Review of 'The Stardust Thief'
The Stardust Thief captures the readers’ hearts with spellbinding magic, charming characters, and thrilling adventure.
This stunning fantasy debut sings with lyrical storytelling and lush world-building. Spun from traditional Middle Eastern folk tales, Abdullah has created something that feels both familiar and entirely new and exciting. The Stardust Thief is an epic adventure of ancient magic and found family.
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.
Review
Inspired by One Thousand and One Nights, The Stardust Thief follows Loulie into the desert with the sultan’s son, her Jinn bodyguard, and Jinn hunter as they hunt for a magical lamp.
Loulie & Qadir
Following multiple POVs, The Stardust Thief follows Loulie, known as the Midnight Merchant. With the help of her magical compass and Qadir, she hunts down priceless magical artifacts and sells them to the highest bidder.
I love the relationship between her and Qadir. Qadir is a Jinn who saved her as a child, killing the people who massacred her village. Jinn are hunted in this kingdom, so they keep his identity a secret. Everyone else knows him as her bodyguard. However, when he does not want to be seen, he hides in the fires of torches, seeing through them or taking the form of a lizard on Loulie’s shoulder.
They are a family, and they have their ups and downs. They care about each other deeply, as a brother would a sister and vice versa. But there is also growth in their relationship as the truths begin to come to life. Tension rises through their confrontations, but they never abandon one another. They are a family, and the reader sees that from beginning to end.
Riveting
Loulie and Qadir were the winning pair here, but the other cast of characters also helped build up the story.
Mazen is the sultan’s prince, the son of the legendary storyteller who ended the sultan’s reign of terror. If you’re familiar with One Thousand and One Nights, you know the sultan took a new wife every day but, fearing being betrayed, would kill them the next morning. She told him story after story until he fell in love with her and learned to trust her.
Mazen, like his mother, is a storyteller. He thrives on spinning tales, capturing his mothers’ voice within his own.
That storytelling element was such an excellent addition to the narrative. Readers are enjoying a story within a story. Once again, the reader sees the strong influence of One Thousand and One Nights brought to life by Abdullah’s strong voice. Her storytelling is captivating and magical. The reader is sucked into the stories, wanting more and more as the plot builds and twists and turns.
Final Thoughts
The Stardust Thief offers the reader a magical story. The storytelling is spellbinding; the characters are complex and balance one another perfectly, all while building up the story and taking it to new heights.
- Writing Quality : 10/10
- Character Development : 9/10
- "Couldn't Put It Down"-ness : 10/10
- Intellectual Depth: 9/10
- Originality: 10/10
- Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
Like this review?
Don’t forget to follow Cyn’s Workshop on Facebook | Instagram | TikTok | Twitter | Tumblr | Spotify | YouTube | BookBub | Goodreads | LinkedIn to stay tuned for future reviews.
About the Author
Cynthia Bujnicki graduated from Emerson College with a BA in Writing, Literature and Publishing. She has always loved to read since she was a child. A contributing writer for YA Fantasy Addicts, she is also the Editor-in-Chief for Cyn's Workshop. She lives in sunny South Florida with her husband, son and daughter and their two cats.
About the Creator
Keep reading
More stories from Cyn's Workshop and writers in Geeks and other communities.
Review of 'The Fall of Númenor'
J.R.R. Tolkien’s writings on the Second Age of Middle-earth, collected for the first time in one volume complete with new illustrations in watercolor and pencil by renowned artist Alan Lee. J.R.R. Tolkien famously described the Second Age of Middle-earth as a "dark age, and not very much of its history is (or need be) told." And for many years readers would need to be content with the tantalizing glimpses of it found within the pages of The Lord of the Rings and its appendices, including the forging of the Rings of Power, the building of the Barad-dûr and the rise of Sauron. It was not until Christopher Tolkien published The Silmarillion after his father’s death that a fuller story could be told. Although much of the book’s content concerned the First Age of Middle-earth, there were at its close two key works that revealed the tumultuous events concerning the rise and fall of the island of Númenor. Raised out of the Great Sea and gifted to the Men of Middle-earth as a reward for aiding the angelic Valar and the Elves in the defeat and capture of the Dark Lord Morgoth, the kingdom became a seat of influence and wealth; but as the Númenóreans’ power increased, the seed of their downfall would inevitably be sown, culminating in the Last Alliance of Elves and Men. Even greater insight into the Second Age would be revealed in subsequent publications, first in Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth, then expanded upon in Christopher Tolkien’s magisterial twelve-volume The History of Middle-earth, in which he presented and discussed a wealth of further tales written by his father, many in draft form. Now, adhering to the timeline of "The Tale of Years" in the appendices to The Lord of the Rings, editor Brian Sibley has assembled into one comprehensive volume a new chronicle of the Second Age of Middle-earth, told substantially in the words of Tolkien from the various published texts, with new illustrations in watercolor and pencil by the doyen of Tolkien art, Alan Lee.
By Cyn's Workshopabout a year ago in Geeks
The Pearl by John Steinbeck
‘The Pearl’ is a well-known by under-read classic and, as a teacher, many of my students have absolutely loved it. Not just because it is short, but because it presents a storyline that is interesting and corrupting. Easy to read and easier to analyse, ‘The Pearl’ is one of Steinbeck’s hardest hitting classics with an underlying message about protecting what is actually important. By the end of the book, the reader is left defeated and believing in the wrong thing. The idealism around this book is incredible and it is so dark too. For a long while you are supporting the wrong people, thinking in the wrong way and the whole story becomes one long act of misdirection by Steinbeck to show in a ‘Monkey’s Paw’ fashion why we should never chase wealth and status.
By Annie Kapur19 days ago in Geeks
Comments
There are no comments for this story
Be the first to respond and start the conversation.