit in the fantasy world, and I hope more people get into it, while I eagerly await the next installment!