The Ashfire King

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.

Special thanks to Orbit Books and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book!

Get the Book

You can buy The Ashfire King here – it’s available as a hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook.

The Ashfire King by Chelsea Abdullah
Series	The Sandsea Trilogy (#2)
Audience	Adult
Genre	Historical Fantasy
Setting	Arabian world
Number of Pages	544
Format I Read	Audiobook & Ebook (NetGalley ARC)
Original Publication Date	April 15, 2025
Publisher	Orbit

Official Summary

A merchant and a prince trapped in the crumbling realm of jinn must figure out how to save one world to return to their own in The Ashfire King, the second book in the Sandsea Trilogy, perfect for fans of The City of Brass and The Bone Shard Daughter.

Neither here nor there, but long ago…

After fleeing a patricidal prince, legendary merchant Loulie al-Nazari and banished prince Mazen bin Malik find themselves in the realm of jinn. But instead of sanctuary, they find a world on the cusp of collapse.

The jinn cities, long sheltered beneath the Sandsea by the magic of its kings, are sinking. Amid the turmoil, political alliances are forming, and rebellion is on the rise. When Loulie assists a dissenter—one of her bodyguard’s old comrades—she puts herself in the center of a centuries-old war.

Trapped in a world that isn’t her own and wielding magic that belongs to a fallen king, Loulie must decide: Will she carry on someone else’s legacy or carve out her own?

The Sandsea Trilogy
The Stardust Thief
The Ashfire King

About the Author

Chelsea Abdullah is an American-Kuwaiti writer born and raised in Kuwait, where she grew up listening to stories about mysterious desert creatures and wily (only sometimes likable) heroes.

Consumed by wanderlust, she has put down roots in various states. After earning her MA in English at Duquesne University, she moved to New York, where she currently lives. When not immersed in her own fictional worlds, she spends her free time playing video games, doodling characters, and hoarding books she doesn’t have the shelf space for.