3 minute read
THE STARDUST THIEF by Chelsea Abdullah
the stardust thief
science fiction & fantasy
THE STARDUST THIEF
Abdullah, Chelsea Orbit (432 pp.) $28.00 | May 17, 2022 978-0-316-36876-6
This debut quest fantasy is the first of a trilogy concerning the revival of an ancient struggle between humans and jinn. Years ago, assassins in black murdered all of Loulie al-Nazari’s tribe; unaccountably, a wandering jinn named Qadir took her under his protection, posing as her human bodyguard. Today, Loulie hides behind the identity of the Midnight Merchant, locating and selling illegal magical relics. But now the sultan of Madinne has found her out and is forcing her to go on a dangerous desert quest to find the most ancient relic of them all—a lamp imprisoning an enslaved but incredibly powerful jinn—which he intends to use to commit jinn genocide. Along with Qadir, her designated companions are the sultan’s cruel older son, Prince Omar, who rules the deadly band of jinn hunters known as the Forty Thieves, and Omar’s most trusted thief, Aisha. Except that the prince on this journey is actually Omar’s younger brother Prince Mazen, a softhearted and sheltered storyteller whom Omar has blackmailed into taking his place with a magical disguise. Aisha also has her own mission from Omar, which she cannot share. Burdened with secrets, this unlikely quartet encounter many perils while learning new and deadly things about the nature of jinn and of themselves. Several recent Middle Eastern fantasies have explored the complex and bloody relationship between human and jinn (with obvious relevance to contemporary sociopolitics), each in a gloriously unique way. This one offers brief but clever nods to such classic tales from One Thousand and One Nights as “Aladdin,” “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves,” and the framing tale of Scheherazade, but then charts its own thrilling territory. Not only is the story exciting (although at least some of Omar’s plot will be obvious from early on), but the characterization and growth of the three human questers—and to a certain extent, the jinn Qadir—are extremely strong; all are driven to question everything they thought they knew and to consider whether that new knowledge will change their course of action.
A marvelous plunge into a beautifully crafted adventure.
BOSS WITCH
Aguirre, Ann Sourcebooks Casablanca (368 pp.) $15.99 paper | April 5, 2022 978-1-72824-019-0
In Aguirre’s second book about the Midwestern coven of St. Claire, Clementine Odette Waterhouse is part owner of Fix-It Witches, the shop where magic powers repair small appliances. Clementine carries the world on her shoulders. When her family is in trouble, they come to Clem. Her mother was abused and deserted by her husband and cries on Clem’s shoulder. Her father, now on his fourth wife, won’t stop calling Clem even though she’s blocked him on her smartphone. (Apparently witches still have to block.) And her cousin Danica, her partner at Fix-It Witches, who’s in out-of-control love with a mundane (witch-speak for Muggles), has carelessly allowed her powers to spike, and a witch hunter has picked up the vibe and traveled to St. Claire on his vintage Ducati motorcycle. After an emergency coven meeting, Clem announces: “No worries. I’ll handle him.” As all romance readers know, handling the tall, dark, rugged British stranger with the beard-stubbled face is a losing proposition. Gavin Rhys was bred to hunt witches by a cruel dad who caned and starved him. He would like to stop hunting, but the “order” won’t allow it. He longs for a place to call home and an ongoing relationship and is pretty much an easy mark for Clem, the foxy, funny, sex-talking young woman he meets at a town bar. They start to date: She takes him to a petting farm; he makes her lunch. Aguirre is always healthfully correct: Gavin makes sure to tell Clem the lunch isn’t gluten- or nut-free, and before sex, they both get tested for STDs and show each other the test results. Clem is softening by the minute and gives Gavin a mouse he names Benson and carries with him everywhere. Great sex and growing affection do not diminish the fact that a hunter is endangering her coven. He’s a real threat. When a gang of violent witch “enforcers” arrive, the coven unites to cast a spell to get rid of them. Aguirre shows how strong these women are together and details the shapes and colors of their intricate spells. Meanwhile, Gavin makes contact with the grandfather he hasn’t seen for 20 years, who gives him some surprising information that helps him pursue a relationship with Clem.
