Rather than overwhelming the reader with multiple plotlines and a sprawling cast of characters, The Stardust Thief focuses on its central trio and the locales they visit. Despite this, The Stardust Thief remains a wonderful tumult of tale-telling and treasure-seeking that revels in the dangers of both. There are some late pacing issues typical of first novels, especially those that set up sequels: After some drawn-out pauses in the action, multiple revelations tumble over one another during a climactic battle that ends up feeling both rushed and too slow. It’s not unlike hearing the difference between native speakers’ dialogue in film and television versus language that’s been taught phonetically - a nuance unlikely to register for anyone who doesn’t speak the language, but a pleasant surprise for those who do. I was especially impressed by her dexterous weaving of contemporary Arabic’s cadences and vocabulary into her narration and dialogue there’s a thin line between flavor and fetishism, and Abdullah always remains on the correct side of it. Drawing liberal inspiration from Arab folklore, particularly The Thousand and One Nights, Abdullah builds a rich world that departs from her source material in surprising and delightful ways. a gorgeous fantasy adventure interspersed with fables and brimming with the contested, overlapping histories of jinn, gods and humans.
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