Chelsea Abdullah returns to her 1001 Arabian Nights inspired Sandsea Trilogy in The Ashfire King. This volume follows directly on from the cliffhangers of the first volume – The Stardust Thief. It opens in typical style – with a storyteller’s recap of the events of the previous book (both books take breaks for story telling throughout the narrative) before jumping straight back into the action (and there is plenty of it). Those who have not read the first book and don’t wish to be spoiled should stop here.
When The Ashfire King opens, the trader Loulie and her wrongly accused companion, Prince Nazem have been taken beneath the Sandsea into the land of the Jinn. Once there they have to navigate a path between the jinn queen and the ifrit Nabila who are fighting a war over the future of the realm which is slowly sinking into oblivion. Meanwhile, resurrected thief Aisha is intent on rescuing Louie’s former bodyguard (and the Ashfire King of jinn) Qadir who has been taken captive by Nazem’s evil brother Omar.
And that is just the set up. As with the first book in this series, The Ashfire King is an action packed romp through shifting allegiances, magical set pieces, huge battles, a prison break, sacrifice and deception. All of it loosely based on middle eastern desert mythology. This trilogy is basically everything readers could want from a fantasy inspired by the legends of the 40 thieves, magic lamps and the voyages of Sinbad.
The Ashfire King is a long book and there is a fair bit of setting up to do in its first quarter or so. But once its two parallel quests get moving it is, like its predecessor, compulsive and engaging. All of this action builds to a massive shift of the status quo and a startling cliffhanger. It was a two year wait for this second book in the series, hopefully readers will not have to wait as long for the conclusion.
The Ashfire King by Chelsea Abdullah
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